N'Zoth harbored ill intentions towards Vel'koz, planning to devour him once he regained his freedom. Little did he know, Vel'koz harbored the same idea.
While still in his growth stage, it was impossible for Vel'koz to consume N'Zoth, who was countless times larger. However, killing the old god would grant him a portion of his power essence, allowing him to further enhance his own strength and evolve towards a more perfect life form.
That would be ideal.
Vel'koz had been working undercover in Silithus for a long time, making this task easy and seamless.
He didn't possess any genuine emotions. All his outward expressions and emotions were simulations based on his observations of humans and other intelligent beings. At least for now, his acting skills were top-notch, so much so that even a cunning and treacherous Old God like N'Zoth hadn't detected any abnormalities.
Of course, on the other hand, N'Zoth was blinded by greed. He was about to regain his freedom, a time of great ambition, so he wasn't as cautious and meticulous as he had been when trapped in his prison.
People often fail when they think they are about to succeed. As the saying goes, "The last leg of a hundred-mile journey is the hardest." This principle applies not only to N'Zoth but also to Dimensius.
If Dimensius hadn't been toying with his prey and lost his vigilance against the guardians, who were several levels weaker than him, Aiden wouldn't have been able to take advantage of him, leaving him severely injured and forced to flee in embarrassment.
He escaped into the Twisting Nether and spent a long time in shock and anger before finally calming down. He reflected on his failure and decided to temporarily avoid provoking the guardians, and more importantly, avoid Aiden—the legendary powerhouse whose strength might rival Aman'Thul and Sargeras.
Aiden's sword strike had severely damaged Dimensius's core, and such damage required a massive amount of void energy to repair.
Dimensius abandoned his playful attitude and observed that Azeroth's titan planetary defense system had been weakened significantly. The restrictions on extremely powerful individuals were no longer as pronounced as before. Having learned his lesson, he decided to have the Old Gods from other worlds test the waters for him. Once they were weakened, he would come out and clean up the mess.
"Yes, that's right—I will make you pay the price sooner or later! Hmph, offending the great Dimensius only leads to being devoured!"
Dimensius threatened fiercely in the Twisting Nether.
Unfortunately, no one involved could hear his words; it was just his monologue.
"I need to extract some void energy... let me see," Dimensius carefully observed Azeroth. The existing void rifts in this world were impossible to hide from his eyes.
Due to the Nexus War a few years ago, when Malygos ordered the Blue Dragonflight to deploy the Nexus Disruptors everywhere to frantically extract arcane energy, Azeroth was riddled with void rifts of all sizes. Most of them were in Northrend because it was close to the Blue Dragonflight's lair, making it the most convenient place to act. The second most was the area near Winterspring in Kalimdor, and the fewest were in the Eastern Kingdoms and other continents.
Dimensius saw a relatively dense and energy-rich void rift near Icecrown Glacier in Northrend, but he didn't rush over there. This time had really scared him. If he hadn't escaped quickly, he might have lost his life in Azeroth. Now he was severely injured and very weak. If there was a trap there, wouldn't he really be finished?
Like a frightened bird, Dimensius considered it carefully and didn't immediately extract the tempting void energy from the Icecrown Glacier area. Instead, he cautiously went to the smaller void rifts in other areas, extracting the energy little by little.
However, the void energy that small rifts could provide was very limited. After replenishing himself a few times, Dimensius, who had recovered slightly from his injuries, turned his attention to the large void rift in Icecrown Glacier.
It wasn't that he liked to take risks, but the situation in Azeroth was not good. If he didn't quickly summon Old Gods from other worlds, the Old God at the bottom of the sea would probably not be able to hold on much longer—the reason was simple: the guardians no longer had to hunt Dimensius, so they naturally had time to help the Mount Hyjal battlefield. Moreover, the Eternal Kingdom had powerful angel legions and other elite troops constantly teleporting in to join the battle.
Within two days of Turalyon taking office as the Supreme Commander of the Alliance, Aiden returned. So this legendary paladin wanted to give the position of Supreme Commander to Aiden, and others agreed, but Aiden didn't accept. He didn't need these empty titles anymore, and his main battlefield wasn't Mount Hyjal, so he couldn't be responsible for military affairs. In the end, Turalyon continued to command the Alliance forces.
