Recaps

After Stormwind City survived the elemental invasion at terrible cost, the mysterious figure warned Varian that more battles lay ahead. Xiao Yu returned to the Immortal Throne, reviewed the Sky World 2.0 update, and went to meet Li Mingfei.

• Varian blamed himself for Stormwind City's losses, but Jaina reassured him that he had done well.
• The mysterious figure told Varian that many people had anticipated the invasion and prophesied that an expedition to the Lost Island would cost more lives before bringing further conflict.
• Xiao Yu returned to the Immortal Throne, lamented the loss of his 200,000 elementals, and logged out as the game prepared to update.
• Xiao Yu read the Sky World 2.0 update details, which introduced new playable races and monsters, BGM systems, new worlds, and the Elemental King storyline.
• Xiao Yu arrived at the game company, where the heroes congratulated him, and Ma Xiaoyun told him that Li Mingfei wanted to see him.

Xiao Yu discussed his role as the Elemental King with Li Mingfei, who warned him that the Destroyers' Alliance might try to kill him or sabotage the expansion. Xiao Yu returned to the Immortal Throne for a meeting, where the assembled elemental lords seemed unusually restless.

• Li Mingfei told Xiao Yu to follow the script as the World Destroyer and explained that he was an actor meant to stir up trouble without actually destroying the world.
• Li Mingfei described his idea for Earth Online, where players could use attributes to gain advantages in a realistic version of Earth, and Xiao Yu admitted he would play it.
• Li Mingfei warned Xiao Yu that Abbas and other eliminated bosses and heroes had formed the Destroyers' Alliance and might target him or the Alliance and the Horde.
• Li Mingfei told Xiao Yu to stay in the Immortal Throne except when the story required him to appear, and Xiao Yu agreed before leaving.
• Xiao Yu returned to the game and joined the elemental lords gathered in the council hall, where they seemed unusually restless.

After the elemental lords questioned his disastrous campaign, Xiao Yu faced his role as the expansion’s final boss and agreed to help Shen Yuan with a fight. Wearing an amulet that hides him from divination, he joined Shen Yuan and the sages at a temple, where they prepared to face an Old God.

• Neptulon questioned Azathoth about the failed invasion, but Xiao Yu intimidated the elemental lords into accepting his authority.
• Therazane warned Azathoth to keep his promise of a glorious future for the elemental race, while Xiao Yu reflected that adventurers would eventually defeat and kill him.
• Shen Yuan offered Xiao Yu a test amulet that could block Li Mingfei’s divination, and Xiao Yu put it on before leaving through a portal.
• At a temple, Xiao Yu reunited with Medivh, Merlin, and Naiser and met Kairoz and Ner'zhul, whom Shen Yuan revealed he had secretly rescued and restored.
• Xiao Yu sensed a powerful presence behind the temple doors, and Shen Yuan said they were there to fight an Old God.

Xiao Yu joined Shen Yuan and the Council of Sages at Ulduar to help collect blood from Yogg-Saron, an Old God whose immense magical power made him difficult to fight. After summoning an army and sealing the area, they opened the prison’s inner doors and charged into the hall where Yogg-Saron was held.

• Shen Yuan explained that the Council of Sages needed blood from Yogg-Saron and asked Xiao Yu to help, since Yogg-Saron’s magic could overwhelm even Naiser.
• Xiao Yu agreed and recognized Ulduar as the place where Yogg-Saron was imprisoned in Northrend.
• Ner'zhul, Naiser, and Xiao Yu summoned armies of undead, demons, and elemental creatures through their gates.
• Shen Yuan ordered Kairoz to keep the Eye of Time running and Merlin to activate the Fate-Shrouding Barrier.
• The Council’s army pushed open the inner doors and charged into the gloomy, ice-covered hall.

Shen Yuan’s group entered Ulduar to take a piece of Yogg-Saron, fought the Old God, and escaped with a tentacle. Kairoz used the Eye of Time to return them to a timeline where their actions and the keeper’s death had never happened, though the artifact’s power was nearly spent.

