Shadow Trails in Azeroth

With the sharp cry of the hippogryph, Blake rode his beloved sky beast and fell from the sky of Azsuna to the wild land under the sunset.

In the distance is an elven ruin wrapped in a blue-purple magic shield.

From those dilapidated buildings, you can still see the bustling scene here during the Elf Empire. But it's not a big deal, Azsuna is a place with little everything but these ruins.

Most of them were not destroyed by the earth-shattering 10,000 years ago, but were destroyed by their masters.

That is Azshara.

Long before the War of the Ancients broke out, Azsuna had been cursed by the Queen's wrath and turned into a wasteland shrouded in evil power.

However, the reason why the elven ruins called Zahnar in front of us are different is that its most striking feature is the huge rift valley that runs through the center of the ruins and is covered with purple crystal clusters.

A canyon-like crack runs through this former elf city.

"This place is built on the nodes of the underground magic network. I heard my grandfather say that this place was destroyed before we moved to Azsuna.

The cruel queen destroyed the stability of the magic network, causing terrifying magic power to spurt out from the destroyed nodes of the magic network, splitting the entire city in two. "

Next to Blake's hippogryph, there followed a cold blue-haired elf with his arms folded.

It was his "elementary school girl" Stella Gosa.

That is, little stars.

She introduced the ruins of the city in front of the pirates, which is currently occupied by the Nightborne exiles, and said:

"This place has been abandoned for thousands of years since before I was born. But hundreds of years ago, a group of Nightborne exiles suddenly came from Suramar, and they took a fancy to the chaotic magic exposed in the air here.

Rooted here.

Over the past few hundred years, the Nightborne who had been exiled from Suramar continued to come here. Those guys were all greedy magic thieves, and they began to extract the magic power of the underground magic network without restraint. "

At this point, Little Xingxing increased her tone and said dissatisfiedly:

"Grandpa's physical condition began to deteriorate from that time. In order to protect us, it bound itself to Azuna's magic network for ten thousand years. The changes in the magic here will make it feel the same.

For my grandfather's safety, these pesky children of the night must be driven away! "

"Yes yes, they must be driven away."

Blake responded perfunctorily.

His hippogryph landed on a hillside not far from Zahnar, and soon undead pirates rushed out of the temporary camp and came to flatter the commander.

"Maim! You are the captain I am most satisfied with. I can trust you to do important things. But what is going on now?"

The pirate stood next to his hippogryph Sky, holding a pipe in his mouth, and shouted dissatisfied at the orc captain Maimu who was wearing heavy armor in front of him:

"It's been five days, why haven't I seen those children of the night come out of their rat's nest and surrender to us? Is your knife not sharp anymore?

Or have you changed your mind and become a philanthropic paladin? "

“Captain, I originally planned to attack by force yesterday.

I sent thieves in, familiarized themselves with the terrain, planted bombs, gathered the death squads, and the spider elves had dug tunnels for raids. "

Maimu, who was wearing a war helmet, made a loud sound and replied helplessly:

“But that arrogant Nightchild girl suddenly came over with her people, saying that she had taken over the task of conquering the ruins of Zahnar, and that you gave her this power.

Grayson who came over last night proved this, saying that you asked that chick to show off 'her abilities'.

That's when I temporarily stopped the raid.

Boss, this blame cannot be thrown at my head. "

"Oh, yes, it does happen."

The pirate thought about it and finally gave Grayson the order last night.

But he was not embarrassed. He turned back and glanced at the ruins shrouded in magic. He could also see some skinny Nightborne exiles shivering in the ruins.

He said:

"What about now? How about the little girl going in to persuade her to surrender? Is there any news to send out?"

"There is no news, but there was a riot in the ruins at noon."

Maimu answered honestly:

"The black-skinned elves divided into two groups and fought with each other, making quite a fuss.

I guessed that the girl was secretly starting a civil strife, but before I could rush in, a magic barrier was activated in the ruins, blocking us all out.

That arrogant chick's rebellion may have failed. "

The orc touched the handle of his knife and said to Black:

"How about we do it now?

Captain, you know me. As long as you give the order, my soldiers and I will definitely rush in and kill those black-skinned elves cleanly. "

As he spoke, Maim touched the skull kettle hanging on his belt, as if touching some secret weapon. The orc sneered twice and said:

"With the bonus of these fresh demon blood, we can easily capture a city for you, Captain."

