While little Annie was rushing back to the continent of Lordaeron, on the front line of Tarren Mill in the middle of the Hillsbrad Hills, the main force of the Flame Alliance was confronting the coalition forces of the Stormwind City Alliance. Their battle began. From the end of the 25th year of Dark Portal to now, it has been going on for almost a year...
Although during this period of time, the ground battle has always been a passive defensive disadvantage for the humans, high elves of the Flame Alliance, and the Wildhammer dwarves of Eagle Nest Mountain... However, with the dragon eagle knights of the high elves and the griffons of the Wildhammer dwarves, The knights and the pure-blooded Fire Eagle troops stranded here in the Flame Kingdom, with these absolute air advantages, they were barely able to maintain a stalemate on the front line, buying valuable time for the rear countries to adjust and recruit new troops!
However, when the soldiers of the Flame Alliance were preparing to change their guard early this morning and continued to stalemate with the enemy troops below the high ground, or cursed each other, fired cold arrows, or threw boulders, they were surprised to find that in the other side's camp, there were New faces?
As the rangers made several close inspections, they soon confirmed that there were a large number of reinforcements in the enemy camp!
They were demon-like monsters with twisted horns on their heads, blue skin, minotaur-like hooves and evil little tails! However, what makes the Fire Alliance troops feel strange is: that monster is a warrior who can use the energy of holy light?
No... I should say... a lot of paladins and priests?
Of course, there must be the jigsaw puzzle-like monster floating in the air that is emitting powerful holy light energy and whose golden light shines on the battle lines between the enemy and ourselves!
It is precisely because of its appearance that the morale of the Fire Alliance's army, which has always been tenacious and resistant, finally wavered.
Because, like a golden jigsaw puzzle, the creature that rotates slightly and emits golden holy light, that creature with the purest holy power, actually claims to be a messenger or a god representing the holy light?
Therefore, while the other party was calming the emotions of all the warriors on both sides, it was also constantly facing the defenders, the New Kingdom of Lordaeron, the High Elves, and the Knights of the Silver Hand among the Wildhammer Dwarves in the Alliance of Fire. I continue to persuade, hoping that those believers in the Holy Light can put down their weapons, take refuge in the embrace of its Holy Light, and stop making fearless resistance, etc...
Anyway, no matter whether the other party's claim that he is the God of Holy Light is reliable or not, the Paladins will definitely not be deceived by the pure and unparalleled power of the Holy Light in the other party!
Therefore, this led to the Flame Alliance, at least the Paladins of the Silver Hand and the warriors who believed in the Holy Light, began to gradually lose their fighting spirit and morale... because they really could not muster the courage and strength. To fight against a divine being who can represent the Holy Light!
What's worse is that when some paladins who are not very determined have a crisis in their faith, the power of the Holy Light in their bodies continues to slip? It seems like the Holy Light really abandoned them?
As a result, greater panic began to spread among the Flame Alliance's front...
"General! Let's withdraw!"
"Now, this battle is really unwinnable! Look, so far, our Knights of the Silver Hand have basically lost their combat effectiveness...Without the Silver Hand as a powerful forward, other troops alone can No matter whether they are dwarves or high elves, the rangers and mages can't resist the enemy!"
"Furthermore, you have also seen that there are so many priests and paladins in their reinforcements. They are even more numerous and stronger than our Silver Hands. This battle...how do you want us to fight?!"
In the command tent in the middle of the Tarren Mill frontline military camp, the Grand Crusader Saidan Dathrohan, the Silver Hand Commander-in-Chief of the New Kingdom of Lordaeron, was facing the Alliance Grandmaster who was sitting on the main seat in deep thought. Marshal Osmar Garisses persuaded loudly:
"Generalissimo! Let's retreat quickly before the enemy launches an attack! That monster is too weird. If we wait any longer... maybe all our paladins will become ordinary knights! Without the Holy Light, they will I’m afraid my strength will drop by at least one or two levels! In that case, what else are there to fight with?”
