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(A/N: Chapter 117 will soon be on Patreon!)
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(Now back to the story!)
Back on Azeroth, barely five minutes had passed.
Yet in that short span of time, the battle between the Alliance's greatest heroes and the high-ranking daemons had reached a fever pitch.
The moment the structure surrounding the Sunwell had been engulfed by rampant, corrupted Warp energy, the Alliance champions had nearly gone mad with desperation.
More than one of them had attempted to carve a path through the daemonic ranks and forcibly tear apart the swirling barrier of Chaos surrounding the structure to rescue their leader.
Then—
A colossal arcane storm tore across the battlefield.
Countless daemons were obliterated in an instant, while three Greater Daemons perished simultaneously beneath its overwhelming power.
Aegwynn had arrived.
With her power fully unleashed.
She studied the sealed structure with a dark expression.
"Everyone, brace yourselves."
"I'm going to tear that barrier apart."
Rhonin frowned.
"Can you do it alone?"
"Something tells me that isn't an ordinary barrier."
"I don't doubt your strength, but with preparations like these, I doubt the defenses will be ordinary either."
A confident smile crossed Aegwynn's face.
"Fortunately..."
"Breaking things apart has always been one of my specialties."
"But just to be safe..."
"I'll be borrowing a little extra power from the High Elves."
Without hesitation, Aegwynn extended her consciousness into the ley lines beneath Quel'Danas.
A moment later, she reached the Sunwell itself.
To her relief, she found that most of its power remained uncorrupted.
Immediately, an overwhelming torrent of mana surged into her body.
Her already formidable magical aura exploded upward.
Tsk...
Most of it carries a strong fire affinity.
Because of the overwhelming concentration of fire-aspected mana, Aegwynn couldn't completely refine it in such a short amount of time.
Under normal circumstances, she would've found that mildly irritating.
Her mana control was among the finest the world had ever seen.
Given enough time, she could have refined every last drop of that immense power into pure mana—or even aligned it perfectly with her own elemental affinities—for an even greater increase.
Unfortunately...
Time was the one luxury they didn't possess.
Still...
This "small" boost would be more than enough.
The magical pressure pouring from Aegwynn reached such an unbelievable density that even Malfurion and Tyrande found themselves overshadowed in their current states.
The very fabric of space around Quel'Danas trembled beneath her power.
The lead Lord of Change could only stare.
Utterly dumbfounded.
For the first time in a very long while, he sincerely wondered whether someone had cursed every daemon who had participated in the incursion of Azeroth with impossibly terrible luck!
Are you absolutely certain that woman isn't secretly some Warp deity in disguise!?
And why, in the name of Tzeentch, does this world have no shortage of these absurd monsters?!
He might have been a Greater Daemon, but Reality imposed rules that even daemons couldn't ignore.
Manifesting within the Materium demanded an enormous expenditure of Warp energy.
Even then, only a fraction of their true essence could enter reality.
To unleash more of their actual power, the veil between realms first needed to weaken further.
Then they required even greater reserves of Warp energy, as fighting seriously in the Materium burned through it at an alarming rate.
Ordinarily, that wasn't much of an issue.
A mere fraction of a Greater Daemon's strength was usually enough to overwhelm entire mortal armies.
Their presence alone was often sufficient to drive lesser beings into madness.
The people of Azeroth though...yeah not so much.
Especially considering they hadn't harvested a single soul during this entire incursion!
Well...
Aside from the handful claimed by another Lord of Change after making a deal with that ridiculously arrogant Ork warlock.
But apparently, the universe wasn't satisfied with that.
Oh no.
Because fighting the people of Azeroth was an absolute nightmare compared to every other mortal world they'd invaded!
Especially their so-called "Heroes."
Regardless of whether they were warriors, mages, druids, or priests...
Every single one of them somehow knew exactly how to fight daemons.
And more importantly...
How to make it hurt.
Then there were monsters like her.
They already possessed only a limited supply of Warp energy after the destruction of the primary Warp Rift.
Even if they somehow drew upon more of their true strength...
