Titan-Class Menace

When the tiger was away, the monkey became king—this perfectly described Vanidak's status in the Pantheon right now. After learning that Aman'Thul and the others were not currently in the Pantheon, but had gone out again to search for other kin who might awaken, Vanidak successfully showed the two Titans left behind in the Pantheon what true "terror" was.

With no natural enemies around, Vanidak had completely let loose. Faced with these two adorable newcomers who were still unfamiliar with him, he perfectly demonstrated that there was always someone better at setting traps—and that he was the king of them all.

After a brief exchange, the two weary travelers were arranged to rest in palaces specially built within the Pantheon. Having finally settled the two kin who had returned from their journey, Golganneth breathed a sigh of relief. Back on his own turf, he failed to consider that one of the returning Titans was a special existence. Instead, he resumed immersing himself in his magical research.

"Golganneth~ Golgan~neth~~ Are you there? Are you there, are you there~"

Golganneth, who had been engrossed in controlling the storm element in his hand, was startled by the suddenly ringing, strangely intoned call. The lightning storm he had been steadily maintaining immediately became violent. With no time to think about where the voice had come from, Golganneth hurriedly focused on stabilizing his spell. Just as he finally managed to suppress the spell that had been on the verge of exploding, his shoulder was suddenly struck by a heavy slap.

"Hey, Golganneth, why didn't you answer when I called you? What were you doing over there all sneaky-like?"

That heavy slap became the final straw for Golganneth. The lightning storm, which he had just stabilized, finally lost control. A destructive tempest spread from Golganneth's hands. Seeing this, Vanidak let out a strange cry, flashed with silver light, and vanished from the spot. Golganneth, at the center of the storm, was not so fortunate.

The lightning storm spreading from his hands exploded in an instant, engulfing Golganneth. As crackling currents surged through Golganneth's palace with a scalp-numbing roar, Vanidak, who had already fled to the outskirts of the palace, watched with great interest and clicked his tongue in amazement. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. That voltage, that current... Tsk, tsk, tsk. So you're one of those internet-addicted boys in need of treatment too, Golganneth. Though he probably has no idea what internet addiction is. Hehe."

Completely unaware that he had caused a major disaster, Vanidak continued watching the storm and lightning ravage the hall with delight. At last, when everything subsided, the palace doors opened. The moment he saw Golganneth emerge, Vanidak burst into laughter. "Pfft, hahahaha! Golganneth, you... hahahaha! You really ought to see what you look like right now! Pfft, hahaha! Did you finally decide your complexion was unhealthy and change it to this color? Pfft, hahaha! What is this, bronze? No, no, this is black iron, isn't it? Hahahaha!"

Seeing Vanidak crouched on the ground, laughing so hard he could barely stand, Golganneth, who had successfully "changed skins," roared at him, "Vanidak! You... damned bastard! I'll show you the consequences of angering the storm!"

Crackle! Boom!

"Ah!"

Sargeras, drawn from his hall by the commotion, watched the two figures chasing each other in the distance. Listening to Vanidak's strange cries as lightning continuously struck him, he helplessly shook his head. "I knew this would happen. I just didn't expect it to happen so soon. Let's hope that guy doesn't come looking for me. Poor Golganneth."

Khaz'goroth, briefly drawn by the disturbance outside his palace, paid it no mind and quickly returned his attention to his work. Within the grand-forge-like palace he had built, he was intently hammering something with his hammer.

It was not just Khaz'goroth's forge-like palace. Every structure in the Pantheon had been built by the hand of this great World Forger. In a sense, this Titan could be called the greatest forging master in the Dark Void.

This master smith possessed an unflappable temperament. He was hammering a pale golden circular object. His crimson forging hammer, similar in color to his hair, struck the pale golden disc again and again. Khaz'goroth did not grow weary of it, merely repeating the work of hammering without pause.

After a long period of hammering, the pale golden disc seemed to have taken shape. Khaz'goroth straightened up in satisfaction and carefully examined his work. He set the rough piece aside, turned, and picked up another material, preparing to forge the next item.

Just as Khaz'goroth raised his hammer to begin striking, a tremendous boom came from the side of the palace.

The explosion forced Khaz'goroth to stop what he was doing and prepare to investigate. Then a voice came from behind him.

"Oh, my brother, are you forging something?"

Khaz'goroth looked toward the voice and saw Vanidak. He looked rather strange at the moment. His white robe was covered in patches of black, and his black hair had curled slightly.