"You don't still count on our air force, do you? That's right! They are truly invincible in the air. They defeated the Hippogryphs and engineering aircraft of the Stormwind Alliance to the point where they didn't even dare to show up again! But now, it's about to This is a large-scale land battle. Do you want them to attack the ground at low altitude? In that case, our air force superiority will be completely destroyed! The enemy's anti-aircraft firepower, whether it is bows and arrows or muskets, has many ways to counter our aircraft. Low air troops!”
Dathrohan panted angrily. After fighting for so long, today was the most frustrating day for them!
Dathrohan himself was both angry and frightened by the so-called jigsaw puzzle that suddenly appeared from the enemy and looked like the incarnation of holy light! Compared with the large group of paladins and priests who came to support the enemy, the big monster that although it did not actively attack, just floating in the middle of the front line of the confrontation between the two sides, but constantly radiating light towards this side, was obviously more terrifying. !
Those hateful Stormwind Alliance, I don’t know where they got such a group of monsters. Not only did they carry out vicious and vicious tactics against their Flame Alliance, but the effect was also exceptionally good? Now, the opponent has successfully disintegrated most of the combat effectiveness of the Knights of the Silver Hand, the most powerful and trusted force in the Flame Alliance.
"Dathrohan, I told you long ago..."
"Actually, the Holy Light is not only a belief, but also a profound philosophy of life, a way of living that makes us positive... I believe in the Holy Light, but I do not blindly follow the Holy Light... So, in that In front of the strange jigsaw puzzle, my holy light is not affected at all! Of course, I am also willing to teach and share my knowledge of the holy light and everything about it with my colleagues in the Silver Hand..."
"But, I'm afraid this will take a lot of time... So, your Excellency, Grand Marshal Garithos, it should be feasible to retreat for the time being. As long as there is time, we can regroup?"
Sighing, Old Fording regained the Holy Light after returning to Lordaeron and still maintained peak combat power. Although he still had a high fighting spirit and was not afraid of the jigsaw puzzle, when he saw the Knights of the Silver Hand, The soldiers became weak. After careful consideration for a while, he reluctantly agreed with the others' decision to retreat before the enemy launched a general attack and temporarily preserve their strength.
"That's right! Withdraw, Marshal!"
"Garithos...the temporary retreat does not mean failure. We still have a chance."
"Generalissimo..."
"Withdraw, Marshal! Here are almost the last elites of our alliance..."
"That's right! Retreating now is a last resort and it doesn't mean anything."
After Old Fordring and Dathrohan finished speaking, the Ashbringer Alexandros Mograine, General Alfred Abidis, and Tyran Fordring who stayed in the command tent , Bridget Abbendis, Darion Mograine and other large and small paladins began to whisper to each other, and they all advised Grand Marshal Garithos to retreat temporarily and reorganize the defense line in the rear.
The other dwarf leaders and the rangers such as Lor'themar of Quel'Thalas looked at each other awkwardly for a while. Although they did not join in the booing, they at least agreed to retreat temporarily.
"..."
Silent and slowly stood up, the Fire Alliance's Grand Marshal Garithos first looked around at the large number of frightened paladins in the tent, and then he sadly discovered that: except for some ranger generals of the high elves, Except for the magister, the leader of the dwarf gryphon knights, and a few human warrior generals, most of the people here are actually paladins and priests? !
Only now did he realize with shock that more than half of his troops were Paladins...
No wonder, no wonder the enemy would use that strange jigsaw puzzle to cause trouble... because the enemy's move happened to hit more than seven inches of their Flame Alliance army! In less than a morning, most of his men's combat effectiveness was paralyzed in one fell swoop?
At this time, Grand Marshal Garithos thought with some sadness and anger: Sure enough, success is the Holy Light, failure is the Holy Light... In the beginning, he should not have so many Paladins in the army... and he should not have so many Paladins in the alliance. Those who are vigorously promoting the way of Holy Light in various countries... Now look at it, they finally lifted a big rock and hit themselves in the foot, right?
"Sigh...I'm telling you, it's not that I don't want to retreat...but...forget it, you should look at the map first!"
Garithos was about to say something, but then paused. So, he simply opened the curtain on a large battle map of Lordaeron hanging on the wooden wall behind him, and motioned for everyone present to look over.
