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(A/N: Chapter 112 will soon be on Patreon!)
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(Now back to the story!)
The Isle of Quel'Danas was a small island, home to the Sunwell, which rested atop the Sunwell Plateau.
The fortified dome atop the plateau was one of the most heavily defended and important locations not only in the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas, but in all of Azeroth.
Yet despite that, the isle was now engulfed in chaos as daemons clashed with the high elves defending it.
Before Dar'kan had openly betrayed Quel'Thalas, Malak had ordered him to take a Chaos artifact and hide it on the isle.
It had not been particularly difficult for Dar'kan to accomplish, as Magisters affiliated with Silvermoon's Council were among the few individuals permitted to come and go freely from the isle, especially since the Magisters' headquarters was also located there.
While Dar'kan had been unable to conceal the artifact deep within the isle, he had at least managed to hide it near the Sunwell Plateau.
Since Silvermoon's defenders were focused on the invading army, and even the defenders stationed on the isle believed any attack would come from the mainland—or at the very least from outside the isle's borders—they never anticipated what came next.
Malak successfully completed a ritual, teleporting himself, Ramsey, several high-ranking daemons, and a small daemon army directly to the artifact's location. The defenders were caught completely off guard as the daemons immediately began wreaking havoc across the isle.
Kael'thas, the newly crowned King of the high elves, led the counterattack while simultaneously drawing upon his connection to the Sunwell to further empower his already formidable magical abilities.
Even without the Sunwell's blessing, Kael'thas was among the greatest mages in Azeroth. As a member of Dalaran's Council of Six, his skill was unquestionable.
While his mastery still fell short of someone like Aegwynn, the sheer raw magical power flowing through him now rivaled even hers.
The newly crowned king hurled enormous fireballs that exploded like miniature suns, unleashing raging firestorms that annihilated any daemon attempting to push past him toward the Sunwell's domed sanctuary.
It was safe to say that his presence alone was both the greatest deterrent to the enemy and the greatest source of inspiration for the defenders.
"Hold the line! We will not let these dogs pass us today!"
"YES, MY KING!"
Just then, a massive wave of pink and blue fire descended upon their position.
Kael'thas immediately answered with a raging firestorm of his own. The two spells collided in a violent explosion, yet despite his efforts, he was forced back several steps.
"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, little prince... or you might end up like your father."
"YOU!"
Kael'thas snarled with undisguised hatred as Malak strode toward him.
"If you value your life—and the lives of your people—move aside."
"Or I can burn you where you stand!"
Multiple crimson magic circles materialized around Kael'thas, each one brimming with immense power.
"The only way you're getting past me, Malak... is over my dead body."
A vicious smile spread across Malak's face as Warp energy coiled around him, twisting reality itself.
"My pleasure."
And just like that, the King of the high elves and the leader of the forces of Chaos began their duel in earnest.
Their first clash unleashed a colossal magical shockwave that erupted from the summit of the plateau.
<------------------------------->
At last, Alastor saw the Isle of Quel'Danas come into view, the Windrunner sisters spotting it alongside him.
"There it is... but... Oh God, they were here!"
Sylvanas' eyes widened as, even from a distance, she could see flames, smoke, and bursts of arcane energy engulfing the isle.
Her fists clenched in frustration. They had slipped past her unnoticed... and the Sunwell of all places had become their target.
Alleria and Vereesa shared the same mixture of anger and concern.
"Sylvanas, it's not your fault," Alastor said, his expression serious. "Chaos has a particular talent for striking where we least expect it. Control your anger. That goes for you two as well."
"You'll have more than enough targets to unleash it on soon enough."
His words tempered their emotions into cold determination, and their silent nods were answer enough.
Looking back, Alastor saw multiple Alliance dropships approaching with reinforcements.
He mentally activated his comm-link and switched to the local communications channel.
"All strike teams, listen up! Today we're helping the high elves perform some much-needed pest control. But don't worry—the end is finally in sight."
"Beside you stand your brothers and sisters-in-arms. Trust in them, trust in yourselves, and trust in the reason you fight."
"Neither you nor I fight alone. We stand united as children of Azeroth!"
A chorus of cheers erupted across the comm channels.
"Strike Team engaging! Let's kick some daemon ass!"
"Noble-10! Weapons primed and ready to send them to kingdom come!"
"Lock 'n' load, lads! The fel bastards are in sight! Let's paint the sky—and the ground—with their blood!"
Vereesa smiled at what she heard before looking at Alastor with a warm expression.
"You're really good at this, aren't you? Motivating them... giving them hope."
"Let's take care of the problem here first, little moon. Then it'll be your turn to fuck him up."
Sylvanas teased.
"Sister!"
Vereesa blushed furiously, scandalized by the remark.
Alleria burst into laughter while Alastor's lips twitched.
Even as the exchange continued, he descended toward the battlefield, effortlessly dodging magical attacks aimed at him before landing atop one of the cliffs overlooking the path leading to the summit of the plateau.
He would have preferred landing directly on the plateau—or even beside the Sunwell itself—but the closer he flew, the stronger the resistance became. Alleria had explained that it was an ancient magical defense designed to prevent aerial assaults by both flying creatures and machines.
