Light's Dawn of Azeroth

Chapter 435, Section 44: The Dark Prophet's Profound Dark Fantasies

The moment Azshara's spirit form vanished into the Death Rift, the golden Titan energy surge, having finally lost its last "interference point," suddenly intensified. The icy torrent continuously suppressed it, ultimately causing the black rift to disappear quietly like a closed door.

The death rift that had been left on the planet Azeroth for ten thousand years has finally closed.

Diakum and Aegwynn's journey even yielded an unexpected result: due to Azshara's intervention, a portion of the life force stolen from the world by the Force of Death was returned to the planet itself.

This was a truly unexpected and delightful surprise.

"About one-third of the stolen world life has been returned."

Aegwynn, leaning on the staff of Elune, which she used to sigh deeply, said to Diakum:

"More than half of it was stolen by the Kingdom of Death, even though Azshara had been trying her best to maintain the seal and prevent the Demon Sword from contacting Revendreth."

Regardless of the empress's character, her strength alone truly makes her 'the number one person in Azeroth'.

Her mastery of Titan energy demonstrates her terrifying talent in the path of arcane magic. I was still unconvinced when the World Mother said I was not as good as Azshara.

But after seeing it today, I'm convinced!
Take it heartily.

"That woman is a complete freak. My son, whom Sargeras raised, is far inferior to her."

“Azshara is a ‘limited edition’ world goddess created by the Soul of the World himself. You ‘general merchandise’ people shouldn’t overestimate yourselves and try to compete with her in terms of potential and strength.”

Diakum, with a self-aware air, waved his hand and said:

"Let's hurry back to the Heart Chamber. So much life force has been returned to the star, it will definitely need some time to be calmed and adjusted. I don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble because of this good thing."

But as the Star Soul grows stronger, does it mean that the other mysteries shrouding the world will dissipate more quickly?

"It will definitely have an impact."

Aegwynn nodded and said:
"But I have confirmed that there is a 'spatial lock' inside the Dragon Islands. Even if the fog clears, we still have to wait for the Titan Guardians who left there to protect the dragons to respond."

"We still can't relax. The Dragon Islands are vast, and the surrounding seas hold many mysteries."

Dick instructed:
"The Holy Light revealed to me the past, to a laboratory left behind by Deathwing, and once those islands emerge from the mist, the Black Dragon King, currently in a 'role-playing frenzy,' will not stand idly by."

If it were to gain control of that special army again, the world would be in for more trouble.

The dragonborn of the Northern Frontier are merely inferior versions of the 'little dragons' created by Deathwing himself. The true 'Dragonsir' are the embodiment of the essence and power of the five-colored dragons, and cannot be resisted by mortal weaponry.

"Okay, we'll do it your way."

Aegwynn nodded and decided to spend some time in the Misty Region of the Dragon Isles in the near future. That place is located in the sea between Quel'Thalas and Northrend. Like Pandaria in the South Sea, the North Sea is also shrouded in mist.

Having dealt with the Death Rift before her, her mission in Pandaria was complete. Removing the node of the Unified Field of All Things still required some work, but before leaving, she glanced at the distraught Vashj.

The master spy was sitting in an undignified "duck-sitting" position in the Titan's chill, covering his eyes and wailing.

"Azshara's charm is terrifying. Her radiant image has captured Lady Vashj's mind, making her infatuated and loyal to her queen. It's like a poison to the soul."

Aegwynn said:

"I can't imagine what outrageous and abstract things the elves, who have only just begun to show signs of unity, will do when Azshara truly awakens."

Are you prepared for this?

"What do I, an alien, have to do with the fate of those elves? As I just said, it's a virtue not to meddle in other people's business."

Diakum shrugged and said:

“But I will continue to observe them, and if they really need help, I will get involved. You go ahead, I'll stay here for a while.”

He glanced at the broken pearl-studded hilt of the sword in his hand and said:
"The Ashbringer is too badly broken. I'll use Remonia's sword hilt to do a necessary repair on my weapon. Otherwise, if this continues, the Ashbringer will be completely destroyed before I can embrace the sun."

"But the mantis came."

Aegwynn said in surprise:
"While we stormed into Mogu'shan Palace, the Mantid of the Mantid Plateau, led by their Great Queen, crossed the Dragon Ridge and are now wreaking havoc throughout Kun-Lai Summit. If you and the Lightforged don't intervene, the monks, who just fought the Mogu undead, won't be able to drive them away quickly."

