Vem unexpectedly died from his father's revenge attack; Lord Kree, having lost his wife and son within a minute, completely succumbed to despair.
"Roar!"
Fandral's powerful claw strike heavily slammed onto Lord Kree's head. The Doom Guard, having lost its will to live, made no attempt to dodge, and its head was twisted 360 degrees by the bear paw.
"Sigh~" Andreas sighed, saying, "A family should always be together; rest in peace on your journey."
With the death of the three blessings, the miscellaneous Qiraji summoned by Princess Yauj were also quickly cleared out.
Although there were many branching paths in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, these paths were so narrow that only one or two people could pass through at a time.
Andreas ignored all the branching paths, allowing the elite squad that had entered the temple to continue along the widest main thoroughfare.
Leaving the Hall of the three blessings, the passage continued to extend deep underground, maintaining a gentle slope.
As they gradually entered the depths of the temple, the disgusting arthropod constructs of the hive began to decrease, replaced by the main temple architecture constructed from obsidian. This should be the core area of C'Thun's prison.
During their descent underground, the Night Elves and Tol'vir allied forces successively killed two large Qiraji that looked very similar.
Andreas flipped through the memo in his small notebook and roughly guessed the names of these two relatively powerful Qiraji.
The tenacious Fankriss and Kurinnaxx, but I just don't know which one is which.
Meanwhile, the Zandalar and Tauren allied forces on another path successively killed Buru the Gorger and Ayamiss the Hunter.
Now standing before them was an Obsidian Destroyer with more vibrant coloring, and behind it floated a large green flying Qiraji accompanied by hundreds of Qiraji guards.
If Andreas were to see these two, he should be able to recall their names from the memo: Moam and Princess Huhuran.
On Andreas' side, they encountered a large group of high-ranking Qiraji, numbering nearly a thousand, dressed in silk clothes and wearing veils.
The largest Qiraji, dressed in white, was in command. This obsidian passage should lead to the Ahn''Qiraj Royal Palace.
Upon seeing the approach of the allied elites, General Sartura immediately commanded her subordinates through the hive network to launch an attack.
"Swish!"
Hundreds of high-ranking Qiraji, serving as royal guards, charged simultaneously, a truly spectacular sight. The unprepared vanguard of the allied forces was thrown into chaos.
These royal guards were the elite of the Qiraji Empire's elite; each possessed considerable strength and was proficient in various warrior skills.
General Sartura, leading them, was even more formidable, skillfully using abilities like Bladestorm, Sunder Armor, Mortal Strike, and Recklessness.
Leticia and Vastann, who were fighting her, couldn't find an opportunity to counterattack for a while, completely suppressed in rhythm by her preemptive momentum.
Including Nefarian and Onyxia, and other young adult dragons, everyone on the battlefield found their enemies and engaged in combat, except for Andreas, who stood at the back with his eyes closed, frowning deeply.
'The atmosphere isn't right. Where is this intense sense of crisis coming from?'
Ever since entering the obsidian passage, everyone with sharper senses, including Andreas, had felt an unspeakable sense of oppression.
Generals like Laynella and Vastann regarded this feeling as a hallucination caused by mental excitement and emotional tension before the final battle.
But Andreas and Shandris didn't think so. Fandral also vaguely sensed something was off, but at this moment, while fighting, he also had to protect his beloved son, so he couldn't spare too much energy to pay attention to his surroundings.
"Your Majesty Malygos, do you feel anything?"
Malygos stood at the very back, arms crossed, leaning against the wall. Hearing Andreas' question, he shrugged and said, "Who knows, maybe it really is your imagination."
'I'd be crazy to believe you.'
Although Malygos' expression still seemed relaxed, Andreas could feel his vigilance gradually increasing; clearly, the Blue Dragon Aspect had long since noticed that something was amiss.
'Twin Emperors, let me see what other traps you've laid.'
After ten thousand years of reconstruction by the Qiraji Empire, the internal structure of the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj had long been unrecognizable; even Loken, who built this prison, might not recognize the way.
At the end of the passage where they were fighting the royal guards, a large, tightly closed black pyramid could be vaguely seen. The Twin Emperors inside seemed completely unconcerned about the battle happening outside.
'Are they monitoring through the hive network? Or perhaps...'
Considering that Anub'Rekhan had not yet appeared, Andreas had a rough guess in his mind.
Although General Sartura fought bravely, she alone could not defeat the many powerful enemies who were her equals or even superior in strength.
Leticia and the others gradually regained their rhythm after enduring Sartura's initial onslaught, and the situation began to reverse.
Meanwhile, after gradually familiarizing themselves with the attack patterns of the royal guards, the equally elite Night Elves and Tol'vir began to plan their counterattack.
Just as the allied forces were gaining momentum and the situation was becoming clear, two massive hidden doors suddenly opened on both sides of the obsidian passage. Two enormous Qiraji, leading hundreds of Anub'Rekhan, charged out from within, neatly cutting off the allied forces' formation.
"Boom!"
The first wave of Anub'Rekhan swung their stone swords down onto the ground. Many of the unprepared allied soldiers in the rear were sent flying by the immense force of the Anub'Rekhan's impact, only stopping when they hit the surrounding rock walls.
While the Night Elves and Tol'vir allied forces were in disarray, the Twin Emperors slowly emerged from behind the Anub'Rekhan.
Emperor Veknilash, the Sword Emperor, was the first to adopt a haughty posture and mock contemptuously, "Arrogant invaders, daring to boldly trespass into our base. You didn't expect us to have ambushed you here, did you?"
Emperor Vek'lor, the Sorcerer Emperor, raised his staff and loudly commanded, "Let the corpses of you high-ranking elites serve as a warning to the invaders outside the temple! Kill! Leave no survivors!"