• The group found Yogg-Saron sealed beneath Ulduar, with the Tear of the Goddess of Aurora set in the sword pinning him down, and Shen Yuan warned them not to free him.
• Xiao Yu struck Yogg-Saron as Azathoth, but the Old God’s feigned surrender failed to fool the group, and his attempt to tempt them unsettled some of Naiser’s demons.
• Shen Yuan demanded part of Yogg-Saron’s body, and the group attacked as the Old God unleashed spells and sent his tentacles against them.
• Xiao Yu transformed into a Chaos Dragon and drew a tentacle taut, allowing Naiser to sever it; Merlin sealed the piece in a bottle as Yogg-Saron’s blood mutated their summoned creatures.
• Shen Yuan ordered the group to retreat before Yogg-Saron broke free, and Kairoz explained that they could escape the consequences by switching timelines with the Eye of Time.
• Kairoz activated the Eye of Time, restoring the original timeline and erasing the group’s entrance and the keeper’s death, but the artifact’s golden light nearly faded.

Xiao Yu agreed to help Shen Yuan with three more tasks before ending their involvement, then considered moving to a safer home. In Stormwind City, leaders followed divine prophecies and ordered an Alliance expedition to the Lost Island, despite Varian and Jaina's unease about the dangers ahead.

• Xiao Yu declined to learn Shen Yuan's plans for Yogg-Saron's tentacle, but agreed to help him with three more tasks in exchange for being left out afterward.
• Shen Yuan opened a portal to the Immortal Throne, and Xiao Yu returned home and began searching advertisements for a safer place to live.
• Varian Wrynn told the meeting that elemental attacks had spread across the Sky World, including an attack on Orgrimmar led by Ragnaros.
• Kaya Shadowhunter, Stormwind's archbishop, and the high priest of Odin each reported a prophecy directing the leaders to the Lost Island for answers about the Elemental Tide.
• Varian ordered the formation of the Lost Island Expeditionary Force, with the Alliance set to depart in seven days.

While waiting for adventurers to reach him, Xiao Yu suspected Shen Yuan planned to open a passage to another world and decided to investigate the Land of Origins. After the Destroyers' Alliance destroyed Samat's Dracolich Island, Xiao Yu persuaded Li Mingfei to let him hunt down the alliance.

• Xiao Yu reasoned that Shen Yuan might be using Old God blood to open a passage to another world, and chose the Land of Origins as his next destination.
• Samat reported that Abbas and the rejected bosses had formed the Destroyers' Alliance and destroyed Dracolich Island with a mass teleportation attack.
• Li Mingfei promised Samat resources to rebuild his forces and considered sending the Light of Heavenly Punishment after the attackers.
• Xiao Yu warned Li Mingfei that the Destroyers' Alliance was too powerful for ordinary bosses and heroes to defeat.
• Li Mingfei authorized Xiao Yu to act freely and ordered him to wipe out the troublemakers.

Xiao Yu, as the Chaos Dragon Azathoth, destroyed two ogre tribes in the Blade's Edge Mountains before returning to the Immortal Throne to prepare for the Lost Island story campaign. The Alliance and Horde fleets were converging near the island as the game company prepared to run the scripted battle.

• Xiao Yu flew over the Blade's Edge Mountains and destroyed a small ogre tribe, whose equipment an adventuring team collected.
• Xiao Yu challenged King Mogral and wiped out the Blade Horde, killing the ogre warlord with a Chaos Piercing Cannon.
• Xiao Yu ignored the mostly blue and green equipment dropped by King Mogral and returned through an Elemental Gate to the Immortal Throne.
• Xiao Yu logged out and joined Ma Xiaoyun and the other staff in the virtual office, where Ma Xiaoyun reported that the Alliance and Horde fleets were approaching the Lost Island.
• The fleets converged and advanced toward the island as the Elemental King sent reinforcements through the Elemental Gate and air forces began skirmishing.
• Li Mingfei instructed the campaign staff to follow their scripts and told Xiao Yu to ensure the bosses on the Lost Island fought as planned.