Mantises are dangerous too; they carry those outrageous ghost bombs.

Diakum gave a mysterious smile, indicating that Aegwynn need not worry.

As a partner, Aegwynn knew that Diakum had many secrets, and since the Vigilant had made such a statement, she didn't press the matter further.

He glanced at Diakum's empty fingers and said:
"I will ask Azadas to make a new ring and send it over as soon as possible, but it certainly won't be as good as the original one."

"It's alright, I rarely need the two lords to intervene in my battles anymore."

Dick waved his hand and said:
"I have also gone through many hardships and finally glimpsed a trace of the true meaning of power. Although I am still far from being a genius like Azshara, I don't have to call my parents for help every time I encounter trouble."

This made Aegwynn laugh out loud, and then she waved Sargeras's Scepter to send herself back to the Chamber of the Heart.

Diakum, carrying the shattered remains of the warsword, headed toward the forge of the Naraksha engine, where Thor had forged his "Emperor's Fist" legion—a Titan facility capable of shaping all things.

The Vigilant does not need Titan energy enhancement because of the life force factor; he cannot accept such enhancement, and even weapons forged by the Titans are unusable.

He simply needs to reshape the blade of Ashbringer.

A broken blade is hard to rebuild and doesn't need to be. However, the hilt can't afford any more problems. This weapon is being honed by its own path, and it hopes that Ashbringer can be "reborn in the light" in the future, just like itself.

Outside the Naraksha engine control room, the battle between the Loa and the Stone Golems had come to an end. The Loa had suffered heavy losses, with many Loa spirits seriously injured and forced to return to the Emerald Dream for treatment. However, they had indeed held off this formidable Titan force.

Both of those enormous demigod constructs were dismantled.

Tethys was completely shattered, while Sword Dawn was defeated head-on by Dawn Overlord Kazzak. Judging from the melted remains of the stone statue, Kazzak has mastered the power of Sulfuras's Fire, which can be considered to make up for his current inability to use Sargeras's Flame.

Upon seeing Diakum approach, Orestes stepped forward and returned the Soul Staff.

She complained:

"Your Dawn Overlord is too wild. It keeps scolding me, saying that a 'weakling' like me is not qualified to wield this staff, and it even provokes my sister and me, asking us to fight it."

Moreover, Kazzak's mouth is much tougher than its strength!
Even though it was already badly injured after fighting Jianxi, it still had to put on a berserk battle stance, which was really a headache.

"That's how it is. After spending so many years in the Burning Legion, how could it not have picked up some of the bad habits of demons?"

Diakum retrieved the Soul-Binding Staff and winked at Orestes, saying:
"This is a lesson. When you lightforge your own great demons in the future, you must choose the right targets."

"what?"

Aurecis's eyes widened, and she exclaimed:

"Are we also to forge a demon from light? Is this some kind of damned trial?"

"You can treat it as an advanced trial."

The vigilant encouraged:

"After all, he is the number two figure in the Lightforged Chapter, so he has to follow the example of the 'forefathers' and let the other radicals see our style of doing things."

What kind of skill is it to defeat a demon?
True good deed is one that can make a demon willingly convert to the Holy Light. What do you think?

Aurecis fell silent.

Lightforging demons is far more difficult than killing demons. Judging from Kazzak's lightforging process, they first have to make a great demon submit to them and willingly accept the painful lightforging process to wash away the fel blessing.

This eliminates all demonic species born from the Twisting Nether; those beings are children of fel energy, and washing them of fel energy would be tantamount to killing them.

However, there are ways to take shortcuts.

The Doom Lords of Ereduin, where Kazzak resides, are an excellent choice for Lightforged. These demons were once jailers set up by the Titans. They were not born from the Twisting Nether, so they can be enhanced by either fel energy or holy light.

Aurethe decided to discuss with her sister about choosing a target in the upcoming battle against the Burning Legion.

The Lightforged are resting here. Even the once energetic Yrel is now exhausted. She and the others had fallen into the energy well of the Naraksha engine. If it weren't for Azshara's awakening, they would have been washed away by the Titan energy the moment the engine restarted.

