Purge

"That guy Harkel." Tatsel slammed her fist on the railing of the ship. She had completely lost faith in the captain she had appointed.

Harkel was speaking to a soldier, startling him. The others around seemed oblivious, busy with their retreat or engaged in battle with the Alliance.

Suddenly, Tatsel's gaze fell upon unusual individuals in the crowd: several suspicious individuals using Blood Maw.

"Give me the binoculars," Tatsel snapped. She took the binoculars and immediately scanned the area warily. "I'll never forget it, even if I die," she confirmed. "It is indeed Vampyr."

"Harkel refuses to come back," Meryl reminded him.

"Even if he returns, he will not escape death!" Tatsel said shockingly. "Archers, aim at those who fight against the Alliance."

"Tatsel, what are you doing?"

"Release the arrows!"

Tatsel heard the usually calm and collected Undead's horrified voice. She Forsaken no heed to Meryl's skepticism. There had never been a single instance of the Forsaken killing each other, but now it was happening—the summoned and hired Sky-Coverer were carrying out her orders, aiming their arrows at the Forsaken who hadn't withdrawn.

"Those people have been bewitched," she said, turning to meet Meryl's suspicious and angry gaze. "Like Harkel, they've been blinded by the killing."

"That's not their fault. They were misled and influenced."

"Perhaps," Tatsel agreed, "But how many are currently bathed in blood? Did you see the smiles on their faces? Utterly vile." She shook her head. "No, Meryl. I cannot take that risk. You are right, we are not like the Scourge. My retaliation against the Alliance was merely to punish their provocation of the Forsaken. But Harkel and her crew, they are driven by a thirst for Bloodlust. I cannot allow this thirst to fester. If I let them go, how many Forsaken will be affected? It is a contagious disease that must be eradicated now."

For a long time, Meryl and Jaina exchanged glances, finding it hard to accept Tatsel's words. But from the perspective of the Forsaken, Meryl seemed unable to find a reason to refute her, and Jaina had even less say.

"At least... don't hurt the living." Meryl seemed to have struggled to utter these words.

"The Sky-Coverer's precision with the bow and arrow rivals that of the Dark Ranger." Tatsel stared at the increasing number of corpses lying motionless on the ice. So many people were like Harkel.

"If this was arranged by that Great Chief Horde, then the strategy has succeeded. He's very shrewd; I haven't encountered an Orcs skilled in political maneuvering for many years." Her earlier anger towards Harkel was long forgotten. Grommash didn't need to expend a single soldier to inflict damage on the Alliance; in any case, the Horde was invincible.

No, the whole thing was orchestrated by Garrosh; he's as cunning as that despicable Gul'dan. He deceived the Forsaken. Any outcome that didn't meet his expectations was a failure.

She gave herself a cold smile, vaguely hearing someone blaming her for her Recklessness decision to attack Southshore.

"I also bear responsibility for this. I will resign afterwards."

"Resign?" Meryl looked at her. "Only Nathanos has the authority to appoint and dismiss high-ranking commanders of the Forsaken."

"So I will go to him and make this request to him in person."

"What happened?" shouted a Dwarf Warrior in the Alliance army.

Rend understood his confusion. His gaze was fixed on the direction from which the arrows were flying—to the Forsaken's ship.

At first, the captain of the defense thought the Forsaken wanted to wipe out the Alliance army indiscriminately, but his idea changed when he saw that the arrows were hitting the Undead instead of his soldiers.

Those Forsaken fell to the ground like stone pillars, arrows piercing their chests.

Had they rebelled? The thought both surprised and delighted Rend. But if so, why were the arrows only aimed at the Forsaken and not at them?

The answer then rushed into his mind: this attack by the Forsaken was not the will of their leaders; they were correcting their mistakes.

"Retreat! Retreat towards the Southshore coast!" Rend shouted. Although some soldiers didn't understand his order, they obeyed.

He turned around and found that some of the Forsaken were still unwilling to give up, raising their weapons to attack the living, but they were quickly brought down by arrows flying from behind.

Harkel was brought before Tatsel, bound hand and foot. She struggled, an arrow still lodged in her left leg. She wasn't shot dead immediately, but was discovered and captured by soldiers clearing the battlefield.

Tatsel looked at her with disappointment, pointing to the corpses of Vampyr, riddled with bullets, on the battlefield. "I saw it clearly, Captain, Vampyr has infiltrated your ranks. You dare to openly ally with our enemies."

Harkel glared at Jaina and shouted, "These are our real enemies! They've never changed their attitude towards us; they only ever humiliate us."

Meryl answered, her calm voice a stark contrast to Harkel's hysterical roar, "Yes, some of them are—but at least they don't intend to annihilate us completely. The Forsaken are free from the Lich King's control, and humanity knows this well. Their misunderstanding of us stems only from their past fear of the Scourge. Yet you've chosen to ally with the people of Vampyr. How are you any different from the Scourge's minions now?"

The Forsaken on the ship stared at Harkel with surprise and disgust. One of them stepped forward and said, "Is it true, Harkel? You really colluded with the Scourge?"

"I'm willing to conspire with anyone to wipe out these humans! They all deserve to die!"

More condemnation arose. Tatsel ordered the shooting of everyone who shared Harkel's views, and now she was all alone.

"Then you have brought shame upon the entire Forsaken. Your bloodlust has killed countless Forsaken and humans. This sin can only be atoned for with your life."

Jaina, watching from the sidelines, felt her heart clench. Harkel's blood spurted out. Tatsel pulled out the dagger that had killed her and tossed it aside.