"Divine Emissary, ahead lies the territory of Highmountain. This is where the Tauren live. Their leader, Huln Highmountain, led an elite Tauren force to support our resistance a few days ago. Rumor has it that Huln's combat skills are extraordinary. In several battles, he slaughtered Burning Legion demons until their blood flowed like rivers."
"Ha, isn't that a good thing? If there were a few more Hulns, we could defeat the Burning Legion easily." Hu Feng replied jokingly.
Suramar's force made no effort to conceal itself as it swaggered into Highmountain. They planned to rest briefly in the Tauren's largest city, Thunder Totem Highlands, before continuing toward the source of the Old Gods' fluctuations.
At Thunder Totem, Hu Feng's group received an enthusiastic welcome. The elves and Tauren had already become allies, and the straightforward, honest Tauren had always both respected and feared this Central People. Suramar's force was especially intimidating now: large numbers of High Mages, countless Archmages, and those enormous Faceless Ones. Their constantly writhing tentacles made it obvious they were no weaklings.
Meanwhile, the other two groups secretly heading for Neltharion's lair also received the news.
Rhonin, Malfurion, and Brox were currently hiding in a huge crack between rocks. When they learned that Suramar City's Highborne mages and their mysterious, powerful "Divine Emissary" had also arrived, their morale immediately soared.
Illidan and the Imperial Guard Captain Varoon, who were leading a group of Felguards onward, did not look nearly as pleased. Enemy, not friend. If their target was also the Dragon Soul, then this operation would become incredibly difficult.
Rhonin's group picked up speed, and several days later, they successfully infiltrated Earth-Warder Neltharion's lair.
There, they witnessed a scene of utter madness. A large group of Goblins took piece after piece of armor made from some unknown metal and placed them directly over Neltharion's body while they were still scorching hot. Then, using a massive battering ram, they drove equally enormous iron spikes through the armor and into Neltharion's flesh. Amid dragon roars filled with pain yet strangely mixed with pleasure, the three of them broke out in cold sweat.
"Although I already knew Neltharion was insane, seeing it with my own eyes still makes me say this: that madman! No one could possibly be crazier than him!"
After their exclamation, the three carefully headed deeper into the lair. At last, in a hidden chamber, they found the Dragon Soul displayed in the center. The instant they took it, frenzied whispers flooded the entire cavernous lair, followed by a roar so furious it spread throughout all of Highmountain.
"Who is it?! Who dares lay hands on my divine artifact?! You disgusting vermin, I will find you, strip out your souls, and torment you forever!"
Rhonin and the other two were scared witless, and a desperate escape began.
Outside, Hu Feng and Suramar's forces were also racing toward Neltharion's lair. Hu Feng was certain now: the Old Gods' fluctuations were coming from Neltharion, this Dragon Aspect. This dragon had most likely been corrupted into madness by the Old Gods.
After untold hardship, Rhonin's group finally escaped the cave, only to run straight into Suramar's forces. Rhonin's sharp eyes immediately spotted Hu Feng in the center, and he was overjoyed.
"Divine Emissary! We got the Dragon Soul! Please help us get out of here!"
Hu Feng looked at the three. Malfurion was holding a round golden object in his arms, radiating powerful energy. Even by a Titan's standards, it was indeed a fine magical creation. Hu Feng nodded. "No problem. Go. I'll hold Neltharion off."
Rhonin and the others hurriedly thanked him, then leaped onto their Night Saber mounts and sped away.
Just then, a gigantic figure that blotted out the sky burst from the ground. Neltharion roared as he shot into the air, the armor on his body still churning with violent flames. His gaze swept around before immediately locking onto the three treasure thieves growing more distant. With a beat of his massive wings, he charged after them.
"You little vermin! I found you! Don't even think of escaping! You will—"
Before he could finish, a beam of black Void Energy slammed into Neltharion. He flew backward like a ball that had been kicked. Then a giant hand formed from energy gripped him tightly, dragged him back to the ground, and smashed him down before Hu Feng and the others. The Faceless Ones surrounded him in a circle, firing streams of weakening and Mind Magic into the dragon's body. While weakening him, they also searched for the Old Gods' energy fluctuations to determine their location.
The mages, meanwhile, received orders to storm Neltharion's lair, begin looting the dragon's hoard, and capture the Goblins. They were all forging talents and could not be allowed to escape.
"Elves! You will pay for what you have done! You will regret this! You—"
"Shut up, little dragon. I only intended to use you to find traces of the Old Gods. Keep babbling and annoying me, and I'll kill you as soon as I'm done." Hu Feng snapped his fingers, and Neltharion's enormous jaws were immediately sealed shut by energy before being slammed hard into the ground.
