The Burning Legion withdrew entirely to Dalaran. As soon as the Legion soldiers entered the safe base, they immediately collapsed and fell asleep. The Legion's renowned generals and fearsome executioners were all exhausted, covered in dust, and looked like stray dogs.
Finally, they could rest. A hemispherical green Fel shield protected the entire city. The Burning Legion's Magic Shield was indestructible. Even after many years without Fel replenishment, the shield's color gradually turned pale purple, but it still possessed considerable power, attracting countless mages to come and study it.
The Scourge pursued them relentlessly until they spotted the green shield in the distance. Sylvanas sighed helplessly and could only retreat far away. Kel'Thuzad, on the other hand, carefully examined the Fel shield and revealed an expression that said, "It's nothing special."
While the Scourge suffered countless losses in this battle, the Burning Legion also suffered nearly 20,000 casualties. This was arguably the biggest setback since the conquest of Azeroth. Such a defeat was rare in the history of the Burning Legion, especially with Archimonde personally leading the charge, leaving the Defilers utterly humiliated.
After a few days of rest, the generals regained their strength, and the Burning Legion immediately convened a war council.
The Burning Legion had to change tactics, and a cunning Dreadlord offered a new tactical idea.
A step-by-step advance tactic.
Build multiple fortified bases on the land of Lordaeron, just like Dalaran, with an indestructible Fel shield, so that the Legion's soldiers can return to the bases to rest at any time and not be afraid of the Scourge's fatigue tactics.
Archimonde's expression remained cold. He glanced at the chief technician beside him and waved his hand, saying:
Let me tell you about the difficulties we are facing.
The chief technician was a short Mo'arg whose body had been mechanically modified, giving him exceptionally flexible mechanical arms and superhuman computing power. The chief technician emitted a ticking electronic sound.
"The Legion Forge is running out of fuel and is about to shut down."
"What? That's impossible!"
"We have killed countless Scourge soldiers; the Fel Fire should be burning fiercely."
Something must have gone wrong.
The Scourge generals were in an uproar, refusing to believe it was true. If the Fel Forge were to go out, it would be far worse than losing 20,000 soldiers, meaning the campaign against Azeroth would be a complete failure, and they would have no choice but to retreat to the Twisting Nether.
The Burning Legion's Fel Forge is fueled solely by souls. The Legion's conquests and slaughter provide countless souls for the Fel Forge, and the burning souls generate Fel energy.
Fel is the foundation of the Legion's operations. Their armor and weapons need to be powered by Fel energy, the Legion's mages need to use Fel to cast spells, the Legion's Infernals are also forged from Fel, and even soldiers need Fel to restore their stamina.
Without Fel, the Legion cannot burn.
The chief technician shook his head. "I am very grateful to all the soldiers for their bloody battles on the front lines, but we have only received a very small number of souls, and the quality is extremely poor. At first, we thought that someone was competing with us for souls, such as Arthas, but the actual situation is not like that. It is more complicated than we imagined. I'm sorry, we can't find the reason."
The generals of the Legion sighed and shook their heads repeatedly, dejected and disappointed.
The setback in Lordaeron is nothing; a solution can certainly be found. However, if the Legion Forge cannot provide Fel, it will be tantamount to cutting off the Burning Legion's supplies, and the generals are powerless to do anything about it.
Archimonde stood up and loudly reassured his generals:
"The Legion has suffered an unprecedented setback, but there is no need to worry. Soon, a batch of souls will replenish the Legion Forge, Fel Flames will not be extinguished. However, until the cause is found, the war against the Scourge is temporarily suspended."
Echo Isles.
Robbie received the battle report from the front lines. Everything was proceeding smoothly, the Scourge had achieved a phased victory, and the Burning Legion had retreated to its base in Dalaran.
Now that the Burning Legion's Fel Forge is about to go out, this is the perfect opportunity to drive the Burning Legion out of the world. Only slaughter can refuel the Legion Forge, and it must be a massacre.
With the Burning Legion trapped in Dalaran and unable to move, who can Archimonde rely on?
The answer is self-evident.
The Orcs have already entered the Echo Isles.
Now, Thrall has led 100,000 Orcs to Echo Isles, accepted the surrender of Chief Sen'jin, and set up camp not far from the Darkspear Tribe's Royal Palace.
Sen'jin's identity was personally acknowledged by Archimonde, and unlike his previous surrender to Thrall, he no longer had to sacrifice half of his people to serve as food for the Orcs.
Sen'jin felt he should be on equal footing with Thrall. He knew all too well the cruelty and ruthlessness of the Orcs, who could turn their backs on people without hesitation, so he had to be on guard. He gathered 100,000 of his people in the easily defensible Royal Palace, facing the Orcs camp from afar.
Echo Isles appears very calm, but beneath the surface, turbulent currents surge, and conflicts between the two sides are constant.
Thrall sent messengers every day, urging Sen'jin to provide meat. Orcs who didn't eat meat could no longer be called Orcs, but only sheep. Relying on the equipment provided by the Legion Orcs, Thrall threatened to wage war against the Darkspear Tribe if they didn't provide military rations.
As the Burning Legion continued to annihilate the Scourge in Lordaeron and achieved great victories, Thrall became increasingly arrogant. He allowed his subordinates to slaughter villages of the Darkspear Tribe and turn all the captured Darkspear Trolls into Tough Jerky.
In less than a month, more than 50,000 Darkspear Trolls were slaughtered and became food for the Orcs.
The deaths of these 50,000 Darkspear Trolls became the fuel that sustained the Legion Forge. So, even though Sen'jin sent someone to Archimonde to complain about Thrall, Archimonde tacitly approved of Thrall's actions and instead accused the Darkspear Tribe of being unreasonable.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining Darkspear Tribe either secretly went into hiding or went to the Royal Palace to seek refuge with Chief Sen'jin.
Sen'jin was unwilling to sit idly by and wait for his death. While dealing with Thrall, he secretly colluded with the Murlocs and made a promise to the Kul Tiras navy that he would annihilate the Orcs when the opportunity arose.
However, Sen'jin was wary of the Burning Legion, so he never dared to act rashly, missing countless good opportunities.
A month later, the situation reversed dramatically, and the Burning Legion actually withdrew from Lordaeron on its own initiative.
Sen'jin was just a Darkspear Trolls knew nothing about Fel Magic or attrition tactics. He didn't understand what the Burning Legion's move meant, Robbie felt it was very necessary to remind Chieftain Sen'jin.
Robbie bribed someone close to the Priest, who then explained the current situation to Chief Sen'jin through the Priest.
"Great Chieftain Sen'jin!" the loyal Priest advised Sen'jin, "According to reliable intelligence, the Burning Legion's forge is about to go out, and if they don't receive replenishment of souls, they will soon withdraw from this world."
Sen'jin's eyes lit up, and he asked excitedly, "Priest, what good suggestions do you have?"
The Priest stepped forward and whispered:
"We don't need to do anything, just hold out for a while, day and night, and prevent the Orcs from finding any weaknesses. The Orcs are well-equipped, but they lack siege weapons and cannot take our Royal Palace. Without the protection of the Legion, the Orcs dare not go out to sea now. The Kul Tiras navy and Murlocs are waiting for them. Once the Burning Legion withdraws from this world, the Orcs will either leave with the Legion or be wiped out by us."
"A good suggestion." Sen'jin's eyes gleamed with greed and ambition. "But that's not enough."