The cliff where Alastor landed overlooked one of the outposts that was desperately holding back a daemon assault.
Without hesitation, Alastor and the Windrunner sisters charged into battle, quickly cutting down the daemons threatening the defenders.
"General! Thank Asuryan you're here!"
The High Elf officer in charge of the outpost quickly ran over before bowing respectfully to the Windrunner sisters and Alastor.
"What's the situation?"
All amusement vanished from Sylvanas' face as she immediately slipped into Ranger-General mode.
"It's bad, my lady! The enemy teleported behind our lines and immediately began spreading across the entire isle, corrupting everything while slaughtering anyone in their path!"
"What about His Majesty?"
"King Kael'thas is at the summit of the plateau, serving as the last line of defense before the Sunwell. We occasionally receive orders directly from him, but most of the time they come from our commanders or one of the Magisters."
The High Elf officer then pointed toward the distant plateau.
"But, my lady, before you arrived we sensed an immense surge of mana and corrupted Aether energy erupt from the summit. It was so powerful we didn't even need our sensors—we could feel it ourselves. We believe His Majesty may be battling an exceptionally powerful foe... or a Greater Daemon."
Their expressions hardened at the report.
They exchanged silent nods.
"Then we don't have a moment to lose."
"We move now."
Just then, an Alliance dropship roared overhead before slowing to a hover.
Its rear ramp lowered, and Rhonin, Varian, and Anduin leapt out.
"Phew. Hope we didn't miss much," Rhonin said with a grin.
Varian and Anduin merely exchanged nods with Alastor, who returned the gesture.
"You're just in time, actually," Alleria said. "We were just about to begin our assault on the summit."
"And I assume that includes a great deal of resistance."
Varian spoke without the slightest hint of concern as he drew Shalamayne.
"Good."
Alastor unsheathed Dawn while Anduin drew Quel'Zaram.
"That just means there'll be less left for us to hunt."
The group immediately sprinted toward the plateau, with Alastor taking point as both the vanguard and shield of the formation.
"Anduin! Where are the others?!"
Alastor hurled a massive firestorm of sacred flames that engulfed a charging horde of Nurglings, Plaguebearers, and Beasts of Nurgle led by a Herald of Nurgle.
The Herald survived the inferno, only to be struck by a fully charged arrow from Sylvanas' Thas'dorah before Rhonin finished it with a devastating bolt of lightning.
Suffice it to say, the daemon was banished back to the Warp screaming.
"They're already here!" Anduin shouted back.
"Everyone else landed at different locations across the isle and is taking separate routes to reach the summit!"
Even as he spoke, Anduin burst forward with incredible speed, weaving effortlessly through volleys of spells launched by Tzeentch Horrors before cleaving two charging Bloodcrushers apart and immediately turning his attention toward the Horrors.
"Then we'll meet them at the summit!"
Varian split Shalamayne into its twin blades and charged headlong into the enemy, carving through ranks of Daemonettes with savage, almost animalistic fury.
Alleria and Vereesa were no less deadly.
From range, the sisters methodically picked off daemons with their plasma bows. Whenever the enemy managed to close the distance, they transitioned seamlessly to their blades, dispatching their foes in swift and graceful melee combat.
Though vastly outnumbered, the strike force carved its way through the daemonic horde like a well-oiled war machine.
Every member instinctively watched the others' backs, covered exposed flanks, and struck with flawless coordination, leaving behind a trail of shattered daemonic corpses as they advanced relentlessly toward the summit.
"We're getting close!" Alleria called as they continued sprinting up the mountain path.
Then she suddenly froze.
"Wait... is that—?!"
Her eyes widened.
Ahead of them, lying against a shattered boulder, was Kael'thas.
The group immediately quickened their pace.
The new High King of the elves was grievously wounded, blood pouring from a horrific wound in his abdomen while one of his arms had been nearly severed.
Alastor's eyes widened in shock, but he immediately knelt beside him and poured Holy Light into his battered body.
"Kael! Stay with me! Frak... who did this to you?!"
The Saint-level Holy Light flowed through Kael'thas, restoring some color to his pale face. His breathing steadied, and although the wound remained severe, the bleeding gradually began to slow.
"...Al... Alastor...?"
"I'm here, my friend."
Alastor kept channeling the Light.
"What happened? Who did this to you?"
He was no expert on the Sunwell, but he knew exactly how formidable Kael'thas was. Even without drawing upon the Sunwell, the elf king ranked among Azeroth's greatest mages.
Empowered by it...
Very few beings on Azeroth should have been capable of defeating him.
The others leaned in as Kael'thas struggled to speak.
"M... Malak..."
The group froze.
None reacted more strongly than Alastor, Varian, and Anduin, whose eyes widened in disbelief.
"We fought... but suddenly..." Kael'thas coughed violently before forcing himself to continue.
"He became agitated... took one of my spells head-on... while striking me with one of his own..."
He grimaced in pain.
"He's injured too... badly injured..."
"...but he was in a hurry..."
Kael'thas weakly raised his remaining arm toward the great domed structure housing the Sunwell.
