Grom Hellscream out of the coffin, his entire body encased in thick black armor, with only his eyes, glowing with a blood-red light, visible.
The tall Orcs Warrior, carrying a sharp black Battle Axe, knelt respectfully on one knee. "I am willing to serve you, great Dark Lady."
Sylvanas's lips curled slightly, quite pleased with Grommash Hellscream's respectful attitude. This chieftain of the Warsong Clan was long accustomed to submission, both in life and in death.
At this time Grom Hellscream was not Death Knight, as Sylvanas held the Death Knight class in contempt. She possessed a gift from that mysterious deity—ancient dark magic—that granted Grom Hellscream even greater combat power than in his previous life.
The drawback is the depletion of one's spirit. Once the spirit is exhausted, one may fall into the darkest World of the Dead, never to be reborn.
But who cares? The resurrected Grom Hellscream cannot be brought to light, otherwise it would surely provoke protests from the Orcs, or even war. Sylvanas only awakens him from his coffin when it is most needed.
The other coffin opened silently, and a ghostly figure dressed in a gray robe appeared.
Antonidas, or rather a powerful Lich mage, watched Sylvanas silently.
Compared to Grommash Hellscream's groveling, the High Archmage maintained the dignity he had in life. For example, his spotless robes were trimmed with beautiful gold, he wore an exquisite mage's hat, and he held a priceless staff. Clearly, Sylvanas valued him more.
Sylvanas raised her head and, expressionless, gave the order:
"Antonidas, open the Portal to the Land of No Shadows. I am going to see your enemies, Thrall and Saurfang. Those despicable scoundrels who betrayed you, humiliated you, and devoured your flesh—I think you long to see their souls subjected to the cruelest torture, forced to submit to me in the most humiliating manner."
"As you wish, Dark Lady."
The Land of No Shadows, which does not appear on any map, is a mysterious city hidden deep in the ocean, within a giant cave. The sea has isolated it from the real world for tens of thousands of years, making it an undiscoverable place.
Not long ago, it gained another name: the Orcs' eternal home.
In Draenor, the Orcs have their own ancient traditions. Shaman who serve the Ancestral Spirit can guide the Restless Souls into their ancestral tombs, where many of these spirits are reborn as new Ancestral Spirits, ensuring the prosperity of their people.
But ever since they drank the Blood of Mannoroth, the Orcs have fallen into a deep curse, abandoning their former noble Shaman beliefs and the spirits of their ancestors. After their deaths, their Restless Souls have no guidance.
Some Orcs Veterans ' greatest wish in life is to return to their homeland before they die and to be embraced by the Ancestral Spirit after death. Unfortunately, Orcs Corruption by Demon Blood can no longer be accepted by the Ancestral Spirit.
Orcs do not belong to Azeroth. If they do not establish their own ancestral lineage, their souls will have nowhere to go after death, becoming wandering ghosts and spellcasting tools for Warlocks.
Ambitious figures like Thrall, who pursue immortality and have boundless power, would never care about the Destiny of Orcs after their deaths, and never thought of establishing a new ancestral lineage.
But at some point, a Legendary began to circulate in Orgrimmar that some Shaman who still served the spirits of their ancestors and were skilled in necromancy occasionally saw ghosts guiding the Restless Souls of Orcs. These ghosts were a group of Val'kyr in Orcs form, guiding the Restless Souls into an unknown world.
After countless prayers and various rituals, the Orcs Shaman learned that an ancient god of Azeroth, who called himself "The Dark Side of the Moon," was willing to provide shelter for the Restless Souls of the Orcs, just like Bwonsamdi, the Troll god of death.
Some Orcs Shaman believed it was a conspiracy, while others felt it was the Orcs' deserved Redemption. Even the Guardian Medivh knew very little about this ancient deity, simply stating without any basis that it was the Orcs' Destiny.
In a daze, Thrall encountered a Val'kyr. At that moment, Thrall was unaware that he was dead, or even who he was; he simply followed the shadow in front of him, moving forward instinctively.
He stepped onto the sea surface, sank to the bottom, and traveled along the dark ocean floor. After an unknown amount of time, Thrall suddenly found that he could perceive his surroundings again, and all his memories and consciousness returned.
"So I am already dead. My ambition, my future, my unwavering pursuit—all have vanished like smoke. Indeed, no kingdom lasts forever!"
