Gul'dan's glowing eyes locked onto the Ancient One.
He was intrigued by this strange human woman, her soul emitted a strange energy, twisted and contradictory. He could sense traces of darkness… not unlike his own fel power.
But he had no time to explore her further.
His mission was not yet complete.
And his time in this world was running out.
With a grin that could silence a battlefield and terrify infants into tears, Gul'dan raised his clawed hand. The mark he'd planted in her soul glowed faintly behind her ribcage.
'We will meet again,' he thought. 'I'll be back, not just for you… but for the army this world will give me.'
Then, with a wave of his hand, a massive fel scythe burst into existence, its jagged blade glowing with green fire.
With a single swing, he cleaved the Mirror Dimension apart like parchment.
Reality snapped.
Glass-like shards of warped space cracked around him and dissolved into nothing.
The Ancient One stood frozen, horrified.
"That… That's impossible…" she whispered.
No sling ring. No external anchor.
He'd destroyed a dimension she had full control over with just a gesture.
The fear that gripped her now was unlike anything she'd ever known.
Gul'dan didn't even spare her another glance.
To him, it was nothing more than swatting away a fly.
With eerie calm, he climbed back onto his mutated Leviathan.
He tapped it gently with his bone staff.
The fel-infused beast groaned, and slowly passed through the Dark Portal.
As the last of its grotesque, armored body vanished, the portal began to shrink… and finally sank into the ruins of the city.
Gul'dan, the feared warlock of another world, had finally left.
But the scar he carved into Earth's soul would remain.
…
Inside the grocery store, Luke leaned forward in his chair, staring at the monitor.
Even though Gul'dan was gone from this world, the system still showed the battle unfolding in space.
He could see Gul'dan riding atop the monstrous Leviathan as it emerged on the other side of the portal, now in deep space.
Waiting for him was his full army of fel-infused soldiers.
Thousands of undead Chitauri stood silently.
And among them, the fifty Super Soldiers who had been transformed by his fel power riding atop Leviathans, they didn't seem to have any trouble surviving in the void of space.
Floating above the Chitauri homeworld, they awaited orders.
And then, Gul'dan raised his staff.
The assault began.
…
Inside the Chitauri mothership, chaos reigned.
The Other, the current leader of the Chitauri, watched the battle unfold in stunned horror.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
"This world was supposed to fall easily…" he muttered. "How could this happen…?"
Earth was backward, too primitive to put any strong resistance, too fragile.
How could a single being destroy an entire army?
Even worse, how had he followed them into space?
From the bridge window, he could now see the green-glowing army approaching fast.
Their own dead, raised to fight against them.
Panic gripping his chest, The Other had only one option left.
He activated a secure line, and called his master.
After a moment of static, a shadowy figure appeared on a massive display screen.
The image was unclear, distorted by distance, but the voice that spoke was unmistakably deep, cold, and commanding.
"What is it?"
The Other dropped to one knee, trembling.
"M-Master, forgive me! We are under attack, by a single being! He has destroyed my army, taken control of our dead, and now... he is here!"
There was a long pause.
"One being?"
The voice was filled with contempt.
"You let one creature destroy you?"
The Other lowered his head. "Please… send help! If we don't act now, he'll wipe us out!"
But the voice on the screen only chuckled, a low, cold sound that sent chills through the control room.
"You are worthless."
And the screen went black.
Abandoned.
The Other stared in disbelief.
His master had left them to die.
And outside, the fel army approached his doorstep like a plague.
…
Back in the grocery store, Luke's eyes stayed fixed on the screen as the Chitauri mothership began to break apart.
The fel-infused Leviathans rammed into its hull.
Waves of undead crashed through its corridors.
Explosions lit up the void of space like fireworks.
Then, the system alert appeared:
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for in-depth participation in the Battle of New York. 100% Completion achieved, another 5 points have been awarded.]
[Ding! Time is up. The fifth-level summoned creature "Fel Warlock Gul'dan" has returned to his original world.]
The screen shimmered.
The battle vanished.
Luke was back in the game menu for World of Warcraft.
His character still stood in Gul'dan's raid room. The other players were still present, unmoving.
And now, the boss who had disappeared an hour ago… was back.
Gul'dan stood on his pedestal again, as if nothing had happened.
And the chat box exploded:
"Bro… I swear I just saw Gul'dan on the news."
"Same here! On Twitter and like three Discord servers!"
"That can't be the same Gul'dan. It's just a video game character!"
"You guys are nuts. It's probably some viral marketing stunt."
"You're all missing the point. ALIENS. IN. NEW. YORK. My apartment is in the periphery and we heard the whole thing!"
"Fake news. Or a movie set. Probably both."
"That 'Gul'dan' thing looked real. I don't care if it's from a game or not. I saw that green monster on five different streams."
Luke just chuckled and typed in the chat box: "Forget all that. The Boss is back. Are we still raiding or not?"
…