Make Azeroth breathtaking

"It's arcane energy, most of which can be ignored. However, if you find that arcane energy is abnormally concentrated or shows regular symbols in a certain place, you should be especially careful, because that means there may be a magical trap there."

"I understand."

Grom gripped Gorehowl tightly and stepped out of the woods, creating a rustling sound. Some of the murlocs on guard looked towards the source of the sound, but they didn't see Grom and Tannis, who had already entered camouflage mode.

So the group of fishmen grunted twice and continued their patrol, completely unaware that the Grim Reaper's scythe had just lightly grazed their necks.

"You actually managed to suppress your murderous intent."

Behind a rock where there were no fishmen around, Tannis stopped and handed Grom a meal and a bottle of water. Grom, who had already exhausted most of his strength, took the food and water and began to eat.

“I know when I can kill and when I must restrain my killing intent… Although that emptiness still torments my soul, I know that if the orcs want to regain their former glory, they must overcome this emptiness—overcome the curse we have been cursed for because of our shortsightedness.”

"What kind of curse is it? Tell me about it."

Tanis's tone revealed a hint of curiosity. During her interactions with the orcs, she had learned that before invading Azeroth, the orcs were not a bloodthirsty race in the traditional sense. Although they were warlike, they had a noble shamanistic faith that had been passed down for hundreds of years. In other words, the orcs' behavior in war was completely different from how they were in their homeland!

"We...we were deceived by Gul'dan. We drank demon blood, which turned us orcs into the demon's lackeys, monsters who only know how to kill...Miss Tanis? Miss Tanis?"

Grom suddenly heard Tennys' breathing become erratic.

"I am fine."

After practicing the way of the monk, a headache she hadn't experienced in a long time struck Tannis's soul once again, and hundreds of memories flashed before her eyes, allowing her to see the causes and consequences of many things.

"...Is everything just a harbinger?"

24. Rescue

After carefully avoiding the murlocs at the entrance whose arcane aura was significantly stronger than that of ordinary murlocs, Tanis and Grom finally stepped into the murloc cave by the sea, and suddenly, darkness fell before their eyes.

"Touch the left side of your eye with your hand. There's a button with a crescent-shaped protrusion on it. Press it."

Just as Grom was trying to adjust to the dim light, Tennys' voice reached his ears, and he immediately did as she said.

"Ok?"

The outlines of the things in front of me suddenly became clear. Although all I could see were white dots of arcane energy and green light outlining the surrounding environment, I could see them clearly!

"These glasses have so many functions."

As a battle-hardened soldier, Grom quickly adapted to the night-vision environment.

"These tactical goggles were developed to deal with various common special environments. In addition to arcane vision and night vision, they also provide underwater imaging enhancement and high-speed protection, two relatively low-tech capabilities... However, the cost is currently too high to reduce, so large-scale deployment is not possible... Wait a minute."

Even without Tannis's prompting, Grom also heard the scraping sound of something being dragged on the ground. The two quickly approached the cave wall, warily watching the direction from which the sound was coming from.

A few minutes later, a small group of murlocs appeared at a corner. The leader held a staff and was surrounded by arcane energy. The murlocs behind him all held metal weapons and had light armor protecting their vital parts. In the middle of the group of murlocs, a huge iron cage was being dragged.

"It's the Great Chief!"

Grom recognized the orc in the cage at a glance. He gripped Bloodhowl tightly and prepared to charge out.

"Don't rush, let me try my little trick first to see if it works."

Tannis stretched out her left hand to block Grom, and pressed her right hand on her control glasses. In the faint halo, several strange metal objects crawled out from beside Tannis, slipped to the middle of the road, and lay down, motionless like stones.

Less than a minute after Tannis laid the mines, the murlocs stepped on them.

Nothing happened.

'Did Tennys' landmines malfunction?'

Grom, thinking this, tensed his muscles, preparing to charge at the murloc spellcaster at the front of the group. At that moment, the iron cage holding Thrall stepped into the minefield.

"Sizzle..."

In the blink of an eye, as the murlocs entered the lightning zone, several bolts of lightning suddenly lit up without warning. The murlocs in front and behind them fell to the ground before they could even scream. The murlocs who were not attacked, who witnessed this 'incomprehensible' scene, were dumbfounded and looked around, not knowing what to do.

"call out!!"

With the distinctive whooshing sound of blood howling, several murlocs were cleaved in two by Grom's ferocious cleave. Before the murlocs realized they were being attacked, he used the momentum to spin his battle axe repeatedly, eliminating any remaining survivors.

"Sael, are you alright?"

While Grom was slaughtering the murlocs, Tanys had already used the oxygen cutter to break the lock on the iron cage imprisoning Thrall, rescuing the Warchief.

"I can still fight."

Sal answered Tannis's question concisely, then took the food and water and quickly ate and drank.

"Great Chief, what are they planning to do to you?"

"They intend to separate us and sacrifice us to something they call the God of the Black Sea."

Sal chewed the compressed rations hard, giving a muffled answer.

"Do you know where the others were sent, High Chief?"

"The ordinary orc soldiers and trolls were imprisoned together, while we leaders were taken one by one and sent to the altar as sacrifices. I was the second..."

As he said those words, Sal clenched his fist.

“I should have been the first, but the witch doctor Sen'jin persuaded the murlocs… to sacrifice him first….”

“We will offer sacrifices to the witch doctor Senjin, the great chieftain, with the blood of our enemies.”

