Chapter 354 |
“The enemy is beneath the sea! Have part of the druid forces enter the water, and the rest guide the archers and throwing machines from the air!” Both Tyrande and Shandris Feathermoon, experienced in warfare, immediately understood from the water trails attacking the ships that the enemy was underwater and promptly responded.
If it were the human kingdom’s army, such a situation would be more passive.
In this medieval fantasy world, underwater enemies are difficult to detect and lock onto, which is one key reason why the Naga dominate the seas.
However, for the Night Elves, this was not unsolvable, mainly because one of their strongest classes, the Druids, can both enter the water and fly.
Although Tyrande’s force was mainly composed of Sentinels, there were still quite a number of Druids.
Upon receiving the order, these Druids each used their specialties: some transformed into sea lions and dove underwater, while others turned into storm ravens, soaring into the sky with sharp eyesight to scout for enemies.
But not long after entering the water, the Druids were horrified to find swarms of Aqir waiting for them, mixed with some Naga figures.
Behind these Aqir and Naga were colossal unknown creatures hundreds of meters long, firing long black weapons at the Night Elf fleet on the surface.
Any hit from these weapons would cause massive explosions.
Because of the Night Elves’ “immortality” during this era, many Druids present were veterans who had fought in the Battle of the Shifting Sands.
They never knew that the Aqir could operate underwater, and seemed extremely agile.
As for those colossal beasts...
Of course, they couldn’t possibly know, because these underwater Aqir were created by C’thun under the command of the Ancient One, using his power and a batch of unhatched Yogg Aqir eggs, modeled after the water larvae of dragonflies from Earth to create a formidable underwater force!
Water larvae are the nymphs of dragonflies.
Most people think of dragonflies only as mosquito catchers or childhood toys.
Few know that the water larvae of dragonflies are fierce underwater predators, far more terrifying than their adult forms.
Nearly all aquatic insects and small fish smaller than or similar in size to them, and even some slightly larger, are their prey.
Fortunately, real water larvae grow only a few centimeters long and cannot harm humans.
But now, the water larvae army created by C’thun’s method were each larger than a lion or tiger...
Thus, the Druids who rashly entered the water were torn apart by numerous giant water larvae like rabbits among wolves.
Those aerial raptor Druids and the Night Elf army on shore then saw the turbulent sea surface turn red with blood and littered with countless limbs.
At first, the Night Elves did not worry much; after all, blood could also be from enemies.
But as the sea surface began to glisten with tiny points of starlight...
All the Night Elves’ expressions changed, because this sight signified many Night Elves dying and their souls dispersing.
Just as everyone wondered what was happening underwater, a seal suddenly burst from the water near the shore, attempting to crawl onto land.
But the next moment, a ferocious giant bug leapt from the water and dragged the seal back beneath the waves.
However, there were no seals in this sea—this “seal” was actually a Druid in disguise.
Soon, several more Druids burst from the water and raced toward shore.
They had to escape; there were too many underwater bugs and no chance to win.
“It’s the Aqir! Sisters, attack!” Shandris Feathermoon immediately ordered the archers to fire.
Countless arrows rained down on the savage Aqir pursuing the fleeing Druids.
Every Night Elf Sentinel was a master archer honed over hundreds to thousands of years, making friendly fire almost impossible. The Aqir suffered heavy losses, allowing many escaping Druids to survive.
But before the Night Elves on land could rejoice, they felt tremors from below.
“Watch out! Something’s underground!” Tyrande, sharp-witted, shouted.
Many heard her, but how could they prepare?
The next second, two giant beasts burst from the earth with thunderous roars, appearing within the Night Elf army’s sight and swallowing several soldiers who failed to dodge.
These two giants were the original timeline’s Ahn’Qiraj Ruins bosses: the gigantic sandworm plunderer Kurinnaxx and the eighth boss of the Ahn’Qiraj temple, the super burrowing worm Ouro, even tougher than C’thun.
Their appearance instantly scattered the Night Elf formations. Worse, the pits they created became troop tunnels.
Countless Yogg Aqir soldiers poured from the pits and rampaged through the Night Elf ranks following the beasts.
“Damn! Guards, follow me!” Shandris Feathermoon grabbed her moonblade and charged toward the two beasts with her guards.
If they couldn’t kill these giants and block the pits, they were doomed.
Behind her, Tyrande knelt and began to pray.
But this was no ordinary prayer.
As she prayed, a faint, ghostly light emanated from her.
The clear sky suddenly dimmed and the two pale moons in the sky grew dazzlingly bright.
This sudden change unsettled the two rampaging beasts, who immediately charged toward Tyrande’s location, but midway, they were fiercely blocked by Shandris and her guards.
As time passed, the light from Tyrande intensified, and countless stars began to shimmer around the two moons.
These stars grew larger and began to fall.
Yes, the stars were falling.
This was the Moon Priestess’s most terrifying ultimate move, and one of the rare legion-level skills in the Warcraft universe, known as “Falling Stars,” the Moon God’s orbital cannon!
Only the most devout Moon Priestesses could communicate with the moon goddess Elune to use this skill.
Among the current Night Elves, only Tyrande and her disciple Shandris Feathermoon could perform it.
The falling stars, condensed from pure energy, automatically locked onto enemies, avoiding all Night Elves, and rained down entirely on the bug swarms on the beach.