How in the Warp were they supposed to stop this terrifying woman!?
And that wasn't even taking into account the numerous champions standing behind her.
To make matters even worse...
The Chaos Gods themselves—who would normally intervene in some fashion when mortals of this caliber appeared—were completely occupied with the Primarch.
The Lord of Change silently swore that if he survived this disaster and returned to the Crystal Labyrinth...
He was going to find whichever feather-brained fool had convinced him that Azeroth would be a "glorious feast of souls"...
...and curse him with cleaning every corridor of the Crystal Labyrinth using nothing but their own feathers!
Raising Aluneth high above her head, Aegwynn gathered an immense concentration of Arcane power at the tip of her legendary staff.
Then she unleashed it.
Dozens of enormous beams of Arcane energy erupted forward.
Nothing withstood them.
Daemons of every rank were pierced clean through before detonating in spectacular explosions that shook the entire plateau.
(A/N: Thank you Frieren and your Zoltraak spell giving me the inspiration for this.)
Within moments, a massive opening had been carved straight through the daemonic lines, leading directly toward the sealed Sunwell structure.
A cold Arcane light flashed within Aegwynn's eyes.
She leveled Aluneth toward the swirling tornado of Chaos.
She intended to gather every ounce of magical power currently at her disposal and rip the barrier apart through sheer force.
But just as she began forming an Arcane storm more than large enough to engulf the entire island—while simultaneously compressing it into a single point—
Something happened.
A golden-orange light suddenly flared from deep within the heart of the Chaos tornado.
An instant later...
A pulse of energy burst outward.
It swept across the battlefield.
Beyond the island.
Beyond the continent.
Silently washing over the entirety of Azeroth.
Both heroes and daemons froze.
The daemons didn't understand why...
But an overwhelming chill ran down their metaphorical spines.
The heroes, meanwhile, recognized something else entirely.
A familiar, Yet somehow unfamiliar energy signature.
"Alastor!?"
Alleria, Sylvanas, and Jaina's eyes widened as they turned toward the sealed structure.
Varian, Anduin, and Rhonin also glanced in its direction, but years of battlefield experience prevented them from taking their attention off the enemies before them.
Tyrande.
Malfurion.
Aegwynn.
Their reactions were different.
All three stared at the structure with undisguised shock.
Not merely because they recognized Alastor's aura...
But because intertwined with it was another presence.
An impossibly powerful source of burning energy unlike anything they had ever felt before.
<--------------------------------->
Back within the pocket dimension where the Chaos Gods had imprisoned him, Alastor's body suddenly went still as his consciousness returned from his soulscape.
Hidden from view, the Chaos Gods watched in surprise.
In an instant, Alastor's mind had become completely closed to them, and every trace of the influence they had painstakingly forced into his body, mind, and soul had been expelled.
Gone was the aggression.
Gone was the madness.
Raising one hand, Alastor whispered calmly.
"...Return to me."
Far away, within the Arena of Carnage, Dawn trembled.
The shattered fragments of the sword began vibrating before lifting into the air.
Then, as if responding to an irresistible summons, both the hilt and every broken piece tore through space itself, crossing dimensions until the hilt landed perfectly within Alastor's open palm.
The shattered Elementium fragments floated into place like the pieces of a puzzle, seamlessly reattaching themselves to the blade.
Golden-orange cosmic flames erupted around the weapon.
When the flames finally receded...
Dawn had not merely been restored.
It had been completely reforged.
The Elementium itself had been fundamentally transformed by the cosmic fire.
Its technological power field and enchantments were gone.
In their place remained a weapon that was now wholly mystical in nature.
Its blade could cut through nearly anything.
It was lethally effective against daemonic and fel beings.
Its durability far surpassed what it had once possessed.
And it could effortlessly channel even the most volatile forms of energy.
Alastor slowly raised his head.
Though the Chaos Gods remained hidden within their separate dimensions, he "looked" directly toward each of them.
In his eye sockets burned molten pools of golden-orange flame.
Yet those blazing eyes did nothing to conceal the boundless hatred radiating from him.
