Just as Jaina, having exhausted her last bit of mana, managed to kill a spider monster, she watched helplessly as a crypt fiend suddenly emerged from the ground and lunged at her. She was utterly incapable of defending herself; she didn't even have enough mana to cast a shield.
"Is this my end?" As the sharp forelimbs slashed towards her neck, Jaina felt fear and despair, but no tension. She remembered the warmth of that afternoon years ago in the Lordaeron royal court when she first met Arthas, her awkwardness in Dalaran when she accidentally burned Prince Kael'thas's books with her magic, the thrill of sneaking into the quarantine zone with Arthas to see the orcs, the passionate kiss on that grassy field, the tenderness of that Winter Veil night, the childishness of Arthas and herself…
In that instant, Arthas was the one she thought of the most.
So, she still couldn't let go!
A self-deprecating smile appeared on Jaina's lips as she closed her eyes.
— But the expected excruciating pain never came.
At the critical moment, Aiden hastily cast "Time Warp" on the crypt fiend, slowing its movements. At the same time, he cast a golden shield in front of Jaina. He saw that this foolish woman was resigned to closing her eyes and awaiting death, and hurriedly shouted, "Run, Jaina!"
Only then did Jaina react, realizing she had been saved.
At this moment, Lux used the last trace of her mana to release a "Prismatic Barrier." This spell, which she had created herself, could distort the surrounding natural light, making people within its range invisible. The crypt fiends had suddenly emerged, and several mages had already died in their sneak attacks. She shouted, "Rally to me!" and used the barrier to hide those who were unable to dodge, waiting for the arrival of the protectors from the surrounding mage corps.
Driven by the desire to survive, Jaina mustered her remaining strength and strode into the barrier's range. She broke out in a cold sweat, realizing how foolish her previous actions had been. It was simply too embarrassing!
Spider monsters and beetle monsters continued to emerge from the tunnels dug from the ground. The mages' lines were instantly lost. This was the very center of the Lordaeron army. The attack immediately triggered panic and chaos.
To make matters worse, four Nathrezim demons descended from the sky, openly casting spells to summon several infernals right before everyone's eyes.
Several balls of green meteors appeared in the sky, rapidly plummeting towards the earth, their landing points being right on top of the Lordaeron army's position!
With a deafening roar, the meteors crashed into the ground. The massive explosions and shockwaves pulverized everything living nearby. Then, humanoid monsters composed of burning rocks crawled out of the deep pits and charged towards the living humans. They were five to six meters tall; even the largest ogres looked like children in front of them. The infernal demons exuded an aura of evil and terror, and wherever they went, the very ground burned.
These monsters from the Twisting Nether wantonly spread fear and death, ruthlessly crushing the weak humans.
At that moment, the Lordaeron army was on the verge of total collapse.
"What should we do, General!"
"Fight to the death!" Garithos pushed aside a panicked guard and spat heavily. "For the Alliance, fight to the very end!"
…
Amidst the booming sounds, Kel'Thuzad's lich body exploded, scattering bones everywhere.
His soul floated out, watching his own "death," and sneered at the lich who had been fighting him fiercely: "Karthus, you have killed me. But, I will be resurrected!"
Karthus didn't look much better; his deep red mage robes were tattered, and his exposed skeleton was covered in traces of frost, flames, and shadow magic. He, too, looked like he was about to fall apart.
"No, you won't." Karthus smiled happily, although his expression hardly reflected such emotion, but the constant opening and closing of his jaws conveyed that meaning. He raised the black tome in his hand. "This is the spellbook that records your name. It has a grand name—Mejai's Soulstealer!"
An irresistible force suddenly sucked in Kel'Thuzad's soul. He screamed in terror, "No, no!" but still turned into a wisp of smoke and entered the Soulstealer.
Karthus felt his power increase and let out a joyful laugh. The pitiful lich whose soul had been stolen screamed and begged in the magic book, but to no avail.
After closing the Soulstealer, Karthus floated out of the cave. Looking back at the place that was still emitting green mist, he pointed his staff, and the cave finally collapsed completely.
Karthus muttered, "Kel'Thuzad, as the first soul I have collected in this world, I have given you a perfect funeral. No need to thank me!"
Quinn saw him come out and said in surprise, "You killed that lich!"
"Yes."
Then Quinn shook her head as she saw his almost collapsing skeleton and the mage robes that were more tattered than a beggar's.
