Rise of the blood elves

619 [It can’t be Xal’atath (6k2 in 1)]

"I have similar doubts, because Neltharion's behavior is so abnormal..." Len slowly walked to the edge of the cliff, squatted on one knee, and frowned as he looked down at the grand scene of the inner space of Uldaman at his feet. said.

"What's wrong?" Angmar asked. He has been busy looking for Uldaman these days and rarely communicates with the busy high-level guardian Rai.

Even if he tried to contact him, Lai couldn't reply.

After all, it is an extremely powerful artifact. In terms of power alone, it can be ranked in the top three of the many famous artifacts in the history of Azeroth, competing with many artifacts personally crafted by the Titans of the Pantheon for the top spot.

Some people may think that compared to the nearly omnipotent Titans, the five-color dragons are no more than reptiles. How can the artifacts created by the latter be compared with those artifacts left in this world by the former that have the power to flatten mountains and fill the oceans? Compared to that?

But actually, there is an interesting statement.What I am saying is that since being corrupted by the four ancient gods, no matter how perfect the rescue work was carried out by the later Titans, the star souls in Azeroth have actually never been able to successfully reborn as real Titans and have been in a state of insecurity. Some kind of half-dead state.

The origin of the Star Soul has also nurtured the creatures living on Azeroth in some way, which directly results in the mortals and wild animals here being many, many times more powerful than those on other planets in The Endlessness - but there is also one The exception is the Eredar family.This race is so evil. Tens of thousands of years ago, it reached the limit that mortal civilization can achieve in the known universe. At its peak, its arcane civilization far surpassed even the peak races of Azeroth.Of course, this is an extreme case, just one, otherwise the fallen titan Sargeras would not value him so much and go to great lengths to "dig people". After poaching, he even immediately let the former Ari Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, two of the three leaders, served as his right-hand men and gave the eredar the supreme status.

In short, it is a recognized fact that the creatures in Azeroth are generally stronger than those on other planets.Otherwise, in later generations, they would not be able to defeat god-like enemies one after another, and they would also counterattack the Burning Legion's base camp, directly leading to the latter's destruction.This kind of power comes not only from the nurturing of the Star Soul, but also from the visit of Titans. It is also created by the powerful energy that the Star Soul's "stillborn" unconsciously overflowed during its existence.

Therefore, as the most powerful creature on the planet, when thousands of giant dragons gather their power into the same artifact, their power cannot be underestimated - it must be said that it is just power. .In comparison, the Titan Artifact is like a sophisticated machine, while the Dragon Soul is a pure energy aggregate, simple, crude, and infinitely powerful, but lacking in a variety of changes and functions.

One can imagine how difficult it is to forge such a container that can contain the essence of countless giant dragons, not to mention that it must be completed in just over a month.Therefore, at the last moment, in order to ensure the smooth construction of the container, the high-level guardians Rai and Neltharion closed themselves in the foundry almost without sleep, not to mention contacting the outside world, and could not even get a moment's rest.

Rai mused: "If you are the envisioner, designer, and sole performer of enchantment for a vital artifact, and you are assisted by someone who has mastered the art of forging better than yourself, you What will you do?"

"With me as the main one," Angmar understood what Rai meant. This was to put himself in Neltharion's perspective and think, "but if there is enough time, this helper can communicate effectively with me for a long time. , if the other party understands my conception and design ideas, and I can master a more appropriate casting method with the help of the other party, then cooperation is of course a better choice. But the problem is... there is not enough time."

Lai nodded solemnly, "Yes, there was not enough time. During the casting process of Yu Guangjing in just a few months, Neltharion made concessions at every turn, not only referring to my casting opinions, but also taking my lead in turn. Needless to say, The main material of the Dragon Soul was changed from gold blessed by the power of the earth to Titanium Iron. It even gave me the opportunity to be alone in a room with the Dragon Soul many times, giving me the opportunity to usurp control of many artifacts. The spell is hidden inside... Even if he has never been corrupted and has [-]% trust in me, he should not do this, because in the end, the spell that integrates the essence of all dragons was enchanted by him anyway, Doing this will only bring a lot of unnecessary trouble to the casting process of the artifact, and may even reduce the power of the artifact after it is formed... What's more, he has already fallen and has doubts about your identity."

"Yes," Angmar said, "I must reveal the final moment as a time traveler in order to gain the unreserved trust and support of the five-color dragon clan. First of all... Neltharion has already fallen, and he has also Long before we arrived, we began to plot to use this war to forge the dragon soul, and then control the five-color dragon clan, 'break away' from N'zoth's control, and achieve his crazy attempt to destroy the world. For him, this The long-planned and longed-for plan will never be interrupted. He must also know that if we don't come, he will completely tear off his disguise and become a traitor soon. He will not doubt it, or even be sure , I, as a person who has returned from the future, know this history. My words of 'the memory is blurred due to time travel' will never fool him."

