"It's connected!"
Angel Ophiel relayed the good news that Aiden wanted to hear most.
"Good, good!" Aiden was greatly invigorated. "Let's go back to Valoran through the portal first. Ophiel, notify the people behind to follow up quickly!"
"Understood, Commander."
The portal's operational capacity was limited, so a large number of people were still stranded in Silithus and the Eternal Kingdom. Now that Silithus was peaceful, and Azeroth was engulfed in war, it was time for them to provide support. Aiden was worried that Dimensius would summon Old Gods from other planes to Azeroth on a large scale, just like he did in Silithus. That would be really bad—especially since Azeroth now lacked the Titans of the Pantheon, and there were no powerhouses of his or Kil'jaeden's level. Even if the opponent only summoned a mature Old God, it could cause enormous damage.
After the portal was opened, Aiden immediately returned through the teleportation array.
He heard a familiar exclamation in his ear. "Rogue Mage" Ryze called out, "Commander, you're finally back!"
"How's the situation?" Aiden cut straight to the chase.
"It's terrible." Ryze succinctly explained the current situation.
Aiden breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Dimensius had not yet summoned other Old Gods. But he immediately became tense again when he learned that N'Zoth had launched all of his minions in a frantic attack on Mount Hyjal and Pandaria.
"Queen Azshara is fiercely attacking the Vale of Eternal Blossoms?" Aiden asked further.
"Yes, the Great Wall fell yesterday, and the Sunset Gate has been lost," Ryze said in a heavy tone. "Except for a small number of people left to defend, all the other heroes have gone to the battlefield."
Ryze also wanted to go to the battlefield, of course. The researchers of the Valoran Federation—including "Heimerdinger the Revered Inventor," "Jayce, the Defender of Tomorrow," "Viktor, the Machine Herald," and "Singed, the Mad Alchemist"—all heroes focused on scientific research, had gone to the battlefield. However, someone still needed to be stationed in the rear, and Ryze had the ability and enough prestige, so he stayed behind in Valoran.
"Damn it!" Aiden's heart sank. He didn't bother to say much and said directly, "I'm going to Pandaria!"
Before Ryze could say the next sentence, Aiden had already disappeared into the teleportation array.
"The others—" This sentence was said to the air.
However, before the words fell, a second figure came out of the teleportation array—it was Kayle. Then more heroes appeared one after another, and Ryze was immediately invigorated.
Mixed in with the crowd was a somewhat large fellow. If it weren't for the other party's familiar aura, Ryze would have been a little unsure of its identity: "Vel'Koz?"
"It is I." Vel'Koz stretched out one of his tentacles and tapped it, indicating acknowledgement.
It had absorbed the essence of the Old God Y'shaarj, and its strength had simply increased several times over. It was already completely different from what it was when it first came to Valoran.
-----
In fact, Naga Queen Azshara hated doing things herself. She felt that her status was noble, and using force was a very barbaric act. Most of the time, as long as she showed a little intention or thought, her followers and admirers would go through fire and water to help her achieve her goals.
It was precisely because of this that, although she possessed formidable power, she had not achieved any commendable feats in more than ten thousand years.
And this time, after facing the world again as the Naga Queen, she no longer had the beauty to captivate all living beings—of course, among the Naga race, she was still the most beautiful, but mortals would never appreciate the beauty of a Naga with several arms and half-human, half-fish features.
Mortals would no longer admire her, regard her as the light among lights, and be willing to die to win a smile from her.
Azshara blamed all of this on mortals, so after she returned to the surface, she would definitely punish them severely!
This time, Azshara, under the command of her master N'Zoth, led the Naga army out in full force, and she could be said to have taken the lead—the giant wave that submerged the Great Wall was summoned by her, the four Celestial Gods who resisted Pandaria were also attacked by her, and the heart of Y'shaarj was also dug out by her.
In just a few days, her record was enough to shock the world!
And now, she was going to do another thing that would make mortals despair—revive the Old God Y'shaarj!
"Bring it up!" Queen Azshara beckoned. Her guards immediately pushed up a huge box and placed it next to the golden spring in front of her.
Queen Azshara waved her staff, and a pale ray was emitted, which swept across the iron chains on the box and immediately decomposed them into several sections. She gestured, and the Naga next to her immediately opened the lid of the box.
An extremely turbid evil energy surged out of the box. The guards on both sides retreated in horror, even trembling with fear. They felt the strongest fear and despair in their hearts, and the source of these negative emotions was the black heart in the box they had opened!
