Without Nefarian's obstruction, the Black Dragon Legion soon showed its decline. They were retreating steadily under the Alliance's attacks. It was not until the only channel between Hodmar City and Blackwing Lair was closed that the Alliance could advance. The pace is blocked.
Although Nefarian died, the magical protection and loyal members he left behind continued to exist. The Alliance also stopped further attacks on Blackwing Lair and turned to clearing out the remaining orcs in the city of Hodmar.
Without the protection of the black dragon, the Blackstone Orcs were no match for the Alliance army. Although they relied on the complex terrain and environment in the old Black Iron Dwarf city to resist, they could not escape the outcome they deserved.
The Blackrock orc army led by Red was blocked outside the gate leading to the city from Blackstone Mountain, unable to force a step back from the Alliance's front. After a few days, the defending Alliance suffered no losses at all, but the orcs who attacked the defense line suffered casualties. heavy.
The worst thing is that after Nefarian died, those colorful dragons became very restless. Not only did they become very irritable, they even bit some orc dragoons.
This is undoubtedly adding insult to injury for the Blackstone Orcs, and Red has deepened his plans to escape.
He decided to wait at most one more day, if there was no news from Nefarian——
"Great Chief... no... it's not good..."
Reid's guard ran to him panting, and said something in Reid's ear with an embarrassed expression, which made Reid's face instantly become extremely ugly.
Soon, the alliance's commander discovered that the Blackstone Orcs began to gradually change their formation and weakened the frequency of attacks against them.
"The Blackstone Orcs have retreated, do we want to pursue them?"
Solas looked at Arthas who was standing aside. Although he didn't know when the prince appeared on the front line, Arthas said that the true master of the Blackstone Orcs had been eliminated.
"Nefarian has fallen. The Blackstone Orcs and the Black Dragon Legion are now in chaos, but now is not the best time for us to pursue." Arthas said, "Treat the wounded first, sort out our losses, and then Hodmar City has been captured, but our mission in Blackstone Mountain has not yet been completed.”
The Blackstone orcs have lost the news about Nefarian, and only a handful of the fleeing orcs know the news of Nefarian's death. Red now neither dares to escape too far nor stays on the front line. After thoroughly confirming Nefarian Before they really die, the Blackstone Orcs will definitely be stationed at the foot of the mountain on one side of the Burning Plains.
This also means that the Blackstone Orcs will be threatened and harassed by the Dark Iron Dwarves at any time. After all, the two can be said to be incompatible, and Red will no longer have extra energy to care about what the Alliance does in Hodmar City.
The remaining Blackstone orcs in the city did not put up any effective resistance at all, but the hall leading to the upper level of Blackrock Tower was locked, and the Alliance soldiers could only enter the middle hall leading to the upper level.
This situation will not last long. Arthas has summoned Onyxia. She will be responsible for cleaning up the remaining forces of Nefarian with Valastraz and integrating those who are willing to continue to surrender to Onyxia. Asian part.
Of course, Onyxia would not show that she and the red dragon were together on the surface. Arthas told her that if necessary, she could "play some drama" with Valastaz to appease the black dragon first. Let’s talk about the Legion’s mood.
With Onyxia taking care of the remaining defeated soldiers in the Blackwing Lair, the Alliance no longer has any worries. However, as Arthas said, the purpose of the Alliance's attack has not yet been achieved.
Nefarian's death only temporarily defeated a small force of the Black Dragon Legion, allowing the Blackstone Orcs to return to chaos, but there were still serious hidden dangers buried in the veins of Blackstone Mountain.
"The city of the Dark Iron Dwarves is really complicated," Solas said with emotion as he looked at the buildings spreading in the mountains. "If the Blackstone Orcs fight us here, we don't know how much it will cost to capture it. .”
"Although I don't quite agree with the character of the Dark Iron clan, their construction skills don't seem to have lost much." Magni also entered the city of the Dark Iron dwarves for the first time, "But there are orcs and trolls everywhere here. And the stench of the ogres - they really 'smelly like each other', it's disgusting."
Even though the dwarf clans were completely different branches after the War of the Three Hammers, the construction skills of the Dark Iron dwarves were still inherited from their common ancestors.