Angmar paused and smiled bitterly: "But he still allowed us to achieve our goal and left a secret hand in the Dragon Soul. I think the difference in Neltharion's attitude before and after during the process is worth pondering."

Lai couldn't agree more.

When he first agreed to cast the dragon soul with the help of the knowledge of the high-level guardian Rai at the suggestion of other dragon guardians, Neltharion was not so generous. He made every excuse on the selection of the main material, but he just didn't want to use it. Rai's Titan Divine Iron's opposition was so strong that it even exceeded the limit of what a perfectly disguised betrayer could do.This already shows that Neltharion is extremely worried that his control over the Dragon Soul will be weakened as a result.

But then, I don’t know what happened. The next day, Neltharion’s attitude changed 180 degrees. Not only did he agree to use Titanium Iron as the main material, but also the series of “conceivers, The designer and sole practitioner of enchantment turns to the opinions of laymen."

"He...or N'Zoth behind him, will he suddenly get help from someone? So much so that he doesn't mind our secret manipulation during the casting process of the Dragon Soul. Because they have mastered some kind of... ...A way to ignore all our tricks and gain ultimate control over this artifact? Is this possible?" Angmar suddenly asked.

Thinking of this, he didn't know why, but the hairs on his hair stood up. He felt a cold air rising from the soles of his feet and reaching the top of his head.

Lai nodded, then shook his head, "It's not impossible, but the probability is infinitely close to zero."

These words somewhat dispelled Angmar's fear, and he asked curiously: "Why?"

Len laughed dumbly, "You know the Titans and Guardians very well, and you have an extraordinary macroscopic understanding of the Infinite End. But I must say, you don't know enough... at least not detailed enough."

Angmar listened carefully.

"You know, Odin and I were both personally shaped by Aman'Thul, the leader of the Pantheon. Not only do we have the highest status and the highest authority in charge of Azeroth's defense circle, but we also have the most profound knowledge. "Yes," Lai laughed a little, "Angemar, this is not because I am arrogant. The spells I left in the Dragon Soul are enough to make people like you and me with the power of order the supreme controller of this artifact. , there will be no exceptions. Even if the ancient gods come in person, they cannot take control of the Dragon Soul from us unless it takes tens of thousands of years to corrupt it bit by bit. Just make sure that this artifact will not be It is completely enough to cause us trouble during the decisive battle. Unless..."

"Unless what?" Angmar asked. The word "unless" after the two words refers to the possibility that is infinitely close to zero.

"Unless the 'people' who helped Neltharion and N'Zoth have transcended the shackles of the six original realms," Rai's expression became serious again, but then he looked at Angmar with relief, "But according to As far as I know, such an individual does not exist in the universe, at least not in Azeroth."

Angmar heaved a sigh of relief. These words were enough. His doubts about the Dragon Soul had been basically dispelled. In fact, Len didn't need to say so much, because even he, who had an overview of the Azeris timeline, People also know that no such individual exists in history.

but……

The anxiety is still there.

"I still suspect that someone has provided help to N'Zoth and Neltharion, or... it is help in another sense. At least it has convinced these two that there is no problem in letting us do what we do. Wait... …”

Angmar suddenly thought of a name like an electric shock, and couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Is it Xalatas? She is the fifth ancient god who was eaten. She has been living in the cracks of the other four ancient gods, balancing The forces from all sides suppress the strong, support the weak, and even use the power of mortals in order to have a chance to win the final victory as the weak. 6000 years ago, she designed to awaken Jixix and set off a war between mortals and aqirs. A human war, using mortal hands to cut off competitors... Now she appears again, participating in this vortex in which mortals, the Burning Legion, the ancient gods, the five-color dragons and the only remaining guardians are all involved, trying to seek It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there’s some self-interest.”

Although these are all inferences, after these years of experience, Angmar has long understood a truth.

Azeroth is not static. The leaders of history, from the ancient gods to the heroes who were created by the times and who in turn led the times, will all make corresponding changes due to changes in the current situation. History is no exception.

The destruction of Dalaran was like this, and so were the great figures of later generations who were accepted as apprentices by him in Suramar City.That's why he didn't treat Illidan like other ordinary apprentices, and even suggested that he join the Moon Guard and follow the old path of history.Because for the historical trajectory of Azeroth, this son of light and darkness is too special. His growth experience full of betrayal and sacrifice is completely indispensable. If he loves deeply and leads everywhere, it is hard to say that Yili Dan will become a half-finished product, due to the lack of important experiences that lead to the formation of his character, and become an ordinary person with no talent, but no strong will like later generations - of course, this ordinary person is only relative to the achievements of the son of light and darkness. In terms of.

