That voice seemed to urge Arthas to make a decision immediately. The Scourge was indeed in a precarious situation. Once the Frostmane dwarves' reinforcements arrived, the undead would face enemies on both sides. Moreover, among the enemies was a powerhouse no less formidable than the Lich King, the Scourge's strongest warrior. It would be impossible to retreat from the battle without paying a heavy price.
"Opportunity vanishes in an instant."
Hearing this voice, Arthas felt his chest fill with anger.
"No!"
He voiced his firm refusal.
Having been a vassal of the Burning Legion and endured enough of being unable to make his own decisions and being arbitrarily driven, Arthas was unwilling to endure the servitude of an unknown master again.
"Refuse, and you will be destroyed!"
The voice became angry.
Arthas responded with a contemptuous sneer: "Then destroy me!"
Immediately after his reply, a series of terrifying scenes appeared in his mind:
He saw the corpse of Archimonde, master of the Burning Legion, floating in a shattered continent; he saw a gigantic, unimaginable Old God (Y'shaarj) hurl a spear, instantly destroying a massive legion fortress, with Kil'jaeden fleeing in disarray from its pursuit; he saw a terrifying Old God kill a Titan and tear the Titan's corpse apart with countless tentacles.
Countless minions of the Old Gods emerged from the earth, from the sea, from the void, destroying all creatures who defied them. A black armored dragon flew out of the Maelstrom, obeying the Old Gods' command to overturn the entire world, annihilate all living beings, and create a true doomsday scenario.
He saw countless massive machines and giants emerge from snow-covered temples, killing all creatures who did not submit to the Old Gods.
He saw his own figure: in the illusion, he was leading the undead army in battle against a group of stone giants, and a giant over a hundred meters tall strode forward, swinging a stone hammer towards him, an attack he could not possibly dodge.
The feeling of impending death was so intense that it immediately startled Arthas from the illusion.
At this moment, the voice continued to enter his mind. Although there were no more images this time, the content was enough to terrify anyone: "We are subservient to the power that is not bound by time, the power that is not bound by fate. No one can resist this power, not even the Titans and the Burning Legion! Those who stand in our way will be destroyed!"
Before such great power, Arthas could only choose to submit.
The owner of the voice was very satisfied with the Lich King's allegiance.
"From now on, you are the master of all the Scourge. Control them and fight to welcome my coming!"
After the voice disappeared, Arthas woke up from the illusion.
"Archimonde was killed by him too?" He felt a tremor of fear. But he recalled the history of the timeline he came from, and slowly adjusted his thoughts. "Once I accumulate enough power..."
At the same time, Arthas felt that the power of the Helm of Domination was no longer interfered with. He clearly felt that all the undead in Northrend no longer obeyed Kel'Thuzad, who had usurped the Lich King's throne.
In a single breath, Arthas regained the allegiance of all the undead. At this moment, he once again became the master of Icecrown Citadel!
"This is real... not an illusion!" Arthas couldn't imagine what kind of great power had helped him regain control of the Scourge.
And the mastermind behind everything, Yogg-Saron in the Ulduar prison, watched this scene with great satisfaction.
As an Old God, although it was incredibly powerful, it had no way to forcibly dissolve the Lich King's rule from tens of thousands of miles away. It was only able to do this because it possessed enough information.
Because at this time, it was precisely when "Lich King" Kel'Thuzad was leading the Forsaken army into the Dark Portal to reinforce Outland.
After leaving Azeroth, the undead in Northrend were naturally unable to sense their original master. Therefore, Arthas, who was slightly weaker, became the new master of Icecrown Citadel as a matter of course.
"Everything is in my grasp." Yogg-Saron let out a low, cold laugh from the depths of the earth.
---
With the Nightmare Invasion, scientists and mages had an inescapable responsibility to find a solution. But responsibility was one thing; the fact that more than twenty days had passed since the first Sleeper was discovered, tens of thousands of people had died from excessive weakness, and the situation was almost as bad as the Burning Legion's invasion, yet everyone was still clueless and completely unaware of how to awaken the Sleepers or find out the root cause.
Potions, magic, electric shocks, physical stimulation, hypnosis... they had experimented with almost every conceivable method, but had not succeeded in awakening even one person.
Antonidas, as the leader of Dalaran, was under even greater pressure than Swain.
He hadn't shown a single smile on his face for half a month.
"The problem isn't with you," said Aegwynn, the Guardian who had been invited out of retirement by Anna. She had just returned from a meeting with her son, Medivh.
"Have you figured it out?" Antonidas looked at this legendary Guardian.
Aegwynn nodded with a grave face. "All methods are useless, and we are basically unable to find a solution. Because the root of the problem is not in our world."
"Then where is it?"
"The Dream, the Emerald Dream. The place guarded by the Green Dragonflight for generations." Aegwynn looked very worried. "It's been corrupted."
"Then, what can we do?"
"Enter the Emerald Dream and get rid of the Nightmare."
"But... how?"
Antonidas's question caused Aegwynn to fall silent.
Previously, Anna seemed to know how to solve this problem, but she was attacked by a crazed blue dragon on her way to Mount Hyjal and fell into a coma.
