Elemental War Against the Keepers

"Little ones, I think I can explain. That thing you see—well... heavens, it's really tall! Of course, not taller than me. It's a massive Fire Elemental, probably some kind of lord among them. Be careful, that fellow is rather hot to handle."

Vanidak's voice rang in their ears, answering Odyn and Tyr's questions.

After hearing the explanation, Odyn looked at the approaching pillar of fire, slowly exhaled, and said to his comrade, "All right, Tyr. Thanks to the Formless, at least we know what that thing is. Honestly, it really is... quite large."

"That does not mean we are no match for him, Odyn." Tyr tightened his grip on his warhammer, battle intent blazing in his eyes.

"Of course. I don't think that big idiot can defeat us. After all, I still have glory to win from him!"

The pillar of fire that had caused such a huge commotion finally reached Odyn and Tyr. It was a colossal body made entirely of flame, with several pieces of armor upon it. In its hand was an enormous spiked warhammer, its red-hot spikes making Odyn and Tyr sense a hint of danger.

"That hammer... I think we'd better not get hit by it. At that size, I doubt we'd fare well after taking a blow," Tyr offered at the right moment.

"A very good suggestion. I think so too." Odyn found the situation rather troublesome as well.

Upon reaching his destination, the enormous Fire Elemental lord, the renowned Ragnaros, looked at the Titan-Forged army before him and roared in his booming voice:

"Was it you who defeated my army?"

"A pack of lowly insects!"

"You shall be purified in Sulfuron Flame!"

"My Hand of Sulfuron shall sweep you away!"

"Let the flames purify everything!!!"

With that final roar, Ragnaros swung the enormous Sulfuron Hammer in his hand toward the Titan-Forged army. The world-destroying force of the attack made Odyn, who bore the brunt of it, shrink his pupils as he hurriedly shouted, "Everyone, fall back! Evasive maneuvers! Evasive maneuvers!"

A storm mixed with blazing flames swept through the Titan-Forged army. Countless constructs were left battered and scarred by the tempest, while some vanished without a trace altogether. Even the two Keepers who had evaded it staggered under the following wave of flames.

"This fellow is trouble. We need to find a way to defeat him. Our armies are no match for him!" Tyr compared the strength of both sides and voiced his thoughts.

"I know, Tyr! Those constructs without the blessing of Titan power cannot withstand his flames. Now, it depends on the two of us!" Odyn agreed with Tyr's assessment.

"Then let's go!" Tyr raised his warhammer and looked toward Ragnaros, who was laughing wildly after routing the opposing army with a single strike.

"Then let's go! Glory to the Pantheon!" Odyn let out a furious battle cry and charged at Ragnaros.

Seeing the two tiny figures charging toward him, Ragnaros raised the Hand of Ragnaros, the Sulfuron Hammer, high overhead and swung it down with an angry roar.

"You dare challenge the great Firelord!"

"Die, insects!"

"This guy sure talks a lot." Vanidak, who had watched it all, gave his evaluation. "But Odyn and Tyr should be able to defeat him, so I can probably take a look elsewhere."

"Let me see, which side is fighting now? Oh! Here. Uh... this fellow is really ugly. Is that what an Earth Elemental lord looks like?"

Vanidak shifted his gaze to another battlefield. This region belonged to Archaedas and Freya, who had come to intercept the Stonemother Therazane. Upon encountering the armies of these two Keepers, this relatively mild-tempered Earth Elemental lord immediately transported herself and her servants into the towering stone spire she called home. Well, that was very much in keeping with her usual style.

Facing the fortress that the Stonemother had forged over endless ages, Archaedas called upon his Earth Power to overturn it. Before the Titans' power over earth, the towering stone-spire fortress became unbearably fragile. The many Stone Giants guarding it were smashed to pieces by that all-destroying force.

As the fortress's surroundings were breached, Freya, inheritor of the Lifebinder's power, created enormous vines that burst from the ground and tightly coiled around the fortress. The summoned vines wound their way through stone and crystal, spreading across its walls. Once all this was done, the fortress that Stonemother Therazane had taken pride in for endless ages crumbled in an instant before her eyes, declaring her defeat.

"Mmm~ bondage play. Freya's little trick really opened my eyes. Could Eonar have taught her that? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Who would have thought?" Vanidak, who had witnessed the entire scene, kept making strange noises.

"Well, this side is more or less done too. Let's see who the next lucky one is. Ha, Wind Elementals. Huh? Why is Ra there too? Shouldn't he be attacking the Old Gods' territory? Oh, poor Wind Elemental. He actually charged right into the army. What a miserable fellow—three Keepers, and one of them is Ra, the strongest one. Time to light some incense for him."

