Arrival

"Get the wounded off the battlefield immediately!" Sylvanas pointed at the Dwarf in front of her, whose arm had been blasted off by artillery fire. He was screaming, his face a bloody mess. The Female Elf had seen far too many gruesome scenes like this. In the instant she turned her gaze back to the battlefield, Sylvanas gritted her teeth, turned her head, and dodged another deadly arrow.

"Prepare boiling oil and falling logs; the Horde is approaching the city walls."

"General! Incendiary bombs!"

A cry of surprise made the Ranger-General look up at the sky, where dozens, even hundreds, of spinning shadows were flying toward them.

"Stop them!" Sylvanas ordered immediately, hoping that as many people as possible would hear her, whether they were mages, archers, or musketeers.

Fortunately, many people reacted quickly enough, and most of the bottles containing flammable liquid were knocked down.

"General!"

Sylvanas heard Lansber's voice. Her lieutenant was running through the chaotic city wall passageway. In the Ranger-General's sight, a Molotov cocktail shattered not far behind Lansber. Flames quickly spread to a cannon. The Female Elf saw with her own eyes that the gunner operating the cannon had been shot through the head with an arrow, and horrifyingly, several cannonballs lay piled beside his corpse.

"Fool, get down right now!" Sylvanas rushed over. The cannonball's fuse had already been lit, and there were so many people around... The Ranger-General's heart seemed to freeze at this moment.

A deafening roar shook the surrounding buildings. Screams and cries of agony seared Sylvanas's mind like flames. She couldn't estimate how many had perished in the explosion; even she was now dizzy and her ears were ringing.

With a struggle to sit up, Sylvanas coughed a few times, shaking off the rubble. Dust, bright red blood, and her skin were all mixed together. She could feel blood trickling down her forehead, but she had no time to worry about her injuries.

"Are you insane?" The Ranger-General pulled his adjutant from the dust. Lansber was clearly still somewhat disoriented. After a few shakes, he could at least recognize that the person in front of him was his superior.

"Didn't I tell you to keep an eye on the Songweaver?"

"He ran away," Lansber said weakly.

"What! You let him escape? Why didn't you just kill him?"

"We are not the Crimson Crusade, General." Lansber's expression faltered. "You have decreed that the Silver Covenant cannot arbitrarily execute prisoners."

"Damn it!" Sylvanas cursed, turning to refocus her attention on the breach in the wall caused by the explosion, but two other engineers had already gone to repair it. One human and one Gnome.

The Sunreavers escaped, taking with him most of the information about Theramore's defenses. He also likely knew that the city was setting up a teleportation spell. If Garrosh knew everything, he would have used the city-destroying bomb in advance.

"The Songweaver must be a spy for Grommash. Go tell Jaina immediately, the Horde is about to..."

Before Sylvanas could finish speaking, Lansber suddenly opened his eyes wide, drew his short sword, and stood in front of the Ranger-General. Sylvanas turned around, and before she could even see who it was, she instinctively kicked out. The attacker was a female Orcs with a scar on her face. She roared angrily at her missed attack.

"An assassin! Has Garrosh fallen to such a low level?"

The Orcs woman charged again. Her target was the Ranger-General commanding the battle. Sylvanas hadn't used Quel'delar in a long time, but her swordsmanship was unaffected by time. The Female Elf first dodged the assassin's deadly thrust, then with a graceful stroke, deflected the Orcs's dagger. As she stomped on the orc's shin, forcing her to kneel, she caught the falling dagger and plunged it precisely into the Orcs's neck. The assassin was instantly a corpse.

This battle is utterly insignificant and not worth paying much attention to. Sylvanas turned to Lansber and said:

"Did they succeed on Akazamzarah's side?"

"He should be here soon."

