Make Azeroth breathtaking

"These weapons of mine were all transported here. Is it a problem to charge extra for the transport?"

"no problem......"

Now that things have come to this, Jaina can't really say anything. As a spellcaster, she is very aware of the complexity of teleportation magic and the high cost behind it. Teleportation using engineering systems is inherently unstable. Tanis must have suffered a huge loss to send so many supplies to this place... right?

However, if Jaina knew what was happening in Ratchet, she'd probably freeze the shameless Tanys in place with Frost Nova and give that money-grubbing idiot a good talking-to...

————————————————Ratchet————————————————————

Gazlowe sat in his chair, flipping through the documents in front of him, his face beaming with a wide smile.

"Most of the ammunition that was about to expire was released from storage, and it was even sold for a little more than the standard price. The compressed rations that were being tested were also being sampled for a fee, saving a lot of money... War... really is a great opportunity to make a fortune!"

XIV. The Battle of Andorhal – Kel'Thuzad Appears

——————————————After dinner——————————————————

After the necromancers secretly collected the corpses that hadn't been burned by holy light or fire, and once again pieced together a fragmented undead army, the tense siege battle began again. However, unlike the initial chaos of the battle, the human troops, having adapted to the undead's siege rhythm and relieved their fatigue after eating and drinking their fill, completely mastered the rhythm of the battle.

Amidst the sounds of cannons, bombs, and large-caliber firearms, the second wave of undead attacks was wiped out in less than an hour—of course, this was not only due to Tannis's weapons, but also because a priest had a sudden inspiration and suggested that the clergy 'bless' their weapons and ammunition with holy light.

"It looks like they'll have a hard time organizing another attack today."

Tannis, who had been monitoring the movement of the surrounding horde of corpses, let out a breath.

"I think I can get a good night's sleep tonight."

Nothing happened that night.

Another morning dawned, and the undead arrived as promised in the morning light, only to be blasted back at an even faster speed by the roar of the blessed firearms.

"Jaina, are you sure that gentleman isn't just playing house with us?"

Watching the undead horde being driven back by the barrage of firearms, Tannis yawned in boredom. As a semi-outsider with the warning of the fragmented memories, she had already sensed that something was wrong.

"why?"

Having roughly assessed the enemy's strength, and with Tanis's ruthless deployment of numerous landmines significantly reducing her stress, Jaina was almost back to her elegant self in Dalaran.

"Logically, the undead are stronger at night, right?"

"Although nighttime doesn't provide any bonuses for most undead, they don't need sight to find targets, so they do have an advantage in night battles."

Jaina readily admitted this.

"On the first night, our defenses weren't fully in place and the soldiers weren't very confident. But instead of seizing that golden opportunity to attack, he simply used the stupid tactic of walking corpses circling around to put pressure on us. But you and I both know that no one who gets to that position is a fool."

Although Tanya didn't specify who 'he' was, Jaina understood what Tanya meant.

"He is a great mage, not a general."

"Assuming you were in his position, if you wanted to annihilate us and were certain you couldn't cut off our supply lines, would you use such a stupid, obviously ineffective piecemeal tactic? If those guys keep charging into our camps in this foolish way, the corpses around Andorhal will be completely depleted in less than three days."

As if struck by a thought, Tennys's fingers clicked rapidly on the mechanical assistant's calculator, uttering words that would send chills down the spine of most people.

"What do you mean by 'corpse resources,' Miss Tannis?"

Arthas walked up to Tannis, carrying his warhammer. He looked much more elegant today.

"Literally, for necromancers, corpses are merely a resource to be used. To estimate their endurance, I plugged the population of Andorhal before its fall into the calculation center of my mechanical assistant, along with the mass of undead creatures we roughly eliminated in these two battles..."

"I understand, let's not talk about it now..."

Arthas weakly raised his hand, a hint of sadness in his voice. Knowing that her boyfriend was once again caught up in self-blame, Jaina quickly took over the conversation.

"Tannis, according to your deduction, is it unlikely that the enemy will be able to launch a decent attack again?"

"This conclusion is based solely on data calculations, but since I cannot gather information about the enemy spellcasters, the result is subject to considerable variables."

Jaina nodded slightly, understanding what Tannis meant.