"All of you..."
"...WILL BURN!!"
An immense tsunami of golden-orange fire erupted from Alastor's body.
At the same time, an unimaginably powerful psychic shockwave burst outward.
The pocket dimension itself shattered beneath the combined assault.
<---------------------------------------------->
Back at the Sunwell Plateau...
Both Aegwynn and Tyrande sensed the emergence of an overwhelmingly powerful presence from within the barrier.
Without hesitation, they reacted.
In the span of a heartbeat, Aegwynn erected an immense Arcane barrier while Tyrande summoned an equally massive shield of lunar energy, together protecting the Alliance heroes.
A moment later—
A colossal golden shockwave exploded outward.
The swirling Chaos tornado was torn apart instantly.
The structure surrounding the Sunwell was obliterated.
Every daemon caught within the blast had not only its physical shell destroyed but its very essence annihilated.
The twin barriers absorbed the overwhelming majority of the blast before shattering into countless fragments of light.
Even so, the remaining force hurled nearly every hero backward, knocking many of them to the ground.
Rhonin spat dirt from his mouth before shaking his head.
"Fraking hell..."
"What in the world was that, Krasus?"
Receiving no answer, he turned toward his friend and mentor who transformed into his dragon form to provide further protection to his allies.
Yet now the great red dragon stood completely motionless.
His eyes were wide with disbelief and it wasn't just him.
Every hero who had managed to remain standing—or was in the middle of getting back to their feet—had frozen in place.
Alexstrasza.
Malfurion.
Tyrande.
Even Aegwynn.
All stared upward in stunned silence.
Magni remained on one knee.
Kurdran still lay flat on his back.
Neither moved.
Both simply stared.
Unable to comprehend what they were seeing.
Rhonin slowly turned his own head...
Then promptly dropped his staff in utter shock.
"By the Light..."
Turalyon fell to his knees, his voice filled with reverent awe.
"...That's one big-ass bird..."
Rhonin finished weakly, unable to tear his eyes away.
High above the ruins of the structure floated an enormous phoenix of living cosmic fire that was at least hundreds of meters in size.
Its wings stretched across the sky as though they sought to cover it.
Then it released another majestic cry.
A second golden shockwave rippled across the world.
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The shockwave swept across the battlefield surrounding Silvermoon City.
Every daemon and Beastkin it touched perished instantly.
Their bodies dissolved in sudden golden-orange flame.
Their souls and essences were utterly erased.
Nor were they the only victims.
Across the entirety of Azeroth, every being tainted by fel or Chaos—whether daemon, undead, or Beastkin—was destroyed as the wave washed over the planet.
The soldiers of both the Alliance and Silvermoon stood in bewildered silence.
Then...
Every one of them witnessed a vision.
The phoenix in all it's glory appeared before their minds as though they stood directly before the cosmic being itself.
Yet unlike the horrors spawned by Chaos...
These visions inspired neither pain nor madness.
Only wonder.
The High Elves and Night Elves alike fell to their knees in reverence.
Though divided into different branches of the greater Elven/Eldar race, both still carried echoes of ancient history.
Long ago, their ancestors had revered the Phoenix.
Its image had forever been intertwined with Asuryan, chief deity of the ancient Eldar pantheon.
The dwarves reacted in much the same way.
Fire had always held sacred significance among their people.
Even their own creator—the Maker—was said to wield divine flame.
Almost unconsciously, they too knelt.
The naaru ceased all movement.
Remaining perfectly still, they silently regarded the cosmic being with profound awe and curiosity.
Among the gnomes, the experience was entirely different.
Many were flooded with brilliant ideas and impossible inspirations.
Others felt their horizons expand, filling them with excitement and fascination.
The humans, however...
Were perhaps affected most of all.
Almost as one, they fell to their knees.
An indescribable feeling of warmth and hope blossomed within the deepest parts of their souls.
Many instinctively clasped their hands together and prayed.
"A miracle...It's a grand miracle!"
Archbishop Alonsus Faol, standing alongside Alexandros, Abbendis, and Belegar, wept openly.
