Southshore is in complete chaos.
First, the granary caught fire, and Commander Renault, who happened to be nearby, immediately led his soldiers to put out the fire.
However, the fire was too large, and soon several other important places, such as the supply depot, armory, and the Order of the Silver Hand ' headquarters, also caught fire.
The Dwarves musketeers and Wildhammer Gryphon Rider quickly came to help, and eventually the Kirin Tor mages had to come and cast spells to summon water to extinguish the fire.
The commanders huddled together, their faces grim.
The granary was heavily fortified, yet it unexpectedly caught fire. Soon it was discovered that several soldiers responsible for the granary's security had been killed. Clearly, someone had taken advantage of the situation to cause trouble, and there might even be a traitor within the Allied forces.
The Cult of the Damned did not die out, and then it revived after Kel'Thuzad's resurrection.
After several months of development, the sect has absorbed a large number of homeless refugees, using the lure of longevity or even immortality. Even soldiers, merchants, and nobles have joined the Cult of the Damned.
Although various countries have successively discovered many members of the Cult of the Damned, totaling over a thousand, it has been completely useless because there are simply too many of them.
There are definitely members of the Cult of the Damned in Southshore, and they've been making various small moves over the past few months, like setting fires here and poisoning there. But the Allied forces have a strong defense, and Southshore's security is comparable to that of the capitals of various countries, so there haven't been any major problems.
But now such a huge problem has arisen!
No one expected this, which shouldn't have happened, unless the Cult of the Damned had infiltrated the high command of the Allied Forces. Perhaps among the commanders present were members of the Cult of the Damned!
This was terrifying; the commanders looked at each other, each feeling that the other was not entirely reliable.
Suspicion, distrust, and mutual distrust.
The coalition forces are already divided, and rifts have appeared.
At that moment, hundreds of Gargoyle and more than twenty Frost Wyrm suddenly appeared in the sky.
Because of the firefighting efforts, many Wildhammer Gryphon Rider landed from the sky, so they didn't notice the attack in time. About half of the Dwarves musketeers, human archers, and Kirin Tor mages responsible for aerial defense were also rushing to fight the fire and didn't have time to set up defenses.
Who would have thought that these Gargoyle and Frost Wyrm had been lurking in the western mountains for a day and a night, waiting until now to unleash their power!
In just five minutes, the 5,000-strong allied forces stationed in Southshore suffered heavy losses, with at least a thousand soldiers being wiped out instantly. The Frost Wyrm's Frost Breath froze large areas with a single strike. Having lost half of their air defense capabilities, the allied forces were simply unable to deal with so many Gargoyle and Frost Wyrm.
Although a minor Kirin Archmage Kirin Tor Dalaran, a general from Ironforge, and a lord from Aerie Peak quickly organized forces to attack the Gargoyle and Frost Wyrm, the effect was minimal due to the haste.
In ten minutes, they hadn't even killed a single Frost Wyrm, and they'd only managed to kill fewer than ten Gargoyle.
The difference in strength between a prepared and well-organized army and an unprepared and chaotic army is too great.
Ranged attackers suffered heavy casualties, ordinary soldiers were unable to attack the Frost Wyrm, Gargoyle were too fast to deal with. The entire Southshore was in chaos.
The soy sauce Archmage quickly used magic to request reinforcements from Dalaran, but it would take time to organize manpower and for them to teleport there; time was exactly what they needed most right now.
Besides, the nearest troops are stationed in Tarren Mill and Ambermill, and even with a rapid march, it would take them two days and two nights to get here; distant water cannot quench a nearby fire.
Just then, an alarm sounded on the southern coast; a Undead warship had approached!
Arthas, the First Death Knight, landed on land with five Lich, fifty Death Knight, hundreds of Ghoul, fifty Abomination, and even more Banshee, Undead, and Crypt Fiend.
There wasn't a single skeleton or zombie.
Although their numbers are small, totaling only a few hundred, these are the most elite Undead; more than half of the high-ranking Undead in Gilneas City are here!
Who would have thought,
Naxxramas was still hovering over Gilneas City, and some Frost Wyrm and Gargoyle were still flying over Gilneas. Fifty thousand Undead were hunting down the survivors of Gilneas, yet Arthas, leading his elite troops, had undetectedly bypassed Kul Tiras's naval blockade and launched a surprise attack on Southshore! Even so, under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a problem. After all, Southshore had five thousand allied troops, all elite, with even Archmage present. At worst, they would be detected beforehand. Mages, archers, and musketeers were enough to deal with the Frost Wyrm and Gargoyle, and the other troops could use artillery to prevent the Undead ships from reaching the shore.
This is how we've done it several times before when the Undead attacked.
This time, chaos erupted first.
Clearly, Arthas had been preparing for this for a long time!
Under Arthas's personal leadership, these elite Undead easily wiped out the coastal guards responsible for the defense and then stormed Southshore.
Arthas then led his Death Knight, along with Abomination, Banshee, Ghoul, and Crypt Fiend, indiscriminately slaughtering in the chaotic Southshore, while several Lich and many more Undead, protected by some Undead, began casting spells.
Ten minutes later, a giant beetle nearly two stories tall appeared before everyone; it was the Nerubians Lord Anub'Rekhan.
Following closely behind, even more Undead poured out of the teleportation array, and the once impregnable defenses of the Southshore were breached!
The allied forces were still fighting the Undead throughout the entire Southshore. Several commanders tried to organize their forces, but they could not stop the decline.
Meanwhile, the guards possessed by Balnazzar had already quietly found Renault.
In the midst of the chaos, no one noticed these things.
It was just a guard, and a familiar one at that, who easily approached Renault and whispered something in his ear.
Renault's expression changed, and he immediately ordered the others to stay put, then followed Balnazzar into a room.
" Balnazzar!" Renault whispered, "What did you do?! You exposed yourself! Lord Kel'Thuzad won't let you get away with this!"
"That's not important anymore, humans. The Scourge has already breached Southshore. This town will soon fall, and everyone will be slaughtered and resurrected as Undead." Balnazzar sneered, "You joined the Cult of the Damned, but I didn't! I'm not on the same side as Arthas or Kel'Thuzad! I have my own things to do now, and I need to borrow something from you."
"Borrow what?" Renault instinctively sensed something was wrong and was about to call upon the Holy Light.
However, it was too late.
The Dreadlord's hand gripped his neck, and a powerful mental force controlled him.
His consciousness began to fade, and the Holy Light left him. He was powerless to resist and soon went limp, but he did not fall.
The body that fell was that of the guard.
Balnazzar has possessed me!
Renault was always wary of him, and he was always surrounded by a lot of people. Balnazzar couldn't bring himself to deal with him, and he never thought of doing so, because he didn't need to and didn't want to take the risk.
Now we need it, and we have the opportunity.
"Of course it's using your identity, you foolish, dark human. You think you can pray for Holy Light? The darkness in your heart is even greater than that of the Dreadlord!"
Balnazzar looked up to the north, his face grim. "I can't stay here any longer. Renault's identity has been exposed. My plan must be completed as soon as possible! Tirisfal Monastery, here I come!"