With Vanidak's strange gestures, the fierce battle between the Wind Elemental lord Al'Akir and the Keepers began as well. As the Wind Elemental lord, controlling the sky and storms was his instinct. Yet due to the Keepers' deliberate arrangements, that ability was utterly useless before them.

Inheriting the power of sky and Storm Power from Golganneth the Thunderer, Hodir and Thorim easily used their strength to drive this Elemental lord back to his lair atop Azeroth's highest peak. The three Keepers followed close behind. Facing enemies who had invaded his home, Al'Akir attempted to summon the storms for a desperate resistance. Yet the lightning called forth by High Keeper Ra illuminated the sky as brightly as day. Before such overwhelming power, Al'Akir was beaten down throughout the entire battle. In the end, the three Keepers returned the favor in kind, using Al'Akir's favorite method of invading an enemy's home, along with the Storm Power he took greatest pride in, to make him suffer a crushing defeat within his own cloud-piercing domain.

"Heh heh, poor fellow. He loved raiding other people's homes, only to raid the strongest fellow's. There must be something wrong with his head. Hmm, that means only the last front remains. Let's see how Loken and Mimiron deal with those Water Elementals. I remember neither of them is particularly skilled at fighting."

The scene shifted and finally settled on one direction. After staring at it for quite some time, Vanidak grinned and said, "Haha, ambushes—I like it. These two little ones are really... devious. The Water Elementals are in for a terrible time, haha!"

Vanidak had good reason to laugh. Tidehunter Neptulon led his Water Elemental army in carrying on their usual style from the rear: never charge head-on first, only strike when the timing was right. But after receiving news of the successive defeats of the other Elemental armies, the cunning Water Elemental lord could no longer remain still. He began leading his servants to aid those Elemental lords caught between attacks from both front and rear.

The wise Loken and Mimiron noticed all of this, and they decided to give the Water Elemental lord a very big surprise.

As Neptulon hurried toward the battlefield, Loken and Mimiron suddenly led their armies out from a mountain range he was passing through. The sudden appearance of enemies caught Neptulon off guard. After a brutal slaughter, the two Keepers abruptly withdrew with their troops, leaving the frantic Neptulon utterly baffled. But the Old Gods' urging forced him to continue onward. Yet along the way, he was ambushed repeatedly by Loken and Mimiron.

In the end, seeing his army utterly routed, Neptulon charged furiously at the two Keepers. After a fierce battle, his surviving subordinates had their bodies frozen by the Arcane power released by Loken, then shattered across the ground. As for the Elemental lord Neptulon, Mimiron pulled out a set of magical shackles and bound his body on the spot.

Thus, all the Elemental lords serving the Old Gods were defeated through the Keepers' valiant fighting.

At the Keepers' main camp, the many Keepers who had finished their battles returned one after another. Watching his brothers and sisters continuously return, Ra's tightly wound heart gradually settled. But in the end, they noticed something was wrong.

"Odyn, and Tyr—where are they?" Ra looked around and finally noticed that two Keepers were missing.

"We do not know, High Keeper. They seemed to be fighting in another direction," the returning Archaedas and Freya answered.

"Does anyone know where those two went? They were facing the Fire Elemental lord, and that fellow is quite brutal." Ra asked anxiously.

"Oh, I think I can answer that, dear Ra." A familiar voice sounded beside him.

"Thank you, Formless. I very much wish to know where my brothers have gone."

"Do not worry. The two of them encountered a small accident, but it has already been resolved. Hmm... they are about to reach you, and the little accident they suffered was quite interesting. I believe you will all want to hear about it." There seemed to be laughter in Vanidak's voice.

As Vanidak spoke, two figures entered the camp. They were Odyn and Tyr. The two Keepers were in a sorry state, blackened from head to toe, and half of Odyn's proud red beard had been burned away.

Ra found their appearance rather strange and asked, "Odyn, Tyr, did you encounter some trouble in your battle? Why are you in such a miserable state? Was that Fire Elemental lord very strong?"

"No, High Keeper Ra. That fellow was not particularly strong. We blew him apart with ease," Odyn said in a somewhat displeased tone.

"But just as I was about to return with honor, the Formless informed us that fellow seemed to have appeared again. We had no choice but to rush into his stronghold and defeat him again, binding him there. That battle was not a pleasant memory. He had the advantage of terrain in his own stronghold."

"All right, a tragic story. But I think I heard a very troubling word. Resurrection?"

"Yes, High Keeper Ra. I do not think we can simply kill these Elementals," Tyr said as well. "We must find a way to bind them. Killing them alone will not truly kill them!"

"All right." Hearing Tyr's words, Ra fell into thought. "Resurrection... that is troublesome."

"Hey, little ones, if you have no solution, I think I can offer some advice regarding enemies that can resurrect." Vanidak's voice sounded in their ears.

"The Pantheon has dealt with quite a few of them."

"When it comes to dealing with these fellows, we are professionals!"