Druids are one of the rare versatile classes; they might not always be the strongest, but they are certainly versatile enough. They can tank, they can heal, and they can deal damage!
Tell me, what is such a noble class called?
That's right, it's the Paladin!
He handed Maiev a unique token—an identification marker. If something truly went wrong, she could use the Scepter of Refuge to be transported to Lordaeron.
Malfurion also transformed, taking on his Moonkin Form. At this moment, he appeared tall and formidable, the antlers on his head entwined with emerald vines, symbolizing his mastery of the Way of Nature.
"I hope that this time we can cooperate sincerely, allowing me to witness the grace of an ancient hero once more."
"You are a hero too; everyone who participates in battle is a hero, regardless of whether they are commoners, nobles, mortals, or demigods. It's just that some are still alive, while others have sacrificed themselves."
Arthas didn't sense much hostility; it felt more like a reconciliation born of helplessness, a signal of goodwill.
Perhaps the Night Elves' view on love was special; if they truly loved someone, they wouldn't cling to them, but would instead find ways to ensure the other's happiness. In this regard, they were much better than Arthas; he lacked such self-awareness, nor could he ever possess it.
What does 'letting go if you love them' even mean? That's just incompetence!
Malfurion was somewhat taken aback. He hadn't expected this ancient hero to refrain from speaking harshly to him; such magnanimity was truly worthy of the name of a hero. In truth, he was overthinking things; a model worker like him couldn't be allowed to die—if he were to die, it should be from exhaustion as a model worker, not easily plotted to death!
A quick death is a mercy; being worked to death like a beast of burden is true torture!
"My Lord, please forgive my recklessness."
As he said this, he placed one hand over his chest and bowed. By now, it was an unchangeable fact; he knew Tyrande's character well—once she made a decision, there was no turning back. Never mind that Arthas was still alive; even if he weren't, she wouldn't change her mind.
"Let's go. Let's meet Xavius. He's been brooding over his defeat by your hand during the War of the Ancients; I wonder if he'll be provoked to death by the sight of you."
Arthas chuckled inwardly. There was no helping it, given how loyal Tyrande was. Night Elves had one advantage: most of the females weren't the type to seek excitement. Once they chose a mate, they would only recognize that one until death—unless someone else was exceptionally charismatic, a hero who saved their race or the world; then they might consider a change of heart.
A hero who had saved the world like him would be favored wherever he went, as evidenced by his journey so far. Those women didn't care if he already had a mate; they only thought about becoming one of his mates to satisfy their inclination toward the strong.
Passing through a mist-emanating tree trunk fissure, the group arrived at a bizarre woodland.
The sky was dark red, and the surrounding vegetation was dark red as well. The trees were covered in numerous eyeballs that rolled incessantly; it looked terrifying and disgusting, causing an uncontrollable fear to spread in their hearts.
In the very center, it looked exactly like the illusion Arthas had encountered: countless thick roots falling from the sky converged here from all directions, forming a tangled circular structure that seemed to be protecting something within.
Thump, thump, thump!
Xavius walked out. He had no servants by his side, only himself. This wasn't arrogance, but because no other servants could enter the Rift of Aln; they would go completely mad and lose control, even daring to attack him.
His massive physique closely resembled the modified Berserker Trolls of Zandalar. Dark red vines spread across his body, and demonic horns grew from his head. His Fel Energy tattoos had been replaced by Nightmare power, forming unique Nightmare tattoos. Fortunately, these tattoos were irregular; if they were carved into heart shapes, things would have gotten quite 'philosophical'!
His giant tongue had lost its elasticity, looking like that of a hanged ghost. Xavius's eyes were filled with madness and ferocity. He glanced at Malfurion, the Nightmare power on his body almost thick enough to be tangible; he was infuriated that this lowly commoner could defeat him, the former Arcane advisor!
During the War of the Ancients, in front of so many soldiers and the masters of the Burning Legion, Malfurion had used those so-called nature spells to defeat him, forcibly turning him into an oak tree to be swallowed up!
He hated! He hated Arthas, he hated Malfurion, and he hated all the Kaldorei elves. Why couldn't they just die properly!
At every moment, he thought of possessing Queen Azshara, of becoming the Queen's mate. No one else was worthy of the Queen; only he possessed that right.
"You shun the road to heaven and barge through the gates of hell. Malfurion, I see you truly want to test yourself against me! Do you even have the right?"
Is that you, Liu Huaqiang?
"Shut up! You lackey of the Burning Legion, today is the day you die!"
"My Lord, please hold off Xavius. I need to prepare a spell to kill him once and for all. Behind him is the Heart of Corruption, which provides him with a continuous stream of power. Break the heart, and his strength will diminish significantly."