"Look here, and here, this is the front line we are on now, Tarren Mill Camp!"
Holding a baton, Grand Marshal Garithos gestured to everyone present with some seriousness. All the defensive plans in the northern continent are now formulated by him, and they are currently being implemented very well!
"If we stay here now, we have blocked the gateway to the Alterac Mountains! If we retreat, with our current strength, the Sophia Highlands will definitely not be able to be defended... Then, if the enemy follows us and attacks If so, before the Iron Fortress at Alterac Pass is completed, both the ruins of Alterac and Steinblade will definitely be undefendable!"
"Even... we may not even be able to defend the cold wind sentry at the Frozen Post behind us..."
Having said this, Grand Marshal Garithos's expression became even more solemn.
Originally, he only told the kings of various kingdoms about these strategies, and other generals kept them secret! But now, he had to explain it to them! Since he, Garithos, is the general marshal of the alliance and commands hundreds of thousands of alliance troops, he must be responsible for the entire alliance! Therefore, what he cares about is not actually the gains and losses of a city or a place, or the outcome of a certain battle, but the overall situation of the entire battle!
And now, for their in-depth defense plan, they must hold on here until the steel fortress in the rear is built!
"Then, once the enemy successfully breaks through to the Alterac Highlands, as long as the enemy commander is not an idiot, they can drive straight in and penetrate into the heart of our Flame Alliance - Andorhal County! When that time comes, we will It will be completely undefendable! It will be very easy for the enemy to attack the Royal City of Lordaeron to the west, attack the Hand of Tyr to the east, or besiege the City of Fire, or even attack Quel'Thalas in the north!"
"At that time, our Eastern Camp defense line in Hammerfell Town in Arathi Highlands and our Western Camp defense line south of Amber Mill in Silverpine Forest will become meaningless! They can divide our kingdoms Break into several pieces, and then let us have to fight alone and be eliminated one by one..."
At this point in the explanation, Garithos couldn't help but tighten the baton in his hand. This situation will be the worst time, and he doesn't want to see this... because it means that their Flame Alliance will completely fail and lose all the land and everything they currently own!
For losers, the enemy will not have mercy on them!
"So, you should understand now, right?"
"Once we give up here, it will be equivalent to us giving up everything! At that time, whether it is Arathi Highlands, Hillsbrad Hills, Silverpine Forest, Gilneas, or even Tirisfal Glades, etc. By the time the entire northern continent may no longer be ours..."
"Could it be that... you are willing to flee north like a bereaved dog, all the way to the City of Fire or Quel'Thalas, guarding the elven gate and lingering? Think about it, Quel'Thalas is so broken now , it has definitely not succeeded in restoring much productivity in a few years, so how can we feed so many people in our alliance?"
After the explanation, Garithos finally turned his head again, stared at everyone present with piercing eyes, and then said with a firm expression:
"So, we absolutely cannot retreat now! Although our territory is still very large, but... after losing Nanhai Town and the Saldo Bridge, we actually don't have much retreat..."
"Now, I hope you will go down and tell the soldiers of the Silver Hand: If there is no Holy Light, then let them fight like ordinary warriors, and don't let your faith blind your eyes! Without the Holy Light , you still have swords, strength, and that tenacious will and unyielding spirit!"
"I want you to always remember what you are fighting for! You are not only fighting for yourself, but also for our common home, for our Flame Alliance!"
Throwing away the baton and directly pulling out the long sword from his waist, Garithos stared at the paladin generals in the tent with sharp eyes.
He himself was once a cavalryman and had never been favored by the Holy Light. However, hadn't he continued to fight for so many years? Therefore, this time Garithos plans to go to the front line in person to encourage those idiots who have lost their fighting ability because of their faith!
He wants those idiots to take a good look at him, Garithos, and then look at the other soldiers of the alliance. Many of them have never used the Holy Light. Can they still go into battle to kill the enemy?
The current situation is bad. Although Garithos also knows that this place may not be able to hold for long, but... he still hopes that the troops can delay here for a while to build a second line of defense for the troops in the rear, especially Otto. Buy enough time for the defense line at Ranke Pass!