However, an awkward situation occurred. The Anub'Rekhan, who had previously obeyed orders, suddenly seemed to lose connection, all standing still and unmoving.
Veknilash asked in surprise, "What's wrong? Ossirian, give the order quickly."
A wisp of blue Arcane light suddenly flashed in the eyes of Anub'Rekhan 001, who was called Ossirian.
"Anub'Rekhan all units self-check complete. Agent of the Storm Keepers, please issue instructions."
Andreas let out a slight sigh of relief, "It's good that we made it in time. So then…"
Looking playfully at the Twin Emperors, whose expressions had suddenly changed, Andreas said with a mischievous grin, "What did that Emperor Ve-something say just now? Kill! Leave no survivors!"
The two emperors, Veknilash and Vek'lor, were momentarily stunned by this sudden turn of events.
"Your wish is my command!"
After Ossirian accepted the command, he turned around and swept his sword, and Veknilash narrowly managed to block the attack with the Greatsword in his hand.
At the same time, the Anub'Rekhan surrounding the Allied Forces also reversed direction, charging into the formation of the Qiraji Royal Guards and slaughtering them rampantly.
Sartura was completely unprepared for the betrayal of the Anub'Rekhan. She barely managed to dodge a hammer blow from behind, only for another Anub'Rekhan on her flank to swing a Great Axe, splitting her in half at the waist.
Sartura's tragic fate was merely a microcosm of the battlefield. Even the Princes and Emperors were thrown into chaos when the Anub'Rekhan who were "personally guarding" them revolted, let alone their Royal Guards.
The shift in the battle confused the Allied Forces soldiers. Shandris saw that there were no more enemies to kill nearby, so she swiftly moved through the crowd and landed next to Andreas.
"You're behind this again, aren't you? How did you manage to incite the Anub'Rekhan to defect?"
Andreas was currently watching the show. The Twin Emperors, surrounded by a large group of Anub'Rekhan, were in a desperate state. No matter how Veknilash swung his Greatsword, charging left and right, he couldn't find an opening to break out.
Emperor Veklor was even more hard-pressed. the staff in his hand was unexpectedly cut down by Ossirian, forcing him to rely only on a Magical Shield to barely avoid being defeated.
In a one-on-one fight, the Princes and Emperors would have no problem defeating any single Anub'Rekhan, including Ossirian, their leader.
If they had been prepared, fighting ten against one would certainly have been possible, not to mention fighting a hundred against one, and if they couldn't win, they could always run.
But because they never expected the Anub'Rekhan, personally corrupted by C'Thun, to betray them, the Twin Emperors were undoubtedly trapped in a Death Trap, with virtually no chance of breaking the deadlock.
"Heh~"
While enjoying the sight of the haughty Twin Emperors struggling in their death throes, Andreas chuckled and explained to Shandris.
"You probably didn't know this, but these Anub'Rekhan aren't what the Qiraji claim them to be—some creation of the Twin Emperors. They were originally the jailers guarding C'Thun."
"During the tens of thousands of years of watchfulness after Loken departed, the Anub'Rekhan were defeated and captured by the Qiraji who migrated here from the north, and were personally corrupted by C'Thun, who had just begun to break free from his seal."
"However, that fool C'Thun made a huge mistake. In order to preserve the Anub'Rekhan's original formidable Combat Strength, he did not use the flesh curse to devolve these Stone Giants, and thus retained the Titan Construct's Mind Reset Function."
During the great war against the Dark Empire, countless Titan Constructs were easily corrupted by the Old Gods at their peak, causing them to switch sides on the battlefield.
Since then, the Titan Keepers, having learned their lesson, added a Mind Reset Backdoor Program to all Titan Constructs when they were manufactured.
Once a Titan Construct's Intelligence Program was corrupted by an Old God, the Titan Keepers commanding them could easily restart the corrupted individuals, allowing them to regain clarity.
However, this method only works on the Original Version of the Titan Constructs. Once they are eroded by the flesh curse, devolving into flesh and blood bodies, the Intelligence Program integrates into the body, becoming a new soul, and the Preventative Measures prepared by the Titan Keepers become ineffective.
"You probably guessed it—I successfully rebooted that batch of Anub'Rekhan during the previous war between the Dragon Race and the Qiraji Empire's Construct Army."
"Fortunately, among the rebooted Anub'Rekhan was their Command Tower, Anub'Rekhan 001—Ossirian. So..."
Andreas shrugged, and the quick-witted Shandris immediately deduced the subsequent developments.
"So you exploited the Qiraji's blind trust in the hive network, deliberately having Ossirian pretend that nothing had happened, and retreat to the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj alongside the surviving High-Ranking Qiraji from the Zora Hive."
"Then Ossirian became a Ticking Time Bomb hidden among the Anub'Rekhan units. As the Command Tower, he could suddenly reboot the Mental Programs of all the Anub'Rekhan at the most critical moment and control them to turn against the Twin Emperors and attack them?"
"Exactly."
Andreas leisurely pointed toward the battlefield with his chin. "Look, the battle is almost over. Poor Twin Emperors. Although the hive network deployed by C'Thun is useful, as long as one figures out a way to circumvent it beforehand, misleading you blindly trusting fools isn't difficult."
Andreas and Shandris did not lower their voices. After the Royal Guards were completely annihilated, the only sounds remaining on the battlefield were those of the Anub'Rekhan and the Twin Emperors fighting.
In this spacious Obsidian Passage, sound traveled easily, and everyone heard their conversation clearly.
The Twin Emperors, already at a disadvantage and now overwhelmed by shock and fury, lost all composure in their movements.
The Anub'Rekhan are Titan Constructs. As long as they are free from C'Thun's corruption, their minds are not easily swayed by external forces.
Ossirian seized a moment when Veknilash's defensive posture faltered slightly, rapidly striking with his left fist, which was not holding a sword, slamming directly into Veknilash's left cheek.