"Almost there?" This meant it wasn't over yet. Sylvanas began to grow anxious. Jaina had assured her that the mages of Dalaran would do everything in their power to protect Theramore from the bombs. But what would happen afterward? The explosive force of the bombs would weaken the mages, rendering them useless, or even a burden, while Grommash commanded tens of thousands of troops. Once he saw that his weapons had failed, he would undoubtedly order a full-scale attack, Theramore, without any magical barriers, would be utterly unable to withstand such an assault.

Now we can only hope that Akazamzarah can complete the spell before the bombs arrive.

"Go to the North Gate immediately and inform Jaina. The Songweaver has betrayed us, and Garrosh's zeppelin is on its way."

"Yes, General."

After Lansber left, the Ranger-General began to reconsider the problem of assassins. She shouted, "Assassins in the city! Warn them!"

"Chief, the Songweaver has returned."

Grommash's ears twitched, and he turned to look at Malkorok. "Our Blood Elf friend seems to have completed his mission by bringing him here."

When Garrosh saw the silver-haired Blood Elf standing before him, he nodded. The man reeked of gunpowder and dust, indicating he had been in battle. "Your loyalty is commendable, Salen. Now tell your Great Chief what important intelligence you have gathered?"

Grommash had expected the Songweaver to tell him where Theramore's weaknesses were, or how many troops Theramore still had. But to his surprise, Salen frowned. "It seems they know your plans."

For a moment, Malkorok was dumbfounded, while the Mag'han Orcs, upon hearing these words, was the first to react, lunging forward. He then grabbed Baine's wrist with a powerful grip. The force forced the Songweaver to twist to the side to alleviate the pain.

What do you mean?

Salen grinned as he explained, knowing that the sooner he reported the situation, the sooner the Great Chief would let go. "Theramore knows about your plan. They're planning to set up a teleportation array to send everyone in the city away."

"Teleport!" Garrosh chewed on the word repeatedly, as if savoring its taste. He leaned closer to Salen and asked, "How did they know?"

"I don't know."

Grommash's body was tense, clearly enraged by the lack of answers, but he eventually released the Songweaver. After all, without information about the Blood Elf, he was probably still completely in the dark.

"They're going to run, Great Chief."

"I heard you!" Grommash turned and glared at the Blackrock Orc. "They can't escape. I'll show everyone what happens to those who defy the Will of the Great Chief Horde."

He raised Gorehowl high toward the sky.

Behind the Horde army, a series of booming sounds echoed in the sky, growing louder and louder as they approached Theramore. A massive Goblins airship slowly approached, carrying a huge spherical object with it.

Grommash continued to shout, "We've gone through so much trouble to lure the Alliance's Seventh Legion here, along with the rebels of Dalaran. So many soldiers, so many warships, and so many excellent generals of the Alliance —this is the perfect opportunity to wipe them out completely."

Immediately afterward, another voice rang out, from the Tauren representative Dezco, "Garrosh!" With a roar, the shouting Orcs stopped.

"Are you crazy?" Dezco roared. "Our soldiers are still on the front lines; they haven't retreated yet!"

To the Tauren's complete surprise, Grommash laughed, his low chuckle gradually turning into a maniacal roar. "Fool, what's wrong with sacrificing a few for victory?"

Dezco was completely shocked. The Troll overlord Volas behind him even dropped his weapon.

Garrosh laughed again, this time seemingly mocking Baine and Vol'jin for not being able to witness the moment.

The airship flew overhead.

"Now, go and raze it to the ground!"

Gorehowl pointed at Theramore.

"No. In that case, Grommash would know everything about Theramore's defenses." Jaina looked at Lansber with a pale face. She was grateful that the Silver Covenant soldiers had reported the Sunreavers' betrayal in time. But the result undoubtedly made Theramore's predicament even worse.

Khadgar walked up behind Jaina. "Aethas said that the Songweaver has insightful views on defensive magic research, which I never expected."

Jaina's first glance as she turned around was filled with undisguised resentment and blame, but the words that came out of her mouth were quite the opposite. "I believe Archmage Aethas. The Songweaver has deceived far more people than just you and him."