In fact, Jarod Shadowsong was also found the day after Aiden returned, but this night elf commander was severely injured when he was rescued, especially in terms of mental damage, and he needed to rest for the time being.
And Turalyon didn't disappoint the Alliance. After receiving a large number of reinforcements, the Alliance quickly turned from defense to offense, and the main battlefield had been pushed back from Mount Hyjal to Azshara. At the current rate, in two or three days at most, N'Zoth's army would probably be driven back into the sea.
If N'Zoth's minions couldn't contain the power of mortals, what use would it be even if Dimensius summoned Old Gods from other worlds? The Alliance had Aiden, so it possessed high-end power no less than that of the Old Gods. Fighting like this would make it impossible to win.
Therefore, the changes in the battle situation also forced Dimensius to speed up his pace. He had to recover from his injuries as soon as possible, and then summon Old Gods to Azeroth in order to carry out his subsequent plans.
Otherwise, everything would be empty talk.
Therefore, Dimensius had no choice but to turn his attention to the large void rift in Icecrown Glacier.
However, he wasn't completely unprepared. He first had N'Zoth confirm the specific locations of those in Azeroth who might pose a threat to him, especially what Aiden was doing. Soon he received a reply—N'Zoth told the void lord, in a bad mood, that these incredibly powerful guardians were frantically slaughtering his minions.
If Dimensius didn't take action soon, they could only wait for defeat!
Hearing this answer, Dimensius finally breathed a sigh of relief. He also asked about the location of Ysera the Dreamer and learned that the Green Dragon Queen had consumed too much power chasing him down some time ago and was now sleeping in the Emerald Dream to replenish and recuperate.
Only then did Dimensius truly feel relieved.
He tentatively entered one of Dimensius's larger void rifts, carefully extracting the energy from it, and found that no one was coming to hunt him down.
After trying the second and third times, Dimensius finally felt relieved.
Since there were no traps here, what was he worried about?
Dimensius boldly drilled into the largest void rift. According to his estimation, the energy inside was enough for him to recover 70 to 80% of his injuries, at least enough to barely summon Old Gods from other worlds.
When the time came, he would see how those laughable guardians would fear and despair!
When Dimensius drilled into this void rift, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he had underestimated the energy in this void rift—it could not only allow him to recover 70 to 80%, but even if he had come here when he was first injured, he could have completely recovered all his injuries. And it might not even be able to drain the void energy inside!
Dimensius was overjoyed and immediately began to frantically extract the energy inside.
He slowly swam deeper, where the energy was purer, as if it had been refined, making it easier to absorb.
This was simply his paradise!
And just over a thousand meters below this void rift, there was an underground palace built by the nerubians of Azjol-Nerub hundreds of years ago. Now, after modifications, it was hard to see much of the nerubian style, and it was full of ethereal magical technology. All kinds of energy pipelines and huge devices were placed in the not-so-narrow underground palace, making it very crowded.
Two ethereals were gathered here, namely Nexus-Prince Haramad and Commander Ameer, the highest commander of the Protectorate forces.
They were both squeezed in front of a projection screen, which was monitoring the ethereal pipeline that extracted and converted void energy. In the monitoring, it was clear to see a huge mass of dark purple energy drilling from the void rift into the ethereal pipeline.
Even the two ethereal leaders, who had traveled countless universes, seen countless unique civilizations, and had unparalleled experience, were extremely nervous at this moment. Their hands were even trembling!
"It, it went in!" Ameer's voice was trembling, filled with uncontrollable nervousness and excitement.
"Yes, yes," Haramad nodded unconsciously in response, his eyes fixed on the screen.
Ameer's hand hovered over a red button. If ethereals could sweat, he would probably be drenched in sweat now.
"Can we press it? How much further? Should we press it now?" Ameer turned to look at Haramad. The Supreme Commander of the Protectorate now desperately wanted to press that red button, which represented the valve that would close the ethereal pipeline. At that time, the ethereal pipeline would be completely sealed, forming a special void environment—it was between reality and the Twisting Nether, which meant that Dimensius would not be able to use his phase-shifting ability to escape.
And the material of the ethereal pipeline was very special. Dimensius would not be able to destroy it from the inside in a short time. And without the ability to escape, this Devourer of Worlds would become a toothless tiger.
Dimensius had destroyed the ethereals' homeland. Now it was time for blood debt to be paid!