Even Magni had to admire the grandeur and splendor of Hodmar City, but it also made him wonder, "How did the Dark Iron dwarves lose their hometown when they live in such a city?" Yes, I don’t believe that the orcs during the Second War could capture this place easily.”
Solas also quite agreed with Magni's words. If he was allowed to lead people to guard the city, he was confident that he would be able to repel an enemy ten times more powerful than himself.
"The power of the master of Blackstone Mountain should not be underestimated. Moreover, I think the existence of enslaved Dark Iron dwarves makes the Dark Iron dwarves try to avoid too big a conflict with the black dragon."
Arthas explained that what Ragnaros has here is just a projection of his power. His real power is still imprisoned in the eternal prison of elements. When the Dark Iron Dwarf summons him, he will probably be consumed by his clone. gained a lot of strength.
Otherwise, most of the Redridge Mountains would not be turned into a scorched earth, and the peak of Blackrock Mountain would rise directly from the ground. Although the power of the elements can affect the planet itself in a sense, such a move will definitely consume The power of Ragnaros.
In addition, Ragnaros did not launch the elemental frenzy in the real plane. Instead, he slept in the core below Blackstone Mountain. He rarely sent elements to the outside world except for conflicts with Nefarian.
Arthas had reason to believe that Ragnaros was lurking to regain his power, so he was unwilling to go against Nefarian. It seemed that breaking the barrier between the elemental plane and the real world also made the Firelord The king consumed a lot of power.
The Dark Iron Dwarves were enslaved by Ragnaros' will. They became another force under Ragnaros besides the fire elements, making it easier for Ragnaros's elemental army to hibernate in the leylines of the Molten Core to recover. strength.
"The King of Fire, Ragnaros, no one knows how many years he has existed in this world. Rumor has it that he existed in the world long before the Titans came to our world." Magni thought of what he had seen Some of the records I have visited are also somewhat distressing.
"Those Dark Iron Dwarves are really a bunch of madmen," the King of Ironforge looked a little frustrated. After all, the current situation is related to his ancestors. "We failed to stop the crazy behavior of Witch King Thaurissan. He summoned Something that I have absolutely no control over.”
The Fire Lord, the clone of Ragnaros, was re-summoned to the real plane of Azeroth because of this. The violent power of the escaped Fire Lord destroyed Thaurissan in an instant, but those who survived The Dark Iron Dwarves became slaves of the Fire Lord.
The madness of the Dark Iron Dwarves also shocked the Bronzebeard Clan and the Wildhammer Clan. They knew that their already exhausted troops were no match for the Fire Lord and his minions, so they had no choice but to close the Searing Canyon and stay away from this area. Cursed place.
But no one thought at the time that Thaurissan's magic was just an introduction. The Fire Lord actually followed Thaurissan's "guidance" to break through his own prison and re-invest his power into Azeroth. Above.
And this also allowed Ragnaros' power to remain, even after such a long time, it is still hidden deep in the Blackstone Mountains.
"Arthas, it may sound a little negative, but I personally think that the Fire Lord is definitely much more difficult to deal with than Nefarian. We must be mentally prepared before fighting this battle."
Magni does not want the Dark Iron Dwarves, or the entire dwarf kingdom's past, to happen to the Alliance again. The current Burning Plains and Searing Gorge are the best embodiment of the Fire Lord's power.
"Magni is right. We have dealt with giant dragons in the second war, but we have never fought against elemental creatures. But they can remain in a stalemate with the Blackstone Orcs and Black Dragons for so long, which shows that they At least it is no less powerful than the Nefarian forces.”
Solas said, "Although the Searing Gorge is in our hands, there are still Dark Iron Dwarf troops in the wasteland. Part of Ironforge's army is also fighting against the Dark Iron Dwarves under the command of Muradin. We even Also beware of the Blackstone Orcs coming back."
"I understand your concerns, but the Searing Gorge is really not a good place to station for a long time. Most Alliance soldiers cannot fight in such an environment for a long time." Arthas said, "We have expelled the Blackstone Orcs. If we cannot Grasping the results of the battle is equivalent to helping the Dark Iron Dwarves drive away the orcs. If these fortresses fall into the hands of their original owners, they will probably be more troublesome than the Blackstone orcs."