"As far as I know, most spellcasters don't choose sophisticated tactics when faced with this kind of head-on battle formation. Instead, they try to solve the problem using spellcaster methods. Because we have enough priests and powerful paladins like Arthas in our camp, it's difficult for those necromancers to weaken the soldiers' combat power with curses or other means. Also, because I've already set up simple defensive magic arrays in the barracks, it's difficult for them to break through our defenses with ordinary destructive black magic. So, if the other side has any other tricks up their sleeve, it's very likely that they are some powerful undead creatures."

"So, we might be facing some undead we've never heard of before?"

"That's hard to say, after all, even if it's undead, a new kind..."

Before Jaina could finish speaking, several enormous, bizarre undead, composed of countless pieces of flesh stitched together, with three arms—one holding a large cleaver, one a scythe, and the other a long chain—and exuding a greenish aura that clearly indicated they were not good people, appeared at the end of the road, accompanied by several men in black robes.

"what is that?"

Although Tennyson knew what she was about to face the moment she saw that pile of stuff, she still asked Jaina for advice, just to be on the safe side.

"I... I don't know. I've never seen such undead creatures before, but from what I can tell, they are flesh golems made by stitching together corpses and powered by dark magic."

Witnessing such a horrifying undead creature that completely challenges the limits of human aesthetics, even Jaina felt a vague sense of disgust.

"Those black-robed fellows... are they the ones who spread the plague and killed my people?"

Arthas's voice sounded completely unfamiliar to Jaina; it wasn't the voice of a crown prince, but rather... the tone of an Avenger.

Before Jaina could even think of a reply, Kel'Thuzad's aged and malevolent voice echoed across Andorhal.

“Crown Prince Arthas, it’s been a long time… Let me introduce myself. I am Kel'Thuzad, leader of the Cult of the Damned, the one who brought my master’s ‘blessing’ to Lordaeron.”

"Jaina, what's going on?"

Knowing who Kel'Thuzad was, Arthas abruptly turned to look at Jaina, his anger almost palpable.

"Congressman Kel'Thuzad... disappeared three years ago, and Dalaran never expected him to do something like this."

Jaina quickly recited the excuse she had prepared.

"After this is over, I will go to Dalaran to seek justice for my people."

Knowing that now was not the time to pursue this issue, Arthas took a few deep breaths, and the power of the Holy Light enveloped him.

"Kel'Thuzad! You will be reduced to ashes by me!!!"

XV. The Battle of Andorhal – The End

When Arthas issued his declaration of certain death, and the morale of the entire human camp soared to its peak, Tannis frowned slightly.

Something was wrong, very wrong. Both logical reasoning and the warnings from fragments of her own memory clearly told her that something was wrong.

First of all, Kel'Thuzad clearly had no intention of wiping out this human force. If he had, the ghouls and abominations would have charged into the camp on the first night, and even with all his power, he would have had no choice but to run away. However, he did not, and simply wasted a whole night—the most precious strategic window of opportunity.

Then, after confirming that the camp was difficult to capture, he did not transform those completely useless cannon fodder into something slightly more useful. Instead, he continued to use them carelessly, much like having the means to forge iron into better crude weapons but continuing to use iron ingots to smash people.

Finally, this guy actually showed up, showed up, showed up...

"If I were Kel'Thuzad, the optimal solution in this situation would definitely be to send cannon fodder to drag the barracks away while I escape to try and make a comeback. Why am I just running out to get killed? Am I getting cocky?"

Tanis had no doubt that Kel'Thuzad would be dead the moment he appeared. Since Dalaran suspected him of being the culprit, why wouldn't they have Jaina prepared? Not to mention the powerful paladin Arthas, and herself, the mechanic, providing assistance.

The problem is that Kel'Thuzad, as a former Kirin Tor senator, must know the Kirin Tor's style. As an archmage, his IQ is certainly above average. These mistakes might be unintentional if he makes one, but if he makes several in a row, it will definitely cause problems!

Thinking of this, Tannis glanced at the two people beside her and sighed inwardly.

Clearly, neither Arthas nor Jaina had considered this possibility, or rather, even if they had realized something was wrong, they were forced to jump into the trap. On one hand, unlike others who were semi-outsiders, they lacked the clear perspective of a bystander. On the other hand, Arthas needed to kill Kel'Thuzad to give his kingdom an explanation, and Dalaran, behind Jaina, also needed Kel'Thuzad's death to avert a potential diplomatic storm. Therefore, Kel'Thuzad's appearance this time left not only him with no way out, but also Arthas and Jaina with no way out.

