Rebirth of the Blackrock Clan

Inside Blackrock Spire in the Burning Steppes, under Nefarian's command, the Blackrock Orcs had just finished an assault on the Dark Iron Dwarves under Ragnaros. While Rend Blackhand was fighting Dagran Thaurissan, king of the Dark Iron Dwarves, terrible news suddenly arrived: Rend's only family, his elder brother Maim Blackhand, had been ambushed by Dagran Thaurissan's men using magic bestowed by the Firelord. He was grievously wounded and died, and after falling into the magma, not even an intact corpse remained.

Enraged, Rend Blackhand led the grief-stricken Blackrock Orcs and drove back the Dark Iron Dwarves. Though they successfully gained control of the upper levels of Blackrock Spire, immense sorrow hung over the Blackrock Orcs. Having endured two Orc Wars, the remaining Blackrock Orcs could only place their hopes in the two brothers descended from Blackhand the Destroyer.

Maim Blackhand's death caused every Blackrock Orc to place their hopes on the sole remaining Blackhand bloodline, Rend Blackhand, chieftain of the Blackrock Clan.

Rend Blackhand locked himself alone inside his chieftain's chamber. Even a violent, bloodthirsty executioner like Rend, born through fel magic, could not stop grieving over the death of his only blood relative, his elder brother Maim Blackhand. Before long, his overwhelming sorrow even caused him to fall unconscious.

Just then, an exceedingly tiny spatial passage opened, and a soul from another world slipped out and entered Rend Blackhand's collapsed body.

"Who am I? Where am I?" Rend Blackhand climbed up from the crude bed, his powerful arm rubbing his aching forehead as he tried to ease the chaos in his mind.

"I'm Rend Blackhand???" As he recovered, Rend's thoughts gradually became clearer. The soul from another world was stronger and had completely devoured Rend's original soul.

After half a day of adjustment, Rend had fully accepted the truth. He had transmigrated into a world he knew well. As a Horde player, becoming an Orc was something he could accept, but this was rather difficult. The Blackrock Clan was completely reactionary. On one hand, they were not accepted by the Horde; on the other, they were the Alliance's mortal enemies, and they were utterly puppeteered by Nefarian. This was hell-level difficulty. After adapting to his body, he found that because he had directly and completely devoured the soul, he had not only inherited Rend's memories but also gained full control over his body. Rend had originally been a product cultivated by warlocks, so while his body had reached the level of an adult Orc, his soul had been severely incomplete. This fusion not only filled in what his soul lacked, but also made it extraordinarily powerful, even increasing his control over his body.

Pushing open the door to the chieftain's chamber, he found several personal guards waiting outside. They had followed him in founding the Blackfang Clan and were utterly loyal to him.

"Chieftain Rend, you're finally willing to come out. We all mourn Chieftain Maim's death, but you are now the Blackrock Clan's only pillar. If you fall, what will become of our entire Blackrock Clan? I beg you, pull yourself together quickly and lead us to take revenge on those Dark Iron bastards." The young Blackrock Orc who was clearly their leader tried to persuade the chieftain they had waited for so long. He was young and strong, and the grief and rage in his eyes revealed his fury toward the Dark Iron Dwarves.

"Don't worry about me, Malkorok. I've thought a great deal. Rest assured, I've pulled myself together. The Blackrock Clan has not truly escaped danger yet, and I will not fall. Come inside first. I have something to discuss with you." Having inherited Rend's memories, he naturally knew that this Orc was Malkorok, the future Garrosh's most loyal and dependable adjutant after joining the Horde.

Malkorok was loyal to the Blackrock Clan, but after Rend's death, the Blackrock Clan gradually declined under Nefarian's torment. Through the efforts of Garrosh and Eitrigg, most of the remaining Blackrock Orcs joined the Horde. There, the disheartened Malkorok experienced rebirth and transferred his loyalty to Rend onto the ambitious Warchief Garrosh. With his exceptional strength and loyalty, he became one of Garrosh's right-hand men alongside General Nazgrel.

"Malkorok, all of you are the brothers I trust most. You have followed me since the days of the Blackfang Clan. Now that my elder brother Maim Blackhand has died in battle, you are my last brothers. I have thought about many things. Grief has cleared my mind, and I have realized the crisis we face. The one truly responsible for my brother's death was not Dagran Thaurissan, but Nefarian, who deceived me." Rend, who knew the history well, understood that if he continued serving as Nefarian's lackey, the Blackrock Orcs would only dwindle until fewer than one in ten remained. That was not what he wanted, and he himself would be killed by adventurers. The only way to change that was to lead the Blackrock Clan into the protagonists of this world, the Alliance or the Horde, thereby avoiding becoming a dungeon boss who would be taken down. His greatest bargaining chip was the Blackrock Clan. At present, the entire Blackrock Clan that followed him was loyal to him; otherwise, they would not have chosen to follow him instead of going north to follow Orgrim, the Horde's Warchief.

This was undoubtedly the inheritance his father, Blackhand the Destroyer, had left him. Although Orgrim had replaced Blackhand the Destroyer as the Orc Warchief, the Blackrock Clan was still more loyal to the Blackhand bloodline. Just as Thrall and Garrosh had effortlessly become chieftains of the two great clans, Frostwolf Clan and Warsong Clan, through their bloodlines. The Blackrock Clan had once been the Horde's most populous clan and also its strongest. The only clans that could compare were the equally formidable Warsong Clan and the equally populous Bloodmaul Clan, which possessed secret arts. Yet fewer than one-tenth of their original numbers had followed him to Blackrock Spire. The two wars had greatly depleted this once enormous clan of several million, but the remaining hundreds of thousands of Blackrock Orcs were still a formidable force.

Of the once-glorious seven great clans of Draenor, only the remnants of the Warsong Clan and the Frostwolf Clan, which had continued to recuperate and multiply, could compare with them. In the Horde that had yet to be reborn, the Blackrock Clan could undoubtedly become an important member. If he was not mistaken, neither Thrall nor Orgrim would reject him, especially since there was also Eitrigg, an elder of the Blackrock Clan. He was the one who most wished to redeem the Blackrock Clan. Rend could not gauge the attitude of Grommash Hellscream, chieftain of the Warsong Clan, toward him, but there was no doubt that they would not reject him bringing the Blackrock Clan to join them.

With the protection of the strongest warrior, Grommash Hellscream, even Nefarian would not dare pursue him to the bitter end. After all, although Nefarian was the strongest of the second-generation dragons, he would not dare stroke the whiskers of Grommash, slayer of demigods. If he dared to come, one leaping cleave from Grommash would likely make him yet another sacrifice beneath Gorehowl's axe.

The only key now was to plan for the Blackrock Orcs to rebel alongside him and join the Horde before Thrall led the Horde away from the Old Continent to Kalimdor. Then the sky would be the limit.