Grom sat down cross-legged next to Thrall, his voice low.

"We will."

Sal stood up and looked into the depths of the cave.

"Let's break in and rescue the others."

———————————————Deep within the Merman Cave————————————————————

In the deepest part of the merman cave, the Safarul brothers squatted in the cage, conserving their energy as much as possible, and closed their eyes to rest. Years of fighting in the north and south had taught them that miracles could happen until the very last moment.

Vol'jin, imprisoned beside them, was not in such a good mood. He gripped the bars tightly with both hands, staring at the murlocs outside with flames practically spitting out.

"Don't waste your energy, young troll."

Brocchia slightly opened his eyes and spoke.

"Your chief... has been taken away, why are you still so calm?"

"Because anger does nothing to help, young troll, a true warrior, must know how to control his anger and unleash it at the right time."

"... "

Wojnarowski clenched and unclenched his fists, his muscles trembling violently. Finally, he followed the posture of the two veterans and began to rest.

Then, he heard battle cries coming from afar.

“Lok'tar Ogar!!”

Then, a violent flash of light filled the entire cave.

————————————————A few minutes later————————————————————

Tanys easily destroyed the locks on the cages holding the Saurfang brothers and Vol'jin, allowing them to obtain food and water to replenish their strength. Near the cages, the corpses of murlocs and their blood had stained the ground red, attracting some small animals hiding in the shadows to gnaw on them.

"Are you capable of fighting?"

Grom kicked aside a murloc corpse nearby. Caught off guard, the murlocs were hit by a flashbang, allowing Grom, the meat grinder, to charge into their midst without any hindrance. As a result, they were hacked to pieces before they could even see their enemy clearly.

"Anytime is fine."

Having recovered most of their vision from the intense flash, the Saurfang brothers thumped their chests to indicate they were in good condition, while Vol'jin made a troll gesture, signaling that he was ready to join the fight.

"Miss Tanyas."

Sal looked at Tannis, who understood and tossed out a steel weapon, light armor suitable for the environment, and a medical kit from her mechanical assistant.

"Arm yourselves, we're going to find those fishmen and 'seek justice'."

25. The Profaned Spirit of the Earth

"Whoosh! Whoosh!!"

The howl of Bloodhowl crashed against the cave walls, creating wave after wave of echoes. Grom Hellscream, leading the charge, wielded his legendary battle axe, tearing any murlocs that dared to stand in his way into unrecognizable pieces of flesh.

Beside Grom, Broxiger, wielding a steel battle axe, cautiously provided cover for the berserker. Although he didn't make many moves, every time he did, a murloc's life was inevitably taken.

Behind the group, Varok, the younger of the Saurfang brothers, held his battle axe horizontally, keeping watch with Vol'jin on the various paths in the cave, guarding against attacks from murlocs or something worse that might emerge from within. Dozens of murlocs and a snake had already met their end under the axes of these two warriors.

Thrall and Tannis, both possessing ranged attack capabilities, were closely protected in the center of the team. Thrall constantly communicated with the elemental spirits, requesting them to grant the team members tougher skin, stronger regeneration, greater speed, and more lethal blades. Tannis, on the other hand, wielded two uniquely designed weapons, firing bullet after bullet at the front, greatly reducing the number of murlocs.

The team swept through the cave like a storm, and finally, they saw the entrance. However, there was something extra at the entrance now.

"What's that? A stone man?"

Grom wiped the blood from his face, stared at the enormous creature standing at the cave entrance, and regulated his breathing, which was a little disordered from the 'intense exercise'.

"It is the manifestation of the Earth Spirit, the Earth element, but... it is violent, it is... in pain. I have never felt anything like this from the Earth Spirit before..."

Thrall pressed his right index finger to his forehead, trying his best to communicate with the giant of rock blocking the cave entrance. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't calm it down.

Just as Thrall was about to take further steps to appease it, several murlocs wielding staffs appeared beside the stone golem. They raised their staffs and shouted incomprehensible words. Thrall's expression was as if he had been struck by lightning, and he took a small step back.

"What's wrong, Great Chief?"

"My connection with it... has been severed. Those murlocs... they desecrated it with evil magic! Now it's completely enraged!"

Before Thrall could finish speaking, the stone giant blocking the cave entrance moved. It raised its thick leg and stomped down heavily. The terrifying force overturned the murlocs, tore the earth apart, and violent shockwaves spread in all directions with its movement, causing small stones to fall from the cave.

"Charge out!!!"

Grom charged forward, wielding the Bloodhowl Battle Axe, and pounced on the stone giant who was about to trample it again, his blade mercilessly slashing down at the stone giant's thigh.

"Grom, watch out!!!"

The instant Grom charged, Broxig, who was covering for Grom, also rushed into the Stone Giant's attack range like lightning, gripped his battle axe tightly with both hands and pushed upwards, barely blocking the Stone Giant's punch that was about to be delivered to Grom.

Following Broxig, Varok also moved. As brothers Saurfang who were of one mind, Varok chose the stone giant's other arm as the point of attack. The battle axe collided with the stone giant, sparks flying.

'Spirits, grant me strength...'

As Vol'jin chanted the ancient ritual incantations of the Darkspear trolls, he raised his hand and scattered shimmering particles at the stone giant. These seemingly harmless specks of dust landed on the stone giant, tearing tiny cracks in its body and noticeably slowing it down.