'Sacrificing a high-ranking mage like Kel'Thuzad just to set up a trap... or rather, to ignite an even bigger powder keg? Damn it, I can't get involved in this plague anymore! Once High Knight Uther arrives, I'm settling the bill and leaving!'

As Tanis rapidly processed the intelligence in her mind, Kel'Thuzad, who had spoken, slowly emerged from behind the large group of abominations. He wore a robe that was deeper than that of ordinary cultists, with strange patterns outlined in dark gold thread. He held a staff with a huge human skull at its top and stood undisguisedly at the forefront of the abominations' ranks.

"Kel'Thuzad!!!"

Arthas growled the name of the human archmage again. In his youth, he had dealt with the Kirin Tor Council of Dalaran, meeting them one by one as the Crown Prince of Lordaeron or as Jaina's boyfriend. But he never dreamed that the archmage Kel'Thuzad, whom he remembered as having a somewhat gloomy personality but who was generally a good person, would do such a thing!

"Kel'Thuzad, why did you betray Dalaran?"

Jaina raised her staff, and a purple, abstract rune with a three-pillared eye floated from its tip.

The Eye of the Kirin Tor, the symbol of Dalaran.

"The Eye of Kirin Tor... You are all watching me, old friends. Well then, I will tell you my answer. The world of magic is vast, and our knowledge is barren. Before the ocean of arcane magic, we are so small. Dalaran has been closed off for too long. I have only done what a spellcaster should do."

"Research into orcish necromancy is forbidden! It's fundamentally different from human necromancy! It doesn't seek to communicate with the dead, but rather to enslave them!!!"

Jaina rebuked her sharply.

"It's precisely because it's different from our spiritualism that I've devoted myself to it, to see these abominations, to see the power surging within them! Undoubtedly, this is a new world..."

Before Kel'Thuzad could finish speaking, a dazzling light shot out from the Kirin Tor Eye on Jaina's staff, striking Kel'Thuzad and the group of necromancers. Instantly, a large number of the necromancers who were maintaining order among the undead knelt down.

"...Hey...Using the Eye of the Kirin Tor to activate a group spell counterspell from such a long distance, you old guys really came prepared for me..."

As an archmage, Kel'Thuzad didn't instantly lose his fighting ability like those self-taught individuals. However, he only had a little power left to barely keep the ordinary undead around him from going out of control. As for abominations? Those things collapsed into a pulpy mess the moment Kel'Thuzad was counterspelled.

"Are these your last words, Kel'Thuzad!"

Arthas stepped out of the barracks, the Holy Light materializing into tangible holy flames that swirled around his warhammer.

"I haven't said my last words yet..."

"Then I'll let you talk!!! Soldiers!! Open fire!!!"

In the blink of an eye, the rising flames devoured the undead in front of them, and the rotting chunks of flesh flew up in the shockwave before burning to ashes.

Looking at the undead who had completely lost their lines and were now like headless flies, and the cultists of the curse crawling on the ground trying to escape with their lives, a ruthless glint flashed in Arthas's eyes. He raised his warhammer high and burned the power of the Holy Light into the bodies of every soldier.

"Soldiers! Charge with me! For Lordaeron!!!"

The battle ended quickly.

Because the Kirin Tor Council suddenly crippled the spellcasters of the Cult of the Damned, the remaining undead in Andorhal lost all their command and dark magic buffs, reducing their combat power by more than half. Without spellcasting abilities, the Cult of the Damned were no different from chickens in front of the enraged soldiers!

In less than half an hour, apart from Kel'Thuzad, who was deliberately spared, everything else on the battlefield related to the Cult of the Damned was wiped out.

"You can say your last words now."

Arthas placed the warhammer, still wreathed in holy flames, on Kel'Thuzad's head, his tone carrying a hint of triumphant satisfaction at having avenged his great grudge.

"...My death is not the end... Arthas, you will know... what true calamity is!! Neither Lordaeron nor you can escape the master's cold embrace!"

"Owner?"

Jaina had barely caught the word that caught her attention when she saw Arthas's warhammer strike—Arthas, eager to avenge his people, only gave Kel'Thuzad time to deliver his last words.

Kel'Thuzad – Death.