"Ugh!"
Veknilash saw stars from the punch. Even his body, constantly strengthened by C'Thun's Dark Power infusion over the years, could not withstand Ossirian's heavy blow.
The Twin Emperors' hive network connection was tighter than that of the other Qiraji, as C'Thun's hive network was originally developed based on the Life Link between them.
Sensing the sudden pain suffered by Veknilash, Veklor was distracted and glanced over, and that single glance became the straw that broke the camel's back.
One of the Dog-Headed Anub'Rekhan struck with a sword, slicing off half of the distracted Veklor's head. Veknilash, who was linked to Veklor by the Life Link, instantly suffered severe damage as well.
Ossirian raised his sword and brought it down onto Veknilash's shoulder; the enormous Stone Sword cleaved Veknilash's lifeless body into two halves.
With the death of the Twin Emperors, who served as the Hub of the hive network, the Qiraji still stubbornly resisting in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj completely lost their drive.
Having grown accustomed to the hive network connecting them, suddenly losing this convenient communication method made them feel as though their bodies had become sluggish.
The Zandalar and Tauren Allied Forces were less affected by this, because the enemies they faced were no longer the Qiraji, but the Old God Elite Forces led by the Faceless Ones.
After defeating Moam and Princess Huhuran with the help of the two loa, Paku and Tokali, the Zandalar and Tauren, who had taken a different route, found C'Thun's Prison one step ahead of Andreas and the others.
A thick Dark Aura spilled out from the sealed hall. Even the two loa were inevitably affected, their Combat Strength greatly reduced, and people in the team were occasionally driven mad by C'Thun's increasingly clear Whispers.
Just at this critical juncture, the great door confining C'Thun opened, and a massive Flesh Mound protruding from the ground appeared before everyone. A small number of Faceless Ones who had arrived with the Qiraji ten thousand years ago also swarmed out.
While the Zandalar and Tauren were caught unprepared facing C'Thun's elite guards, Andreas was inspecting the Twin Emperors' corpses. He casually swiped the impressive, stylish two-handed sword from Veklor's hand.
Andreas vaguely remembered that this sword was called Kalimdor's Revenge. He had spent three consecutive weeks farming Ahn'Qiraj for its transmogrification, and thankfully, it dropped after three weeks.
"Boom!"
A violent tremor suddenly came from the floor below, and the allied forces, including Andreas, quickly grabbed nearby sturdy objects to stabilize themselves.
Malygos' expression grew solemn. Even separated by one floor, he could sense the dark aura emanating from underground.
"Andreas, after you rescue the Zandalar and Tauren, you had best have those who lack strength evacuate immediately."
Malygos reminded him solemnly, "The battle against the Old Gods is not something ordinary Mortals can interfere with. Those whose minds are not firm will certainly have their spiritual weaknesses seized upon and attacked by the Old Gods until they are completely corrupted."
Andreas turned his head to look at Shandris and the others following behind him.
Including Shandris and Leticia Yuege, all the high-level combatants present had some degree of spiritual trauma and vulnerability.
Shandris and Leticia Yuege both lost their parents in childhood. Lunara had just lost her elder brother Zalthar. Laynella, even more so, had lost a large number of relatives and friends during the War of the Ancients, banishing herself to the Emerald Dream for thousands of years.
Fandral Staghelm, however, had a happy family life, but his greatest weakness was his doting love for his child. C'Thun only needed to conjure a scene of Vastann suffering to completely drive him mad.
Neferset's obsession had stretched for over ten thousand years. Andreas couldn't be sure if Kiljaeden had truly let go in his heart, so it was best not to let him come into contact with the Old Gods.
"Ah~"
Thinking about it this way, it seemed there were truly few Mortals who could resist C'Thun's whispers.
Including the Zandalar and Tauren, the number certainly wouldn't exceed five, and due to their personal strength, they probably wouldn't even be qualified to join this battle.
Mortal races possess all sorts of desires and worries. If Andreas wasn't relying on Elune's protection, he wouldn't dare say he could definitely withstand C'Thun's temptation.
On the Dragon side, Malygos personally led the team, and Kalecgos and Nefarian, who had too many thoughts, were excluded from the team first.
Onyxia considered for a moment. She wasn't confident in herself either, so she finally withdrew voluntarily and joined Leticia Yuege, chattering about plans for after the war... Only Leticia Yuege could be so carefree as to bypass the topic of C'Thun. Everyone else, including Shandris, wore an anxious expression.
"Don't worry about me."
Andreas kissed Shandris on the forehead and pointed to the tear of Elune at the tip of the ganir staff.
"Elune is always watching over me. She won't allow her kin to be corrupted by a mere Old God."
'Mere Old God'—this contemptuous title wasn't uttered by Andreas, but by Elune herself, who had finally re-established contact with the Material World the year before last.
Given her status, she could naturally express contempt for the Old Gods, but these powerful creatures that parasitize planets are completely unconquerable beings for Mortals.
Even when facing the Old Gods, weakened countless times by the Titans' seals, one must be extremely cautious. Andreas didn't want his friends and family to be contaminated by the Old Gods' whispers.
"Mm, I know."
Shandris seized the brief farewell time, resting her forehead against Andreas' for a moment of tenderness.
"I will wait for you outside the temple. You must remember, Aurora and Celeste are also waiting for your return. Do not submit to the illusions woven by the Old Gods."
... Since Anub'Rekhan had already been corrupted before, Andreas did not plan to let them go inside and suffer another ordeal. If there was another defection during the battle, the already chaotic scene would likely become uncontrollable.
The Aspects were personally led by Malygos... To be honest, Andreas was actually quite worried that Malygos himself might be corrupted by the Old Gods, as his mind also had vulnerabilities.