That is the power of the true god. Apart from "freaks" like Azshara, few mortals in the material world can face it directly.

But the pandaren had already retreated, especially the monks.

They were exhausted, but they had learned of the Mantid's massive invasion and needed to rebuild their defenses at Kun-Lai Summit with the help of the Celestials. Otherwise, if the Mantid captured Kun-Lai Summit, the Jade Forest and the Valley of the Four Winds would be truly in danger. The good news, however, was that this time the Pandaren would have the assistance of the Troll Firstborn Legion.

The significance of this assistance lies in the fact that, when it comes to "killing insects," probably no one in this world is more proficient than a troll.

They used sheer numbers to crush the once-powerful Aqir insectoid empire, and the Mantid are now just one of the three branches of that empire.

If the Mantids have forgotten the humiliating defeat of the Aqir Empire, then the troll berserkers wouldn't mind showing them what it means to "tear apart a horde of insects" today.

However, not all the trolls went to help.

With the help of the old dwarf Brann, Diakum activated the Reshaping Platform, placing the shattered Ashbringer and the crimson pearl hilt inside. As he set the weapon parameters, the Dark Prophet Zul strolled in, leaning on his staff adorned with Azerite crystals.

"The weapon parameters do not need to be modified."

Dick said to Brian Copperbeard, who was operating the console:
"You'll handle the whole process. Just fuse the materials of the two weapons together, and use the pearl hilt to repair the Ashbringer's damage. Don't do anything unnecessary, and definitely don't use Titan energy to infuse it with more power."

This weapon is pure; it only wants to embrace the Holy Light.

Can you do that?

"Of course, my ancestors taught me how to use this instrument in Uldaman."

The old dwarf, who had just wet himself in fear, had now changed into clean pants and spoke with much more confidence. While flipping through his notes and journals looking for a solution, he patted his chest and said:
"Just you wait and see, I'll make sure it looks beautiful. However, there are some weapons left behind by the Mogu people in the early days in the storage chamber of this builder. I checked the parameters, and they are all divine weapons."

Don't you need it?

“What would I do with those? I’m not really going to be ‘Maoman Dick’.”

Diakum rolled his eyes and said:
“Take these weapons and armor and give them to the Celestials to reward the heroes after the war. The treasures of Pandaria remain on this continent, and the Pandaren need them more than we do.”

"Hmm, if you don't intend to use Titan energy to enhance it, why not use the world power of Azeroth to add luster to your relics?"

The Dark Prophet Zul spoke vaguely, then took a small piece of Azerite crystal, rich in the essence of the world, from his spell pouch and handed it to Diakum.

The Watcher thought it was a great idea and gave the crystal to Brian, putting him in charge of operating it.

Then the Watcher and the Dark Prophet walked to the edge of the control panel. He looked at Zul and said:

"Has your tongue grown back yet? You're really going all out to protect the dark secrets of the Zandalari trolls."

"It's alright. Trolls can regenerate limbs, and cutting off their tongues is just to protect other people's lives. If those things they shouldn't know are spread around by big mouths, the consequences will be terrible."

Because his tongue hasn't fully grown back, Zul's speech is a bit slurred and unclear.

It shook its head and said:

"The Shadra's scheming priests use extremely vicious methods when dealing with people who can't keep their mouths shut. I just don't want my alien friends to suffer any more, do you hear me, Prince Brian!"
Dispose of all those notes you secretly wrote in your journal if you don't want to see the Frostmane troll tribe in Khaz Modan suddenly attack Ironforge.

Some secrets are best kept in your heart.

The old dwarf was startled.

He hesitated for a moment, then turned to the page with the new records in his journal. He glanced at those terrible, dark secrets, and finally gritted his teeth, tore the page out, and lit it with his pipe.

Only then did the Dark Prophet withdraw his gaze with satisfaction.

It wasn't just here to warn the old dwarf not to play with fire; under Diakum's watchful gaze, Zul whispered:

"Queen Azshara went to the realm of the dead and launched a punitive expedition. This queen's arrogance is truly as legendary as it is said. In reality, we all know that given the World Mother's affection for her, she could easily appease her with just a few kind words."

"Do not."

Dick shook his head and said:
"The matter between the 'mother and daughter' can be handled internally as it may, but since the Supreme Star Soul invited me to take charge of this matter, then Queen Azshara should not think that she can be so easily cleared of her crimes."