Thrall chuckled self-deprecatingly, feeling that all the power bestowed upon him by the Burning Legion had vanished. He tried to connect with the forces of earth, fire, water, and wind, only to discover, to his dismay, that the Shaman's power was also gone.
"I am now just a pitiful Restless Souls, without Vessel to hold Elemental Power, and therefore unable to draw upon it. Alas, my hard-earned Wealth, my beautiful wife—I wonder which bastard has gotten them all."
Recalling the past, those who had lived and died, Thrall felt both sorrow and indignation.
"Agna, how could you treat me like this? Do you think I don't know about your lovers? But I've been pretending not to see them. Dranosh Saurfang, well, you've certainly made me jealous."
"Vol'jin!"
Thrall's heart skipped a beat at the thought of his most loyal old friend.
He thought he had seen through Vol'jin long ago, but he never expected that the people around him were the ones he understood the least.
That terrifying attack, the incomprehensible dark power, the incomparably powerful presence behind Vol'jin —even in his Restless Souls state, Thrall felt a chill run down his spine; it was truly terrifying.
Strangely, since Vol'jin had such a powerful figure backing him up, why didn't he rise up in rebellion sooner? In Thrall's view, the Darkspear Tribe was not much more noble than the Tauren, which made Thrall somewhat puzzled.
"Saurfang, Garrosh."
Thinking of his two enemies, Thrall was filled with disdain. They were just weaklings he had toyed with; why should he care about them? Oh right, they seemed to be dead too. What pathetic creatures.
Thrall gradually began to recall his past, he started to pay attention to his surroundings. He didn't know where he was. He was no longer in the depths of the ocean, but in a dark space, with a blood-red full moon floating in the air.
"Blood Moon?"
Thrall's heart skipped a beat. He had heard Vol'jin recount years ago that the Troll Death God Bwonsamdi, could summon Blood Moon and bring the Restless Souls back to the mortal realm. Could that mysterious entity, the "Dark Side of the Moon," be related to Bwonsamdi?
Upon closer inspection of the Blood Moon in the sky, Thrall sensed something was amiss.
No matter how you look at it, the Blood Moon in the sky looks like a giant eyeball, with a blurry outline around Blood Moon – it's clearly an eye.
As they continued their journey, they drew ever closer to the Blood Moon. Thrall's guess was confirmed: it was an eye with long eyelashes, both alluring and ruthless, seemingly carrying a hint of sorrow and resentment.
Mysterious eyeballs with eyelashes—what kind of world is this?!
Thrall gazed at the guide ahead, a ghost in a white robe with a pair of white wings, floating in the air, carrying a blood-dripping Battle Axe, though his body was excessively bloated.
Thrall recalled his appearance; yes, just like in the Legendary, he was an Orcs Val'kyr.
"I never imagined that one day I would die, guided by the Val'kyr," Thrall thought sadly.
"Haha, Thrall, so you've been here! I've been waiting for you for ages."
"Thrall, I've finally waited for you. Let's settle our score."
Two malevolent voices rang out. Thrall looked over and saw two familiar Orcs Restless Souls: Saurfang the Great and former Orcs chieftain Garrosh.
"Thrall, in this world, there is no Burning Legion, no Medivh. You are just like us now. You devoured my flesh and blood, and I will make you pay for it in blood."
Garrosh, being young and impulsive, was the first to rush forward and start fighting with Thrall.
Saurfang's face was grim as he said viciously, "Thrall, you conspired with Sylvanas to kill my son, who should have been the Warchief of the Horde. From that moment on, I swore to tear you apart."
Saurfang also joined the battle. In his Restless Souls form, the three seemed evenly matched, with two against one leaving Thrall in a sorry state. The Orcs Val'kyr was leading the way simply watched quietly, seemingly uninterested in getting involved.
A mysterious ghost flew over, seemingly a giant black bat, and landed on the ground. It was a strange creature with no facial features, only some tentacles on its face, no hands, and huge pincers at the ends of its arms.
It resembles Faceless Ones, but its body is extremely slender, possessing a graceful beauty, and it has a pair of large, bat-like wings behind it.
"All beings in the Land of No Shadows forget their past and future lives, live in harmony, and cease fighting. Welcome to the Land of No Shadows," the slender, Faceless Ones said in a deep voice.
The three ignored the Faceless Ones and continued fighting.
"A bunch of ignorant thugs, do they really want me to resort to torture?"
The Faceless Ones brandished the pincers on its arm, issuing a warning.