Still floating high in the sky, Patrick no longer paid any attention to Orbaz Bloodbane and his flagship, the Marnabas, which had been utterly destroyed. But the sight of the densely packed army of undead Vrykul behind them shocked him.
Ever since Hadana Soulstealer, Lord Ufrang, the ancient Putress, and the others had appeared at the Gate of Terror, a weight had lifted from Patrick's mind as he laid his plans. These Scourge commanders represented the two great Vrykul powers of Icecrown Glacier: Jotunheim and Ymirheim.
Patrick believed these people should be the Lich King's last hope. Once they were eliminated, the way into the Court of Bones would be clear. Apart from the Lich King's minions in Icecrown Citadel, nearly all the other Scourge should have been wiped out. The Lich King would have no way out except to force his way through Angrathar, the Wrathgate, and fight the Aspect of the Blue and several Animal Gods.
But now, the abrupt change in the situation left Patrick feeling a chill. The Scourge already had the advantage in numbers, relying on masses of cannon fodder, plague, and attacks from the shadows to overwhelm their opponents. Yet the Scourge appearing here now were undead Vrykul with exceptionally powerful individual fighting abilities. Combined with the Scourge's numerical advantage, just how dire the situation had become was easy to imagine.
The Northern Expeditionary Force had already been outnumbered by the Scourge. The Scourge's vast numbers of cannon fodder could only wear down the expeditionary soldiers' stamina a little, but replacing them all with Vrykul was a different matter.
Whether an ordinary soldier, roughly fourth to sixth rank, could defeat an ordinary Vrykul was uncertain. With the Scourge's numerical advantage added on top, this battle was impossible to fight.
*An oversight. This really was