Xiao Yu agreed to follow a campaign script that required the Lost Island’s defenders to split their forces and let the Alliance and Horde win battle by battle. He instructed Wotkud to carry out the plan, then answered Sairen’s summons and watched the enemy fleet approach the island.

• Xiao Yu read the campaign instructions and questioned why the defenders had to send their troops into battle in scattered waves.
• Zhang Xinghun explained that the Alliance and Horde had to capture the Lost Island for the story campaign to progress, so Xiao Yu agreed to the plan.
• Jiang Zeyan told the participating heroes and bosses to make their defeats look heroic, and Xiao Yu logged into the game as the Elemental King.
• Xiao Yu instructed Wotkud to divide the elemental forces and assured him that the Alliance and Horde’s army could be worn down, despite Wotkud’s concerns.
• Sairen summoned Xiao Yu to the promontory outside the Lost Temple, where he watched a vast Alliance and Horde fleet approach the island.

The Alliance and Horde forces attacked Lost Island, overwhelming the murloc and sea-beast armies before landing against a vast elemental defense. Luluqi and Poseidon were killed, and the invasion continued with the attackers advancing across the beaches.

• Luluqi led the murlocs and sea beasts against the Alliance and Horde fleets, but the attackers slaughtered the first three waves and killed around a hundred thousand defenders.
• Luluqi charged the Alliance flagship and was killed by its heroes, becoming the first evil leader slain in the Battle of Lost Island.
• Alliance and Horde troops and adventurers landed on Lost Island and fought the sea, water, ice, and wind elementals defending its beaches and skies.
• The attackers overwhelmed the elemental forces, while Alliance and Horde heroes and adventurers surrounded the elemental lords.
• Ox, Dragon-Slaying Blademaster, killed Poseidon, Water Elemental Lord, on Lost Island.

The Alliance and Horde conquered Lost Island’s camps and cities in three days, forcing the surviving elemental and mermaid defenders into the Lost Temple. The Lost Temple raid and several other dungeons opened, while heroes awaited a chance to lead the later storyline assault.

• More than a hundred thousand adventurers scouted Lost Island and helped the Alliance and Horde capture all eight garrison camps.
• The Alliance and Horde captured Yarvis City and Yartera City, and Ariel and Wotkud retreated with surviving forces to the Lost City.
• The Alliance and Horde captured the Lost City, leaving the Lost Temple as the defenders’ last stronghold.
• The Lost Temple opened as a staged raid with normal, elite, and heroic difficulties, and the Hero Arena opened for heroes to earn points.
• The Mermaid Cavern, Naga Cavern, Sea Beast Lair, and Elemental Forbidden Land opened as smaller dungeons offering frost-resistance equipment.

Xiao Yu refused Wotkud’s request to abandon Lost Island and watched adventuring guilds enter the Lost Temple dungeon. Glory War Soul defeated Gulu Kaka’s Murloc Knights, claimed the dungeon’s first kill, and continued onward.

• Wotkud told Xiao Yu that Lost Island had fallen and asked permission to retreat with the Immortal Legion, but Xiao Yu ordered him to hold the Lost Temple until reinforcements arrived.
• Xiao Yu entered the dungeon’s boss room and watched hundreds of teams, including Glory War Soul, tackle the Lost Temple.
• War Soul King led Glory War Soul through the dungeon and arranged the team in a defensive circle to fight the Murloc Knights.
• Gulu Kaka and the twelve other murloc knights charged the adventurers, but Glory War Soul defeated them, with only one mage killed.
• Glory War Soul earned the first-kill announcement and received seven equipment drops, including Gulu Kaka’s Sharkmaster Lord’s Spear.

Glory War Soul fought Gaierdela and Lady Xiwadelin in the Lost Temple dungeon, but another guild claimed the dragon turtle’s first kill. After Lady Xiwadelin fell, Xiao Yu watched her corpse with a pang of guilt, knowing heroic difficulty would make her death permanent in the story.

