Prologue's End, Soul Returns to the Shattered Abyss

The fel fire filling the sky extinguished, replaced by an energy even dimmer than the darkness. Broad demonic wings slowly unfurled amidst a cloud of shadows; pitch-black bone spurs and coarse wing membranes left no doubt as to the identity of the creature: a Doomguard.

Belash? No, certainly not...

With a gentle tremor of those wings, seemingly endless shadow energy dissipated into the wind, revealing a figure only slightly larger than an average human.

Unlike before, Duan Ming was now wreathed in black flames. The shirt he had worn, once composed of soul energy, was gone. Green markings, chaotic yet seemingly governed by some hidden order, covered his chest and back like a tapestry of clawing, snarling ghosts, so unsettling that one dared not look directly at them.

Two thick, black horns sprouted from his forehead, curving aggressively upward. His once-frail frame had grown noticeably more robust, his body corded with solid muscle; anyone could see the immense power contained within. The evil, chaotic aura left others trembling, and Duan Ming's image grew ever closer to that of a true demon.

The most striking feature, naturally, were the wings upon his back.

An inexplicable fire surged in his chest, forcing Duan Ming to tilt his head back and let out a hoarse roar. He spread his demonic wings to their full extent, spanning a reach of five or six meters!

Feeling a heartfelt sense of exhilaration, a calmed Duan Ming reached back to inspect his demonic wings. Seeing his own fingernails had also become long and sharp, a faint trace of unease and panic flickered in his heart.

Before him, where the Doomguard had stood, only a pile of ruined armor remained—the exact same fate as Vihana.

Belash had been utterly extinguished. His flesh and soul had been consumed; after mastering the knowledge and application of soul energy from the Soul Eater, Duan Ming had discarded those chaotic, twisted memories, treating them merely as nourishment, as food. This power left him immensely satisfied.

Fel, shadow, and arcane...

Shing!

A scorching flame erupted from his hand, twisting and extending until it quickly formed a long, narrow crimson cross-sword.

Mastering such mysterious power, Duan Ming's eyes shone with obvious joy. Yet, before he could further analyze these demonic spells, the sound of messy footsteps grew clearer in his ears.

"A demon? I haven't seen you before..." An Eredar was the first to appear in Duan Ming's line of sight. Upon seeing the remains of Belash, her emerald eyes filled with intense terror. She waved a hand and roared at Duan Ming, "Damned traitor! Quickly, kill him!"

As soon as she spoke, several tall Felguards roared and charged forward. As for the Eredar, she hid in the back, chanting obscure incantations in a low voice as scorching heat gathered in her hands.

"Right on time." Duan Ming grinned, his thick legs tensing before he launched himself like a cannonball. With a violent flap of his wings, he smashed into the ranks of the Felguards like a meteor.

BOOM!

Propelled by fel energy, a roar of chaotic power surged like a tidal wave, slamming into the demons. Before they could react, the fel fire trailing behind him left a streak of black, instantly transforming into whips that bound the demons tight.

He grabbed at the void with both hands, and two Blazing Longsword blades made entirely of flame appeared in his grip. With a low growl, he drove the blades into the body of the nearest Felguard.

Sizzle!

The searing flames scorched the demon's flesh, drawing shrill, miserable screams.

Listening to the enemy's agonizing wails, a savage pleasure appeared on Duan Ming's face once more. He exerted force with both hands, and with a heart-wrenching tearing sound, two horrific, charred gashes were carved into the Felguard's back.

With its spine severed, the Felguard's heavy body collapsed forward, lifeless.

Having easily slain one enemy, Duan Ming did not grow arrogant. Hearing a sharp whistle from behind, he kicked off the ground and took to the air.

A fireball the size of a washbasin erupted from the Eredar's hands. Having lost Duan Ming as a target, it slammed into the back of the Felguard.

BOOM!

Unlike in the game, this Pyroblast was not a single-target spell; its power exceeded that of a high-explosive grenade. Not only was the blast radius massive, but the temperature was also absurd. A torrent of scorching flame rose from thin air, the powerful shockwave tearing the Felguard's body apart and knocking over the other demons present. Even Duan Ming, in mid-air, was pushed upward by the impact, slamming into the ceiling.

The pain in his back and the fading flames on his legs made Duan Ming realize the threat posed by the caster. He reacted immediately, reaching out to grab at the Eredar. As she gathered her magic once more, a strand of shadow energy silently crawled up her ankle.

The moment he landed, Duan Ming yanked hard. A thin shadow whip had snagged the Eredar's calf; as he pulled, she lost her balance and crashed to the ground.

With a thought, the shadow whip in Duan Ming's hand retracted rapidly. Using this momentum, he flapped his wings hard, turning into a bolt of black-green lightning. The overflowing fel fire knocked aside the Felguards who had barely managed to regroup, and while they were still howling in pain, Duan Ming was already before the Eredar.