"I'm going to support the commander; do as you please!" She whistled, and Valor let out a clear cry in the sky. The two merged into one, becoming a larger blue-gray giant eagle, and flew towards the intense battlefield.
In the imprisonment formation, Antonidas had been paying close attention to the battle here. After discovering that Kel'Thuzad was dead, he breathed a sigh of relief and said to Archmage Vargoth, "You leave half the people to continue maintaining the formation, and the rest of you follow me to support the battlefield!"
Aiden stood in front of Lux, with a large group of mages who had completely lost their combat power behind him. He was now fighting an infernal with all his might. He hadn't expected that the guy who was just a warlock's demon pet in the game was a completely different matter in the real world—the infernals summoned by those Dreadlords were no weaker than thousands of crypt fiends combined. They charged and rampaged, unstoppable, and normal people simply couldn't withstand those scorching stone fists. Moreover, the fel flames on the infernals not only burned the flesh but also corrupted the soul, and their massive size meant that human weapons couldn't even injure them.
Aiden used every means he could.
Time Bombs, a trick that had always worked, were completely useless against the infernals—they were almost immune to magic. Time Warp, a spell that affected time, also didn't have much effect because the enemy was too powerful. Only the holy flames on the Holy Sword in his hand could deal some damage to this burning stone monster.
As his combat memories resurfaced, his combat skills became more and more proficient, and he became more and more methodical in dealing with the infernal.
"Commander, the death knights are about to break through!"
Lux was unable to fight, so she could only check the battle situation and report to Aiden at any time.
Aiden hurriedly glanced over:
Kayle was fighting alone against an infernal and two Nathrezim demons, as well as some crypt fiends.
Vayne had also attracted the pursuit of an infernal.
Archmage Modera was also fighting a Nathrezim demon; before that, she had temporarily banished an infernal demon with magic.
The angel Pamyel and Ophiel were respectively dealing with a Nathrezim and its evil minions.
So now, Rivendare and Broxigar, the two death knights, had no one to stop them. They immediately took this opportunity to break out.
Lordaeron Commander General Garithos saw that the battle situation was critical and immediately led his guards, driving their warhorses towards the two death knights who were breaking through.
Rivendare blocked him and shouted to Broxigar, "Break out, quickly!"
Broxigar chopped down a human knight with his axe, and the splashing blood sprayed onto his face, sliding down to his lips. He stuck out his tongue and licked it. "How delicious!" Although, in reality, his taste buds could no longer function.
"Then take care, my brother." Broxigar laughed and took advantage of Rivendare's opportunity to block the interceptors and broke out with all his might. Wherever he passed, people and horses were overturned, and no one could stop him.
Aiden saw that Broxigar was charging towards him, only twenty meters away from him, and would be able to reach him in at most three breaths.
Just then, he heard a clear eagle cry from the sky. A blue-gray giant eagle folded its wings in the sky, descending like a giant crossbow bolt.
Aiden was overjoyed and shouted to Valor, who had appeared in a combined state, "Stop the orc death knight!"
Broxigar looked up and saw the giant eagle Valor swooping down. He tightly gripped his rune axe, and as its claws were about to grab him, he suddenly slashed upwards from below. Valor suddenly opened its wings to cushion the impact, avoiding the axe while clawing at the orc death knight's shoulder.
Broxigar recalled when he was still in Draenor, he had seen giant eagles hunting talbuks. They swooped down from the sky towards their prey, using their claws to tightly grip into the prey's flesh, dragging the talbuk into the air, and then dropping it to its death. Then, they would slowly enjoy it.
He knew that his weight would be easily grabbed by such a giant eagle. And in the sky, even he couldn't fight an eagle.
So he immediately rolled off the horse's back.
Valor's claws grabbed onto the saddle of the skeletal warhorse.
It suddenly flapped its wings, lifting the skeletal warhorse into the sky and releasing its claws. The skeletal warhorse fell near several crypt fiends, instantly shattering into pieces.
Valor's sharp eyes stared intently at the fleeing prey, flying high into the sky to prepare for another top-down swoop.
At the same time, Vayne's holy silver bolts finally pierced the infernal's fel core. Immediately, the infernal's body fell apart, turning into piles of rubble all over the ground. The fel flames on the stones also gradually extinguished.
After eliminating this enemy, Vayne immediately hurried towards Broxigar's location. She still recognized this orc death knight; he was Kel'Thuzad's loyal guard, who had repeatedly blocked her from hunting the lich.
Now, it was time for the final battle!