Arthas looked at Sylvanas riding a white chocobo, and felt strange about it - he didn't know why the high elves would use this creature as a mount.
"Your Highness, don't underestimate the speed of chocobos in the forest. They are more suitable as mounts than war horses in the forest." Sylvanas was keenly aware of Alsace's strange eyes and explained, While checking the two short knives tied to his thighs.
Alsace thought to himself, of course I know this. I just feel awkward seeing you riding on a bunch of cute creatures. Although chocobos are actually carnivorous raptors and are not considered cute creatures at all.
Sylvanas was followed by a group of elite Farstrider rangers, and Arthas also brought his own Privy Knights.
The curious rangers looked at their comrades for a while. They were considered veterans, but they had never seen such a knighthood in Lordaeron.
"Your Highness, let's set off."
Sylvanas carried her longbow. Although the weakness caused by the curse made her feel a little uncomfortable, after the initial suppression by Pastor Lilian, she was still able to exert 50% to 60% of her strength.
The two teams immediately set off from the outpost and rushed from here to a Farstrider fortress located inside the Bandinorel Barrier.
As they passed a hill about ten kilometers away from the outpost, the troll scouts looked at the teams of Arthas and Sylvanas, and started to take action after them.
Sylvanas rode her chocobo, being extremely vigilant about her surroundings, her pointed ears carefully discerning the various messages brought by the wind.
"Arthas, something's not right." Sylvanas no longer used the honorific this time, but directly called him by his name.
"What's wrong, ma'am, what did you hear?"
Arthas had no doubts about Sylvanas' ability. Although she was cursed and her strength was greatly reduced, her ability to perceive the environment has not decreased.
"This stretch of road is so quiet. Normally I can hear the sounds of animals far away, but now they are all gone."
"It looks like we guessed it right. Let everyone be alert. We may be attacked at any time. Madam, please continue to pay attention to the surrounding situation."
"No problem, leave it to me," Sylvanas leaned on the chocobo, already taking off the longbow and holding it in her hand.
In Sylvanas's perception, the forest that was originally rich in animals seemed too quiet, and even the predator lynxes were silent - if they were just trolls, there was no reason for them to leave too far.
Even when the elves were marching to the outpost, there were still the roars of lynxes in the forest. These creatures that had been strengthened by the magical energy escaping from Quel'Thalas were not as timid as ordinary animals.
After a few minutes, Sylvanas gestured to Arthas, "There is movement. Judging from the weight of the footsteps, they are troll scouts. There are quite a few of them."
"Very good, they took the bait," Arthas simply replied. "The fact that they followed up means that they feel confident in killing us people. It is very likely that there are strong trolls among these scouts."
"The terrain will open up not far ahead! They should take action nearby!"
Sylvanas immediately made a judgment. What the trolls wanted to do most was to fight hand-to-hand with them in the dense forest, and they would definitely not be able to let them get what they wanted.
"I understand, let's speed up and rush to an open area!"
Alsace flicked the reins, and the horse understood it and accelerated its pace by another three points.
The trolls in the woods talked to each other in obscure Troll Tongue.
"Pointy Ears have spotted us, and they are speeding away!"
"Go after them and get your net ready!"
"For Zul'jin!"
When Alsace saw that the woods had become sparse, there was a sudden muffled sound from behind. He turned his head and saw that a ranger who was far behind was caught by a large net thrown by a troll headhunter, including people and birds. Put down.
Seeing that he was about to be dragged back into the jungle, Sylvanas made a U-turn, drew her bow and fired three arrows blindly. The sound of arrows piercing flesh came from the forest, and the ranger who was being dragged stopped immediately. .
This capture seemed to be a signal, and more than a dozen large trapping nets flew out from the woods on both sides. Several knights and rangers had no time to dodge and were hit by the large nets.
"Ready to fight!"
Alsace turned his horse sharply, and the war hammer ignited with blazing holy light. He swept the net that trapped a knight and burned a big hole in it.
The other trapped people did not stay idle. The Privy Knights were all warriors with strange powers. With the sharp outer edges of their armor, they could break free from the restraints with just a twist.
The escaped knights quickly drew out their swords and shields to protect the rangers - as warriors, protecting their comrades is their profession.
The moment Alsace and others' formation had just been set up, countless flying axes and spears flew out of the forest, hitting the knights' shields like raindrops.
