In the forests of Quel'Thalas, the roar of goblin lumberjacks shattered a thousand-year silence.
Dozens of steel monsters stood in a row, their serrated blades churning and gnawing at the ancient wood, the pungent smell of wood chips and resin filling the air. Meanwhile, the Elf Ranger stood silently behind them, his longbow half-drawn, the arrows gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
"Stay alert!" the Ranger Captain whispered, "Watch out for the canopy and bushes— Troll love to leap out from the shadows."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a poisoned spear shot out from the dense forest, heading straight for the lumberjack operator.
Clang! The spear bounced off, missing the goblin in the cockpit. It turned out the goblin knew that Troll would inevitably appear when they came to cut wood, so they had installed a protective shell made of woven steel bars on the cockpit beforehand. The goblin inside only needed a narrow observation window to see what was happening around him. The Troll's spear, however, was deflected by the steel bars of the observation window.
The ranger's arrows immediately followed the movement and shot towards the ambush Troll. Three arrows flew from the bow at the same time, and a scream came from the dense forest. A green figure fell from a tree, three arrows stuck in its chest.
"Ha! These long-eared elves are really something!" The goblin foreman grinned in the cockpit, pulling the lever and propelling the logging machine forward. He was risking his life logging here because Kael'thas had promised him all the felled timber would goblins, plus a bonus for his hard work, and he'd be invited to participate in the upcoming battle for Zul'Aman. That's why these money-grubbing goblins were logging with such enthusiasm. Lordaeron, not far from the elves, was undergoing reconstruction. Hearing that the goblins could procure ancient timber, they immediately paid a deposit and waited for the wood to be delivered.
Kael'thas went all out to eliminate the Troll threat in one fell swoop. He let the goblins log freely in the elven forests, figuring the trees would grow back, and once the elves were all dead, their kingdom would be gone too.
With the goblin lumberjacks and the Elf Ranger providing cover, the Troll could no longer launch successful sneak attacks as they had in the past.
Suddenly, five Troll Warrior leaped from the bushes, their spears aimed straight at the joints of the goblin machines. But the spear tips only scraped against the steel shell, leaving a few sparks—these machines were specially modified for war, with extra Steel Plate added to key parts for increased protection.
"Run it over!" the goblin driver grinned as he pressed the red button.
The saw blades of the lumberjack suddenly accelerated, and the Troll Warrior at the front had no time to retreat before being caught in the saw blades. Blood and bone fragments splattered on the machine's exterior, and the remaining Troll retreated in terror, but the rangers' arrows had already blocked their escape route.
A few minutes later, the battle ended. Several corpses lay among the rubble and dirt, and the last Troll Warrior was caught in the hydraulic shears of a logging machine, emitting a piercing wail.
"Give him a quick death." The young swordsmen stepped forward, drew their swords, and mercifully struck him with a single blow.
With the support of goblin lumberjacks, the elven army advanced smoothly. The Troll raiding force, however, suffered heavy losses and was ultimately forced to retreat to Iaman.
Beneath the city of Zul'Aman, built of massive stones, Kael'thas's allied forces completed their encirclement.
"Thirty-seven main entrances and sixty-four ventilation shafts, all marked." High Mage Verina Starfury, leader of Sindra, hovered in mid-air, her violet eyes scanning the map, and crimson dots lit up wherever her fingertips touched. These Arcane supremacists were indeed skilled; they had marked the entrances and exits of the Troll ' underground caves with Arcane scanning in just two days.
Kael'thas nodded slightly. "The blockade has been established. Have your men on alert. I'll begin the blockade from my side."
boom!
Kael'thas gestured to a high-ranking elven mage, who then hurled an arcane Arcane Bomb that precisely struck a cave entrance. A muffled explosion quickly followed, followed by a cloud of dust mixed with fragments of Troll parts.
"Goblins, this area has been cleared, the entrance has been blown up!" The Elf King immediately ordered the goblin engineers to plant the explosives and then detonate them. With a huge roar, the entrance to the underground passage was buried by a large amount of rubble.
"Good, the work here is done. Sindra, set up the magic traps to prevent them from digging again and ambushing us." Kael'thas patiently carried out the vigilance. Over thousands of years, the elves had suffered greatly from Troll ambushes.
The human advisor, Deren, once said, "Dealing with Troll requires patience and meticulousness, even more so than with them. It's like a cat catching a mouse—careful preparation, careful observation, and meticulous planning are essential to ensure success."
"Ventilation vent treatment team, in position!" the goblin foreman shouted, and a dozen green-skinned technicians pushed specially made gas canisters to the marked point. They inserted the tubes into the gap, turned on the valves, and dark green toxic fumes hissed into the ground. Then they poured in a special gel, completely sealing the vent.
"Night patrols, three shifts in rotation," Lor'themar Theron ordered the rangers. "Each post has a Syndra arcane mage; keep the illumination spells up. Shoot anything that slips out."
