After the Hall of Valor returned to the human world, Odyn prepared to take revenge on Hela.
He performed "miracles" for all the Vrykul in Stormheim, encouraging them to embark on the path of finding courage once more.
The Vrykul indeed rediscovered their faith; they built warships and challenged the sea. Odyn guided them to attack the Kvaldir.
In the Battle of Twin Ports, almost all living Kvaldir were annihilated. The current Kvaldir are now undead pirates. For the Vrykul to attack them was an act of suicide.
This was precisely Odyn's goal; only dead Vrykul were qualified to join the Valarjar and ascend to the Hall of Valor.
He completely disregarded Gale's warning; the Valarjar were already spirits, so how could they die in battle?
The Kvaldir cruelly slaughtered the Vrykul who dared to challenge them, but just as they were about to seize the Vrykul's souls, Ael and the Valkyries descended. They took these brave Vrykul souls, leaving behind only the impotently enraged Kvaldir.
Odyn was very pleased as he watched the warriors continuously joining the Hall of Valor.
He held a grand feast to reward the three armies. Then he had Heimdall train these newly joined Valarjar, ensuring their strength would increase.
This war was called the Trial of Champions by Odyn, but the Vrykul called it the War of the Raging Sea. This war lasted for three years, and thousands of Vrykul sacrificed their lives for it.
The war only ceased when the Vrykul population had dwindled to such an extent that they could no longer launch attacks.
During these three years, however, Gale completed the incorporation of the Storm Dragons in western Stormheim. With Nodradis present, the Dragon Knight unit was also established.
Gale selected over a thousand soldiers, then eliminated more than half of them. In the end, less than half remained and temporarily became Dragon Knights.
These Dragon Knights were stationed on North Mountain, training with the Storm Dragons, striving to become true Dragon Knights as soon as possible.
Since the Hall of Valor returned to the human world, Gale's plan to dominate the ocean fell through. Between the Broken Isles and Northrend, Vrykul warships were everywhere, severely affecting Darkmoon City's trade and even more so the Bearman's passenger ships.
However, trading the failure of the ocean plan for an army of Dragon Knights was still a worthwhile exchange.
The War of the Raging Sea did not break the Kvaldir's dominance over the sea, but it did alert Hela.
The Hall of Valor's return to the human world greatly startled Hela. As Odyn's adopted daughter, she knew Odyn's strength too well.
Back then, with Loken's support and by ambushing Odyn when he was unprepared, she had managed to seal the Hall of Valor.
For these three years, she had been hiding from Odyn. However, Odyn hadn't sought her out during this time, instead continuously instigating the Vrykul to their deaths and then transforming them into spirits.
Seeing the Valarjar grow stronger day by day, Hela felt deeply threatened. She knew this was Odyn's expansion of forces, and once it was complete, it would be time for Odyn to launch his attack.
Thinking of this, Hela knew she couldn't sit idly by; she had to seek allies.
Ever since she sealed the Hall of Valor, Loken had closed Ulduar, making communication impossible.
The Kaldorei Empire, with whom she had clashed before, was a powerful force. If she could get help from the elves, she should be able to deal with Odyn. Unfortunately, the Hall of Valor's seal was broken by the elves, making them enemies, not friends.
Fortunately, signs indicated that Odyn had not sought help from the elves. Otherwise, with the elves' strength, she probably wouldn't have been able to hold out for three years.
How foolish!
Hela laughed mockingly; Odyn was as stubborn as ever.
Perfect, it gave her a chance to turn the tide.
She turned her gaze towards Northrend, to Utgarde Keep in Howling Fjord.
Utgarde Keep stood atop the fjord, with Proto-Dragons occasionally landing inside the keep. But as the nagelfar continuously approached, no sign of human activity was found within the keep; it seemed like a ghost town.
Habron, holding a lantern, said in confusion, "Have the Dragon Rider Clan already abandoned this place?"
Hela's image appeared on the lantern, "No, they are inside the keep."
Habron was puzzled, but after the ship docked, he immediately sensed the presence of living beings.
It was then that he understood the reason.
"Ha, I didn't expect the mighty Dragon Rider Clan to also fall victim to the flesh curse. Having lost their iron bodies, they too have degenerated into mortals, ultimately succumbing to death."
Hela said, "This is precisely why I brought you here."
Habron gained confidence in this mission; he understood the Dragon Rider Clan's fear too well. He, too, had once suffered from the flesh curse and gradually aged. Fortunately, Hela found him and gave him a chance to continue living.
Although, this kind of living was no different from being dead.
Pushing open the keep's gate, Habron raised his lantern. Infinite death qi emanated from the lantern, slowly enveloping the entire keep.
The sleeping Vrykul in the keep were eroded by the death qi and soon woke up. Their eyes turned blood-red, their faces deathly pale, no longer resembling living beings.
They walked out of their rooms, towards the keep's plaza, lining up in formation, seemingly awaiting something.
After a while, a massive Vrykul emerged from the royal palace.
He came before Habron and looked at Hela on the lantern.
"What have you done to us?"
Habron said, "The Lord of the Netherworld has granted you eternal life."
"Eternal life?"
Imiron looked at his shriveled body, which clearly wasn't how a living person should appear. However, the Vrykul before him didn't seem to be lying, for he could indeed live eternally in this form.
Ever since they were afflicted with the flesh curse, Imiron and the Dragon Rider Clan had lived in fear of death.
They abandoned their pursuit of the deformed Vrykul, retreated to Utgarde Keep, and used magic to put all Vrykul into a deep slumber to escape aging.
And now, Hela was helping them achieve eternal life in another sense.
This made them feel a greater sense of identification with Hela.
"What do you want us to do?"
Hela said, "Fight for me!"
Imiron grinned; the Dragon Rider Clan were all warmongers who loved to wage war. He didn't even ask who the opponent was, directly letting out a whistle.
The Proto-Dragons in the keep flew in, and the Vrykul leaped onto their backs, soaring into the sky with a roar.
A smile appeared on Hela's lips; she knew this would be the outcome.
She had Habron return to the nagelfar to guide the Dragon Knights towards the enemy's direction.
Habron watched the countless Dragon Knights in the sky with shock, completely relieved. With such a powerful army, it should be enough to deal with Odyn, right?
A few days later, the nagelfar arrived at Stormheim and issued an order to the Dragon Knights: raid Mire Sea Port!
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