Malygos saw Andreas' hesitation. "Don't worry, as an Aspect, I have the protection of the Titans' power. C'Thun cannot corrupt me in a short time."
The Blue Dragonflight was led by Malygos, fighting alongside Arygos. The Red Dragon was Kaelestraz, the Green Dragon was Maiev Na Shara, the Bronze Dragonflight was Anachronos, and the Black Dragon was Ebysian. Those qualified to participate in the final battle were the most elite royal members among the Aspects.
When Andreas, Malygos, and the others cautiously passed through the elevator behind the Twin Emperors' throne to reach the bottom floor, the scene was already one of utter chaos.
Zandalar Prophet Gongala still maintained his sanity and was working hard to maintain order.
Although Army Commander Debixi and loa High Priest Babik looked somewhat strained, they were still relatively normal. However, War Druid A'jiel was attacking his companions with a look of fanaticism.
The Tauren are inherently resilient. Whether they were Kalimdor Tauren or Tauren from Highmountain, their formation remained the most intact. It was thanks to these Tauren holding off the Faceless Ones' attacks at the front that the formation of this elite unit was not instantly broken.
Among the investigation team sent by Dalaran, over a dozen people instantly turned on their companions. These 50 mages were currently performing a classic human-style internal strife drama.
The obsession with reviving the Great Troll Empire was deeply rooted in the souls of all Zandalari Trolls. The only difference was that some could control the unrealistic delusion, while others easily revealed their true nature when provoked.
Approximately one-third of the Zandalar elite were tempted by C'Thun. Since they had experience dealing with the artificial Old God Ghuun many years ago, Gongala showed no mercy to these compatriots who already had spiritual vulnerabilities.
With a somewhat somber expression, he gave the ruthless command to kill all "sources of contamination," ensuring they could not return to Dazaralor and infect other Zandalar compatriots.
Approaching the final confrontation, Malygos stopped holding back. In the spacious hall, he reverted to his true Dragon form. His dazzling Arcane Dragon Breath instantly purified most of the low-level Faceless Ones, and the other Dragons followed suit, joining the 'ground-clearing' force.
The largest Faceless One General was confronted by Andreas.
The Faceless One General, accustomed to using Shadow Magic to attack the enemy's heart, felt an absurd sensation: this seemingly weak Mortal actually held an overwhelming advantage in the spiritual battle.
For a moment, the Faceless One General doubted C'Thun's authority, believing the Mortal before him was the true master most suitable for him.
Although it was only for an instant, it was enough to terrify the Faceless One General.
Andreas seized the vulnerability that appeared due to the opponent's spiritual fluctuation, abruptly increased the intensity of the Shadow Power's Mind Shock, and instantly wiped the opponent's filthy soul clean.
The Faceless One General, whose soul had been zeroed out, did not immediately fall. His body was still alive, but he simply stood motionless in place.
Having lost protection from the outside world, this nameless Faceless One General was soon purified by Malygos' Arcane Dragon Breath as well.
Malygos, maintaining his Dragon form, watched the Mortal army, whose internal strife had not yet ended, with majesty.
"Leave here immediately. The coming battle is not one you can face. Go wait for our good news outside the temple."
Although Prophet Gongala was somewhat unwilling, just as Malygos said, Mortals today cannot directly look upon the Old Gods, even C'Thun while he is still sealed.
Dorn and Yameng were quite straightforward; upon hearing Malygos' persuasion, they immediately and tactfully led the remaining troops to evacuate.
Compared to the steadfast Tauren and the iron-willed Zandalar, the Dalaran Investigative Team, which has always championed liberalism, was the slowest to act.
They were consistently unable to strike hard against their corrupted compatriots, and by holding back, even their numerical advantage made it difficult to quickly subdue these confused lunatics.
After the Tauren and Zandalar had evacuated the passage, Malygos waited another minute, but the group of Dalaran Mages were still there, tacitly stalling.
C'Thun was watching menacingly from a cell not far away, and Malygos was already feeling irritable. These indecisive Human Mages finally made him lose patience.
"Enough!"
An area-of-effect Arcane Blast struck the center of the two groups of mages, the violent Arcane shock disorienting everyone present.
Too lazy to waste words on these Humans calling themselves an investigative team, a portal leading to Dalaran appeared beneath the mages' feet, and Malygos directly tossed them back to their city, regardless of whether they were friend or foe.
"Hoo~"
After calming his irritated emotions, Malygos finally regained his composure.
"Andreas, are you ready?"
"Although C'Thun has not yet broken free from the Titan Keepers' seal, the difficulty of this battle will absolutely be the greatest you have ever encountered."
"When facing C'Thun's attacks in the Material World, you also need to divide your attention to block his infiltration of your soul. A momentary lapse could lead you to slide into the Endless Abyss."
Andreas slowly nodded, "I know. I will constantly monitor my mental state."
Malygos then turned his head and looked at the young Dragonkin around him, "The same goes for all of you. If you detect any fluctuations in your mind, immediately withdraw from the battlefield."
"This is the only warning I will give. If I discover any abnormal behavior from you, I will consider it a precursor to corruption by C'Thun. No matter who shows abnormality, I will attack without mercy. The same applies if you notice any strange behavior from me."
"Don't think I'm joking. Commit this to memory!"
Including Arygos, the future hopes of the Five Great Dragon Aspects felt a chill in their hearts. "Yes!"
"Very well, let's go!"
...Guardian of Magic Malygos took the lead into the Prison Hall where C'Thun was located. Countless energy-form golden chains tightly bound the eyeball tentacles that C'Thun had extended from the ground.
Only the largest central eyeball, growing from the core area, could move, its rolling eye extremely unsettling. Andreas and the others felt a sense of dread as soon as they entered the hall.
According to the Titans' scientific explanation, the Old Gods are called Light/Dark Sensitive Parasites, which are "lottery tickets" the void lords scatter across the universe like seeds, hoping for luck.