"He went... in there..."
His gaze met Alastor's.
"Go..."
"I'll live..."
"He needs to die."
Alastor clenched his jaw.
Every instinct told him to charge after Malak immediately.
Yet leaving Kael'thas behind in this condition...
"I'll stay."
Everyone turned toward Vereesa.
The youngest Windrunner wore an expression of quiet determination.
"Malak has to be stopped, and this war has to end today."
She looked toward the wounded king.
"I'm a Farstrider of Quel'Thalas as well."
"I'll get Lord Sunstrider to safety before making my way back."
Alleria and Sylvanas exchanged proud glances.
At what point had their little sister grown into someone capable of making such a difficult decision without hesitation?
Alastor nodded respectfully.
"I owe you one for this, Vereesa."
She smiled knowingly as she carefully helped Kael'thas to his feet, supporting him by his uninjured side.
"I'll hold you to that."
Without another word, Vereesa departed with the wounded king while the rest of the group continued toward the summit.
<------------------------------->
The moment they reached the top of the plateau and emerged before the domed sanctuary...
They all stopped.
"Oh, you have to be frakking kidding me..."
Rhonin cursed under his breath, tightening his grip on his sword.
The entire area surrounding the Sunwell was swarming with daemons.
But it wasn't the countless lesser daemons that had brought them to a halt.
It was the several Greater Daemons standing among them.
"Bastard really doesn't want to be disturbed," Sylvanas growled.
"Or he's growing desperate," Varian replied as he readied Shalamayne.
"Or both."
Alastor ignited Dawn with blazing sacred fire.
The daemons noticed their arrival almost immediately.
They began advancing.
Foremost among them was Rotigus the Rainmaker, the immense Great Unclean One lumbering toward them with horrifying speed despite his massive bulk.
Raising his twisted three-pronged staff, he summoned enormous clouds of foul green and black corruption that rapidly spread across the sky.
The infamous rain of Nurgle.
Rhonin immediately conjured a massive barrier around the group.
Alastor tightened his grip on Dawn as the sacred flames roared ever brighter.
He was already preparing to erase the bloated monstrosity from existence—
Only...
He never got the chance.
The diseased clouds were suddenly swallowed by enormous storm clouds that formed unnaturally overhead.
An instant later—
BOOM!
Towering pillars of lightning crashed down upon Rotigus.
The Great Unclean One's smile vanished as he screamed beneath the relentless barrage of burning plasma.
Then came dozens of silver arrows.
They streaked through the battlefield with impossible speed, almost as though guided by minds of their own.
Each arrow struck its target with flawless precision, tearing apart daemonic bodies while the Lunar power infused within them annihilated their essence in Realspace.
Elsewhere, a Herald of Khorne and the Bloodletters surrounding him were instantly frozen solid by an immense ice spell before shattering into thousands of glittering crystal fragments.
Columns of Holy Light crashed into the daemonic ranks, vaporizing some outright while leaving others screaming as the Light burned their unnatural forms.
"Forgive me."
"We were slightly delayed getting here."
Alastor and the others looked back.
Their surprise lasted only a moment before smiles and smirks spread across their faces.
Standing behind them was Malfurion.
The Archdruid had reached the summit, and it had been his storm that had dispersed Rotigus' infamous plague clouds.
Nor had he arrived alone.
Behind him stood Jaina, Antonidas, Tyrande, Krasus, Aegwynn, Turalyon, Tirion, Saidan, Uther, Alexstrasza, Magni, Kurdran, the Three Dwarven Elders, Genn, Thoras, and many more of Azeroth's greatest heroes.
It would become a moment remembered for generations.
Heroes.
Kings.
Archmages.
Paladins.
Warriors.
Champions from every corner of Azeroth had gathered together, united for perhaps the first time in history.
Together, they had come to deliver the final blow...
...and end the war once and for all.
"Alastor!"
Varian called over the sounds of battle.
He pointed toward the domed sanctuary beyond the daemonic horde.
"Go!"
"End this!"
Alastor understood immediately.
He nodded once before exploding forward.
Using the speed granted by his Primarch physiology, he became little more than a blur.
He wove through the daemonic ranks, cutting down only those he absolutely had to, wasting not a single movement as he raced toward the sanctuary.
Unfortunately...
Some daemons were still fast enough to react.
A Keeper of Secrets materialized directly in his path.
Before it could strike—
Uther slammed into it like a living comet, wrapped in a blazing mantle of Holy Light.
His warhammer erupted with divine power as he hurled the daemon aside.
"You will not impede him, filth of the Aether!"
Next came a Bloodthirster and a Lord of Change.
Antonidas immediately blasted the Lord of Change backward with a devastating spell, while Magni in his Titan form met the Bloodthirster head-on, smashing it backward with an equally colossal Fearbreaker.
"Pick on someone yer own size, ye giant red-skinned goat-fiend!"
"You will not stand in my student's way, daemon!"
Alastor gave his companions one final grateful nod.
Then he burst through the last of the daemonic lines.
He crashed straight through the sanctuary's enormous double doors, blasting them clean off their hinges.
"MALAK!!!"
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