The Blue Dragonflight and Bronze Dragonflight were almost impossible to cooperate with ordinary people, the suspicion between the two sides was too deep; the Green Dragonflight was preoccupied with its own troubles; and finally, only the Red Dragonflight remained.
"Rhonin has been to the Red Dragon's shrine, let him try!"
"That's all we can do."
---
The terrifying Nightmare erupted with ever more terrifying power after Anna fell into a coma, with the number of new Sleepers increasing severalfold each day. Everyone was worried that they would fall asleep and never wake up again, and Prince Arthas was no exception. In the past two days, several important ministers and lords had been entangled by the Nightmare, and everyone was extremely afraid that they would fall asleep and never wake up again.
"What! Father!" Arthas's eyes widened immediately upon hearing the news.
Because the Royal Guard told him that King Terenas had also fallen into a slumber.
Arthas was stationed in the Theramore military district. Upon receiving the news, he immediately mounted his horse, preparing to rush to the palace. A red-eyed attendant brought his horse over, but before the reins could be handed to Arthas, the attendant suddenly collapsed.
Many people were worried about falling asleep, so they dared not sleep for days. Enduring one or two nights might be possible, but no one could ignore physiological needs. This attendant had persevered until the third day, and finally collapsed.
Arthas felt an immense weight in his heart. He instructed the guards behind him to help the attendant, and then rode his horse towards the palace.
He had just arrived at the gate of the palace when a rapid bell suddenly rang in the sky above Theramore.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" Frantic shouts rose and fell.
A messenger was rushing this way, and Arthas quickly asked: "Tell me quickly, what happened?"
"Your Highness, sea demons! Sea demons are attacking!" The messenger's lips were blue-black, and his eyes were filled with deep fear. "Countless sea demons, and huge octopus-shaped monsters!"
Arthas looked longingly at the palace gate, which was only a few hundred feet away. His father was right there.
Arthas resolutely turned around and shouted: "Immediately summon all warriors and mages, prepare to defend! Send out gryphon riders to scout the enemy! Send out messengers to warn and request aid from our allies!"
He immediately left the palace and rode towards the barracks.
But a shadow hung over everyone's heart, especially on the way back, Arthas personally witnessed at least four or five people collapsing to the ground as they walked. He didn't even have time to check whether they had fallen asleep or something else had happened.
Before people had even figured out how the Nightmare had occurred, the claws of the Old Gods had been revealed. Almost at the same time that Theramore was attacked, the Fields of Justice were also facing severe tests.
Swain was arranging combat missions at a military meeting. Every general and hero seemed very depressed, and the atmosphere of the meeting became very strange.
"Xin Zhao, Irelia, you lead your troops to defend Azshara, which will be an important battlefield."
At this moment, a low voice suddenly emerged from the crowd: "But a third of the people are already asleep."
Everyone's heart trembled.
No one wanted to investigate who said that dispiriting remark, but it was the truth. To this day, a third of the people had fallen into a deep sleep. The targets of the nightmare were not limited to the old and weak; many strong people could also fall asleep and never wake up. Except for heroes with strong willpower who were basically immune to the slumber, no one else could avoid it.
Even more terrifying was that about a third of the soldiers in the military camp had also fallen asleep. The government's operational focus had completely shifted to taking care of the sleepers, but how could they possibly manage it all?
Perhaps in another three to five days, there would be almost no one left standing.
Swain said loudly, "So what? Should we just surrender?"
His calm gaze swept over the people in the conference room. "We haven't failed yet! But if we lose the courage to fight, what will we rely on to defeat the enemy?"
Irelia stood up and said, "I'm taking people out."
"We'll go together." Zhao Xin followed, as they had just been appointed to defend Azshara.
The generals gradually left the conference room, but Darius remained. Swain slowly leaned back in his chair. As the temporary supreme commander, he bore a heavier burden than anyone else.
"Swain, who is our enemy?" Darius's sharp eyes stared at him.
"Fear." Swain looked at Darius, his former and current ally. "Our enemy is fear."
---
Rhonin set off directly on the day Jaina fell asleep. When he left, the situation had already deteriorated to an extreme point, with thousands of people falling asleep every day, but it had not yet reached the point of being completely out of control.
But soon, the situation truly became unmanageable. The invasion of the Naga and the Old God's minions simply made the Alliance's situation worse, almost pushing them to the brink of despair.
As the source of the nightmare, the Night Elves were suffering even greater pressure than other races.
Falling asleep was just the prelude to the Nightmare Lord's attack; the real offensive truly began after Vastan was resurrected.
At this time, Tyrande was in Moonglade, repeating the daily routine of awakening Malfurion. She had no idea that Fandral had resurrected Vastan, and everything was truly sliding into the abyss.
She had just left the barrow where her husband was sleeping, preparing to return to Hyjal, when the daughter of the Forest Lord, Cenarius, Mylune, suddenly rushed over, her big eyes filled with deep fear.
"Tyrande, Tyrande!" Mylune's tone trembled with panic. "Remulos, Remulos, he..."
