Rend's Extremism

Rend and the others responsible for covering the retreat also sensed the Quilboar's disturbance. Large numbers of Quilboar were moving inward, and even Overlord Ram'thas had abandoned the pursuit of them, leading the Quilboar boar cavalry back at a run.

"They must have succeeded. Rend, quickly, we need to follow Overlord Ram'thas too. As long as we follow it, we'll be able to rendezvous with Samuro and the others." Varok Saurfang immediately deduced the reason for the Quilboar's unusual movements. Overlord Ram'thas had to be heading back to intercept the four who had stolen the relic. If they stayed close behind Ram'thas, they would surely find the four of them.

"Everyone, follow the boar cavalry. And you, Lady Magatha, please help us gather information." Rend also felt that High Overlord Varok was right. He immediately led the troops after Ram'thas. They were much faster than Ram'thas, quickly catching up to the Quilboar boar cavalry and hanging tightly behind them.

"Those damned centaurs. If the relic hadn't been stolen, I would've turned around and taught you a proper lesson." Overlord Ram'thas spat. Its heart was filled with hatred for those cunning centaur raiders, but although it did not know the relic's true purpose, it knew it could not lose the treasure of the Quilboar. It could only endure the centaurs behind it and hasten back.

As they pushed deeper in, more and more Quilboar began moving toward Razorfen. Vast numbers of Quilboar gathered, and even many villages with tens of thousands of Quilboar were fleeing back en masse. Though the Quilboar were intent on returning to find the thieves, their sheer numbers made it impossible for Rend and the others to keep following Overlord Ram'thas. If they continued, they would be surrounded by the constantly arriving Quilboar. Their troops were elite, but they could not safely withdraw from an encirclement by so many Quilboar.

"Lady Magatha, quickly contact them through the elementals. We can't go any deeper." Rend began to grow anxious. If they could not bring back the four, the entire plan would fail. The Horde would have to face an army of over a million centaurs alone. Moreover, Samuro, Rokhan, Chieftain Ripi, and Hamuul represented key parts of the Horde's iron triangle. If they could not escape, the loss to the Horde's strength would be secondary; the bonds they had worked so hard to forge would surely crack.

"Rend, being anxious is useless. If they fail to escape, then the Horde can only shoulder the responsibility it should have borne from the beginning. The Horde has never feared a glorious death in battle." Seeing Rend grow agitated, High Overlord Varok tried to persuade him. In terms of seniority, Varok was from Blackhand's generation, but Rend was the chieftain of the Blackrock Clan and much older than Thrall and Garrosh. Thus, Thrall had chosen Varok as Rend's deputy, to prevent Rend from making any rash decisions. In tactical matters, High Overlord Varok was a true great commander.

"No, Varok. This operation must succeed. Even if they're trapped, I'll lead the troops in and rescue them. The Quilboar relic is too important. We have to obtain it so we can lure the Quilboar and centaurs into fighting each other. Even if every one of us dies here—you, me, Magatha, Samuro, Rokhan, Chieftain Ripi—we must secure that relic. Only with it can we fight the centaurs more easily." If the Quilboar did not participate, then just as in history, the Horde would have to face the centaurs alone, then fight the Quilboar again to establish dominance, followed by the most crucial Battle of Mount Hyjal. The Horde's strength had to be preserved. In Rend's eyes, they were merely tens of thousands of people and a few powerful figures, but if they could seize the relic, hundreds of thousands of Horde warriors could avoid dying. Rend himself should not have been here in the first place. If Magatha died here, it would also prevent Cairne's death and the Grimtotem rebellion. Samuro and Chieftain Ripi would later form the Tauren Chieftain Band and leave the military.

The only ones too important to sacrifice were Varok, Hamuul, and Rokhan, because they still had roles to play later. But in Rend's heart, even they were not as important as reducing the deaths of over a hundred thousand. Did the Orcs truly lack one powerful warrior like High Overlord Varok? At least for now, they did not. In Warlords of Draenor, Rokhan was no more than an assistant to the player commander. It was only after Vol'jin's death in Legion, when he managed the Darkspear Clan without an appointed new chieftain, that his status began to matter. Later, he became active on the front stage—the son-in-law of Zandalar, the commander in Arathi. Hamuul held tremendous influence within the Cenarion Circle, securing much influence for the Horde and standing on the front line against the Firelord.

To truly contend with the behemoth that was the Alliance, they had to pull back everyone they could and reduce every sacrifice possible. In Rend's eyes, the only true enemy was the Alliance. The seemingly invincible enemies—the Burning Legion that had destroyed countless worlds, the Old Gods lurking beneath Azeroth, and the Lich King, master of the undead Scourge and mortal enemy of the living—could only submit obediently before the truly protagonist-blessed mortal factions, the Alliance and the Horde.

World of Warcraft truly belonged to the mortal Alliance and Horde, but the two sides were far from evenly matched. The Alliance was much stronger than the Horde, whether in population or elite combat power. The Alliance's humans alone outnumbered the entire Horde. In terms of top-tier strength, the Night Elves stood above all others: Malfurion Stormrage, Lady Tyrande, Maiev Shadowsong, Fandral Staghelm, Jarod Shadowsong, Shandris Feathermoon, and so on. Ten thousand years of accumulation. Immortality.

Setting aside our Mr. Nathanos Fifty-Fifty, who could solo the Wolf King on one side while going fifty-fifty against Malfurion and Tyrande in her Night Warrior form on the other, the key was that he could even keep channeling to pull someone in at the same time. Though the Blightcaller lost in the end and even lost a Val'kyr, Malfurion could beat High Overlord Varok until he had no power to fight back, yet failed to truly determine a victor against the Queen. Our Queen's disciple, the first human ranger lord, had successfully surpassed all elven ranger lords. That was Malfurion, the first druid, and Lady Tyrande as the Night Warrior. More importantly, everyone had overlooked another person: the player. The Alliance Highlord had participated in that battle on the Night Elf side.

At that point, the player was level 120. Blizzard had successfully made level 100 into a threshold. At level 90, you were still alone. At 100, you became a commander of the Alliance or Horde. At 110, you were a Highlord. By 120, you could be said to have officially become a figure of decisive importance. And even fighting Nathanos like that, they still let him successfully pull someone back up and escape after losing only one Val'kyr. If it had been Sylvanas, the strongest Warchief before them, she would have been dead for certain and needed three Val'kyr to resurrect her. Nathanos lost only one and escaped. It really... felt like that time Captain America caught Thanos's punch. The Horde storyline was even more absurd, worse than the Alliance's. In Rend's view, the Horde storyline was just Nathanos and two Val'kyr steamrolling everything, only for the Val'kyr to be traded for Wardens. That did not seem like a loss either. The key was that he even fled with the two he had resurrected. You lost one, I lost one, and I resurrected two... once the numbers were tallied, that was plus one for us and minus one for you.

In reality, Rend did not know whether the Nathanos Fifty-Fifty he had never met could be that strong, so he was still deeply wary. Perhaps it was because Malfurion and the others could utterly crush Varok. The battle between High Overlord Varok and Malfurion, where the first warrior had been completely defeated by the first druid, made Rend realize that although he still greatly admired that invincible hero who had guarded Orgrimmar's main gate alone, Varok was not more important than hundreds of thousands of Horde warriors. For the Horde's interests and strength, all of them could be sacrificed.