Among the slaves liberated from the Mining District were also many humans, mostly soldiers captured after the defeat of Stormwind City and residents of Lakeshire. Unas's forces suddenly expanded to more than 1,500, but many slaves only had miner's pickaxes as weapons, making their combat effectiveness questionable.
Following Rendaen's orders, Unas led his newly assembled troops eastward with the main army. It was said that there were large areas of Glowing Wheat farms there, which would suddenly provide tens of thousands of additional food sources, making it crucial to seize the food base.
They encountered virtually no resistance along the way. Once the "Dead Gate" was lowered, many of the defenders lost their will to fight. Some fled, others scattered, and those who were blocked surrendered immediately. Several farm slaves had already hung their masters' heads on the doorways to welcome the arrival of the "royal army."
The commander of the Eastern Route Army simply ordered the army to spread out in a fan shape and quickly expand to occupy the area, but they soon encountered resistance—the army of the Dark Horde was also attacking the farm.
No wonder the Black Iron City Guard collapsed so quickly; it turns out that not only was there a major uprising, but the Blackrock Orcs also took the opportunity to attack Blackrock Spire.
The saying "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" no longer applies. When two sides collide, there's nothing to talk about; fighting is the only option.
The problem was that some of the slaves liberated by Rendaen were from the Dark Horde. These newly incorporated people were, of course, still loyal to their original Horde, so most of them immediately rebelled and attacked their liberators, causing a riot to break out in the Eastern Route Army.
Unas's all-human forces, of course, did not have this problem. After successfully capturing three plantations, they began to encounter Orcs, Troll, and Ogre squads from the Dark Horde, but they did not meet any tough opponents. Under the firepower suppression of the two mages, the enemies were just lambs to the slaughter, selflessly Consecration experience to Unas.
Unas charged at the forefront, testing his new skill. Seal of Command to be similar to a splash attack without diminishing returns. As long as the enemies were close enough, attacking one person was equivalent to attacking three. Often, a single hammer blow would fall three enemies at the same time, significantly increasing his killing efficiency.
The Hammer of Righteousness quadruples the attack power, is incredibly powerful. Although it only lasts for a short second, none of the enemies encountered so far have been able to withstand this blow; they have either had their bones shattered or been torn to pieces.
With Unas's current energy and physique, using eight or nine Hammer of Righteousness in a single battle is no problem; any more would put a strain on his body.
The immense power of the new skill drew gasps of amazement from everyone. Erigor and Darian were already numb to his astonishing growth rate and stopped asking about the secret. They were sure the answer they would get would be that the Holy-favored was Invincible, no explanation needed.
As the human front gained ground and gradually took the lead, the main force of the Dark Horde also concentrated on Unas and his group, attempting to intercept the sword that had pierced their own side.
This gave the entire Eastern Route Army a brief respite. After all, the rebellious slaves were a minority, their equipment was still rudimentary, and Rendaen's army was always wary of foreign races. The rebellion was quickly suppressed.
The Eastern Route Army began to regroup around Unas and his group, preparing for a decisive battle against the main force of the Dark Horde.
Since encountering the enemy's main force, Unas's life has become difficult. As he is at the forefront, he is inevitably under close scrutiny from the enemy spellcasters. There are quite a few Orcs Warlocks, and Angela and the half-crippled Huoye simply cannot suppress them.
Pain, sluggishness, weakness, fatigue, misfortune—he tasted every kind of curse. Fortunately, he had Natasha, who knew the Greater Dispel, as his backup; otherwise, he would have had to use Invincible to negate these negative spells, which would have been a huge waste.
Spells like Shadow Bolt naturally soaked him from head to toe, but fortunately, Holy Light counters Shadow, and the Sacred Shield, which is ineffective against physical attacks, shielded him from a lot of damage.
The demonic minions summoned by the Warlocks were merely cannon fodder. With a single Holy Wrath, weaker demons like imps were instantly killed by energy arrows, while stronger undead were stunned and left to be slaughtered.
The enemy could do nothing to him, but he could do nothing to the enemy either. The two sides fought fiercely for every inch of land on the farm.
The situation improved after the main force of the Eastern Route Army arrived, and the human troops that had been holding the line were finally able to retreat and rest.
The ceasefire brought trouble, and the slaves elected a tall, sturdy, brown-haired middle-aged man as their representative to request a conversation with Unas.
"Greetings, Paladin. I am Reggie Nunn, a soldier from Stormwind City." The middle-aged man introduced himself politely and gave Unas a standard military salute. His upright posture and composed demeanor were quite endearing.
He must have been a high-ranking military officer to have become the representative of the slaves so quickly.
"No need for formalities," Unas returned the salute, gesturing to a stone next to the middle-aged man. "Please sit down."
"I heard that Paladin, and your party are from Lordaeron. I wonder why you ended up here?"
Unas didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "The reason for this is our secret, and I can't tell you for now."
Undeterred, Reggie continued, "And why do you fight for the Dark Iron Dwarves?"
"Rendaen's interests are now aligned with ours; we're acting in our own self-interest," Unas said impatiently. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
"Almost everyone here comes from Stormwind City and Lakeshire. We all want to go home, and as their representative, I request that you, sir, lead us home."
"We want to go home too, Reggie Nunn! We'd like to ask you for help to get home!"
"If you want to return to Lordaeron, once you reach Stormwind City, I can arrange a warship to take you back. I have some old friends in the Stormwind City navy."
Hearing this, Unas became somewhat interested and asked, "How long does it take to get to Lordaeron by boat?"
"If the voyage goes smoothly, we should be able to reach Southshore in about a month."
"What if we go to the Northport in Tirisfal Glades?"
"Since the fall of Lordaeron, that shipping route has become extremely dangerous, with Undead pirates rampant. Forcing your way through would likely take even longer, and Stormwind City's ships generally only go as far as Southshore."
The land route from Southshore to Farshire is quite long and involves crossing the Forsaken's defenses, making it extremely difficult. However, if they cannot breach Shadowforge City within ten days to two weeks and cannot find any other passage into the underground lava river, this is indeed a way back.
Unas softened his tone, "Your suggestion is not bad, but we need to escape back to Stormwind City first. What do you think we should do given the current situation?"
"Let's not get involved in the Dark Iron Dwarves' war anymore. We'll go on our own, escape from underground first, then find a way to get to the Redridge Mountains via the Burning Steppes. There are Stormwind City's garrison in Lakeshire; once we get there, we'll be safe."