The void lords hope these parasites can be lucky enough to implant themselves into a planet possessing a Titan world-soul, corrupt it before the world-soul matures, and give birth to an incomparably powerful Void Titan.
But until today, due to Sargeras' efforts at "purification," no planet has ever birthed a Void Titan.
Following the idea of casting a long line to catch a big fish, the void lords do not rush the actions of the countless Old Gods they have disseminated.
Time is meaningless to beings like the void lords; as long as they ultimately achieve their goal, waiting hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, is irrelevant.
The first planet that showed promise of birthing a Void Titan was "luckily" encountered by Sargeras. This planet, which he cleaved in two, was the culprit that caused Sargeras' ideas to gradually become extreme.
Sargeras believed that destroying all parasitized planets was the only way to free the universe from the void lords' clutches. After discussions with the Pantheon yielded no results, the obstinate Sargeras simply gathered a group of demons he had imprisoned in the Shattered World of Mardum and started fighting on his own.
And the second planet possessing a Titan world-soul and parasitized by Old Gods is Azeroth, where Andreas and the others live.
According to the Titan Keepers' descriptions, Azeroth's potential is unmatched by any "currently existing" Titan.
The Pantheon believed that if the azeroth world-soul could grow up healthy, she would certainly become a crucial force against the Void powers.
Therefore, the Pantheon focused their attention on Azeroth. They infused their power into the Keepers, allowing these Keepers to help Azeroth grow in place of the Titans who could not enter the planet.
However, with the complete destruction of the Pantheon, their plans were thrown into chaos.
Loken, upon learning of the Pantheon's demise, was the first to lose his fighting spirit. He abandoned his noble duties and fell into self-doubt.
Following Loken's departure, his creations—the Mogu, Tol'vir, and Anub'Rekhan—successively encountered problems, but there was no Great Guardian left to answer their questions.
Coincidentally, at this time, Loken of Ulduar was also corrupted and fell due to Yogg-Saron. The Forge of Wills and the Forge of Wills, located in the south and north respectively, ceased operation one after the other, halting the rapid growth of the azeroth world-soul. The Old Gods took the opportunity to accumulate strength within their prisons.
C'Thun waited tens of thousands of years beneath Silithius. He personally witnessed the destruction of the Dark Empire and the great power displayed when the Titans killed YShaarj.
C'Thun knew he couldn't be too high-profile. If he were to attract the Pantheon's arrival again, the Titans might risk harming Azeroth to excise them, the festering sores attached to the planet's surface.
For tens of thousands of years, C'Thun did not court death as ostentatiously as Yogg-Saron, nor did he hide and scheme only in the background like NZoth.
Utilizing the arrival of the Qiraji, he implemented his plan step by step.
First, he corrupted the Anub'Rekhan, who served as Jailers. The prison, lacking maintenance from its Jailers, weakened year by year, and sooner or later, he would be able to break free and regain liberty.
However, C'Thun did not know that every action of the Qiraji he controlled was under the strict surveillance of a certain Transmigrator.
And this Transmigrator now stood before him, ready to completely destroy his hope of continued existence.
"Titan lackeys, welcome to my world."
A genderless whisper echoed simultaneously in everyone's minds, "Your performance truly exceeded my expectations. My carefully cultivated Qiraji Empire was destroyed by you just like that."
"But you don't think this will kill me, do you? As long as this planet exists, I am immortal!"
'Immortal? Heh~'
To avoid provoking C'Thun, Andreas temporarily refrained from taking out his Trump Card.
Extremely dense Arcane energy emanated from Malygos. A blue-violet orb of light floated in front of the Blue Dragon Aspect, who stood at the very front.
"More talk is useless. Even if we cannot kill you, we will reinforce your prison!"
"Prisoner, accept your judgment!"
Driving the divine artifact Focusing Iris before him, Malygos first delivered a warning shot to C'Thun.
As Malygos' Arcane Dragon Breath sprayed onto the Focusing Iris, the divine artifact began to spin rapidly, and a highly compressed seven-colored rainbow light shot out toward C'Thun.
"Iridescent Light!"
The Focusing Iris is a relic the Titans bestowed upon the Blue Dragonflight; its main purpose is to help them regulate the ley-lines.
In extremis the Iris can, given enough time, siphon the entire Arcane network of Azeroth and turn itself into an unstable, gargantuan mana bomb—one detonation potent enough to shatter the whole world.
To prevent misuse, even Malygos seldom handled the artifact, and after his mind began to fray Xal'atath and Arygos strictly limited his access to it.
After all, no one wants to imagine what a lunatic might do with a magically turbo-charged nuke.
With Senegos leading a host of Whelps and drakes back to The Nexus, Malygos' sanity markedly improved.
Though still far from perfect, his infamous temper had cooled considerably.
As field commander of the Dragonflights marching against C'Thun, Malygos—and indeed the entire host—needed the Focusing Iris to tip the odds in their favor.
A seven-colored beam lanced from the Iris and slammed into C'Thun in the blink of an eye.
Countless eyes rimming the Old God's exposed flesh-core snapped open; eerie deep-violet light spilled from them, weaving a deceptively thin dusk-shield that halted the rainbow radiance mere meters from C'Thun's bulk.
Arcane met Void in mid-air, the titanic backlash flinging Andreas back; he dropped his stance, feet gouging furrows in the stone to keep from being blasted away.
Five dragons in full aspect strained their wings, beating harder and faster against the shock-wave.
More than ten seconds passed before the blast dissipated with the drifting dust—yet C'Thun stood unscathed after taking a Titan-blessed, Iris-amped shot from the Blue Dragon Aspect.
The shield, however, now looked like moth-eaten silk; one final push looked ready to tear it apart.
As Malygos gathered power for a second blast, C'Thun resolved not to give him the chance.