Old Gods? What did him looking for the Old Gods have to do with me?
Wait!
As Neltharion gradually calmed down, he briefly regained some clarity. The whispers that had never ceased in his ears had actually vanished after this elf-like being appeared!? And the aura emanating from this being... it seemed to be the aura of the Creator Gods, the Titans?
"Heh... Back then, my people granted your kind power, enlightened you, and made you Dragon Aspects. Looking at things now... that may not have been a wise decision. Look at yourself, gradually corrupted by the Old Gods and falling into madness. How pathetic." Hu Feng sneered as he stared at Neltharion's massive dragon head.
Neltharion was completely dumbfounded...
What? He really was a Titan? Was this some kind of joke?
At that moment, a Faceless One moved before Hu Feng, and a mental message entered his mind: Four Old Gods had participated in the corruption. The main corrupter, N'Zoth, and another Old God had been too cunning. Realizing something was wrong, they retreated too quickly to be tracked in time.
The locations of the remaining two had already been found. One was the Mill-Eye Demon C'Thun, located in Angerla in the far southwest of the continent. The other was the Mill-Throat Beast Yogg-Saron, located in Northrend in the far north of the continent.
Neither journey was short, but Hu Feng was in no hurry. After realizing something was amiss, the two Old Gods had both gone dormant and fallen asleep, attempting to hide their existence. Furthermore, once the Old Gods took root in a planet, they could no longer move. So there was no fear of them escaping. He could deal with them once he had the time.
Having obtained the information he wanted, Hu Feng turned to look at Neltharion, who was shaking his head in an attempt to clear it.
"As for you, little dragon, how should I deal with you? If you had not encountered my incarnation in the mortal world today, you would have completely fallen into madness before long."
Neltharion immediately raised his head. "I... the whispers of the Old Gods are eroding my mind every moment. I can feel my sanity shattering... I can barely endure it any longer... Please help me! Supreme Titan! We were your first chosen ones!"
"Shut up!" Hu Feng frowned and gave a quiet rebuke. Neltharion immediately fell silent like an obedient child.
"The corruption in you runs too deep to be removed. There is only one way now. I will guide and rewrite the power of Void corruption within you so that you will not so easily fall into madness. In return, you will surrender your freedom and loyalty. The entire Black Dragonflight as well. As long as you are absolutely loyal to me and serve me, you may go as mad as you like, provided you do not violate my orders or disrupt my plans. You and your descendants may also earn the right to ascend to my divine kingdom after death and become higher beings. What do you say?"
Neltharion fell into thought. Rather than slowly being corrupted by the Old Gods into a madman without reason, since it was unavoidable, serving the Titans, his original masters, while being able to descend into madness with limited self-awareness intact—though it could not be completely cured, this was already the best solution.
Any fool knew what to choose. Besides, as he watched the Night Elf mages returning one after another reveal expressions of intense envy, he vaguely guessed just how precious the promise of ascending to a divine kingdom after death was.
At that moment, Rhonin's group returned, stumbling back in panic. The Dragon Soul was nowhere to be seen.
"Divine Emissary, b-bad news! Illidan and the Burning Legion demons stole the Dragon Soul! Deathwing, he... uh..."
Seeing how disheveled the three were, Hu Feng knew they must have gone through tremendous effort to escape.
"Pass down the order. Spread out immediately and search for Illidan and the demon forces. They are clever enough to know you would return to find me, so they did not dare pursue you. But that is precisely the problem—they will surely flee desperately back to the capital. Search for them, but do not expect too much." Hu Feng raised an eyebrow. "But I am more interested in what you just called him. Deathwing?" As he spoke, Hu Feng nodded toward Neltharion lying on the ground.
Rhonin was also in shock, standing there and muttering to himself. "The restriction has been lifted? We couldn't say it before... Deathwing! Neltharion! Wing! Wing!"
"Hmph... ignorant little crawlers, your restriction has already been removed by me. I no longer need to hide anything. You people in the future call me Deathwing? Hahaha, not bad. Compared to Earth-Warder, I prefer this new name." Neltharion shook his massive head and contemptuously sprayed Rhonin's face with saliva.
"Alright, I suppose I have changed another existence's fate in the future. Rhonin, the usual rules. I hope you will keep this secret, since you are a witness to the new history. And you, elf druid Malfurion, and orc warrior Brox, if you can cooperate as well, then we will meet again in the future." Hu Feng winked warmly at the three.
"Uh... alright, no problem. Wait! What about the Dragon Soul?"
"If we cannot catch Illidan, then we can only take it back during the final battle, can't we?"
Before you continue