Outside Ulduar, Steel Vrykul and Steel Dwarf patrols were moving in a tense yet orderly fashion.
They were vigilant, examining any anomaly immediately.
From a distant mountaintop, Gale and Alexstrasza observed the scene.
"It seems Loken has indeed reinforced his defenses."
Alexstrasza said, "That doesn't mean Loken has discovered Freya's plan. He might just be guarding against an attack on Ulduar, which is why he's made his soldiers more vigilant."
Gale replied, "That's possible, but we can no longer place our hopes on Freya."
Alexstrasza looked at him, "What do you plan to do?"
Gale stared at Ulduar's tightly shut gates, "We need to find a way to trick them open."
After a moment of thought, he pulled out a communication crystal, "Heimdall, take the Dragon Knights, along with the Ice Vrykul and Frost Giants, and attack The Creation Platform."
"Understood!"
Heimdall put down the communication crystal, tugged on Viranus's reins, and as he took flight, pointed his Valarjar war sword towards The Creation Platform, "By His Majesty's command, follow me to attack!"
The Valarjar Dragon Knights ascended, following Heimdall.
Near The Creation Platform, Aisley and Yokum were already in position, awaiting Gale's signal.
The moment the Dragon Knights appeared in the sky, they immediately rose from their hiding spots.
Yokum shouted loudly, "Dannifernres! Now is the time for us to reclaim our homeland, for Hodir!"
"For Hodir!"
"For Hodir—"
The Frost Giants were the first to charge up the steps, attacking the Steel Vrykul guarding The Creation Platform. Behind them, the Ice Vrykul, accompanied by white bears, followed closely.
They ran swiftly, throwing their javelins, initiating the first wave of attack. As the Steel Vrykul prepared to counter, the javelins disrupted their formation.
At that moment, the Valarjar Dragon Knights swooped down, their dragon breaths scorching the Steel Vrykul ranks hundreds of times over, as if it cost them nothing. Unable to withstand the dragon breath's searing heat, the Steel Vrykul suffered heavy casualties.
No sooner had the dragon breath attack ended than the Frost Giants charged into their midst. The remaining Steel Vrykul, already battle-scarred, were no match for the Frost Giants.
Yokum twisted off the head of the last Steel Vrykul, went to the north side of The Creation Platform, and forcefully threw the head down.
The head rolled continuously, finally stopping at the feet of a patrolling squad of Steel Dwarf.
"For Hodir!"
The shouts from The Creation Platform panicked the Steel Dwarf, who immediately rushed back to Ulduar to report.
Gale and Alexstrasza watched the squad of Steel Dwarf race towards Ulduar's gates, and the moment the gates opened, Gale summoned the Rainbow Bridge.
"Enemy attack!"
The guards at Ulduar's gates immediately shouted, clearly recognizing the Rainbow Bridge.
As the Rainbow Bridge dissipated, Alexstrasza transformed back into her dragon form, incinerating all the guards near the gates with a single breath of fire.
Gale, with the eternal spear in his left hand and Mjolnir in his right, summoned the Rainbow Bridge and lightning, eliminating all enemies who dared to come as reinforcements.
"Charge!"
The Alliance Army, ambushed in the snowy plains, immediately sprang out and charged towards Ulduar's gates.
The Red Dragons arrived first, slaying the returning guards along the way, then rushing through Ulduar's gates to help the two resist the enemies inside.
Draksa, Huln Highmountain, Hothman Thoridan, and others also led their armies, and after entering the gates, they occupied advantageous terrain and set up a defensive perimeter.
The guards activated their war machines, intending to eliminate all intruders.
At this moment, Gale, swinging the Miao Miao Hammer, flew into the sky, summoning endless lightning to strike the war machines. The powerful lightning burned out the war machines' energy cores; some cores directly detonated, destroying the war machines.
"Clang, clang, clang—"
A deafening sound of mechanical footsteps echoed, and a towering war machine emerged from within. It spewed flames in all directions, blocking everyone's path.
Several giant dragons charged forward, completely unafraid of the scorching flames. However, they were met with steel-like claws that wounded them.
Alexstrasza flew over, catching Gale, "Do you have a way to deal with it?"
"Of course!"
As Alexstrasza drew near, Gale hurled the eternal spear.
The eternal spear transformed into a rainbow, piercing through the body of the flame beast. The seven divine powers within it erupted, instantly turning the flame beast into a pile of scrap metal.
Such large machinery, without the protection of titan runes, could easily be destroyed.
Alexstrasza continued flying, quickly reaching the training grounds. On the training grounds, squads of Steel Vrykul and Steel Dwarf were assembling, preparing for a counterattack.
Upon seeing Alexstrasza fly in, they immediately launched an attack.
There were numerous cannons on the training grounds, and all of them unleashed a volley at Alexstrasza. If hit, Alexstrasza would at least be severely injured, if not killed.
Facing a hail of cannonballs, Alexstrasza had nowhere to hide. Left with no choice, she transformed back into her human form and rapidly descended with Gale, thus evading the barrage.
Mid-air, Gale raised the Miao Miao Hammer high and slammed it into the ground.
"Boom!"
A clap of thunder echoed, and countless bolts of lightning spread outwards, instantly clearing out all enemies within a hundred-yard radius.
As he stood up, he controlled the lightning to blast a path forward. He called out to Alexstrasza, "Let's go!"
Alexstrasza immediately followed, running forward while casting spells. A pair of massive dragon wings appeared out of thin air, sweeping away enemies on both sides.
Beyond the training grounds, the two quickly arrived at the teleportation device.
"This is the teleporter; through it, we can reach Ulduar's antechamber."
Gale activated the teleporter, and he and Alexstrasza vanished from sight.
When they reappeared, they were in a different location.
"Is this the antechamber?"
Alexstrasza nodded, "Yes, this is the antechamber, exactly as Freya showed me in her vision."
She pointed to the passage ahead: "Through there, we can enter Ulduar's interior. From right to left are Hodir's Wintergrasp, Torim's Thunderdome, Freya's Conservatory of Life, Mimiron's Spark of Imagination, and the Hall of Memories leading to Yogg-Saron's prison."
"Where's Loken? Where is he?"
Gale asked, Loken was the key to this war.
Alexstrasza shook her head; she didn't know either.
A golden light flashed in Gale's eyes, and he handed her a beacon crystal, "You take this crystal and go find Freya and the others. If you encounter danger, activate the crystal, and I will come immediately."
"You're not coming with me?" Alexstrasza asked, surprised.
"I need to go back and check."
Gale said, "If I were Loken, I would definitely launch a surprise attack on the others, first recapturing the gates to trap the enemies within Ulduar, and then slowly finding ways to kill them all. Once everyone else is dead, and only the two of us are left, it will be much easier to deal with."
At the same time, on the training grounds, Loken appeared at some unknown moment.
He raised his hand and bestowed blessings upon the Steel Vrykul and Steel Dwarf, enhancing their strength. Pointing at the Alliance Army, he commanded, "Kill them all!"
Note:
Happy Lunar New Year 2026!
First of all, I want to express my sincere gratitude to all of you for always being by my side and supporting me throughout this journey.
To ensure the quality of upcoming stories, I've decided to take a week off during the Lunar New Year (February 15th to 22nd) to rest and spend time with my family.
I will return on February 23rd, 2026. During this break, I will prepare many new chapters to post regularly upon my return. So please look forward to it!
Wishing you a warm, joyful, and wonderful holiday season!