Forest Trolls Turn on Each Other

Inspired by Mylah Dawncaller, the young High Elf Paladins of the Dawnblade Legion were fired up with passion. Fearlessly, they raised their shields and met the charge of the Amani War Bear Knights.

Not every High Elf Paladin possessed strength comparable to Mylah Dawncaller's, nor could they trigger the skill Blazing Defender.

For more High Elf Paladins, the result of doing so was being flung aside or trampled to death by the Amani War Bear Knights.

Yet this still could not stop more High Elf Paladins from picking up the shields of their fallen comrades and facing the Amani War Bear Knights.

"The Quel'dorei are invincible!"

The High Elf Paladins shouted in unison, then defended that oath with their lives.

In the end, the fearless High Elf Paladins used their flesh and blood and their very lives to successfully halt the charge of the Amani War Bear Knights. Having lost their mobility, the Amani War Bear Knights became targets for the High Elf Paladins who had failed to seize shields and watched their comrades die. Their eyes red with rage, they vented their fury and hatred upon the halted riders.

Amani Berserker Headhunters grew more frenzied and bloodthirsty from their wounds. The High Elves of the Dawnblade Legion, meanwhile, erupted with unparalleled Holy Light Energy because of their anger.

"Naralakh, tell your guards to stop charging, or they'll be wiped out!" Egilson, hidden in the shadows, used his eagle eyes to see that the High Elf Paladins of the Dawnblade Legion had defeated the Amani War Bear Knights with blood and life. He hurriedly warned Naralakh.

The Forest Troll army had deployed a total of two thousand Amani War Bear Knights. A thousand had already died at Pathfinder Camp, while of the remaining thousand, the Dawnblade Legion had forcibly slain eight hundred at twice the cost. The Amani War Bear Knights were on the verge of annihilation. Without these powerful shock troops, they would be finished the moment they encountered another blockade.

Possessing both the strength and the brains of a war bear, Naralakh naturally had no desire to stop his Amani War Bear Knights from charging. In his view, even death was acceptable as long as they could drink deeply of High Elf blood.

Just then, another voice rang out. Zul'jin, one-armed and one-eyed, had arrived. "Naralakh, heed Egilson's advice."

"As you command, great Zul'jin!" Upon seeing Zul'jin, Naralakh obeyed without another word. The vast majority of Forest Trolls gave Zul'jin absolute obedience.

Zul'jin was in very poor condition. Clearly, he could not have emerged unscathed from his battle with Ranger-General Sylvanas Windrunner.

Watching the Dawnblade Legion unleash such fearless strength, Zul'jin could not help but sigh inwardly. Why had the High Elves gained another army this powerful? Were the High Elves of the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas truly impossible for the Forest Trolls to defeat? Was the Amani Empire truly incapable of rising again?

Though he dearly wished to completely snuff out the Dawnblade Legion here, he had to consider the Forest Trolls' current situation and the Pathfinder Legion's pursuit. If they did not retreat now, they would not be able to retreat at all.

Thus, Zul'jin could only abandon that thought. He led the main Forest Troll force in a concentrated assault against one point of the Dawnblade Legion's line, tearing open a gap and escaping through it.

With Zul'jin personally present, Tyrel knew that the Dawnblade Legion could no longer prevent the Forest Trolls from escaping. Though he found it regrettable, there was nothing he could do.

The Dawnblade Legion had already paid a tremendous price. If they continued fighting the Forest Trolls, now battling like trapped beasts, Tyrel did not know how many of the ten thousand High Elf Paladins who had originally set out would make it back.

"Open a gap and let them go. Kill as many Forest Trolls as possible." In Salorian Dawngrasper's military lessons, Tyrel had been taught that when an enemy could not be stopped, it was better to preserve one's own strength and leave an opening than to fight a trapped beast to the death.

That way, seeing a path to escape, the enemy would abandon any thought of fighting to the death and lose their will to make a desperate stand.

Sure enough, after Tyrel's order was issued, the Forest Trolls discovered an opening and all gave up their desperate struggle against the High Elf Paladins of the Dawnblade Legion, instead fleeing with all their might.

The gap left by the Dawnblade Legion was only so large. It could not possibly accommodate every Forest Troll, and at that moment, the human nature unleashed by the desire to survive revealed itself.

As long as I run faster than the other Forest Trolls, won't I survive?

Once this thought took hold, the Forest Trolls began to descend into infighting, scrambling to rush toward the gap left by the Dawnblade Legion.

Where there were those who ran fast, there were naturally those who ran slow. To give themselves a chance to survive, the slower Forest Trolls began resorting to dirty tricks.

At first, they merely tripped or shoved one another. But soon, the Forest Trolls became increasingly vicious, turning their weapons on their own kin and launching lethal attacks without hesitation. Their attacks against their brethren were even more ruthless than their previous battle against the High Elf Paladins.

Zul'jin and the other Forest Troll leaders and powerful warriors had already escaped first. The remaining Forest Trolls had completely lost command, and no one could stop this infighting that had arisen from the struggle for survival.

The High Elf Paladins of the Dawnblade Legion did not even need to act. Several thousand Forest Trolls fell through mutual slaughter alone.

As he watched the Forest Trolls kill one another, Tyrel's heart was filled with conflicting emotions. He suddenly recalled a warning from his mentor Vortale: never try to test human nature.

Tyrel understood the meaning of those words even more deeply. If the High Elves had faced such a situation, would they have done the same?

Before Tyrel could dwell on it for long, the High Elf Rangers from Pathfinder Camp caught up as well. Seeing them arrive, Tyrel immediately ordered the Dawnblade Legion to seal the gap, trapping the remaining ten thousand-plus Forest Trolls securely inside.

With their escape route gone, the trapped Forest Trolls united once more, attempting to break through the Dawnblade Legion's line again and flee.

But before they could breach the Dawnblade Legion's defenses again, a rain of arrows from the High Elf Rangers instantly blanketed them.

The High Elf Rangers' accuracy, combined with the High Elf Paladins' defensive strength, allowed the Rangers to unleash volleys of arrows upon the Forest Trolls even in close combat while ensuring that the High Elf Paladins were not harmed.

After several volleys of arrows, not a single Forest Troll, despite their tenacious vitality, could rise again.

Of course, to prevent any Forest Trolls from surviving by hiding beneath the bodies of their kin, the High Elves gave every Forest Troll another strike, ensuring the complete annihilation of their sworn enemies.

Sure enough, when the High Elves began finishing them off, the Forest Trolls who had not died sprang up one after another, either fleeing or fighting back. Yet in the end, they were all exterminated.