Alsace snorted coldly and swung his war hammer to block all the incoming missiles.
A troll jumped down from the high tree crown with two battle axes and slashed at Sylvanas.
Sylvanas was helping a ranger out of trouble. The moment she sensed the danger, she picked up her longbow. The strong bow staggered the troll's heavy chops, and she put the longbow against the troll's neck. A sharp thrust on the body.
The troll, who was much taller than her, was thrown to the ground by her. Before the troll warrior could recover, the ranger who escaped from trouble killed him with a knife.
More trolls rushed out of the forest and fought with the Privy Knights and Elf Rangers.
They are all the elite among the elite. Although the attack just now caused them to lose a little advantage, now, it is difficult for these troll scouts to pose a substantial threat to them. They can only rely on their own difficult self-healing ability and numbers to defeat them. They stall.
A knight raised his shield to block the troll's spear and deflected it with his backhand. Sylvanas reached out from behind the knight and killed the troll with a casual arrow.
"Damn! How come their ranger general isn't as weak as the witch doctors say?!"
The troll scout captain looked at the lively Sylvanas and had no idea why this was happening. However, the gathered troll scouts were no match for this group of people. He quickly shouted, "Mighty Haraz! We need your help!"
A gloomy roar came from the dark jungle, and Sylvanas' expression froze. "What kind of wild beast is this? The roar of a lynx is not so scary!"
This sudden roar seemed to have a shocking effect on the soul. Many knights and rangers became sluggish after hearing this sound, while the trolls became more lively. In this way, many of their original advantages were wiped out.
"This is not a beast..." Arthas raised his hammer and struck the enemy in front of him to death. "It seems like the troll really wants your life!"
"Heh, I'll take this as a compliment from you."
Alsace looked at the surrounding terrain and made a decision immediately, "We can't drag it out here. When the owner of that voice arrives, our situation will be very dangerous——!"
Before the prince finished speaking, a swift black shadow sprang out from the tree crown. The blurry shadow passed through the crowd and quickly disappeared into the dense forest.
Sylvanas' pupils narrowed. What did she see just now?
An elf ranger's throat was gurgling with blood. She fell to the ground with a look of disbelief on her face, not even knowing what killed her.
"Watch your back!"
Sylvanas turned around suddenly at Arthas's shout. At this time, two green-glow eyes were staring at her in front of her.
She instinctively drew the bow to fight back, but due to her current physical condition, her speed was much slower than usual. She had just put her hand on the bowstring, and the cold-gleaming claws were already about to touch her throat.
"Ding!"
After a crisp collision, the black figure quickly retreated and disappeared into the darkness again.
Sylvanas drew her longbow and looked at the dark forest with vigilance, her body protected by a barrier of holy light.
"Ma'am, you take the troops and go first, I'll hold that guy back!"
"What? But!"
"You haven't recovered your strength yet, that guy is too fast! In this kind of woods, once you get close, I can't guarantee that I can save you next time!"
There are not many troll scouts left, but the black shadow alone can kill Arthas and Sylvanas' troops in this forest, so we can't stay here!
If Sylvanas was still alive and not affected by the curse, with her help, Arthas could easily seize the opportunity to counterattack.
But the current Windrunner is not much better than the other rangers here, and staying here has no other use than adding a burden to Arthas.
Sylvanas also realized this. She stopped talking nonsense, just glanced at Arthas, and whispered in Thalassian, "May the Sunwell be with you!"
"Warriors, let's go!" Sylvanas climbed on her mount and led the rangers and knights to quickly evacuate the woods.
The black shadow never came out again during this process. He was like a lynx, not completely sure and would not take action at will.
The warhammer in Arthas' hand knocked the last troll trying to escape to the ground, and the smelly blood spattered everywhere.
The prince raised his warhammer and looked at the retreating team, preparing to concentrate on dealing with the dangerous guy in the woods.
"It seems that the mastermind behind this invasion is actually Zul'jin... Has he returned to Zul'Aman?"
When the black shadow attacked Sylvanas just now, he had already seen clearly what the guy looked like - he looked like a troll, but with a lynx head, hair growing on his limbs, and his hands transformed into... It looks like sharp claws, giving people a strange and incongruous feeling, like an artificially fabricated monster.