"Come—hear the whisper of the Old Gods and unearth the memories you buried deepest!"
Golden chains within the prison rattled violently; C'Thun surged. A sudden crescendo of whispers, paired with the baleful gaze of a thousand eyes, dragged dragon and Mortal alike into a shared nightmare.
Each vision was unique and isolated; Andreas could not tell what the others saw, but the scene before him felt both familiar and alien.
Several houses blazed with sickly jade Fel-fire; blackened corpses lay scattered around them.
A hollow-eyed Night-Elf youth stood staring at the inferno—a face so familiar that the soul-form Andreas instinctively touched his own cheek.
"That's… me?"
Beside the youth knelt a half-grown girl, racked by heart-rending sobs; only the youth's grip on her shoulder kept her from dashing into the flames.
"…Shandris?"
The child's young yet unmistakable features sparked recognition; Andreas knew when and where this scene belonged.
"Clever, C'Thun—digging up a memory that never fully merged with my soul."
This was the Burning Legion's invasion: Andreas and Shandris racing home from their training only to find their family slaughtered.
The Legion had razed their once-happy home; the charred bodies outside must have been the elders of the Moonshadow and moonglade clans.
To the transmigrated Andreas, the memory felt like watching someone else's story—little emotional stake.
Yet seeing the wooden, stunned expression on his younger self's face, he finally understood why the original owner of the body had buried his feelings for Shandris so deep.
Lacking empathy, the illusion barely touched him; he simply watched the events play out like a film.
Overcome with grief, little Shandris fainted; demons returning to the scene found two easy targets.
The vision froze on a close-up of a Fel Guard's grinning maw framed by roaring green fire—Andreas gave C'Thun eight out of ten for cinematography.
Snapping free of the nightmare, Andreas calmly surveyed the battlefield: six twisting, amethyst beams now linked C'Thun's core to Malygos and the others.
C'Thun, surprised by how quickly Andreas had broken loose, could no longer juggle countless illusions; the seal already strained him to the limit just maintaining visions over the willful dragons.
Andreas tilted his head, unsure where to strike on the colossal Old God.
He opened with a Mind Blast, but the Shadow spell—sharing C'Thun's own school—vanished without ripple.
Even sealed by the Titans, an Old God remained a grand master of Void; a weak mental spell was less than a tickle.
"In that case…"
Andreas shifted strategy, giving Shadow Energy solid form.
A black, purely energetic guillotine descended above C'Thun; the Old God, momentarily helpless, could only throw up a hasty shield.
The guillotine sheared through the feeble barrier and carved a deep gash across C'Thun's flesh-core.
On any lesser creature the wound would have been fatal; on C'Thun's titanic bulk it barely qualified as a scratch—yet the pain shattered his concentration, and the visions binding Malygos and the others collapsed.
One by one, starting with the Aspect, six dragons shook free of the nightmare.
The instant clarity returned, Malygos, eyes blood-red, channeled the Focusing Iris for a second bombardment.
"You dare tear open my wounds again—die!"
The five drakes looked equally furious, each reliving the memory they least wanted to face.
"Roar!"
Five Dragonflights breathed as one; C'Thun's void-shield shattered under the combined assault of rainbow beam and chromatic breath, hundreds of eyes exploding into pulp.
"Screeee!"
The soul-rending shriek sent Andreas to his knees clutching his head; the dragons spiraled out of the sky and slammed to earth.
"Unforgivable!"
C'Thun's mutilated bulk convulsed; ruptured eyes slithered inward while a colossal iris, five meters across, rose from the flesh at the center of the meat-mass, fixing the company with a baleful glare.
"Pawns of the Titans—taste the true might of an Old God!"
Realizing that pure mental attacks were not decisive, C'Thun finally entered a desperate state.
With the appearance of that large eyeball, the golden chains restraining C'Thun's countless tentacles rattled continuously, as if they would snap at any second.
However, these energy chains from the Titan's seal ultimately held, and C'Thun, unable to use his full power, desperately revealed his core part.
The giant eyeball emitted countless red death ray energy walls, and Andreas and the others, who had just recovered from the Soul Shriek, hurriedly dodged.
Maiev Na Shara, whose reaction speed was slightly slower, was grazed by a death ray, causing the scales on her right hind leg to immediately burst open, and the flesh inside was instantly torn.
"Ow!"
Hearing her companion's scream, Arygos turned back and spewed Frost Dragon Breath, colliding with the pursuing Death Ray Wall, buying Maiev Na Shara a little time. The Green Dragon Princess immediately flapped her wings with greater force to leave her spot.
Malygos cleared the Death Ray Walls scattered throughout the hall one by one like playing whack-a-mole, but at this moment, C'Thun's large eyeball began continuously firing Eye Beam Rays at the Blue Dragon Aspect.
Andreas, who was not the primary target of attack, could still feel a geometrically increasing sense of panic in his soul, so the pressure on Malygos, who was directly facing C'Thun's threat, was imaginable.
"Finally revealing your true core, aren't you..."
Andreas, relying on Elune's favor, suppressed the chaotic thoughts boiling within him and quietly took out a strangely shaped single-handed sword from his Spatial Pouch.
As soon as it left the Spatial Pouch, the sword of the dark empire immediately trembled with excitement.
It wasn't because Xal'atath was afraid, but because she was trembling with excitement.
"Partner! My future happiness depends on you, go! Pierce him!"
Andreas rolled his eyes, "Watch your language, and don't forget your promise to Elune."
"Don't worry, with such a great deity watching over us, I wouldn't dare to mess around. Having died once, I cherish my life very much."
"That's good."
Andreas turned his head to look at the five young Great Dragons with somewhat struggling expressions, "Arygos, Ebysian! Try your best to attract C'Thun's attention and relieve His Majesty Malygos' pressure!"