"Being not."

Black frowned and looked at the ruins for a few seconds. He moved his fingers and said to the orc:

"Gather everyone together. I'll go in and take a look first. Wait for my orders later. Little Xingxing, can you break the magic shield in front of you?"

"Don't call me that! We're not familiar yet."

The proud little blue dragon snorted.

There was a plump, cute little dragon floating next to her. It was roaring at Black with a milky voice, and it also exhaled a smoke-like breath of ice to strengthen its owner.

However, Little Xingxing is a blue dragon recognized by Dean Lan Yue as one who is eager to learn. She has a noble bloodline and has inherited the excellent spell-casting talent of the blue dragon clan. She only got close to feel the magic shield put up by the Children of the Night in front of her.

Then he turned back to the pirate and said:

"This magic shield is connected to the magic network node, but this node has long been damaged. It is easy to destroy its stability. Do you want to be more violent? Or be more gentle?"

"It's a bit violent. I like to watch big scenes."

The pirate gave Little Star a thumbs up, and before escaping into the shadows, he said to the Blue Dragon Girl:

"You must wait for my orders and don't act without permission. I know you hate these children of the night, but if you want them to die, they must die worthily. I still want them to be cannon fodder for me."

——

Anares Yuejun is in a worse situation now.

She somewhat overestimated the influence of the Yuejun family, and also underestimated the dominance of Prince Aerys, who had ruled the ruins of Zahnar for hundreds of years.

She had previously relied on her family background, identity, and eloquent promises to successfully recruit a group of hundreds of Nightborne exiles in the abandoned temple in southern Azsuna.

More than thirty low-quality golems were also seized.

Although it is called "inferior quality".

The overall strength is completely incomparable with the real war golems in Suramar City, but it does not mean that these golems are worthless.

They're just not as powerful as the original Magic Colossus.

After being activated on the battlefield, these "big guys" who are more than two meters tall, wearing polished magic heavy armor, powered by arcane cores, and weighing more than six tons can still easily overturn a militia team.

The best part is, these guys are so heavy that they can just fit into the Alpaca's bilge as ballast, and they don't take up much space.

This was a bloodless victory.

It boosted the morale within the pirate group, and also allowed Anarris Yuejun, an elf girl who had just been on board the ship for a few days, to gain a reputation among a group of vicious pirates.

This made Anares feel a little elated. She wanted to replicate her previous victory in the abandoned temple. In fact, the rebellion of the Moon County girl was "almost" successful.

In less than half a day, she relied on her keen talent for political confrontation, as well as the win-win and promises she made with the reputation of the Yue County family, and entangled a group of people in the ruins to rule against Prince Aerys. Dissatisfied low-class exiles.

With the invitation to the banquet, the mob was driven, and they successfully killed two of Ailes's lieutenants and gathered a group of panicked guards.

But she overlooked one thing.

That is a matter of individual strength.

Her "rebel army" was able to defeat the prince's henchmen step by step with its sheer bravery, but as soon as Prince Ailes showed up and activated his elite war golem Orbis, he was easily defeated. The rebellion was easily suppressed.

The prince himself was a high-level arcanist, and was exiled because he conspired to rebel against the Grand Magister.

When he left Suramar, he quietly took away an elite war golem from the city to guard the Night Fortress. The destructive power of this thing was not comparable to the ordinary golem used by Anarres to support the scene. .

In short, the rebellion failed.

The rebels were dispersed and captured, and Anarres himself became a prisoner. He was now imprisoned on the top floor of the Zachnar ruins, hung in mid-air by a rope in a very unsightly posture.

There was blood oozing from the corners of his mouth, and his hair, which was always carefully tidied, was a mess.

In front of her, sitting that hateful Ailes.

The exiled villain of Suramar, a dirty traitor who claimed to be a noble one.

Even though he tried his best to maintain his noble temperament as a "prince", in the eyes of Anaris, he was like a ridiculous monkey wearing a crown.

"Then, what else do you have to say? Dear Miss Yuejun."

Prince Ailes was sitting on a carefully decorated velvet chair, holding a purple magic scepter and wearing a gorgeous robe that was not worthy of his level as a spellcaster.

He also put an elf crown on his head that was smaller than his head.

