ebookland Chapter 462 The Wheel of Hatred
Chapter 462 The Wheel of Hatred
Since the Holy War at Mount Hyjal, the opening of the Dark Portal has had a ripple effect, and the wheel of hatred has made it difficult for all sides to maintain peace.
However, based on the assessment of the situation and pressure from various parties...
After discussions, Grand Duke Bolvar, Regent of Stormwind, and the King of Ironforge surprisingly agreed to this strange decision. Thrall, Warchief of the Horde, and Vol'jin, among others, also believed that continuing to fight over lands contaminated by the undead plague was pointless.
The Horde should prioritize survival and acquiring new, habitable lands and resources... Thrall would rather send Garrosh and High Overlord Saurfang to Northrend to establish Warsong Gulch than waste energy in the Eastern Plaguelands and the vicinity of Eversong Woods.
They are more interested in sending troops to the outer regions and establishing a base in the Burning Steppes than in invading the rear of dwarves and humans.
Outland can provide Thrall with a significant number of Mag'har orc reinforcements... The Horde's strategic objective lies in the central Eastern Kingdoms, near the Blasted Lands...
Undercity's goal wasn't just to eliminate the enemies near Undercity and reclaim Tirisfal Glades and the Plaguelands to the north... The Dark Queen had always used Undercity as a springboard to target Northrend in the Northrend, and her preparations for the Dark Tide Navy were originally for this purpose...
However, from a human perspective, it makes no difference whether the Forsaken have free will or want to seek revenge against the Lich King Arthas...
The Scarlet Crusade, Jaina, and many self-proclaimed righteous Alliance members stationed on the front lines all believe that the undead in Undercity are also an obstacle to humanity's restoration.
Politics is both complex and simple...
Lorraine's little brain gets goosebumps whenever it analyzes these things. It doesn't want to get involved in conspiracies and struggles, but as a part of it, how can you escape?
Unless you're willing to be one of those mindless zombies, lowly servants, foolish robbers, and self-degrading sludge monsters...
At least the true Forsaken members summoned by Sylvanas, the Dark Queen of Undercity, each possess their own independent and strong undead will. In their contradictory state of being neither alive nor dead, they seek courage and meaning in battle.
This is why Lorraine witnessed Undercity fighting to the death against the surrounding invaders for its own safety. Horde orc reinforcements traveled thousands of miles across the sea to aid them, but as soon as they repelled the humans' storm plan, they scattered to maintain the status quo.
Although the Queen didn't say it aloud, she understood the reasoning behind it all... The Horde never fully trusted the Forsaken! Everything was for the common good, to fight a common enemy...
The weak and forgotten will be underestimated if they do not demonstrate their strength...
Orcs respect only the strong, they will never be slaves, they worship the spirits of their ancestors, and they revere blood and glory. This is completely at odds with the Forsaken's style of attack, assassination, strategy, stealth, and the use of plague potions and necromancy...
Even as the Queen's warriors fought with all their might in Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley, the orcish army maintained its distance.
Even the Frostwolf Clan, the absolute elite of the Horde, is intentionally or unintentionally selecting special talents from the Forsaken to form soldiers who are loyal only to the Frostwolf Clan leaders and the Horde, in order to seize so-called glory.
Members of other races in the Horde can even proactively join the Argent Dawn in the north to fight the Scourge's wandering puppets... or join the Kargath Expedition in the south, establishing strongholds to continue shrinking the Blackrock Orcs' territory... and not linger near Undercity for too long... participating in the sieges of Gilneas and the Scarlet Crusade.
The orcish air force stationed in the Arathi Highlands, under the coordination of emissaries from the Sunreaver's Temple in Dalaran, joined forces to deal with the Scourge that suddenly appeared near the Isle of Atonement...
The Queen was more concerned with revenge and the continuation of her race, so she naturally wouldn't give humans any kindness. She secretly reached an agreement with the mages of Dalaran, which displeased the Horde's emissaries... With the new war agreement reached, the Forsaken were clearly isolated.
They can only open up their own battlefield and front...
Since this area is near Undercity, and the Queen's warriors weren't leading the charge, Atonement Isle naturally became the human's main battleground... The main force came from the direction of Southshore, with reinforcements of various kinds, including nearby dwarven fortresses, orcish air forces, goblin airships, and dwarven gunboats...
The goblin airships were originally a powerful weapon invited by Undercity, mainly because of Warchief Thrall's influence... After the Queen went missing, command of the airships fell into the hands of the military advisor commander sent by Orgrimmar.
Following the orders of the tribal ambassador Kalai, it dispatched a number of wyvern riders to assist the humans, primarily to escort the elite squad from the Sunreaver Temple... Terra and a few others. As for the fate of the so-called Plaguebringer Lorraine?
Who is it?
I don't know...
Who cares?
In this overwhelming chaos of battle, Lorraine remained inconspicuous, its existence barely noticed. Aside from Terra, the Faceless One Bourne who relentlessly pursued him, and the High Lich who now imprisoned him...
The entire battleground, a clash of black and white, unfolds across the seas and skies... At sea, the Scarlet Crusade fleet, caught in the middle and suffering heavy losses, is caught in the middle... But upon realizing their enemy is the Scourge, the Scarlet Crusade's mortal foe, they turn their cannons and engage in direct combat...
On the ground, the temporary allied forces had already landed and were participating in the siege of the Death Knights and ghouls...
Even the magnificent suspended cemetery, attacked from both sides, suffered damage!
......
"Grand Steward, we've been attacked!"
"Do you need to tell me? I have ears..."
......
The subordinate instinctively glanced at the head of the great lich Kel'Thuzad. The lich wore a magnificent crown, but in reality, it was just a white skeletal skull; he had no ears whatsoever... Yet the lowly undead acolyte still lowered his head...
"Report losses! Enemy situation."
"The camouflage of the Enqira Holy City's thunderclouds has been destroyed, and we've lost our disguise. The enemy is bombarding us from three sides; we've withstood 15 heavy shells, one of which, a magical energy projectile, pierced the energy crystal at the top of the fortress. The necromantic energy barrier has been destroyed. We were ambushed from the flank, and while we eliminated the invaders, they detonated bombs, damaging the engine casing and cracking the levitation engine. We have less than half our current energy, and I'm afraid we can't sustain levitation and defense any longer... We can only hold out for a maximum of one hour... Should we retreat, Grand Steward?"
When the great lich heard his subordinates' report and watched as swarms of celestial demons guarding the floating fortress fell from the sky, he felt no pity whatsoever.
The concentrated strafing by the dwarven planes had no effect; the undead legion members were fearless and felt no pain.
The great lich gazed down, sensing the situation on Atonement Isle. With a wave of its hand, the entire force that had been hidden in the Fortress of Death emerged...