The End of the Dream

Starting a massacre was a troublesome matter. Vel'th had always believed that.

He could easily take one or two lives, but erasing every creature that had witnessed it all was no small task.

Still, everything had to be done in order. You ate one bite at a time, slaughtered cattle and horses one at a time. Using these two hateful fools to sharpen his blade was the optimal solution, whether in terms of time and space or causality.

"Don't! You touch her!!!"

Tasting the bloody stench flooding back through his nose, young Sian let out a pained roar.

His forehead was bleeding, his eye sockets were horribly swollen, his right arm hung limply at his side, and his left leg had been twisted into a grotesque shape.

With injuries this severe, it would not have been surprising if he passed out and died the very next moment.

The little Tauren was being dragged across the ground like a shredded rag. With his only remaining mobile limb, his left wrist, he clung desperately to the giant's ankle, trying to stop him from moving forward.

His master lay unconscious not far away. They had clearly escaped their most dangerous trial, yet fate had played its cruel trick, and now they had suddenly been forced to face another test of life and death.

Sian's consciousness had already begun to blur. He felt himself jolting up and down as his battered body repeatedly slammed into the ground with every step the giant took. His broken leg dragged across the earth, sending waves of agony through him, as though it were being snapped underfoot over and over again. The pain was so intense that he nearly lost control of his muscles and wet himself.

Yet even in such misery, he refused to let go. Even if it was futile, he wanted to risk his life to stop the demon's brutal torture.

"Disgusting. Can't you feel pain?"

The Lord of Storms looked down at the stubborn leech clinging to his leg with disgust. For a moment, the several-meter-tall giant could not think of any way to deal with him.

Like a petulant child, he stomped his foot, flinging the little Tauren's mangled body up and down several times.

A few minutes earlier, he had easily twisted off one of the Tauren's arms, crushed one of his legs beneath his foot, and then thrown him aside to wait obediently for death.

"You Tauren are all more stubborn than the last. If you had played dead, maybe you could have barely survived."

"You... you wouldn't understand..."

Though Sian's voice was weak, it was filled with resolve. "I still have hands... and teeth..."

"As long as... I'm still alive... don't even think... don't even think... about hurting her..."

The person he wanted to protect lay silently in the withered yellow grass in the distance.

That suddenly reminded the demon of the old cow who had stolen his achievement and foolishly tried to stop him. Vel'th had a feeling that the one before him would truly do exactly as he said.

So he smiled cruelly. "That won't do. Death is a release. It will be a wish you long for but can never obtain."

"I know the cruelest punishment of all. You will watch your fellow tribesmen scream as they turn to ash, then die miserably and alone in despair!"

The demon seemed to be laughing madly, but Sian could barely hear him anymore.

The little Tauren's consciousness was gradually fading. His head had suffered several heavy blows, and the ringing in his ears had become loud enough to drown out everything else.

The strength was slowly draining from his body. He could no longer protect his unconscious master.

He struggled to force open his bleeding eyelids and saw a bloodshot gray-white world.

At that moment, young Sian suddenly understood. He was about to enter death once more.

It would be completely different from the quiet, ordinary departure he had experienced the first time, back on distant Earth.

A lonely, painful death.

The next time he closed his eyes, perhaps it would mean that everything was over.

Forgive me, Dad, Mom. I still didn't become the person you hoped I would be...

I'm sorry, Master, Teacher. I let down your trust...

I'm sorry...

Baine, Xiao Na... I clearly made a vow, and promised to stay by your side for a lifetime...

None of it could be fulfilled now.

I really can't accept this...

I want to smell Mulgore's fresh breeze, to run wild across the open plains of The Barrens.

Ironforge's fine liquor, Ashenvale's shade, the southern sands, Mount Hyjal's bones, Westfall's oats, Stranglethorn's heat, Elwynn Forest's apples, Northshire's grapes, Lordaeron's summer, Northrend's snow...

What a shame. There were still so many places I wanted to visit, so many adventures to have, so many beautiful sights to see, so many interesting people, so much delicious food...

I really, really, really, really... really don't want to die like this.

Tears mixed with blood and flowed without end, yet he stubbornly refused to close his eyes.

Those distant memories were like shadows of summer.

They echoed for so long... so very long.

"Is he dead already?"

Vel'th planted one heavy foot on the little Tauren's back, then cruelly kicked his broken body aside.

He sneered mockingly. "A mortal's frail body—naturally, this was to be expected."

Sian could no longer feel pain.