"Grand, grand marshal!!!"
When Garithos was about to continue to teach these bastards who wanted to run away because of the wavering of the Holy Light, suddenly, a messenger officer rushed in from outside the tent without being notified at all.
"Marshal! Good, good news! Our Majesty the Queen, she is back! She, she just beat away that jigsaw puzzle monster!!!"
Seeing a tent of senior generals staring at him dissatisfied, the herald swallowed his saliva and finally spoke out about the situation loudly.
"Her Majesty the Queen? Is it Her Majesty Queen Sylvanas?"
"What a nonsense! How dare she just come here to the front line? Didn't I ask her to supervise the fire element architects and dwarves to build that steel defense line at Alterac Pass?!"
Upon hearing the herald's words, the Fire Alliance's Grand Marshal Garithos didn't care about his identity and directly reprimanded the Queen of Quel'Thalas.
You know, the defense line at Alterac Pass is crucial! When we really can't hold on here, we will definitely retreat and rely on the favorable terrain of the Alterac Mountains to continue to block the enemy and continue the stalemate!
In fact, Garithos is now mentally prepared to completely give up on Hillsbrad Hills and Arathi Highlands. At that time, they only need to defend the two defense lines of Amber Mill in Silverpine Forest and the Alterac Mountains. This can greatly shrink their defensive strength and prevent the difference in strength between the two sides!
And whether this battle can last for a long time, or even directly develop into a major stage of strategic confrontation, depends on whether Queen Sylvanas behind the scenes can do a good job in building the defense line or whether it can be done on time. Finish!
Her Majesty Sylvanas also knew about this matter.
But now? The other party did not stay behind to work on the project, but went against her own strategic plan and went to the front line to fight at will. What kind of trouble did she want to make? She's a former ranger general, so she doesn't necessarily have much strength, right?
Anyway, as far as Garithos himself knows, the high elf queen is definitely not as powerful as the large number of paladins and warriors in their big tent now! In terms of ability to fight alone, the likes of Dathrohan, Fordring and Mograine are at least as good as her, or even slightly better?
Of course, that is if Her Majesty the Queen does not fly a kite...
"No... it's not Queen Sylvanas, but... it's Her Majesty the Flame Queen! That's right, it's Her Majesty Queen Anne, she, she's back!"
"Moreover, just before the formation, she...she directly knocked away the jigsaw puzzle with a lot of fireballs! She also grabbed a shining fragment of holy light!"
Thinking about Her Majesty Queen Anne who was suddenly teleported before, and then, I don’t know what she said to the jigsaw puzzle monster. Then, their observers at the outpost only saw the angry Her Majesty the Queen. A series of at least hundreds or thousands of fireballs were blasted towards the enemy!
He still vividly remembers that scene...
Countless flames directly submerged the so-called golden God of Holy Light, turning it into a large ball of explosive fireballs... Then, they soon heard a harsh sound like broken glass?
Then, they only saw a large golden fragment falling from the fire, and the so-called Jigsaw Puzzle, the God of Holy Light, quickly retreated from the fire in an awkward manner, and stood among those who were leaning on their horns. The demon-like creature responded and hurriedly ran into the opponent's camp! And if they read it correctly, the 'God of Holy Light' seems to be missing a thigh-like structure below?
After seeing this, he had participated in the war to annihilate the Scourge Legion and knew Her Majesty the Queen. He immediately mounted his horse and ran directly back to the camp to report the news!
"Really? She's back? And she also beat away the jigsaw puzzle monster? Great, this is really great!!"
"Hahaha! As long as someone can restrain that jigsaw puzzle, our Flame Alliance will be saved!"
Garithos, who had once felt desperate, after hearing the news, took the lead and laughed loudly before anyone else could react!
Although Her Majesty the Fire Queen, who has been missing for several years, is often unreliable, very casual, and often causes chaos, and she is not good at directing battles... But, no matter how many shortcomings she has, her strength is obvious to all. of! This alone is enough to ensure that this front will not be lost!
At least, it won't be thrown away before the construction of the steel fortress at the rear is completed?
"..."
"Huh? Are you really hiding here?"