The evil energy did not affect Queen Azshara. She looked at the still-beating heart with admiring eyes, and recited in a slow and elegant tone, as if singing an aria: "Y'shaarj, the seven-headed beast, you devour hope and release despair; inhale courage and exhale fear. The glory of the Titans has disappeared, and the Old Gods are about to return. Let this spring of hope, born to suppress you, become the source of your rebirth! Fear, rage, anger, doubt, confusion, hatred, arrogance, the seven Sha demons, the time for combined rebirth has arrived, welcome your return!"
At her call, seven Sha demon phantoms appeared around the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, brandishing their claws in mid-air. They were the seven Sha demons that had wreaked havoc in the previous period: Sha of Fear, Sha of Anger, Sha of Rage, Sha of Doubt, Sha of Confusion, Sha of Hatred, and Sha of Pride!
Now they seemed very excited. Obviously, these Sha demons, transformed from negative emotions, also felt that something was about to happen. When they combined, it would be the complete soul of Y'shaarj. When the heart was nourished by the golden spring of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, it would regenerate a body. By then, Y'shaarj would truly be resurrected!
After Queen Azshara finished reciting the incantation-like words, she signaled the frightened attendants to push the box over and let the heart roll into the golden spring. However, these elite guards were affected by the evil energy, and they were all frightened and hesitant to move forward.
Azshara frowned slightly, and her very displeased gaze swept over these useless guards.
No one had ever dared to disobey her orders before, but now these guys were actually disobeying!
However, she changed her mind. Since the heart of Y'shaarj still had such terrifying power, then its main body was even more unimaginably powerful.
Queen Azshara held her staff and cast a small spell. The box tilted as if pushed by an invisible hand.
Just as the heart was about to roll into the golden spring, a dazzling golden light suddenly bloomed in the sky, and a huge pillar of light instantly enveloped the box.
With a "clang," Queen Azshara's spell failed, and the box fell back. The light shone on the exposed surface of the heart, immediately causing the surface coating of this black heart to smoke as if it were roasted by a raging fire, and emit a foul odor.
The beating heart actually began to twitch!
"Who dares!" Queen Azshara roared in anger, shouting into the sky.
Just as she was about to succeed, someone actually came out to disrupt her plan at this time!
This was simply the most serious provocation to her!
In the pillar of light, a figure gradually changed from semi-illusory to solid.
Azshara stared at the guy who disrupted her plan. This was a human man with black hair, holding both a sword and a staff, and with a pair of wings of light behind him. He looked very majestic.
Even though it was the first time seeing this person, Azshara instantly guessed the other party's identity—this should be the "famous" legendary hero, the savior of Azeroth, Lord Aiden!
Queen Azshara's glowing vertical pupils became even slenderer. She had long heard of the other party's reputation. Compared to the four Celestial Gods who had previously obstructed her, this man aroused her interest even more.
"Disrupt?" She chuckled.
Azshara had been a queen for more than ten thousand years, and her majesty and demeanor were no less than half of her opponent's. At the same time, she had full confidence in her strength. She did not think that anyone on the ground had the strength to obstruct her.
"If you die, this mortal world will definitely be even more of a mess." Queen Azshara raised her staff.
She didn't like anyone standing taller than her.
With a gentle wave of her staff, an ice arrow that could almost freeze the air flew towards Aiden in the sky.
The stronger the person, the more powerful the spell. The same fireball, a fireball from a mage apprentice and a fireball from an archmage were worlds apart. Therefore, in high-level battles, basic spells still accounted for a large proportion.
Queen Azshara's strength was terrifying, and the ice arrow she released was naturally the same.
She could conclude that in Azeroth, almost no one could dodge, block, or counter her ice arrow.
But Aiden did it—he didn't even move. The holy light around his body automatically condensed into a shield. The ice arrow hit the shield, and both dissipated into nothingness.
He looked at Queen Azshara leisurely, and was indeed a little surprised in his heart—this former Night Elf Queen was very powerful, and her challenge level was no less than that of the current Kil'jaeden—that is to say, she and Kil'jaeden possessed the same level of power.
This was already far beyond imagination. It should be known that Kil'jaeden was the number two figure in the Burning Legion, and his fierce reputation was well-known in countless worlds.
Of course, the challenge level was just a reference. In actual combat, Azshara was almost impossible to be Kil'jaeden's opponent. Because that "Deceiver" was not only powerful in himself, but more importantly, he had the secondary authority bestowed by the Dark Titan Sargeras. Reflected in specific strength, it was that he could release destructive spells far exceeding his existing energy.
For example, in Silithus two months ago, at the time of four suns in the sky—as the protagonist of the second day, Kil'jaeden suddenly appeared, holding a huge meteorite, and directly smashed the Old God Jin to death, and incidentally severely damaged Y'shaarj.
This was something Azshara could never do.