Agamaggan's Choice

"Rend Blackhand! You're treating these warriors' lives like a joke! The Horde's warriors will not die in vain for your schemes. They should die gloriously in battle against the centaurs, not for some so-called relic! What's more, do you realize that besides you and me, our allies are here as well—Rokhan of the Darkspear Clan, the chieftains of the Tauren Grimtotem Clan and Runetotem Clan, and Chieftain Ripi. If anything happens to them, the bonds the Horde worked so hard to forge will shatter!" Varok furiously accused Rend. He had always despised what this young chieftain had done in the past. He had thought Rend had changed and redeemed himself, but he was still the same—reckless and without honor, willing to sacrifice Horde warriors just to achieve his plans.

"Varok Saurfang, I am the commander of this army! You are merely my adjutant, and you should obey my orders! I'm doing this for the greater good of the Horde! What do you know? Do you know what the Horde will face in the future? I'm trading the fewest sacrifices for more lives saved. The Horde can no longer endure large-scale losses!" Already anxious from waiting, Rend finally exploded in anger. After the two souls fused, part of Rend Blackhand's personality had influenced Rend, making him more prone to anger like an Orc.

"No! Rend Blackhand, I see the shadow of your father, Blackhand, in you. He was the one who drove the Horde into the abyss. Now, you have inherited his ruthlessness completely, and you have forgotten Orcish honor even more!" Varok was no mild-tempered man either. Having endured mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he was even more hot-tempered and murderous. Moreover, Magnos had not yet died and had descended upon Azeroth. His presence was beginning to affect the demon blood within the Orcs, making them more irritable.

Rend and Varok began arguing. The other Orcs could not intervene because of their status, while Magatha Grimtotem had no intention of stopping the two men.

"Aunt, Boss Rend and King Varok are arguing. Shouldn't we go calm them down? And if they start fighting, Boss Rend and I definitely won't be able to beat King Varok. You have to help us," Arnak Grimtotem said. He had completely taken Rend's side. Although he had heard Rend say that all of them could be sacrificed to ensure the relic was obtained safely, that suited Arnak's nature perfectly—violent enough, extreme enough. To achieve one's goal, of course one had to use every means available. Besides, the Tauren, centaurs, and Quilboar were hereditary enemies, so he was naturally happy to see the centaurs and Quilboar fight each other.

"You foolish boy, Varok wouldn't dare make a move. Nominally, Rend is still the chieftain of the Blackrock Clan and the true commander of this army. Why stop them? Doesn't this give us a better understanding of our Horde allies?" Magatha still hated all outsiders at heart. Seeing Rend and Varok arguing, she could not help but begin making plans. It seemed their new allies were not so united internally after all.

Furthermore, she knew that the Orcs led by Thrall favored Cairne Bloodhoof, the Tauren High Chieftain. Varok was clearly a trusted confidant sent by the High Chieftain to keep watch, so he naturally favored the Bloodhoof Clan as well. That meant she could completely win over Rend's Blackrock Clan. In the future, Magatha would even have the Grimtotem Clan flirt with the Alliance after leaving the Horde. This showed that, despite her rejection of outsiders, she still clearly understood the limits of her own strength and needed allies. When Magatha poisoned Cairne, she had wanted to draw Garrosh in as her ally and support her bid to become Tauren High Chieftain. Thus, she deliberately courted Garrosh and poisoned his weapon, making Garrosh bear the blame for killing Cairne and forcing him to side with her. But she had underestimated Garrosh's pursuit of honor. Garrosh was filled with fury at such a despicable victory, because Magatha had stained his honor. To Garrosh, that was unforgivable.

At that moment, a huge bird descended from the sky. "Please calm down, both of you. There is no need to worry. With the help of the demigod Agamaggan, we successfully escaped. I came ahead to join you." The great bird landed and transformed into a Tauren. It was the Archdruid Hamuul. Only he could use Flight Form to contact Rend's main force without a flying mount.

"That damned Hamuul again." Magatha had originally wanted to watch the show and provoke the conflict between Rend and Varok, but that old Tauren Hamuul had suddenly appeared again. During the first half of her life, Cairne, Ripi, Hamuul, and Magatha had all belonged to the same generation, all of them chieftains of Tauren clans. Cairne and Ripi had always been friends, constantly suppressing Magatha. Whenever Magatha tried to contend with Cairne's faction, Hamuul would always play the role of a peacemaker and disrupt things. Hamuul also favored Cairne's leadership. His countless disruptions and his constant bias toward her opponents had made Magatha deeply dissatisfied with the old Tauren.

The old Tauren successfully stopped the two men from arguing and told them that, with Agamaggan's help, they had traveled through underground passages for an unknown length of time. When they emerged, they had already gone around to the rear of Rend's relief force. The planned rendezvous point had originally been ahead of Rend's current position, but too many Quilboar had blocked the way, preventing him from reaching it for the moment. Yet with Agamaggan's help, Hamuul and the others had even reached Rend's rear, emerging from a burrow in a Quilboar village backed against a mountain. There were still many paths ahead, showing just how far the Quilboar had dug.

Under Hamuul's guidance, everyone successfully joined the force at the rear and obtained the Quilboar artifact. They also met the soul of Agamaggan, the Quilboar demigod. Agamaggan could not leave Razorfen for too long, so he could only separate part of his soul power and place it within Rokhan.

"Child, I cannot see through your heart. Your future is shrouded in mist. That is rare. From you, I can see limitless possibilities and hope." Once the main force arrived, Agamaggan's soul spotted Rend among tens of thousands of people in an instant.

"Honored Demigod Agamaggan, every person's future holds infinite possibilities. Even the bronze dragons cannot determine what happened across every timeline, can they?" Rend's heart skipped a beat. Afraid that a powerful being like Agamaggan, who could see into people's hearts, might perceive his differences, he hurriedly tried to conceal them.

"Yes, limitless hope. Perhaps I, too, may break free from these endless shackles. I am willing to become a loa of the Darkspear Clan. But Rend, I would like you to accept my gift and my power." For some reason, the moment Agamaggan saw Rend, he decisively resolved the matter he had previously been torn over. Rend naturally had no fear of accepting such a gift. Agamaggan was not an evil force and certainly would not pose any danger to him. Moreover, he desperately needed outside help to improve his strength. The limits of his talent had constrained his power. He would simply consider it the protagonist's luck. Besides, the Battle of Mount Hyjal was drawing near, and it was far too dangerous. If not for this critical moment, Rend might have refused, but now, increasing his strength took priority above all else.