Moraine led his troops in pursuit, catching the spiders off guard. Some panicked spiders were quickly surrounded and eliminated by the Tauren in the valley.
Salador trailed behind the main spider force, chasing them to the cave Gale had indicated. However, he did not enter the cave, as it was the spiders' home ground, and a rash entry would only lead to an ambush.
At the same time, Kana Stealthed into another Drogbar cave. Knowing that spiders could burrow underground, he constantly paid attention to the movements beneath his feet. After every fork in the path, he would place a reconnaissance ward in a hidden spot.
Thus, after exploring the cave for over a month, he finally located Ulgineis.
During this month, Ulgineis repeatedly dispatched spiders to harass Thunder Totem and Skyreach. However, the leaders were Faceless Ones who couldn't even be considered Apostles, and even Salador could easily eliminate them.
Clearly, Ulgineis merely wanted to stall for time, preventing the allied forces from entering the cave and disrupting his plan to encircle and annihilate the Drogbar.
Unfortunately, the Drogbar were not weak.
Kana had witnessed many battles between spiders and Drogbar. The Drogbar, with physiques no weaker than the Tauren, were even tougher and thicker-skinned than the Tauren, making it difficult for the spiders' magic projectiles to penetrate their defenses. They wielded massive spiked clubs, capable of killing a spider with a single blow. If Ulgineis had not led a large number of Apostles and Faceless Ones in the attack, the Drogbar would have long since wiped out the spiders.
The Drogbar were skilled at riding underground worms. These colossal underground worms were incredibly fast and powerful, like underground dragons. The Faceless Ones had no power to resist them, and if not for the Shadow energy contained within the Faceless Ones, which repulsed the underground worms, they would likely have become food for the underground worms.
Only when facing Ulgineis did the Drogbar suffer defeats. With any losses, the Drogbar would mount their underground worms and flee, and Ulgineis was unable to catch them.
Before entering the cave, Ulgineis had planned well, but ended up greatly frustrated by the Drogbar's guerrilla tactics. With too many losses among the spiders and Faceless Ones, Ulgineis could only occupy a cave as a base, to hatch more spiders and cultivate more Faceless Ones.
Kana discovered Ulgineis's whereabouts and immediately contacted Gale via a reconnaissance ward.
Upon receiving the message, Gale immediately confirmed Kana's location. Since there were no spatial beacons, Gale could only find the nearest cave entrance and then notify Moraine and others to rendezvous.
Three days later, Moraine and Gale had assembled their army. As the strongest, Cenarius entered the cave first, followed closely by Gale and the others, heading towards Kana's position.
On the way, they encountered a Drogbar squad. Cenarius displayed extraordinary charisma, saying, "We have no intention of invading your cave. Our purpose this time is to attack the Dark Lord's base. After killing him, we will leave this place and return the cave to you."
The well-equipped Kaldorei and the powerful Tauren made the Drogbar very wary, and the imposing presence of Cenarius made them even more apprehensive.
They dared not attack the allied forces, saying, "We will report this to the Gray King."
The Drogbar rode their underground worms away, and returned less than an hour later. This time, they had gathered hundreds of people and over a dozen underground worms. Their leader, known as the Gray King, dismounted his underground worm and walked before Cenarius, saying, "Respected Sir, Turok greets you."
Cenarius said kindly, "No need for formalities, you may call me Cenarius."
Gale said, "Lord Cenarius is a Wild Demigod, a Guardian of nature. We Kaldorei and Tauren are Lord Cenarius's allies. This time we enter the cave to slay Ulgineis."
Cenarius said, "This is Lord Andu Talla, Gale Morninglight, and this is Highmountain Chieftain Moraine Highmountain."
Turok said, "The underground cave is our home. We will resist invaders to the death, and we will treat friends with courtesy. Since you have come to help us fight the Dark Lord, you are our friends."
Cenarius said, "In that case, why don't we attack the Dark Lord together?"
Turok hesitated, "I also want to eliminate the Dark Lord, but his strength is too great; we cannot face him directly."
Gale said, "We will deal with Ulgineis. You just need to clear out the other Faceless Ones and spiders."
Turok nodded, "Understood. As long as you can hold off the Dark Lord, we will come to help you after clearing out the spiders."
Gale's eyes flickered, but considering the Gray King's dignity, he didn't say much more.
Cenarius smiled and said, "We will."
Thus, the Drogbar also joined the team. Gale did not make the Tauren and Drogbar relinquish command. Their command systems differed from the Kaldorei's, and forcing them together would only lead to command confusion; it was better for them to fight independently.
Furthermore, Moraine and Turok would not trust Salador's command abilities, as he had not demonstrated exceptional leadership talent.
Soon, they arrived near Ulgineis's base, and Kana emerged from the shadows.
"The base is surrounded by numerous passages and has complex terrain. Inside, the base is very open, with Ulgineis in the center, allowing him to oversee the entire area. A frontal assault by a regular army would likely be met with his counterattack. If we attempt a surprise attack, we would have to face a large number of spiders and Faceless Ones."
Turok said, "We can let the underground worms attack first. Their speed is fast, they can quickly rout the spider army, and disrupt the Dark Lord's army formation. Then we can all rush in and definitely break through to the Dark Lord's side."
Gale glanced at Cenarius, who smiled and nodded, "That's fine, but there's no need to break through to the Dark Lord's side. Just disrupting the enemy's formation will be enough."
Turok asked, somewhat uncertainly, "Is that all it takes?"
"That's all it takes!" Cenarius nodded affirmingly.
"Alright!" Turok said no more, but everyone could clearly see that he didn't quite believe in Cenarius's strength.
Gale put the Reaver's Scythe on his back, took out Nash's Fang and the eternal holy grail, and handed them to Metri. He himself equipped Aggramar's Shield and the devourer of gods.
"Alright! Everyone move to your designated positions. The underground worms' attack will be the signal to launch a full-scale assault."
"Yes!"
Salador and the others immediately responded in a low voice, then silently organized their equipment and moved in batches towards the various passages.
Moraine also waved, signaling the Tauren to follow.
Seeing this scene, Turok could no longer say anything and instructed the Drogbar to lead the underground worms to the base entrance, beginning preparations for the attack.