After consuming the flesh and blood of the Loa, Thrall's first sensation was a rapid increase in strength. His power grew continuously, and he believed that defeating a Gronn would be no problem.
Thrall, in his excitement, increased his food intake. The mournful wails of the four Loa sounded to Sirens Thrall, incredibly beautiful.
But then Thrall's body changed. First, a rhinoceros horn grew on his forehead, then colorful snake scales appeared on his shoulders, and soon covered his entire body.
Next, Thrall's tusks grew rapidly, his nose extended, his ears enlarged, his face resembled that of Mammoth, and his hands and feet turned into bear paws.
The characteristics of the Loa became increasingly apparent in Thrall, but what was even more terrifying was that the four Loa repelled each other, causing large chunks of flesh to rot and fall off.
Finally, Thrall realized something was wrong, but unfortunately, he was already delirious.
Vol'jin turned a blind eye to this and strictly ordered his men to keep it a secret, continuing to provide Thrall with Loa every day, and even increasing the amount of food.
That night, Thrall's body rapidly swelled, bursting through the tent, and his size resembled a small Castle.
Its entire body was covered with rhinoceros horns, Mammoth trunks and tusks, Juxiong paws and fur, and snake scales and fangs.
Thrall transformed into a hideous, deformed monster and completely lost his mind.
Losing his senses, Thrall stumbled and wandered aimlessly, step by step walking into the snowy mountains. Vol'jin did not stop him, letting Thrall go as he pleased.
Occasionally, hunters would spot Thrall in his human form and claim it was the Lich King Arthas.
The Emissary that Thrall must be found, which greatly disappointed Vol'jin and made him unable to understand why the Emissary so fixated on the Orcs and Thrall.
But the Emissary's command was equivalent to the Moon Goddess's oracle, Vol'jin could not disobey it.
Vol'jin could only temporarily teleport several hundred Orcs from Orgrimmar through Dalaran, dividing them into more than a dozen small teams to enter the deep mountains in search of Thrall's whereabouts.
To demonstrate his loyalty, Vol'jin personally led dozens of Orcs into the deep mountains to search for them.
That noon, Vol'jin led his team to a sheltered spot in the mountains when they suddenly heard a terrible roar. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw hundreds of Ghouls rushing towards them.
Vol'jin was terrified and was about to tear open the Teleportation Scroll in his arms when he suddenly realized that these Ghouls were different. They were short, their claws and teeth were not sharp, and they were not fast.
Could it be the Scourge? But Vol'jin clearly saw the Scourge's banner.
Vol'jin didn't rush to use the precious Teleportation Scroll. After paying a heavy price, he led his team to successfully break through the enemy lines and even personally killed several Ghouls.
"How did the Scourge become so weak?"
Vol'jin muttered to himself, his mind wandering.
That night, the Scourge launched a surprise attack, Tirion Fordring, overestimating his abilities, suffered a crushing defeat in a one-on-one fight against the Ghouls. Vol'jin witnessed it all; a single Ghoul could probably wipe out Vol'jin's army.
"Perhaps it was Elune, who intervened, using unknown means to weaken the Scourge." Vol'jin thought to himself, his confidence growing.
Icecrown Citadel.
The Ghoul squad that ambushed Vol'jin's forces has returned, with over a dozen killed but successfully causing the deaths of dozens of Orcs soldiers.
Kel'Thuzad examined all the Ghouls and couldn't help but marvel.
There wasn't a single sign of aging.
Robbie examined it carefully and became even more Steadfast of his guess.
Remember Murozond's warning that Arthas must be persuaded to resurrect Thrall in the future?
Robbie had once suspected that Thrall, or rather the Orcs, possessed something different about them.
Legendary that Orcs are the blood people of the Elune, and some even say that Elune is a female Orcs.
Combined with the preferential treatment the Orcs have received since entering Azeroth, such as King Terenas's unconventional Internment Camp, the Orcs' rise to fame after the Battle of Mount Hyjal, becoming the Saviors of Azeroth, the Blue Dragonflight's millennia-long breeding of the Orcs, and the favoritism shown by the Guardians and the Red Dragonflight.
All of this proves that the Orcs have a close relationship with the Elune.
Kel'Thuzad laughed, "Perhaps we've found a way to fight against the Alliance and the Horde."
Robbie nodded and emphasized, "The Scourge soldiers forged from Orcs corpses and souls can't be too strong, lest they fall into the Moon Goddess's trap and turn against us."
With everyone's efforts, Thrall's whereabouts were quickly found.
More important than this news Emissary the Scourge had weakened.
Vol'jin wasn't the only one to venture into the mountains to search; Vol'jin, Garrosh, Eitrigg, Sylvanas, Tirion Fordring Dranosh, and others joined the search party, and all of them encountered attacks from the Scourge.
"You say the Scourge has weakened?" the Emissary messenger asked solemnly.
Absolutely true
Tirion Fordring's confidence soared at this moment, all the discouragement of the previous day vanished, and he spoke with great enthusiasm, spittle flying everywhere:
"I easily killed fifty Ghouls with Ashbringer, scaring Ghoul into scattering and fleeing. I even managed to capture one alive."
As cannon fodder in the Scourge, Ghouls lack intelligence and can only understand simple attack and retreat orders, which is a widely acknowledged fact.
The Emissary examined the Ghouls that Tirion Fordring had captured; after all, they had been processed from corpses, and it was impossible to tell what kind of creature they were before they were born.
"Besides Ghouls, what other types of Scourge soldiers have you encountered?" the Emissary asked.
Garrosh carefully concealed the wound on his back, saying smugly, "I encountered a giant Abomination, and I cleaved it in two with a single axe strike."
Dranosh retorted, "I encountered a group of Death Knights and easily defeated them. Their strength is about the same as that of the Forsaken Death Knight."
Sylvanas glared at Dranosh and said calmly, "I once encountered a Scourge mage who was weak, as foolish as Orcs."
Although they didn't know what had happened, the Emissary naturally assumed that it was the Elune who had intervened; the power of the gods was beyond the comprehension of mortals.
The Emissary feigned mystery, as if he had already anticipated everything, and smiled slightly:
"Now you understand, right? This is all thanks to the power of Elune. With the Scourge weakened to this extent, what do you have to fear? After I help Thrall recover from his injuries, the Alliance and the Horde will unite and wipe out the Scourge."
The Horde's generals were filled with renewed confidence, while King Varian, standing to the side, felt uneasy, believing he had lost his usefulness and was about to lose his throne.
The Emissary brought back the Savior Thrall from the snowy mountains, binding him firmly with a magical chain.
On the border of the Zul'Drak Empire, before the Altar of the Loa, the Emissary pointed at Thrall, who had been transformed into a deformed monster, and questioned the four Loa:
"Akali the rhinoceros, Mammoth Mam'toth, Rhunok the Juxiong, and Sseratus the serpent— Thrall, the Savior, devoured your flesh and blood, and became what you are now. You have committed unforgivable sins, tantamount to destroying Azeroth. If you can save Thrall, perhaps I will show mercy and spare your lives."
After days of agonizing torture involving the cutting of their own flesh, the four Loa had long since lost their dignity. The serpent Sseratus pleaded in a low voice, "My Emissary, please forgive our sins. We are powerless to help our Savior Thrall, who has become like this."
The Emissary coldly threatened, "If that's the case, then you'll all die. My methods of torture are far more terrifying than Thrall's."
Faced with this life-or-death situation, the Loa certainly wouldn't sit idly by and wait for their demise.