In my opinion, she is an incorrigible nefarer whose heinous crimes of destroying the world are enough to put her on my 'blacklist'. Her ten thousand years of protection in Pandaria is merely an expression of atonement.

As she herself said, her atonement would not be complete until she brought back all the precious life force that the world had lost because of her.

And this is only the first step.

Actually, this is good news for the trolls. The prophet, the World Mother, did not forgiving the Elf Queen this time, which means that she has begun to treat her children with a 'fair' attitude.

Perhaps Ragnaros's 'righteous words' truly stung her, forcing her to begin to handle the world's internal affairs in a genuine 'World Mother' capacity.

This is an excellent direction.

Perhaps in the near future, the world will make up for all the 'care' it owes the trolls.

"Well, well done."

The Dark Prophet's wrinkled face broke into a smile, like an old flower blooming. It was indeed good news, but the Dark Prophet longed for more.

It organized its thoughts and whispered:

"However, even if the Elven Queen returns in triumph, she will not be able to rebuild her empire. A large portion of the Kaldorei, Quel'dorei, and Highborne elves will not be willing to accept Azshara's rule so submissively."

Ten thousand years is too long; it would be enough for the Elf Queen's majesty to fade in the hearts of the elves.

Most importantly, the elves proved that they could find a way to survive even without Azshara's leadership. If Azshara insisted on rebuilding the empire, it would only trigger a worse elven civil war, which would undoubtedly drag all races in the world into it.

Ultimately, by the end of the War of the Ancients, Azshara's legitimacy had been shattered by the bitter fruit of her own reckless actions.

"so what?"

Diakum looked at the Dark Prophet with a surprised expression.

He had a premonition that this old troll was about to give him a hard time.

Then he heard the Dark Prophet say in a low voice:
“If dark trolls can call themselves ‘elves,’ then why can’t other trolls do the same? If Queen Azshara is willing, the Golden King’s throne in my clan’s Dazar’alor palace can be given to her at any time!”

King Rastakhan would pass on his crown with a smile to a more ambitious monarch who had also made up for his bad character in the disaster.

Yes.

The troll empire is enormous!

My Majesty and I discussed the matter repeatedly and came to a pessimistic conclusion: with the Zandalari tribe's current strength, even if the other troll tribes are all loyal to the Empire, we will find it difficult to completely control the Empire's trajectory. Instead, the internal strife among the clans will turn the reconstruction of the troll Empire into a joke.

We need a figure who can wield power, possess strength, and command the respect of all ambitious warlords and tribal chiefs through personal charisma to become the ruler of the empire!

"As long as Azshara is willing."

"This is impossible, isn't it? Forgive my bluntness, but you're being a bit delusional."

Diakum said in a surprised tone:

“How could Azshara possibly want to rule over a group of trolls? Even though she herself went through the transformation from dark trolls to elves, you should know that the rule forbidding others from discussing these matters was a law personally promulgated by Azshara.”

She would never admit that she was once a happy and beautiful dark troll on the ancient continent of Kalimdor.

Anyone who dares to say such things in front of her will be strangled by the Empress herself.

"Yes, I know, but the world's blessing that the trolls were missing is returning, isn't it?"

The Dark Prophet blinked and said:
"Give us enough time, and with the protection of the Azerite crystals, we too can become elves. More perfect elves, more resilient elves, more united elves, more powerful elves!"
Because Queen Azshara experienced that scene firsthand, she should know our potential all the more.

The empire needs her guidance.

She too can regain her empire!
Both parties can satisfy their desires, so why not?

Only after she joined us did we have more right to call ourselves the 'firstborn son of the world'.

The reason I'm telling you all this is that I hope you can give us a helping hand if possible.

You don't need to worry about the World Mother's attitude; She will definitely approve of my idea, and you don't even need to worry about the inheritance of the Troll Empire.

As long as Queen Azshara declares Princess Talanji as her successor, all trolls will sing her praises and support her!
Yes.

We only ask that at some appropriate time in the future, you say a few kind words for us. This is the privilege of a 'fate fighter'—while occasionally and rigidly confronting fate, you can also indulge in your little quirky pleasures.
"Ha, you're already interested, aren't you?"

(End of this chapter)