At the edge of death, he vaguely saw a familiar figure waving at him. His mother was walking toward him, with the High Priestess following behind her. Their faces held smiles and apologies, along with a heartache too deep to dissolve.

Reunited with those he loved, the little one finally cried in grievance, bawling like a child who had been bullied outside.

But as he cried, he foolishly began to laugh again. He cried and laughed, laughed and cried, looking unbearably sorrowful.

His mother lovingly stroked his forehead. Then rosy light appeared before his eyes, a crimson warmth like the rising sun. The light wrapped around him, warm and gentle.

"Sleep well for a while, my good child. Have a sweet dream, then wake in the dawn that lights the grasslands."

With his mother's gentle words, all pain left him. His body grew lighter and lighter, and he felt more comfortable than ever before.

Exhausted, he closed his eyes and revealed the faintest satisfied smile.

"Mom..."

He spoke, almost as if murmuring to himself. "It's so good to see you..."

"No! No! Impossible! How is this possible?! What kind of evil illusion is this?!"

The storm giant screamed dramatically as though he had seen a ghost. What was happening before him had completely surpassed his understanding and could not be explained by any magic.

"No! Impossible! What did you do? No! What are you?!"

The female Tauren dressed as a Shaman smiled easily, as though she did not care in the slightest that the murderer who had taken her life stood before her.

"I just told my son—you did very well. You protected your friends, protected your master, and held fast to your faith until the very end. You truly are Mommy's strongest little calf!"

The young Shaman gave a cold smile. "As for who I am, think of me as a parent cleaning up trash—or a vengeful ghost crawling out of hell to claim your life!"

Vel'th temporarily suppressed his panic. He was a clever man and knew that, in such a situation, panic alone would accomplish nothing.

Though resurrection from the dead was utterly absurd, whatever the other party was, since she had appeared before him, he had to face her with sufficient force of presence.

So he lowered his head, stared at the tiny figure who was incomparably smaller than him, and threatened her with feigned confidence.

"I thought I had killed you completely. It seems destroying your body was not enough. Do you think such a foolish trick can deceive me?"

"Come! Whether you are a ghost from hell or a parent cleaning up trash, I will face you all!"

His words lacked conviction, and his mind failed to process something for a moment.

What did she mean by a parent cleaning up trash?

On a battlefield that changed by the instant, even the slightest lapse could prove fatal.

And Vel'th did not seem to be the sort who was good at learning from his mistakes.

By the time he realized something was wrong, he had already lost his best chance to retreat.

Fast! Too fast! A charge completely unlike that of a child warrior!

When a true warrior struck, under the overwhelming pressure of their imposing aura, the prey they had locked onto could not evade at all.

The furious giant axe was wrapped in powerful rage, but only when facing it could one truly feel its crushing pressure. Its attack came so silently that the demon did not feel even the faintest gust of wind.

Vel'th's first thought was to teleport away, but the shadow magic that had once answered his every command had suddenly become obscure and difficult.

Terrified out of his wits, he hastily gathered a storm and summoned a string of lightning spheres for defense.

To be honest, this technique called Lightning Shield by Shamans had no defensive power at all. It was more like a suit of thorn armor. Its offensive power was quite poor too, useful only for intimidating others.

Even he thought such a passive defensive method was incredibly stupid, but he had troubles he could not put into words.

Ever since obtaining this elemental body, he had crushed his opponents with absolute power hundreds of times greater than theirs. In such a short time, he had no opportunity to adapt to this massive body, much less become skilled at using the new power he had gained.

Worse still, it was even rejecting his original shadow power!

It was like making someone who had walked all his life replace his legs with hands and walk upside down, or forcing someone to breathe underwater. It was unbearably awkward.

Vel'th could not help regretting it. If he were still trapped within that short little shell, would the situation have been a little better?

But there were no ifs in this world, and to his horror, he discovered that he could not move!

The Shaman was watching him with a cold smile. Strange magic coiled around her hands, condensing into two red spheres of magic.

Ripples like water spread from the magic spheres. The overflowing energy tightly seized his body and imposed a heavy suppressive field upon the demon.

How was this possible? No magic formation, no incantation, no ritual—yet she could achieve such outrageous physical interference with raw mana alone? This was trampling on the dignity of every spellcaster, trampling on everything he had learned in his life!

But he no longer had the chance to make an impassioned speech about what he had seen.

Under Tally's control, the giant axe descending from the heavens was about to split his head apart!