Seeing Khaz'goroth examining him, Vanidak hurriedly explained, "Ah, don't mind it. I accidentally took a tumble on the way here and got my clothes dirty. I'll go find Golganneth to wash them later."

Hearing his brother's clumsy excuse, Khaz'goroth did not pursue the matter. He simply asked, "Vanidak, my brother, what brings you here?"

"Oh, what brings me here? Oh, right, of course I came for something. Didn't I discuss it with you before? I want to ask you to forge something fun."

"About this tall... Hmm, roughly the size of other creatures in the universe. Though not that small, either. If possible, give it the ability to grow and shrink. Its body should be freely adjustable."

"What? It can't be too large? Ah, that's fine. Make it as large as you can. As for its appearance, make it look like me. Of course, its figure should be better, and it should be more handsome."

"Oh, no! Don't make it according to your standards of beauty. Those huge beards and hairstyles look terrible to me. Forget it, just let me adjust it myself after you finish."

"As for the body material... hmm... naturally, it must be the best. My principle is simple: the better, the better. I'm not stingy."

Of course you're not stingy, Khaz'goroth silently muttered. Then he said to his brother, whose strange demands were growing more numerous by the moment, "All right, Vanidak. I roughly understand your requirements. I will forge the material for the body from the core of an extinguished world. As for your other demands, I will do my best to satisfy them."

"That's wonderful! I knew you could do it, my brother. Oh, right." Vanidak seemed to remember something. He unclasped a huge black pearl from his belt and held it in his hand.

A stream of black mist flowed out of the black pearl. The evil contained within that dark energy made even Khaz'goroth, watching from the side, feel somewhat uncomfortable. At last, after spreading for a while, the black mist slowly flowed into Vanidak's bracer and eventually transformed into a sphere that shimmered with faint silver light.

Seeing Khaz'goroth's confusion, Vanidak handed him the pearl in his hand and explained, "This is a treasure. This trophy was not easy to obtain. I hope you can fuse it into my little toy—preferably use it as the energy core. Can you do that, my brother?"

"Hmm. It is a peculiar gem. I have never seen one like it before. I'll give it a try." Khaz'goroth took the stone, considered it for a moment, and said to Vanidak, "I will do my best."

"Keep it up. I believe in you. This little toy is very important to me, so I hope you won't disappoint me, brother." Vanidak smiled, seemingly in a good mood, then began inspecting the objects around Khaz'goroth's forge.

"Oh, what is this disc?" Vanidak seemed interested in the item Khaz'goroth had just forged.

As Khaz'goroth searched for the materials needed to forge his brother's little toy, he answered, "Oh, that was commissioned by Norgannon. He needed something to record the countless spells in his mind."

"Tch, something for that annoying guy." Vanidak tossed the disc back where it had been with a look of disgust, then turned to the materials Khaz'goroth had just been about to work on and asked, "What about this? What is this? It looks like... a bolt of lightning. Whose weapon is this supposed to be? Golganneth's?"

"Oh, that is a staff requested by the High Father, Aman'Thul. He asked me to forge it for him. I had just finished the preparations when you arrived," Khaz'goroth explained as he continued searching for materials.

"Aha, Aman'Thul's staff. Hey, can I give it a try? This is a forging hammer, right? Let me help you hammer it. Hey, it's really heavy!"

"Oh no, don't! That staff... you don't know how to control that hammer. Stop, Vanidak, stop at once!" Hearing Vanidak's words, Khaz'goroth hurriedly turned to stop him, but it seemed he was already too late.

Clang!!! A deafening crash rang throughout the Pantheon. A blast of air erupted from the hammer Vanidak had brought down. Who knew how much force he had used in that strike?

Before Khaz'goroth's despairing gaze, cracks appeared across the lightning-shaped staff that had taken him untold years to forge. The cracks spread, until the staff finally crumbled into dust.

"Uh... your hammer... was a bit heavy. I seem to have... used a little too much force?"

"Vanidak! You bastard!!!"

"Hey! You can't blame me! I didn't know your hammer was so heavy! This... this was just an accident!"

Boom!!! A tremendous crash blasted through the gates of Khaz'goroth Palace. A figure fled out in a sorry state, pursued by another figure roaring furiously behind him.

Golganneth, who had been searching all around the Pantheon, brightened the moment he saw that bedraggled figure. He shouted, "So that's where you were hiding! You bastard, Vanidak! Don't even think about getting away again!!!"

Familiar sounds of fighting echoed through the Pantheon. From afar, Sargeras watched the red and blue figures chasing the white figure ahead of them. The corner of his mouth twitched, and after a long pause, he finally managed to say, "What a... menace..."