Angmar continued to speculate: "Perhaps... even Yogg-Saron sent all the corrupted guardians at once, which played into our hands, and it was all her fault. Maybe she gained the trust of many parties through some method, and in En Zoth, C'Thun and Yogg-Saron are trying to use our hands to weaken the power of many parties. Cut off N'Zoth's 'wing' Neltharion, and destroy Yogg-Saron's most powerful force..."

The long-term uneasiness finally found the source. The more Angma thought about it, the more it made sense. As Xal'atath, who was obviously weak but had survived for countless years under the search of the other four brothers, she did have the ability and mind to do what she wanted. to all this.

Speaking of which, his feelings towards Xal'atath are also very complicated.

In the final moment sequence, the future self and Xal'atath go hand in hand.Moreover, these two people have also clearly hinted that Xal'atas in this timeline will also become an indispensable helper for them, and even...according to the closeness of those two guys, in all senses The other half?

Angmar even doubted what method his future self used to reach an agreement with Xal'atath.

Xal'atath wakes up on his own?Maybe he hadn't even thought about it.Xal'atath exists in the original realm of the void and is a creation of the Lord of the Void. For Azeroth, it can be regarded as the source of all evil in a sense. If the main body has not died, its threat is no less than Shaji, C'Thun, etc. are much smaller and better, and history has repeatedly proved that the pursuit has never changed in the slightest.If this were the case, Angmar's understanding of the world would have to be completely overturned.

"It's very logical indeed," Rai frowned, "but why would she do that?"

Angmar blinked and suddenly realized that he had ignored the most fundamental problem. He was a little stuck for a while and fell into deep thought for a long time.

Yes, why would Xal'atath do this?

First of all, this competition involving multiple parties is based on the premise of being extremely familiar with each other, and there is basically no intellectual difference - perhaps at the mental level, Angmar cannot compete with the ancient gods, but the high-level guardian But it is possible to be lazy.

Secondly, it is basically impossible for Xal'atath to master a way to bypass the high-level guardian Rai and his Angmar in the short term, allowing Neltharion to gain supreme control of the Dragon Soul.If this life gate is controlled, N'zoth and Yogg-Saron are bound to be completely defeated. Not only the former's plan to use the Dragon Soul to clear out the power of justice and the latter's wings cannot be realized, but the latter, who does not know the existence of the Dragon Soul, uses The plan to destroy the remaining resistance forces with the power of the corrupted army will not work either...

Xal'atath would not fail to understand this, and he would not prompt his two "brothers" to come to his door under this premise.

This is simply not possible.

Because this kind of behavior has gone far beyond the well-known rules of competition among the ancient gods, it can no longer be said to be excessive.If all of Yogg-Saron's main power is cut off and Neltharion is tricked, who else can Xal'atath rely on?C'Thun?

Not to mention that the void forces in Azeroth will be greatly damaged as a result, and the resistance will disappear. Angmar and Rai can always find Odin trapped in the Hall of Valor, restore the power of the righteous side bit by bit, and unite the mortals. The force attacked Ahn'Qiraj, put C'Thun back in prison, and it was not even a problem to find N'Zoth hidden in the prison under the sea.In the end, Xal'atath was helpless, with no remnants of the Void forces at hand to rely on, and the only path waiting for her was destruction.To her, this kind of behavior is tantamount to digging her own grave, a stupid thing she would never do.

You must know that the competition among the ancient gods only exists internally. When the overall strength is weaker than that of the righteous party, they will immediately unite to fight against each other without even slapping each other. In an instant, they will change from intrigue to sincere unity, without even distinguishing between each other. Each other - this is based on having extraordinary life essence and wisdom, and there are no small thoughts common among mortals.

The man behind this is definitely not Xal'atas.But who else could it be but her?Looking at Azeroth, who else has the qualifications and ability to do such a thing?

So...this doesn't make sense again.

Everything is back to square one.

After a long period of contemplation, Angmar and Rai looked at each other. Both of them understood that this was not a question that could be answered quickly. No matter how much they struggled, it would be useless. It was better to take a huge risk and test Neltharion. .

The threat of the corrupted army is imminent. The top priority is to focus on the preparations before the decisive battle and to guard against the various methods of this mastermind. The only way to find out the origin of this mastermind is to find out as much as possible during this period.

Who is this "person"?