"Indeed," Khadgar said bitterly. "This is undoubtedly a heavy blow to the Kirin Tor."

No one expected the Kirin Tor members to suddenly betray them. Was it a spur-of-the-moment act, or a long-planned scheme? Jaina couldn't understand, consumed by anger and suspicion. It wasn't until Khadgar nudged her that the mage realized the sound of the wind turbines echoing in her ears. She glanced up, and her eyes widened in horror.

"It's that bomb!"

"Damn it!" Khadgar cursed. "How could Horde Great Chief... Doesn't he care about the soldiers stationed outside the walls of Theramore?"

Jaina's heart tightened, and she stumbled. In their original plan, they believed the Horde would make strange moves before unleashing their terrible weapons, such as sounding the retreat order. If such a thing happened, the Kirin Tor mages would immediately set up defensive barriers, giving the Horde enough time to complete their spells Horde retreat.

But Grommash did not do that.

"He's gone mad, he must be mad!" Proudmoore roared angrily at the approaching airship.

Akazamzarah was drenched in sweat and even began to tremble. He was convinced that the others who had helped him complete the spell were just as weak as he was. But the mission was complete. The entire Theramore was within teleportation range; all that remained was to await the Ranger-General's orders.

The Goblins sat on the ground, ready to take a sip of water to replenish his magic, but the sound of the airship's turbine startled him so much that he spat out the water he hadn't swallowed.

He turned and looked up at the sky. The machines created by his compatriots were closing in on the walls of Theramore, and what they carried was the most terrifying thing.

"No!" This mad scene made Akazamzarah jump up from the ground. He had only one thought—to activate the magic circle immediately, or he would die, and everyone would die.

Far away on the other side of Theramore, Archmage Vargoth was also terrified by the arrival of the Goblins airship. Immediately, the magic circle formed by magical runes beneath his feet trembled. Teleportation spells are interconnected; Innervate in one area alerts the circles in others. Vargoth reacted instantly, chanting his own incantation to activate his own circle. He had originally wanted to figure out the location of the spell's teleportation point, but now he had to fight for survival.

Almost all the Covenant mages responsible for casting spells sprang into action. Even without orders from the Ranger-General, they could anticipate what Sylvanas would do if she were present.

The Female Elf knew what her soldiers were thinking. She stared wide-eyed at the sky. "Hurry, get everyone away!"

Instinct told her it was too late. The airship had already reached Jaina's Mage Tower, the heart of Theramore, and the bombs' power would soon engulf the entire city.

"Nathanos," Sylvanas murmured the name.

There was nothing on the sea.

When the Witherer looked back, his vision was still obscured by the mist. Although he had already set foot on land, he still felt as if someone had been calling to him just a moment ago.

The amazing thing is that his guess was completely correct. The mist over the continent beneath his feet did not spread across the land, but rather surrounded it like a barrier, preventing outsiders from approaching.

But inside the barrier lies a completely different world.

The sunlight looked warm, not harsh. Nathanos's eyes were filled with confusion. He had been to the Eastern Kingdoms, Kalimdor, and Northrend; these three continents he had traversed were different, but they still shared some similarities. But this place before him...

Lush greenery. Nathanos could see that the woodland he was in was teeming with life. Tall, slender "trees" with a few leaves rose from the ground, with pointed plants below them, somewhat resembling corn. Even more amazing, when he looked up, he saw long, winding bridges connecting the cliffs to the distant mountains.

"The wisdom of the Pandaren? Interesting." Nathanos paused for a moment before walking into the woods. He knew this continent owed much to Wrathion. The Black Dragon Prince was currently missing.

Could he have come to this place too? The Witherer couldn't help but wonder, after all, it was he who had shown him the world beyond the mist. And here lay what he desperately needed. That was why he had traveled so far alone to come here.

"I hope it won't disappoint me."