"Hi! Well... hello everyone? By the way, do any of you Paladins like this good thing? Look, isn't it very beautiful?!"
At this time, before everyone was ready to go out to greet Her Majesty the Flame Queen and the cute leader of the Flame Alliance, the other party took the lead in opening the tent's cloth door and walked in.
Then, after she said hello to everyone casually, without waiting for any reaction from the other party, she proudly raised the golden fragment in her hand that was almost as big as half a door panel and so long! There is amazing Holy Light energy in it, which seems to be stronger than the Ashbringer in Mograine's hand?
Moreover, it also exudes a strong golden light, which directly illuminates the Chinese army's tent, which was originally a little dark due to the large number of people, as if it was under the noon sun.
"This is... Her Majesty Queen Anne, did you really defeat the God of Holy Light?"
Seeing the fragment in the little girl's hand that emitted strong holy light energy, Dassohan thought about it and felt that it was indeed the 'thigh'-like piece at the bottom of the jigsaw puzzle monster? Then, he was surprised, which made him a little confused. How could such a powerful existence be defeated?
He remembered that the information conveyed by the other party's soothing Holy Light energy wave seemed to represent the messenger of the Holy Light or the gods...
"God of Holy Light? Are you talking about this guy?"
Annie was stunned. She didn't remember that she had beaten the 'God of Holy Light'... What was the 'God of Holy Light'? Can it be eaten?
(…)
(Master... what they are asking about should be the thing you are holding in your hand! They seem to regard the big light bulb as a god of holy light...
——Tibbers curled his lips and explained this to his little master with disdain. Only these ignorant guys regard that thing outside as a god. Even Tibbers doesn't dare to call it a god. Is that guy outside just now? If it flashes its eyes again, a slap will not kill it! )
"Ha! Are you talking about this thing?"
After hearing Tibbers' explanation, Anne smiled and raised the big fragment in her hand. Just now, after she met the other person, she wanted to cut off a small piece from the other person for study. However, that stingy guy unexpectedly Dare you refuse him?
As a result, Annie was filled with rage and evil, and she kept doing nothing but a series of explosive fire spells to teach it how to be a low-key monster!
Anne thought that the other party, with such shining eyes, dared to wander around and successfully attracted her attention, and he also dared to be stingy and reluctant to let her cut off a piece to play with. Wasn't this because he wanted to get a severe beating? ? So, little Annie satisfied the other party generously, gave the guy a severe beating, and directly cut off the largest piece of the other party's leg!
"Let me tell you, that guy, it is not the 'God of Holy Light'. It is just the same as the fire element, water element, wind element and earth element you have seen. It is composed of pure power of holy light. It's just a creature of holy light, it's not the god of holy light!"
"And if you want to see the real God of Holy Light, I just met one not long ago. I will bring her to meet you another day! I think you will definitely like her!"
After blinking and looking at the group of paladins, Annie suddenly heard something interesting. She had promised someone that she would find some converts for her, but now, isn't there a lot of ready-made ones? Then, there’s no need to go to the trouble of finding someone else, just decide it’s them!
"Holy light creature...it turns out to be like this. No wonder, I always feel weird!"
"Ashamed... I really regard it as a god..."
"so far so good……"
"I am that guy, am I not a god? You still don't believe me!"
"Asshole! I won't spare it next time!"
"..."
At this time, when Anne's words had just finished, Old Fording, Mograine, Dathrohan and others began to whisper among themselves. If they had known that this was the case, they would not have to coerce that weird guy, and they would have lost their lives in vain. .
However, they have to send someone to convey this message to the troops as soon as possible. If possible, they hope that the paladins will regain their confidence and recover the power of the Holy Light soon.
"By the way, this fragment is not very interesting. Do any of you want it? Can it be used to make weapons?"
After studying it, Annie was no longer interested in the big piece of the jigsaw puzzle in her hand, and casually threw it on the large square table in the middle of the tent. After all, she herself is an arcane mage, and this kind of thing that only a paladin would like is of no use to her at all!
"..."
After a short moment of silence, a large group of people rushed forward with their hands, one person grabbed a place, and began to pull vigorously.