• Glory War Soul wiped once to Gaierdela after failing to notice his Devour skill, then defeated him on their second attempt.
• The Five Fireball Cult claimed the first kill on Gaierdela while Glory War Soul was recovering from its wipe.
• War Soul King learned that High Heaven Pavilion had already defeated the third boss, and Glory War Soul hurried through naga territory to reach Lady Xiwadelin.
• War Soul King used the team’s old tactics against Lady Xiwadelin, and Glory War Soul defeated her in less than ten minutes.
• Xiao Yu watched Lady Xiwadelin’s corpse and felt guilty because she would truly die when heroic difficulty opened.

Adventurer guilds advanced through the Lost Temple, defeating Ariel, Sairen, and the Elemental Elders Council before Ironblood Heart claimed the first kill on Wotkud. Watching his former subordinate die, Xiao Yu felt a bitter sense of loss.

• Glory War Soul survived Ariel’s Sea God’s Avatar by chaining the paladins’ invulnerability skills, then defeated the Mermaid Queen and moved on.
• Adventurers reached Sairen on the third day and eventually killed the Sea Siren High Priestess after learning her attack patterns, leaving Xiao Yu sorrowful.
• On the fifth day, teams defeated the Elemental Elders Council by assigning one tank to each elder and timing their attacks to prevent overlapping ultimate skills.
• By the end of the first week, five teams reached Wotkud, and Ironblood Heart defeated the Water Elemental Lord after three days of fighting.
• Wotkud died warning that Azathoth would rule the world and the Elemental Tide would engulf it, while Xiao Yu watched with a bitter feeling.

Xiao Yu struggled with guilt over sacrificing his loyal in-game followers for real-world money, and Kara helped him recognize that the game mattered more to him than reality. After Agnes reaffirmed his loyalty, Xiao Yu resolved to summon the elemental lords and princes and make the mortals challenging him pay.

• Xiao Yu logged into the Temple of Fate and told Kara about his guilt over the deaths awaiting Wotkud and his subordinates.
• Kara explained that Xiao Yu felt like a traitor because he was sacrificing loyal followers for people who treated him as a pawn, and she urged him to consider what he wanted from the game.
• Kara pointed out that Xiao Yu spent nearly all his time in the game and found more meaning in his in-game identity than in his real-world achievements.
• Xiao Yu considered breaking with the game company, then returned to the Immortal Throne without having made a final decision.
• Xiao Yu asked Agnes whether he believed in his king, and Agnes pledged that his followers would remain loyal whatever the outcome.
• Xiao Yu ordered Agnes to summon the elemental lords and four Elemental Princes, declaring that the Elemental King would rise on his own terms and punish the mortals challenging him.

Azathoth convinced the elemental lords that the Alliance and Horde's strongest forces were trapped on Lost Island and ordered a coordinated assault on their cities and fleets. Nearly a million elementals set out to attack the Prime Material Plane, leaving the story poised for the campaign to begin.

• Therazane challenged Azathoth over the losses on Lost Island, including Poseidon and the Wind Elemental Lord, and urged the elemental race to abandon its plans.
• Azathoth explained that the Alliance and Horde's strongest adventurers and forces were stranded on Lost Island, making their fleets vulnerable and leaving their cities poorly defended.
• Azathoth ordered Galax to lead two hundred thousand fire elementals to burn Orgrimmar.
• Azathoth ordered Therazane to lead two hundred thousand earth elementals to destroy Stormwind City.
• Azathoth, Al'Akir, and Neptulon prepared to lead water and wind forces against the Alliance and Horde fleets and surround Lost Island.
• The Elemental Plane sent nearly a million elementals through elemental rifts to attack the Prime Material Plane.

Varian Wrynn and Thrall learned that elemental armies were marching on their cities, but before they could leave the Lost Island, the elemental lords unleashed a storm and tsunami against the Alliance and Horde fleets. The fleets were overwhelmed, and Thrall watched the warships sink as he declared them finished.

