Dead trees sprouted new buds, and wild grasses Corruption by Plague turned green again.
Scourge Undead has left Azeroth, the Forsaken of Undercity have vanished, and the former adversaries have all disappeared. The retired soldiers are now working diligently.
Azeroth has returned to peace, Plaguelands have been reborn.
Recently, unusual noises have been heard from the crypt of the Chapel of Light's Wish. The keeper of the crypt has seen a brilliant holy light shooting into the sky. Combined with the Mulgore Lightning Minotaur cast by Viren's leadership, the warriors who believe in the Holy Light feel that the Holy Light is getting closer and closer to them.
Amidst the jubilation, no one knew that disaster was about to strike.
Robbie and Vanessa visited Light's Hope Chapel. Seeing the joyful smiles on everyone's faces, Robbie said with concern:
"How should we tell them? The Lightforging Orcs are coming, led by Tirion Fordring, and you will all become food."
Vanessa shook her head and said, "Nobody will believe your nonsense; they'll just kick you out."
"That's already quite polite." Robbie rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "Perhaps we shouldn't get involved in this mess. How many people here still believe Tirion Fordring is kind?"
Vanessa looked around with her bright eyes. "Now that we're here, we should do something."
"Do you have a way to make them believe that disaster is coming?" Robbie asked.
Vanessa shook her head. "No."
Robbie was puzzled, but Vanessa smiled and said, "You have to understand, not everyone's faith is devout. Most people believe in gold coins more than in the Holy Light."
"Gold?"
Vanessa got up, Robbie followed, and they found the local sheriff.
After bribing her with twenty gold coins, Vanessa explained her purpose:
The Kingdom of Stormwind has enjoyed favorable weather this year, and with tax reductions, the people are living quite well.
The kingdom needs to repair many of the buildings destroyed in the Cataclysm, but it is short-handed and wants to hire a large number of people from the Plaguelands.
Because the construction period was relatively long, Kingdom of Stormwind not only provided generous wages, but also provided housing and land for the workers' families.
With the sheriff's help, the news quickly spread Plaguelands. The generous offer attracted the people, while the faith in the Holy Light was merely a topic of conversation. The allure of gold coins far outweighed the Holy Light.
"That's the allure of money," Vanessa said with a smile.
It should be noted that the residents of the Plaguelands are mostly soldiers who retired from the Argent Crusade. The vast majority are not locals and have no attachment to this land, so they cannot be considered to have left their homeland.
Many people abandoned everything here without hesitation and fled to the Kingdom of Stormwind with their families.
Vanessa's actions caught the attention of the Ironforge Dwarves.
Moira, the daughter of King Bronzebeard Thaurissan, especially felt that there was a conspiracy involved.
Ironforge also suffered heavy losses during the Cataclysm and similarly needs a large workforce.
Moira couldn't fathom Vanessa's scheme, but competing with her was definitely the right thing to do.
Ironforge then offered even more favorable terms to attract the people of the Plaguelands.
In less than a month, the already sparsely populated Plaguelands lost two-thirds of its population.
That day, Baron Thalassos walked into the Light's Hope Chapel with a somber expression.
As one of the leaders of the Argent Dawn, Baron Thalassos inevitably faced exclusion after the Argent Dawn joined the Argent Crusade, and was never able to reach the core of the Argent Crusade.
Tirion Fordring banished him to a remote region, where he lived among deserted watchtowers, which allowed him to survive repeated defeats.
After returning to the Plaguelands, the Baron devoted himself to the reconstruction of Lordaeron, but unexpectedly suffered Backstab from Stormwind City and Ironforge.
The massive loss of population rendered all plans futile, and the Baron was seething with resentment.
"Jessica, a glass of Morning Dew Wine."
The beautiful innkeeper brought over some Morning Dew Wine, which the baron drank in one gulp. As the effects of the wine wore off, he felt much better.
"Kingdom of Stormwind, and those greedy Dwarves, they've gone too far."
The baron slammed his fist on the counter, muttering, "If only Lordaeron could be restored."
Jessica smiled gently, "It's a pity that King Terenas has no suitable heir. Arthas aside, his sister's situation is also dire."
The baron stubbornly shook his head. "By the Holy Light, Undercity must never have another Undead queen."
Jessica hesitated, then said, "Perhaps we could find a new candidate, such as a nobleman with royal blood."
The baron pondered for a long time. Most of the nobles of Lordaeron had become Undead Scourge, and the surviving nobles had either betrayed humanity or distanced themselves from the royal family. He sighed and said:
"If Tirion Fordring were still alive, that would be wonderful."
Jessica frowned. "I think you know best what Tirion Fordring has done to humanity."
"But who knows? After all, he's highly respected." The Baron said nonchalantly, "Last night I dreamt of Tirion Fordring; he said he wanted to come back and lead us to continue the fight."
"This is truly a terrifying nightmare." Jessica poured herself another glass of Morning Dew Wine.
Suddenly, a flash of golden light appeared in the sky above the Light's Hope Chapel.
The spirits deep underground screamed in agony, as if the end of the world had come.
The Baron and Jessica felt everything around them shaking. Jessica screamed and fell to the ground. The Baron rushed over, picked up Jessica, and ran out of the Light's Hope Chapel.
The soldiers of the Light's Hope Chapel stared blankly in one direction, as if in a daze.
A crack appeared in the sky, and golden light slowly descended, like a small sun.
The baron exclaimed in disbelief, "This is Holy Light!"
As the small sun slowly descended, everyone finally saw clearly that it was a huge, golden stone gate enveloped in intense Holy Light.
The stone gate leads to the Plague Scar near the Light's Hope Chapel, a low-lying area that was once filled with rainwater but evaporated almost instantly.
The earth trembled violently, and the golden stone gate was firmly fixed at the bottom of the Plague Scar, with a vortex slowly rotating on the gate.
The baron led his soldiers cautiously closer. The golden stone gate, engraved with symbols representing Holy Light, made them lower their guard.
A tall figure stepped through the Portal, his body enveloped in intense Holy Light, grabbed a soldier beside the baron, and bit off his neck.
"Haha, that familiar taste... the flesh of the New Lightforged Orcs makes me want to vomit."
The baron was startled and quickly drew his sword from his waist. Before him stood a Lightforging Orcs, and the baron recognized the weapon on the Orcs's back.
Gorehowl, he is Grom Hellscream.
"It's Orcs, they're back. Prepare for battle!" the baron shouted the order.
"Maxwell, who are you going to fight?" A familiar voice came, and the Baron saw Tirion Fordring, carrying Ashbringer as he stepped out of the Portal.
"Tirion Fordring, the great Tirion Fordring is back."
The soldiers of the Argent Crusade were moved to tears, forgetting the Orcs before them and their comrades being devoured; their hearts were filled only with adoration for Tirion Fordring.
The baron frowned slightly, but had no choice but to sheathe his weapon.
Behind Tirion Fordring, a large group of Lightforging Orcs emerged from the Portal. Tirion Fordring pointed towards Light's Hope Chapel:
"From now on, this will be your cafeteria, and all of this will be your food."