These big guys with good vision certainly know the benefits of this thing! With the surging power of Holy Light it emits, once it is actually made into a weapon, it will be at least as strong as or stronger than Holy Light artifacts like Mograine's Ashbringer. As a Saint How could the knights let go of such a good thing coming to their door?
"Mograine! You already have the Ashbringer, what are you trying to grab?!"
Alfred Abidis glared at the other party fiercely. This guy who was eating from the bowl dared to stare at the old thing in the pot. He was not satisfied with having the Ashbringer, and even came to snatch this holy thing. Light fragments? Are you still shameless?
"I... I'll prepare a weapon for my eldest son, can't I?"
Mograine thought for a while and reluctantly came up with an excuse.
"Come on! Didn't your son and your goddaughter elope? If you take the stuff, who will you give it to?"
I don't know who suddenly said this, and then Alexandros Mograine subconsciously let go of his hand, and was quickly pushed aside.
"By the way! Your name is Mograine, right? Sally and Renault asked me to tell you that they are not coming back. Uncle Colson said that they are going to have a baby on Earth!"
Although she didn't quite understand it, since Mograine was here, Annie still helped convey this sentence honestly.
"Those two bastards! I'm so angry! How dare they... how dare they?!"
Hearing such a thunderbolt from the blue, old Mograine couldn't help blowing his beard and yelling, scaring his youngest son and others to stay away from him.
"..."
"Your Excellency, Grand Marshal Garithos, you are a soldier, what are you doing grabbing this thing?!"
At this time, there were only three people left fighting for the Holy Light fragments, namely Old Fording, General Alfred Abidis and Grand Marshal Garithos! As for the others, they have long been forced away by these old guys with kind faces and dark hearts!
Then, Old Fording set his sights on one of his competitors, Marshal Garithos.
"Uh... I'm sorry. I saw you were so anxious about it, so I subconsciously grabbed it too. I even forgot about it..."
That's right, this seemed to be something used by the Paladin. It seemed a bit too much for a warrior like him to snatch this thing, so he let go of it in a sullen voice.
"Don't look at me like that! I am a Paladin, and my daughter is also a Paladin. The world of Azeroth is so dangerous, can't I prepare a good weapon for my Bridget? As an elder , shouldn’t you be humble?”
When Old Fording looked towards him, General Alfred Abidis smiled and said to Old Fording before he could speak.
"..."
"I also want to build a two-handed sword for my son Tyran..."
Thin-skinned people, let alone go to the battlefield, even the enemy's curses may kill you! And how could Old Fording, a veteran paladin who had experienced hundreds of battles, not waver even when the God of Holy Light appeared in front of him just now, be persuaded to retreat by just a few words?
"..."
Therefore, the last two people refused to give in to the other, and began to forcibly circulate the holy light on their bodies, hoping to use their power to pull each other away! However, seeing that both sides were blushing and thick-necked, it seemed that they couldn't tell the winner in a short time?
"Oh, you are so annoying!"
As soon as she reached out, Anne smoothly cut the piece of Holy Light into two pieces, causing the two of them to stumble back a few steps while holding one piece.
"snort!"
"snort!"
The two old paladins looked at each other, looked at the fragments in their hands, snorted at each other, then turned and walked aside.
Originally, this was a piece that could be made into a two-handed broadsword, but now, after being divided into two halves, it could only be made into a one-handed broadsword... It seems a bit awkward to use it with one hand... Maybe, Can it really only be given to the descendants as gifts? After all, they are all disciplinary knights, not defensive knights with a shield in one hand and a sword in the other.
"If you want it, next time you encounter that jigsaw puzzle, I'll knock it out for you! But... it only has two long legs. I don't know if it can grow back?"
Seeing the two of them arguing over a piece of debris, Anne glared at them both angrily. If you want, there is a big jigsaw puzzle outside. When it comes out again, she will take it back and cut off its feet to play, ensuring that everyone has a share! Of course, the premise is that the opponent's feet can grow back, otherwise, they will have to smash them into pieces.
After all, there aren't many fragments in a tangram...
————
PS: Originally this chapter was supposed to be only about four to five thousand words...