His longsword left a brilliant crimson trail in the air. With a soft thwip, the Blazing Longsword sliced decisively and swiftly across her neck. Accompanied by the stench of burning, the Eredar demon breathed her last.

Turning around, Duan Ming's emerald eyes seemed to burn with raging fel flames. He looked at the remaining Felguards like a hunter eyeing his prey—manic and bloodthirsty.

However, outside the window behind the demons, a growing flash of light caught Duan Ming's attention. A green meteor was approaching at high speed. He quickly searched his memories for this object, and his face instantly filled with intense terror.

Fel Cannon!

BOOM!

A Fel Cannon shell, encased in emerald flames, slammed into Vihana's room. With a deafening roar, countless pieces of steel and stone shattered amidst the fire, plummeting toward the wasteland below.

Above, a much larger starship slowly approached. The Hammer of Fel, the future base of the Illidari, though for now, it belonged to the Spider Queen.

Seeing the Soul Eater's room utterly destroyed, a winged demon leaped from the deck, followed by a swarm of sturdy, terrifying Felbats.

Like a plague of locusts, they quickly surrounded the site of the wreckage.

Flapping her wings, the lead demon descended slowly. Miraculously, despite lacking wing membranes, Tyranna's ability to fly remained entirely unaffected.

"The Master's will is not to be profaned. Traitor, you shall face the Legion's judgment!" Tyranna's voice was like thunder. As she finished, the countless Felbats in the air erupted in a continuous, shrill screech, slamming against the eardrums like a tidal wave.

"Surrender the Sargerite Keystone, or I shall ensure you find no release in the purgatory of eternal pain, unable to live and unable to die!"

The demons wisely quieted down, silently sealing off Duan Ming's last escape route. Tyranna's words echoed far across the silent wasteland.

Clatter!

A pair of broad demonic wings pushed out from the rubble first, followed by Duan Ming, who climbed shakily from the flames and ruins. Although his spirit-form meant he bore no visible wounds, taking a direct hit from a Fel Cannon without preparation had inflicted unimaginable trauma.

"Are you looking for this?" Perhaps due to the craving for the demons' agonizing wails and blood that had emerged from deep within his heart, Duan Ming did not fear the presence of the lord-level demon. He maintained his savage, tyrannical expression, extending his right hand and slowly opening his palm.

Wisps of fel energy rose from his palm, weaving and accumulating until they condensed into a cone-shaped emerald crystal.

The Sargerite Keystone. As Duan Ming devoured Belash, the erupting power had also affected the Keystone itself. To his own surprise—perhaps due to their coexistence in the spatial rift for countless years—he had absorbed the Keystone into his body as if it were fel fuel.

"You usurped the Master's power?" Watching this, Tyranna's face was filled with disbelief, followed by an instant surge of rage. "Fool, you are courting death!"

"I will crush you into dust with my own hands!"

With a wave of Tyranna's hand, an endless swarm of Burning Legion demons surged forward. The ground shook incessantly as a massive Infernal overturned the earth behind Duan Ming, its thick arm descending like a giant hammer, carrying a formidable wind pressure as it smashed toward him.

Just as Duan Ming had thought from the beginning, facing an infinite army of demons, he likely had only one path: annihilation.

But now, he had another path to take.

Taking a deep breath, as if he didn't see the Infernal about to crush him into ash, Duan Ming held the Sargerite Keystone aloft with both hands. Strands of emerald light surged rapidly from his body, rushing toward the keystone like rivers flowing into the sea.

Do not forget, the Sargerite Keystone is the key to the gateway of all realms; as long as one possesses enough energy, traversing space and time is not impossible. After all, it was this damned thing's fault that he had ended up here in the first place.

Of course, most of the coordinates within the keystone were worlds conquered and destroyed by the Burning Legion, except for one: Azeroth.

BOOM!

The Infernal's massive hand finally struck the ground. With an earth-shattering roar, the land where Duan Ming had been standing shattered into pieces, kicking up a sky-covering cloud of dust and a violent gale.

Yet, before the Infernal could retract its arm, an even more violent storm erupted from the point of impact. The skyscraper-sized Infernal was struck by an extraordinary force, helplessly toppling backward.

Just as its body fell, a dazzling emerald radiance suddenly burst forth. A vast torrent of Fel instantly expanded outward, transforming in an instant into a wild storm.

Sweeping past the Infernal and the vast ranks of demons, the raging torrent of energy suddenly halted just before it could touch Tyranna, then rushed back toward the center at an even greater speed.

Everything vanished. The space ravaged by the storm completely lost all traces of Fel. The green flames burning on the Infernal extinguished, leaving behind only a pile of rubble. Felbats plummeted helplessly, and the demons fell row by row like harvested Komugi.

More importantly, there was no sign of Duan Ming at the center, nor was there any trace of the Sargerite Keystone.

"No—! You mongrel, you cannot escape the grasp of the Legion! Even if you cross the realms, I will surely catch you! I will kill you..."

At this moment in the Shattered Abyss, only the shrill, echoing roars of Tyranna remained...