The Troll did attempt a counterattack. Late on the first night, dozens of elite Headhunter emerged from a hidden tunnel, attempting to sabotage the gas device. But as soon as they surfaced, an Arcane trap pre-laid by Sindra lit up the ground—purple energy chains burst from the earth, suspending the Troll Warrior in mid-air. With a simple snap of her fingers, Verina, on duty, riddled these suspended targets with Arcane Missile.
At dawn on the third day, the ground on the eastern side of Zul'Aman suddenly collapsed. Hundreds of blood-soaked Troll Warrior roared out, their muscles bulging abnormally and their eyes glowing with an eerie red light— the Witch Doctor's Rage Potion had temporarily made them forget their fear.
"For Amani!" The leading Troll raised his battle axe and charged toward the nearest elven formation.
The Syndra arcane mages didn't even lift an eyelid, simultaneously raising their staffs, and a prism-like arcane light barrier condensed in the air. The moment the troll warrior crashed into the barrier, his body was like being thrown into a shredder—first his skin peeled off, then his muscle fibers separated one by one, and finally even his bones were broken down into basic particles.
Five seconds later, the light screen dissipated, leaving only a dozen or so steaming pools of blood and mud on the ground.
Kael'thas, watching the battle, was very satisfied with the performance of the Sindra Elf and gave each of them Arcane Crystal to enhance their combat power. Since the Troll were already in dire straits, they might use their trump card—summoning the Evil God they worshipped.
Inside the underground sanctuary, the Troll chieftain stared at the battle reflected in the basin of water, his fingers digging deeply into the stone altar.
"All exits are sealed off..." the young Witch Doctor Toka reported in a low voice, "The air in the northern district is starting to deteriorate, and more than a dozen children have already fallen unconscious."
The aged chieftain silently removed the bone and tooth necklace hanging around his neck—a token of authority for successive chieftains, each tooth representing a victory against the elves. Now, it might have to add a tooth of shame.
"Summon the last Warrior." The chieftain stood up and retrieved a black dagger from beneath the altar. "We will offer a sacrifice to Hakkar."
Soon, the ground in the central square of Zul'Aman exploded. Dozens of Troll Warrior leaped from the ground, not charging towards the elven defenses, but forming a blood-soaked circle. The Troll chieftain stood in the center, a black dagger plunged into his heart, blood splattering onto the ancient eagle god totem.
"Summon the gods with blood! Offer souls as sacrifice!" The chieftain's roar twisted and distorted within the Arcane Energy, " Hakkar! Unleash your wrath!"
The sky suddenly darkened. Dark clouds gathered into a giant eagle's face, and two bolts of lightning struck the ground, transforming into a giant eagle made of storm. It spread its wings, enough to cover half of Zul'Aman, and let out a deafening shriek.
The elven soldiers watching the battle began to retreat, and even the Sindra mages showed surprise—this was a true Loa descent!
Only Kael'thas remained calm. He turned to Verina: "Can this be resolved?"
The Sindra leader's lips curled into a sickly smile, "Just an incarnation of a Wild God..." She raised her staff, Mage Corps behind her held Arcane Crystal, magic flowing to replenish the energy consumed during casting. Then they began to chant simultaneously.
Arcane Energy condensed in the air into twelve purple spears, their tips gleaming with runes powerful enough to tear space itself apart. As the Storm Eagle swooped down, Verina whispered, "Annihilate."
A volley of spears was fired.
The first spear pierced the eagle's wing, the second its eye socket, the third its chest... When the twelfth spear struck, Hakkar's clone let out a final wail and vanished in a shower of lightning.
The Troll knelt on the ground, the light in their eyes extinguished as their divine power dissipated. He died without understanding why even the Loa could not save Amani.
On the sixteenth day of the siege, the last survivor of Zul'Aman emerged from the cave.
More than three hundred Troll women and children, carrying tattered white flags, staggered forward under the escort of elven soldiers. Their faces were covered in mud, their cracked lips were purple from lack of oxygen, and the Troll Cub clung tightly to their mothers' clothes, their eyes filled with bewildered fear.
"Execute them all," Verina said to Kael'thas. "These cubs will grow up to become new Warrior, and their women will give birth to new hatred."
The Elven King shook his head. "Living prisoners are more useful than dead ones." He looked towards Silvermoon City, his voice soft yet unwavering, "I want my people to see that the millennia-old Troll threat has been eliminated. This is crucial for restoring peace of mind."
Verina: "What annoying political scheming. Arcane is the best; it doesn't bother anyone. Oh well, you're the king, you decide." She then pulled a Crystal Vial from her bosom, took a small sip of the liquid inside, and wore a look of ecstasy. "Oh, wonderful feeling. Leaving that awful place, Feralas, was the right thing to do. Here we have Arcane Crystal, and the energy of the Sunwell."
Kael'thas stared in astonishment at the Sindra leader, who had concealed the well water in front of her chest. When she pulled it out, she didn't even try to hide it, pulling open her bra to reveal her impressive cleavage. This stirred something within the still-single king.
Is a powerful Sindra leader, obsessed with Arcane, reliant on her crystals and well water, and possessing extraordinary magical abilities, worth winning over through marriage?
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