Not only Andreas could hear the Endless Whispers, but the five Great Dragons without Elune's blessing felt them even more clearly.
Ebysian, who had once directly faced the brink of Neltharion's maddened blood corruption, was the first to snap out of his daze. Using a technique taught by his older sister, he puffed out his chest and took a deep breath.
"Roar!"
The compressed, high-concentration Shadowflame spewed out all at once. The sudden burst of ultra-high temperature Dragon Breath startled C'Thun, who hurriedly relaxed his oppression on Malygos and first constructed a defense to block Ebysian's sudden attack.
Ebysian's action made the other Four-Colored Great Dragons, who considered themselves elites of their respective races, feel a bit embarrassed.
Although they didn't say anything due to their good upbringing, the Four-Colored Great Dragons still held an subconscious prejudice against Black Dragons due to Deathwing's betrayal, even to this day.
Arygos felt somewhat ashamed. To cover his inner embarrassment, he loudly reminded them, "Don't hold anything back! The final decisive battle has arrived, my kin, fight with all your might!"
The Dragon Breath spewed by the Four-Colored Great Dragons joined Ebysian's attack, and the Dragon Breath, carrying various negative effects, caused C'Thun no small amount of trouble.
Anachronos' Sands of Time Dragon Breath slowed his movement and reaction speed, and Maiev Na Shara's Emerald Dragon Breath was not only intensely corrosive, but the hypnotic effect contained within the Dragon Breath also caused his mind to momentarily waver.
The Red Dragon's Life-Flame, when used for healing, can have very significant therapeutic effects, but when used for attack, it can also become a potent poison, like an overdose of tonic.
The support from the five juniors suddenly lightened the pressure on Malygos, allowing him to finally free his hands to continue driving the lens of focusing.
All of C'Thun's attention was focused on the offense and defense on both sides; that fragile Mortal was almost completely forgotten and ignored by him.
Intentionally weakening his presence using Shadow Energy, the unnoticed Andreas quietly began to act.
Transforming into a silver wolf, he deftly dodged the remaining red Death Ray Walls on the field. Using the ability to explosively enhance his physical body with Shadow Energy for a short period, Andreas crossed layers of obstacles in just a few seconds and arrived in front of C'Thun's main body.
Stepping on those sticky, disgusting lumps of flesh to gain leverage and climb higher, Andreas' actions were finally noticed by C'Thun. That large eyeball suddenly rotated its pupil to look in his direction.
"How dare you! Die, weak Mortal!"
The Eye Beam Rays abandoned their pursuit of Malygos and began to target Andreas, who was jumping around on his body.
Malygos seized the opportunity and shouted in the air, "C'Thun! Where are you looking? Take this!"
The accumulated Rainbow Light once again shot out, directly aiming for C'Thun's large eyeball.
There was no need to consider who posed a greater threat, the Mortal or the Blue Dragon Aspect.
When C'Thun refocused his attention on Malygos, Andreas, who had returned to human form, finally revealed the sharpness of the longsword in his hand.
"Hahaha! Come on, stab him, pierce him, make him bleed!"
"I can't wait to gnaw on his soul!"
Dodging the final counterattack from C'Thun's smaller eyeballs, Andreas pushed off the lump of flesh beneath his feet and leaped high. The sword of the dark empire in his hand, amidst Xal'atath's excited shouts, plunged into C'Thun's large eyeball.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
C'Thun, busy blocking the frontal attack, decided to temporarily ignore Andreas' attack, which was his judgment of which of the two-sided injuries was lighter or heavier.
But C'Thun had not anticipated the origin of the sword that Andreas had carefully hidden, enveloped in Shadow Energy.
After the sword of the dark empire entered his body, C'Thun's soul and Xal'atath's remnant soul finally made direct contact.
"You! Xal'atath, how is this possible!"
"Hahahahaha! C'Thun, when you and Yogg-Saron shared me, you didn't expect this day, did you?"
"This is my revenge, tens of thousands of years in the making! Die! You will all become nourishment for my resurgence!"
"No!!!"
Just as C'Thun himself said, as long as Azeroth still existed, and they were not like YShaarj, torn from the planet and shattered, their bodies would never be completely destroyed.
As long as even a single cell remained, the Old Gods would recover by drawing nourishment from the parasitic planet.
But this was only for their bodies. As masters of manipulating Void Energy, the Old Gods did not believe that any entity in Azeroth could surpass them in soul-level confrontation, unless... the opponent was another Old God.
Even though Xal'atath's soul was now incomplete, she and C'Thun were always of the same origin.
The confrontation between the two within C'Thun's body was exceptionally fierce, and C'Thun completely disregarded the situation outside his body.
And Malygos' Rainbow Light and the attacks of The five-colored Great Dragons happened to break through C'Thun's distracted defenses at this moment.
The internal and external pincer attack left C'Thun struggling on both fronts. Xal'atath, continuously strengthened by Andreas, finally seized the mental loophole caused by C'Thun's distraction and fiercely tore off a piece of his soul.
With the first breakthrough, Xal'atath accelerated her gnawing on C'Thun's soul.
The pain of a soul being torn apart far surpassed physical injuries, and C'Thun truly experienced the path Xal'atath had once walked.
Severely wounded in his soul, C'Thun could no longer gather his thoughts to counterattack, and the core of his body was scorched into two halves by the Rainbow Light emitted by Malygos.
As C'Thun's final screams, echoing through the hall, gradually faded, his remaining body, which had been continuously trembling, finally lost its vitality and collapsed limply to the ground like the other bound tentacles.
Without a soul, C'Thun's body could no longer resist the planet's own wrath against these parasites.
The restart of the Forge of Wills reawakened the long-slumbering azeroth world-soul; C'Thun's body, without central control, was, in turn, devoured by Azeroth as nourishment.