The originally fierce bug soldiers, when hit by these “stars,” seemed to be drenched in acid, smoking and disintegrating rapidly until dead.
Kurinnaxx and Ouro, two ferocious beasts, howled in pain under the bombardment.
Soon, as if receiving orders, they began to retreat.
But the Night Elf legion under Shandris’ command was unwilling to let the monsters that harmed their comrades escape, and fought desperately to encircle and kill them.
Shandris personally leapt onto Kurinnaxx’s back, swinging her moonblade repeatedly at the beast’s head.
Ouro, however, had no intention of helping and simply burrowed into a hole to escape.
Even before escaping, it directly used its own ability to collapse the tunnel, cutting off Kurinnaxx’s retreat.
Companions? Don’t be ridiculous. Although they are all insects, they are not of the same species.
And the aquatic Aqir legions in the sea also retreated directly after Tyrande began casting Starfall.
Except for some unlucky ones who were diving underwater pursuing Druids, they did not suffer too many losses.
After sensing the enemy’s retreat, Tyrande gradually stopped praying; the starlight and moonlight began to fade again, and sunlight shone once more.
“Teacher, our sisters…” Shandris Feathermoon, covered in insect fluids, walked up to Tyrande, choking up.
“It’s alright, Elune will protect them, child!” Tyrande weakly embraced her disciple to comfort her.
This kind of legion-level skill cost her a great deal of energy but fortunately, the enemy still retreated, and they avoided the crisis of total annihilation.
The two quickly composed themselves and began directing the remaining forces to clean up the battlefield, dispatching scouts toward the Cenarion Hold to investigate, while sending requests for reinforcements toward Hyjal.
Their force had been severely damaged right after landing; it would be difficult for them to play a major role in the upcoming confrontation with the Aqir.
So reinforcements were necessary!
Moreover, Tyrande used a commanding tone in her call for help, ordering Fandral to awaken Malfurion.
Judging from the performance of the Aqir earlier, just relying on the Night Elf race alone would likely struggle to deal with this terrible species, just like the previous Battle of the Sands.
They had to call for aid from the Dragonflights.
And among the Night Elves, the one with the closest relationship to the dragons was Malfurion!
“…Starfall… Elune, indeed difficult!” Meanwhile, as Tyrande and Shandris made various arrangements, far away on the summit of Silithus, unseen even by the Stormcrow, the Ancient One who had been commanding the insect swarm from behind the scenes, squinted while looking at the two moons hiding their radiance under the sunlight.
The reason she ordered the insects to retreat earlier was not just because Tyrande was strong.
In fact, the damage caused by Tyrande’s attack was insignificant to the vast Aqir swarm.
If the Ancient One was willing, she could have easily overwhelmed Tyrande and this Night Elf reinforcement with the swarm.
But just as Tyrande cast Starfall, the Ancient One sensed the arrival of a powerful will… a will far surpassing that of Arishem.
Without a doubt, this was the one true god of the Warcraft universe, Elune, whom Josh had repeatedly emphasized to the Ancient One.
Having sensed the opponent’s strength but unable to grasp their exact stance on the Azeroth situation, the Ancient One did not want to provoke or face such an existence directly.
Unless…
The Ancient One narrowed her eyes, and then her entire form vanished into darkness.
…………………………………
Abbendis was unaware of the great battle that took place on the Silithus coast.
At this time, he was commanding his army, landing on Val’sharah.
However, his landing location was no longer the middle ground between Highmountain and Val’sharah as initially discussed with Tyrande.
Instead, it became the Twilight Reef in Val’sharah.
But his real target was not Twilight Reef, but the former Night Elf fortress on the opposite bay — the Black Crow Fortress.
After the ancient war, because the Broken Isles had separated from the mainland, the Black Crow Fortress, which had resisted the Burning Legion for a long time, lost its strategic value and was abandoned due to the overflow of fel energy and countless lingering spirits.
The last member of the Ravencrest family who owned it, having become a demon hunter, was imprisoned by the Watchers just like Illidan.
But in Abbendis’ view, at the early stage of the landing, there was no better place than here for a foothold — suitable for both offense and defense, and spacious.
“Ben, Mr. Xu, I’m counting on you from here on out. I will have everyone cooperate with you!” Abbendis said, standing at the gate of Black Crow Fortress, addressing Ben and Xu Wenwu.
Although Abbendis had the strength to clear out the monsters occupying the fortress himself, it would clearly be troublesome.
Now, with the strong warriors sent by Josh, it was much easier.
Ben, Xu Wenwu, and the others said nothing unnecessary and each led a group of Vrykul elite soldiers to sweep through the entire castle.
“Lord Abbendis, some Night Elf scouts were found and eliminated, none escaped. However, the Moon Temple there will probably soon detect something unusual here!” Loki’s figure appeared beside Abbendis just as he prepared to lead his men inside.
Although Black Crow Fortress had been abandoned, the original Night Elf Moon Temple was not very far away. Given the chaotic situation in the Broken Isles, many Night Elf scouts were stationed throughout Val’sharah.
Abbendis’ large-scale landing could not be concealed.
“This has been long instructed by Master Ancient One; leave it to Lady Shadow!” Abbendis was not worried about this problem and looked toward Shadow Weaver, who was floating cross-legged in mid-air nearby.