Angmar even believed that he and she should not exist in Azeroth at all. For the first time, he questioned the history that he understood and regarded as a treasure.

Rai turned to other things with emotion: "If you hadn't told me what happened in the future, I wouldn't have doubted Neltharion at all. He hid it perfectly."

Angmar put away his distracting thoughts and sighed.

Even his own son couldn't detect the clues, so how could Neltharion reveal his flaws in front of outsiders?

In fact, this guardian dragon is not subordinate to N'zoth. The relationship between him and him is one of mutual use in a certain sense.It cannot be said that when Angmar and High Guardian Rai threatened their plans, Neltharion stood with N'Zoth, which meant that he obeyed the latter or was willing to become the latter's slave.

It's true that Neltharion was driven crazy by N'Zoth, but just like Sargeras who witnessed the irreversible corruption of the void, he just had a very different interpretation of his mission than before. In short, it was a cognitive process. Extremely distorted.

Perhaps both of them came to the same conclusion: corruption is irreversible, and only destruction can remove the fuel from the bottom and "purify" the corrosion from the void from the root.

Sargeras chose to stand on the opposite side of life.

The Earth Guardian stood on the opposite side of Azeroth, using each other with the Ancient Gods, but did not succumb to the latter or the forces of the void.And he also knew that N'zoth was also using him, but he was happy to be "used" by the latter in order to achieve the purpose of destroying Azeroth.

During the Cataclysm in later generations, he did not mind awakening Ragnaros, the fire demon who was still loyal to the Old God, nor did he mind fighting with N'Zoth's minions like the Twilight Hammer (the Twilight Hammer at that time could indeed Known as the minions of N'Zoth (after all, C'Thun and Yogg-Saron had long been "dead"), they joined forces to make their descendants the latter's war beasts, and led the faceless men and twilight dragon knights. An army formed to attack Longmian Temple.

In the Blackwing Blood Circle, his eldest son Nefarian, who has been deeply corrupted, even conducted research together with the Twilight Hammer, and so on...

Neltharion and N'Zoth have always used each other.The former hopes to destroy the world, while the latter hopes to corrupt the world. Although the ultimate goals are very different, the process is surprisingly the same: in the era of later generations when the resistance was extremely strong, mortals even killed the other two ancient gods one after another. They all needed to weaken the resistance, so they briefly formed a community of interests in a sense.

When this process is over, the two will naturally part ways, and there will be an inevitable war between them.After all, N'zoth can't really let Deathwing destroy the world, so how can he merge with the Star Soul...

However, until Deathwing was completely destroyed, it could not wait until this day came.

"I have the same doubts as you. But in my opinion, with the Dragon Soul in hand, no matter what conspiracy the mastermind behind the scenes has, it is destined to be impossible to realize. All we need to do now is to recharge our batteries, I will wait for the decisive battle in a few days to wipe out the corrupt army and rescue my brothers and sisters." Lai stood up, his eyes shining with perseverance.

At this time, N'Zoth and Neltharion's goal is to use the dragon soul to wipe out everyone else in one fell swoop, from the corrupted army to the five-color dragon clan.Not to mention that in the official history, Neltharion was unable to withstand the power of the Dragon Soul and therefore failed to achieve this goal. Angmar and Rai also could not make this happen.To be precise, it is possible to destroy the corrupted army, but it cannot kill the guardians who have the instinct to restore their sanity.

Neltharion's fall may happen when he wants to kill all the corrupted guardians but is prevented. At that time, Angmar and Rai will also be the masterminds behind making Neltharion so confident. A battle to see who can control this artifact.

It doesn't matter that the high-level guardian stopped here. His body was already majestic, and he was still on the edge of the cliff platform. The earth spirits and mechanical gnomes working below all noticed him, and stopped for a while, putting down what they were doing.Some people saluted with high respect for the guardian as before, while others had complicated expressions and just looked up quietly...

Angmar smiled bitterly and shook his head, "We think in different ways. You are more rational, but I am inevitably affected by intuition... What exactly is intuition? Even the masters in the mental field can't explain it. , but in the life experience of mortals, this kind of inexplicable thing has often worked wonders."

"The way mortals think..." Lai couldn't help but sigh, "You know, Angmar, you let me see the shining point of mortals. This is a kind of thing that exists in a single origin field. It’s incomprehensible, and I’m actually a little worried.”

Angmar burst into laughter, "Actually, what I'm more worried about is, if something goes wrong, will this war bring too many casualties to the dwarves, mechanical gnomes, and flesh and blood Vrykul, and then affect the history of future generations. "

"If something goes wrong, it's not just that simple." Lai said quietly, looking at the vast underground space in the distance.