The pure Shadow Power contained within the Old Gods' bodies was broken down and purified by Azeroth using the Forge of Wills' terraforming function, becoming natural "fertilizer" to strengthen the world-soul's growth.
"Snap~"
The energy chains that bound C'Thun's tentacles fell to the ground; the rapidly shrinking and disappearing tentacles no longer needed to be sealed.
"Hoo..."
Everyone who participated in the final battle, including Malygos, simultaneously let out a long breath.
The sword of the dark empire, embedded in C'Thun's eyeball, was rapidly absorbing the remaining energy from C'Thun's remnant body.
Xal'atath's remnant soul swallowed all of C'Thun's soul fragments in one go; her voice, though sounding very satisfied, also clearly conveyed exhaustion and drowsiness.
"Ha~ Thank you, partner."
"I've eaten too much; I need to rest for a while to digest this big chunk of fat I've swallowed."
Andreas was not surprised by this, as it was something he had long anticipated.
Xal'atath was, after all, only a remnant soul. Although with Elune's secret intervention, she dealt a heavy blow to C'Thun, completely swallowing his soul.
However, the rapidly surging total amount of shattered souls far exceeded Xal'atath's endurance limit, and she would need a long time to slowly digest them.
During her slumber, the sword of the dark empire would lose all its special effects, completely becoming just an incredibly sturdy ordinary weapon.
"Sleep well. I hope you bring me some new surprises when you wake up next time."
"Don't worry, I will... I will. See you when I wake up, partner..."
Malygos looked at the gradually dimming eyeball on the hilt of the sword of the dark empire with a somewhat complex expression. "Andreas, aren't you worried that this fellow, after absorbing C'Thun's soul, will revert into a new Old God and wreak havoc?"
"I don't think Old Gods can be trusted; you'd best be more vigilant."
Andreas smiled understandingly. "Of course I know; I've never relaxed my guard against her."
"But with Elune as the ultimate guarantor, I believe this fellow absolutely wouldn't dare to cause trouble before gaining enough power."
"Just as she herself said, Xal'atath, having died once, values her life more than other Old Gods."
...C'Thun's death declared the complete victory of the War of the Shifting Sands.
When Andreas and the others returned to the surface and delivered the good news to the entire army, thunderous cheers erupted from the Ahn'Qiraj region, which had been completely occupied by the allied forces.
The combined might of the two most powerful races on the Kalimdor continent, along with the support of Zandalar and Tol'vir, and the strong assistance of the Dragonflights, finally defeated the Qiraji Empire, supported by C'Thun.
This long-awaited difficult war generated a strong sense of crisis among the participating races.
C'Thun was only one of the three Old Gods, and not even the strongest one; the remaining two Old Gods were still stirring in the shadows, and outside the planet, the Burning Legion, having recovered its strength, was eyeing them covetously.
This War of the Shifting Sands also served as a wake-up call for all participating parties, including Zandalar. A preliminary consensus was reached among all parties in the ruins of Ahn'Qiraj.
The external threats remained immense, and conflicts among the various races of Azeroth must be restrained as much as possible.
As Zuldazar was still facing attacks from the Blood Trolls, Gongala, Babik, and Debisi did not stay long.
The Prophet Gongala, with a somewhat somber expression, incinerated the bodies of Ajier and the corrupted Zandalari Trolls on the spot, and taking their essence, bid farewell to the Tauren and Night Elves first.
Before leaving, Paku, the cheerful Pterosaur loa, once again invited Andreas, asking him to visit Zandalar Island when he had time.
With the departure of Zandalar, the reunited Tauren tribes also bid farewell to the Night Elves.
Amon Highmountain planned to use this opportunity to have a good talk with his compatriots, who were separated by distance, in an effort to strengthen ties between them in the coming years.
As the Dragonflights returned triumphantly, apart from the Dalaran investigation team forcibly repatriated by Malygos, only the Night Elves and the nearby Tol'vir remained in the ruins of Ahn'Qiraj.
The long-awaited war brought satisfaction to the highly motivated Neferset tribe. Kiljaeden and the others had witnessed firsthand the tragic corruption of the Obsidian Destroyer, and their desire to restore their stone bodies was no longer as strong.
Under the corruption of the Old Gods, even the original Tol'vir and the mighty Anub'Rekhan could not escape their clutches. This shocking truth effectively dispelled the Neferset's obsession, which had persisted for tens of thousands of years.
Silithius and Ahn'Qiraj were both desert areas with no value for contention. With the demise of C'Thun and the Qiraji Empire, the vast desert in the southern frontier lost its last strategic value, which was one of the reasons for Zandalar's and the Tauren's swift departure.
After the Forge of Wills restarted, Andreas intended to use this terraforming device to change the landscape of Tanaris, Silithius, and Uldum, and even Thousand Needles and The Barrens.
However, such a massive project was destined not to be completed in one or two years.
As the saying goes, destruction is easy, construction is hard.
Destroying the ecosystem near Uldum would only require a momentary burst from the Forge of Wills, but rebuilding it would take hundreds or thousands of years to accumulate.
Members of the Cenarion Circle, including Fandral, were all very interested in reshaping the desert ecosystem.
After some discussion, Andreas decided to retain the Cenarion Stronghold, but it would no longer serve as a military fortress, but as a research base.
Druids who voluntarily stayed would research how to improve the desert environment using Nature Power. It is said that Cenarius was also very interested in this proposal, but unfortunately, the spread of nightmares in the Emerald Dream prevented him from coming in person temporarily.
Handing Thorim's Thunder Warhammer and Ossirian and the other Anub'Rekhan to Kiljaeden, instructing him to take these spoils of war back to the Hall of Origin for Thorim's disposal, Andreas, now free of burdens, comfortably stretched his body.
"Finally, the biggest hidden danger in southern Kalimdor has been resolved. Now, there should be a period of peace."