This must have been stolen by the sewer rat from the tomb of an unknown noble. This is obviously the style of a lady's crown. Bah, it's so dirty!

"You want to enter my city, and as a ruler, I will give you the highest courtesy.

You don't know, Miss Anares, how happy I was when I heard that a real nobleman of ten thousand years was visiting this remote village. "

The prince of the exiles said to Anarres in front of him with a pretentious elegant accent:

"I even ordered my servants to prepare for you the best delicacies that can be found in this hellish place. I gave you my palace to stay temporarily, just so that you would not be embarrassed in front of the nobles.

But how do you repay my kindness?

You incited the mob, assassinated my lieutenant, and disrupted the order in this city, forcing me to abandon my elegant style and seek rude violence instead.

How do you compensate me for my losses? "

"Pooh!"

Anares, who had received an elite education since childhood, spat blood-stained saliva on the ground rudely. She learned this rude action from the pirates.

This is a perfect way to express your disdain.

She was hung awkwardly in the air, but she still tried hard to raise her head and maintain her posture. She looked at him condescendingly with a look that made Ailes feel angry.

This posture is as if it is not Anaris Yuejun who is in desperate situation now, but him.

"The so-called enjoyment you gave me will not even be used by the servants of the Yue County family in Suramar! The 'palace' you gave me is not even as comfortable as my dressing room.

The so-called 'kingly demeanor' you try so hard to display is more like the boring fantasy of a mental patient in my eyes.

Sure enough, no matter how noble the sewer rats pretend to be, they can't hide the stench of poverty on their bodies! "

Anaris sneered:

"On this land that you claim to rule, a terrifying force is marching. Haha, I and the entire Yuejun family are just their vanguard.

Of course you can torture me, poor fool.

You can kill me and let the noble blood flow in this mouse hole, but you have to remember that every drop of blood I shed today means that when they come, you will be tortured by one more knife!

Of course you can also call yourself a ‘prince’, a poor and miserable person.

But this doesn’t mean that I will call you ‘Your Highness’. The Yuejun family will always serve the true king! You...you are far behind! "

She was scared.

His voice was shaking when he said these words.

But the ten thousand-year inheritance belonging to the Yuejun family that she carries will never allow her to bow to a lowly person at this time. That would be even worse than killing her.

"Hehehe"

Ailes was so excited by the Yue County girl's ridicule that he stopped pretending and stood up suddenly, throwing away the scepter in his hand.

He strode forward, flexing his fingers, his eyes shining with violent animal lust.

He stretched out his hand to untie the collar of his robe, and said to Anares, who closed his eyes in front of him:

"Honorable one who has been glorious for thousands of years, you will give me a son with noble blood. You are right. I have been pretending, but from now on, I don't have to pretend anymore.

The glory of Yue County for thousands of years will also shine on me."

"puff"

Before he finished speaking the obscene words, he was interrupted by Fiery Blade who was unwilling to listen to any more obscene words.

The expression on Ailes's face hardened.

His trembling body was supported by the arms that appeared from behind. In the traces of black smoke, Blake walked out of the shadows. The flaming sword in his hand withdrew its magic power, and the flames dissipated.

The rope hanging from Anares's body was accurately cut by a bat-shaped dart, causing the girl from Yue County to fall to the ground in a panic, but she quickly got up.

In front of her eyes, Blake handed her the Demon Strike in his hand.

Shaking his head and saying:

"Weak in strength, with a bad mentality, high-minded but low-handed, arrogant in speech, and also likes to do things on his own. Under normal circumstances, I will not accept people like you.

But I really like what you just said.

You said that the Yuejun family only serves the true king? "

Anares pursed his lips, leaned down, held the dagger in his trembling hand, and stabbed it down hard. The sharp blade penetrated the eyeball of Ailes, who was stepped on by Black.

The sharp blade went straight into the brain, causing dirty blood to spray onto the noble man's cheek.

The Moon County chick gasped.

She lowered her head, half-knelt in front of Blake, and held the blood-stained dagger high in her hands.

The pirate glanced at her but did not pick up his dagger and said:

“Any first time is always worth remembering.

You can keep this thing for yourself, I’ll give it to you. Well, Captain Anarres, tomorrow morning, I want to see the Nightborne pirates marching towards the fleet.

You've already let me down once.

There shouldn’t be a second time, right? "