• Varian Wrynn and Thrall waited at the Lost Island while the Alliance and Horde heroes sparred, unable to enter the Lost Temple because a powerful force blocked its entrance.
• A royal mage warned Varian Wrynn that two hundred thousand earth elementals led by seven elemental lords were marching on Stormwind City, while Thrall learned that a similar force of fire elementals was attacking Orgrimmar.
• Varian Wrynn and Thrall agreed to return to their cities with the adventurers, leaving Duke Bolvar and soldiers behind to continue the siege of the Lost Temple.
• As the leaders prepared to muster their troops, Thrall recognized a magical storm as the work of Al'Akir, and Varian ordered a messenger to warn the fleet.
• Neptulon the Tidehunter and seven Water Elemental Lords unleashed a tsunami that battered the Alliance and Horde ships, while Al'Akir's wind elementals overwhelmed the factions' air forces.
• Varian Wrynn decided not to risk their air forces, but the fleets could not withstand the waves and attacks of the water elementals, and Thrall declared the fleet finished.

Xiao Yu trapped the Alliance and Horde on Lost Island by destroying their escape routes, then appeared as Azathoth and demanded their surrender and territory. Thrall and Varian hesitated over his offer while the game company’s observers panicked that the factions might surrender.

• Gallywix’s airships were destroyed, Jaina’s teleportation hall collapsed, and a dwarf reported that wind elementals had captured the Skybreaker, leaving the Alliance and Horde trapped on the island.
• Varian urged the leaders to rally their soldiers and adventurers, while dungeon announcements reported that every Lost Temple boss had fled and the dungeon had become a public quest area.
• Players and contracted heroes questioned Xiao Yu about the changed story, but he gave them no explanation.
• Xiao Yu appeared as Azathoth in the true form of a gigantic Chaos Dragon and threatened to destroy Stormwind City and Orgrimmar.
• Azathoth offered to spare the factions if Thrall and Varian swore allegiance and ceded resource-rich territory, and both leaders hesitated.
• The game company’s observers feared the factions would accept and urged their boss to intervene with a divine decree.

Varian and Thrall considered Azathoth’s demand for four territories and an oath of allegiance, while Li Mingfei ordered the company’s major gods to intervene before the Alliance and Horde surrendered. The leaders were on the verge of accepting the deal when the company began preparing its counterattack.

• Varian silenced his advisers and said he would trade his honor for the safety of his people, while Thrall indicated he would agree to peace.
• Azathoth demanded the Burning Steppes, Winterspring, the Biting Wind Wilds, and the White Rock Mountains, and Varian and Thrall judged the territories expendable.
• As Varian and Thrall prepared to discuss the wording of their oath, Jiang Zeyan reported Azathoth’s attacks and demands to Li Mingfei.
• Li Mingfei ordered the Alliance and Horde not to surrender and directed the GMs playing Elune and Odin to descend with him on the Lost Island.
• Jiang Zeyan left to select GMs and contracted heroes as vessels for the descending gods.

Varian and Thrall prepared peace oaths ceding four territories to the elemental race, but three gods descended into their followers as the leaders were about to make peace. Varian explained to the gods that he had chosen peace with Azathoth to protect his people.

• Varian instructed his royal mage to draft an oath that framed the Alliance's surrender as a peace agreement rather than allegiance.
• The Alliance and Horde leaders prepared oaths offering the Burning Steppes, Winterspring, the Biting Wind Wastes, and the White Rock Mountains to the elemental race.
• The archbishop accepted the God of Holy Light's descent, and Benedictus appeared as the god's avatar.
• Kaya Shadowhunter accepted Elune's descent, and Ox accepted Odin's descent as the God of War.
• Varian and Thrall knelt on one knee as the gods appeared, and Varian told them he had decided to make peace with Azathoth to protect his people.

The three chief gods urged the Alliance and Horde to fight Azathoth, promising their followers eternal life after death. When Benedictus threatened to attack Azathoth beyond the game, Azathoth warned that he could release the Old Gods, and the confrontation ended with the God of Holy Light calling on warriors and adventurers to defeat him.