Nefarian is an excellent conspirator and cunning black dragon, but he has never experienced a mortal war. His way of thinking is also from the perspective of the dragon race. His natural arrogance prevents him from understanding the tactical thinking of the mortal race.
But the Dark Iron dwarves are different. Although they are enslaved by Ragnaros, when Ragnaros is sleeping, they still obey the orders of the Dark Iron Emperor Dagran Thaurissan, a descendant of the Witch King Thaurissan.
Coupled with some of the fire elements who take orders from Thaurissan, the Dark Iron Dwarves will definitely be more difficult to deal with than the Blackstone Orcs in Blackstone Mountain when they truly gather.
It's just that they haven't had enough time to gather enough strength. In fact, they don't even need to wait for their deceived troops to return to defense. With the help of the elements, they can counterattack the alliance at any time.
Ragnaros is unwilling to have a major head-on conflict with the Black Dragon Legion, but facing a third-party force that is ready to cause trouble, it will definitely not be tolerated.
There are already two forces of sufficient weight in Blackstone Mountain. The existence of the alliance can easily break the fragile balance, and in the eyes of the Fire Demon King and his minions, there is no opponent like "Nefarian" in the alliance.
In fact, Ragnaros is not afraid of Nefarian, but is afraid of the Black Dragon Legion behind Nefarian and the missing Deathwing.
It is true that the Fire Lord has a violent personality, but he is also unwilling to offend Deathwing, a "madman" who is almost completely crazy, because there is no reason to talk to a madman. Deathwing's methods and purposes sometimes even Even the elemental lord himself couldn't understand it.
"You are right, now is indeed the best time for us to attack the Dark Iron Dwarf underground city." Magni sighed, "If we fail this time, it will be difficult for us to attack again next time." The opportunity to enter Blackrock Mountain, and Ragnaros may always be a threat to us."
"Our goal is to make Ragnaros and his elements disappear and go back to their plane. However, it is indeed unrealistic to ask our soldiers to enter the center of the earth to fight, but we can also use unconventional means. Against Ragnaros."
Arthas elaborated on his thoughts, "When we take some time to establish a firm foothold in Hodmar City, I have already arranged the issue of the Black Dragon Legion. They will not cause us any trouble. We just need to keep an eye on it." Just the Dark Iron Dwarves."
Solas and Magni nodded. They both chose to believe in Alsace, because they were able to achieve so many results in the past because they were all based on Alsace's plan, and they couldn't think of anything better at the moment. method.
Just as Arthas expected, after the Blackstone orcs gradually gave up their control under Blackstone Mountain and entered the Burning Plains, the Dark Iron dwarves who originally retreated began to become restless again.
Their troops began to emerge from the Blackrock Abyss bit by bit, regaining the positions originally taken by the Blackrock Orcs, and arranging garrison guards. Although they did not have a direct conflict with the Alliance, this was a very bad situation. Signal.
The elemental and dark iron dwarves realized that the emergence of the alliance had tilted the balance, and they were no longer prepared to continue to be shy. You must know that neither the fire elemental creatures nor the dark iron dwarves have bad tempers.
Being able to suppress it for so long was purely because of Ragnaros's will, and now that the Fire Demon King has relaxed this restriction, the elemental creatures and the Dark Iron Dwarves couldn't help it immediately.
When the Alliance saw the actions of the Dark Iron Dwarves, they just silently pulled out their artillery and crossbows. Coupled with the coordinated defense of the mages, it was clear that they wanted to fight the Dark Iron Dwarves to the end.
The two parties remained in a state of tense situation, but neither one made the first move, as if they were just putting on a show for the other party.
While people on both sides were staring, Jaina was leading an entire army of mages to carve out an extremely complex magic circle in the bay at the end of the Redridge Mountains.
She and her men have spent several days preparing for such a ritual. Jaina's hands are full of sweat: this is a brand new spell that has never been used before, and no one knows what its effect will be. of.
But after a brief hesitation, Jaina used the power of other mages to strengthen her control over arcane magic, combining the knowledge she learned in Dalaran with the secrets of Kul Tiras.
"The sea...listen to my call and answer my call!"