"The Keeper of the Grove? What's wrong with him?" Tyrande asked anxiously.
Mylune's expression made her think of something bad—could it be that Remulos, who had been seriously injured in the battle with the demons, had died?
"He... woke up... but, he's gone mad!" Mylune said, almost crying.
"What exactly is going on? Tell me quickly!" Tyrande grabbed Mylune's hand, comforting her while asking.
From Mylune's fragmented narrative, Tyrande learned that Remulos had recently awakened from serious injuries and a strange slumber. Mylune and her sister Avrilla had been taking care of their brother. When they saw Remulos wake up, they were very happy, but after Remulos woke up, he went on a rampage and directly killed Avrilla with cruel methods!
They were siblings! Both were children of Cenarius!
"Ah, how could he do this! That was his sister!" Mylune cried as she spoke, "If I hadn't escaped quickly, he would have killed me too! He's gone mad!..."
The dryad girl's eyes were filled with tears, like broken beads falling down, and she cried very sadly.
Tyrande gently hugged the dryad girl and comforted her softly, "Be strong, Mylune! He must be controlled by demons, and we will help you rescue Remulos."
Mylune was still sobbing. In the past few months, the Burning Legion had invaded, their beloved father was trapped in a dream, and their beloved brother had gone mad and killed their sister. She felt like she was about to collapse.
Just then, the shouts of the Night Elves suddenly came from afar. A sentinel quickly rushed over and said urgently, "It's not good, High Priestess, the treants and ancients in Moonglade have gone mad! And the Keeper of the Grove is leading the ancients to attack us!"
"What!" Tyrande was shocked and speechless.
She had just prepared to mobilize the sentinels and druids to control the mad Remulos, but before she could implement it, she found that things had deteriorated like this.
Even the treants and ancients were controlled by demons?
Tyrande's heart pounded, and she sensed that the situation was becoming unmanageable.
"Quick, let our people gather and prepare to evacuate here!" She loudly ordered the sentinel captain.
"Yes, High Priestess."
"May the moon goddess Elune bless us." Tyrande whispered a prayer, then she said to Mylune, "We should act, Mylune."
When Tyrande finally escaped the mad Remulos and the treants and returned to Hyjal, she found that the situation in the Night Elves' holy land was no better than in Moonglade.
The World Tree withered and decayed almost overnight, and even if she was not a druid, she could feel the aura of death and decay emanating from Nordrassil.
The Night Elves' World Tree was dying.
And the Night Elves, who had been blessed by the Bronze Dragon and would never age or die, seemed to have lost tens of thousands of years overnight. Many of the clan became old, weak, and even died.
Even more terrifying was that there was fighting everywhere on Hyjal.
She saw some warriors resisting the mad treants, which she could completely understand.
But why did she see some druids attacking their clansmen madly?
Why were there other clansmen fighting each other for unknown reasons?
Hyjal, which had been peaceful for ten thousand years, fell into blood and fire overnight.
"Why, why is this!" Tyrande stood there blankly, "Why is this happening?"
"Why are my people, my compatriots, fighting each other?"
"Moon Goddess Elune, please guide me and save your lost believers..."
---
The frenzied attacks of the Naga and the Old God's minions led many heroes to the front lines. Lux was in the Demacian legion led by her brother Garen.
They were stationed near Sen'jin Village at the southern end of the Fields of Justice, and joined forces with the Darkspear tribe of the Echo Isles to fight against the Naga. They had just repelled an attack, and Lux wiped the sweat from her forehead with a handkerchief.
"Are you alright?" Garen strode over and asked.
"I'm fine, just warming up!" Lux showed a confident smile.
Garen helped her clean up a disgusting piece of rotten flesh from an octopus monster that was stuck in her hair, and whispered, "Go back and rest, don't rush too far ahead, I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of you!"
"No way, brother, I'm much safer than you," Lux said with a smile.
"Go rest, and take the time to replenish your strength," Garen ordered.
At this time, his adjutant came over with a gloomy face, "General, more than seventy soldiers have fallen asleep again."
After experiencing a battle, people become tired and want to rest. But now rest has become people's greatest enemy. Many soldiers fall asleep and never wake up again.
"Well, send them to the rear," Garen ordered, "We won't be able to take care of them after the battle starts."
"Yes, General."
After the adjutant left, Garen's face completely sank, and the situation was getting worse and worse.
Lux also frowned, and she whispered, "If only the commander was here."
"Yes, if only the commander was here," Garen also said in a low voice.
Except for the Valoran Federation, almost everyone believed that Aiden and the Outland Allied Forces must have been wiped out.
But all the heroes of Valoran firmly believed that their commander, the backbone of everyone, would definitely return and save them from nightmares, wars, and suffering.
But in this extremely difficult moment, they hoped that this day would come sooner, even sooner, even now, at this moment, like a savior, returning to save them from the dire straits.
At this moment, a huge crack appeared in the sky of Kalimdor, and a magnificent fortress was emerging from the crack in space.
The Tempest Keep had finally ended its space journey and jumped from Draenor to Azeroth.
Azeroth was looking forward to the arrival of a savior, and he was coming for that reason.