• Benedictus, Kaya Shadowhunter, and Ox called for resistance and promised their followers salvation or glory after death, while Thrall and Varian worried about the cost to their people.
• The Alliance and Horde heroes shouted slogans in support of the gods, leaving Thrall and Varian unable to propose peace or commit to a fight.
• Benedictus flew toward Azathoth and threatened to enter his domain and destroy him.
• Azathoth warned the gods that he could release the Old Gods, making Li Mingfei hesitate.
• The God of Holy Light said the Alliance, Horde, and adventurers would kill Azathoth, who challenged them to witness the World Destroyer's power.

The God of Holy Light, possessing Benedictus, attacked Xiao Yu to stop the World Destroyer before his power grew further. Xiao Yu escaped the divine assault and flew away after threatening Stormwind City and Orgrimmar.

• Li Mingfei realized he could not remove Xiao Yu’s unique World Destroyer title and decided to kill him before its protective momentum peaked.
• Benedictus used [God of Holy Light's Cage] to trap Xiao Yu, but the Chaos Dragon struggled against the prison’s overwhelming power.
• The Holy Light weakened as Benedictus’s human body failed, allowing Xiao Yu to shatter the cage.
• The God of Holy Light fired Light of Heavenly Punishment through Xiao Yu’s chest, dealing over five million damage and inflicting grievous injury.
• Azathoth pretended the attack had failed, threatened to destroy Stormwind City and Orgrimmar, and flew away to avoid the other divine avatars.

After the archbishop vanished, Azathoth ordered the elemental armies to destroy Stormwind City and Orgrimmar while sparing fleeing residents, leaving the Alliance and Horde with both cities in ruins. Xiao Yu then welcomed the survivors of the Lost Island and told Qin Shiyue he would continue playing the World Destroyer.

• The archbishop vanished after the Chaos Dragon left, and Varian ordered Stormwind City and Orgrimmar evacuated with Thrall's support.
• Azathoth told Al'Akir and Neptulon to keep surrounding the Lost Island and ordered Therazane and Galax to raze Stormwind City and Orgrimmar while allowing residents to flee.
• The elemental armies found the cities mostly evacuated and destroyed them, burning Orgrimmar for three days and reducing Stormwind City to rubble.
• Xiao Yu reassured Wotkud that the Lost Island had been bait and welcomed Sairen, Lady Xiwadelin, and Ariel after their escape.
• Qin Shiyue questioned Xiao Yu about his sudden actions and her agreement with the game company, and he told her he would keep playing the World Destroyer.

After Stormwind City and Orgrimmar were destroyed, a mysterious black-robed figure told Varian and Thrall that the disasters fulfilled his prophecies and foretold an expedition to the Elemental Throne in Outland. Varian and Thrall agreed that the Alliance and the Horde had to face the uncertain future together.

• World announcements reported that Therazane's elemental army had destroyed Stormwind City, Galax's army had destroyed Orgrimmar, and the Elemental Legion had become the strongest faction.
• Varian and Thrall received news of their cities' destruction and stood together on the Lost Island, grieving the losses.
• A black-robed figure appeared and said he had foreseen the cities' destruction, but refused to reveal who was behind events until his third prophecy came true.
• The figure prophesied that old friends would become enemies, old enemies would become friends, and a new oracle would send Varian and Thrall to the Elemental Throne in Outland, where their expedition would accomplish nothing.
• After the figure vanished, Varian and Thrall agreed to face the unknown fate together for the sake of their people.

After the destruction of Stormwind City and Orgrimmar, Xiao Yu used the Alliance and Horde forces stranded on Lost Island to pressure the game company into ending his contract and paying his outstanding fees. Ma Xiaoyun returned with the company’s agreement to his terms.

• Players discussed the destruction of Stormwind City and Orgrimmar on the forums, while the game company worried about the forces stranded on Lost Island.
• Ma Xiaoyun confronted Xiao Yu over the destruction and accused him of breaching his contract and damaging the company.
• Xiao Yu argued that the company would struggle to sue him and that the stranded players gave him leverage.
• Xiao Yu offered to lift the blockade if the company terminated his contract and paid him the fees he had earned.
• Ma Xiaoyun returned half an hour later and told Xiao Yu that the boss had accepted his terms.