Joyful tears streamed down his face.
He thanked the Light that he had lived long enough to witness such a miracle!
<----------------------------------->
Within the Warp, the sudden destruction of the pocket dimension forced the Chaos Gods out of hiding.
The golden-orange flames left behind by the collapsing realm continued to gather, growing larger and larger until they assumed the titanic form of the Phoenix.
Unlike the image being projected into Azeroth's Realspace, this was more in line to the primordial cosmic entity of Life, Death, and Rebirth.
Its sheer size dwarfed even Azeroth itself, a world several times larger than Earth.
Most terrifying of all...
This wasn't even the Phoenix's full power.
It was merely the amount of herself she could project through Alastor after possessing him.
The Chaos Gods stared in shock at the Primarch's sudden transformation into this colossal being of cosmic fire.
They could feel the overwhelming life energy radiating from it.
Yet unlike Isha...
This was not the gentle, nurturing aspect of life.
It embodied life at its most violent.
Its most passionate.
Its most relentless.
A force that represented life's raw, chaotic, and indomitable drive to exist...
To evolve...
And to begin anew...
No matter the cost.
The Phoenix released a mighty, unrestrained screech.
An unimaginable wave of psychic power erupted from its body, exploding outward in the form of several terrifying shockwaves.
The blast hurled the Chaos Gods backward.
It tore apart what remained of the Warp storms surrounding Azeroth.
Yet it didn't stop there.
The psychic waves continued to race across the Warp itself, sweeping throughout the entire Milky Way Galaxy...
And beyond.
<---------------------------------------------->
On the planet of Prospero...
The young Magnus sat in meditation, his soul wandering the Warp through astral projection.
Without warning, the tides of the Immaterium convulsed violently beneath the arrival of an immense psychic presence that forcefully suppressed the Sea of Souls itself.
Magnus's eyes snapped open.
Curiosity immediately overcame caution.
Turning his astral gaze toward the source of the disturbance, he squinted at a distant, radiant horizon where the impossible pressure originated.
Merely looking at it was like trying to stare directly into the sun.
Except...
It felt as though that sun had decided to go supernova!
"What in the name of Tizca...?"
"What is that?!"
<---------------------------------------------->
Far beyond the intergalactic void...
Szarekh, the Silent King, stood upon a dead world within one of the countless dwarf galaxies during his self-imposed exile.
Even there...
The psychic shockwave reached him.
Had he still possessed the emotions of his organic body, shock would have undoubtedly overtaken him.
The sensory arrays within his necrodermis body detected an immense surge of energy originating from the distant Milky Way Galaxy.
His former home.
This energy...
It surpasses even that of the Old Ones.
<---------------------------------------------->
On Terra...
Every Grey Warden abruptly froze.
Without warning, each of them was assaulted by the same vision.
A colossal bird composed entirely of cosmic fire.
More startling still...
Every one of them felt a deep, inexplicable sense of familiarity.
A connection that resonated from the depths of their very souls.
Solomon, the most psychically gifted among his siblings, nearly collapsed before catching himself against his desk.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
"...Father?"
Within the Imperial Palace's Inner Sanctum...
Both Malcador and the Emperor simultaneously rose to their feet.
As the two greatest psykers on Terra, they had immediately sensed the violent upheaval within the Warp...
Along with the appearance of an entirely new and unknown cosmic presence.
"You felt it too, didn't you?"
Malcador asked urgently.
The Emperor gave a solemn nod.
"I did."
"Then go."
"I'll handle everything here."
No further encouragement was needed.
In the next instant, the Emperor projected his consciousness into the Warp, traveling at incredible speed toward the source of that overwhelming psychic power.
For a brief moment, he considered the possibility that this disturbance was connected to Chaos.
Before dismissing the thought almost immediately.
Whatever this presence was...
It possessed none of the defining characteristics shared by the entities of the Warp.
More importantly...
When his mind instinctively compared its nature to that of Chaos...
It felt like something fundamentally opposed to it.
Not its direct opposite.
But an opposing force nonetheless.
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