Malfurion used a respectful form of address; this battle concerned the fate of all Azeroth. He would not let personal feelings get in the way. A Druid's mission was to maintain the ecology and peace of Azeroth; an elf who could become an Archdruid must necessarily cast aside personal emotions.
Only then did Arthas notice the heart protected by the surrounding roots not far behind Xavius. It was connected by countless crimson vines and was beating violently. It was covered in giant eyeballs, which felt very much like the Old God CThun. Could it be that CThun had entered the Emerald Nightmare?
He wasn't certain. Chronologically, the order in which the three surviving Old Gods were freed was CThun—Yogg-Saron—NZoth. Now NZoth was as dead as could be, crushed to death by Sargeras himself.
Under the infusion of Fel Energy, the established cycle of life and death would be destroyed, preventing the Old Gods from resurrecting again. Even their souls were annihilated; if the corpses were resurrected, they would just be skeletal frames, unless a new soul entered and took their place.
Xavius noticed that blonde Vrykul; the stench on the man made him feel disgusted. His eyes fixed on that runeblade, and ancient, dead memories attacked him once more. A trace of disbelief, anger, and fear appeared in his crazed eyes!
"Who are you! Why is that sword in your hands!"
"I'm your father!"
Arthas wasn't going to be polite to him. A beast like this, who looked for trouble for no reason, deserved to go to hell!
If it weren't for the Emerald Nightmare incident, he would have finished his learning tasks by now and gone to the Eternal Palace in the deep sea to discuss the name of their first child with his mate, Azshara!
Any enemy who hindered him from enjoying life could be called a beast! And Xavius was a beast among beasts, a super beast!
As the Lord of Nightmare for so long, no one had ever dared to speak to him so loudly, which infuriated Xavius to the extreme. He wasn't a Nightmare that easily lost his temper, but seeing the runeblade reminded him of his beloved Queen suffering unspeakable humiliation beneath the holder of this sword, and his rage intensified.
"You deserve to die!"
"Attack!"
Arthas charged forward quickly. With a thought, he activated Energy Siphon, and an invisible conduit connected to Xavius, beginning to drain his life and mana. Any primal magic required mana to be cast, not just Arcane.
The benefit of this skill was that within its range, all enemies—tangible or intangible—would be marked, acting as a detection function.
Besides Xavius, there were also the roots in the distance and the giant vines hidden underground. Without the marking from Energy Siphon, it would have been difficult to notice that these roots and vines, which looked like mere plants, were also aggressive!
Roar!
Several senior Druids transformed into Bear Form one after another, using Taunt to divert Xavius's attention. Fandral Staghelm also took on Moonkin Form, using nature spells to attack Xavius. One nature vine after another grew wildly from seeds, turning into giant chains that entwined him.
He hadn't expected to kill Xavius just like that; as the Lord of Nightmare, he was difficult to kill, and spells hardly dealt significant damage. Since the most capable ancient hero was on-site to help, his plan was to use Druid spells to restrict him.
He turned the Moonkin Form, which was supposed to deal damage, into a support role—not seeking to kill the enemy, but only to trap Xavius so he couldn't move around. Druids were versatile, but that also meant they were mediocre; they weren't the strongest, but they wouldn't be the weakest either.
Their specialty was various vine entanglements, diversion, and control. In terms of being annoying, they were second only to a Rogue's Sap.
The enraged Xavius struggled furiously, but the more he struggled, the tighter the vines entwining him became.
As an old mage, he immediately stopped struggling and began to fully exert his Nightmare power, letting the Nightmare infect and corrode the vines entwined around him, turning them into his own tools.
"Purify!"
After Fandral shouted, he put all his effort into maintaining the vines. Two other Druids shifted from Bear Form back to their Night Elf appearances, holding oak staves and applying nature spells to the corroded vines that were glowing with a dark red hue, suppressing the Nightmare's corruption.
For a moment, the two sides were locked in a strange tug-of-war. However, within the Rift of Aln, Xavius had almost infinite power, an inexhaustible supply. If this continued, the Druids would eventually be the ones to lose.
Druids also needed mana to cast spells; once their mana was depleted, it would become impossible for them to fight back.
Arthas, meanwhile, headed toward destroying the Heart of Corruption. The surrounding tree trunks began to become active. The seemingly rigid trunks became as flexible as vines, either sweeping across or slamming down vertically, causing the ground to tremble and kicking up clouds of dust that completely obscured his vision.
With a backhand stroke, he sent a sword qi hitting a vine, slicing it in half, but in the next second, it was swallowed by other roots.
The health of the trunks guarding the Heart of Corruption increased out of thin air; the more vines he cut, the higher the trunks' health became.
The stun brought by Bash had no effect whatsoever on these types of plants—this was a first!
Even someone as powerful as Sargeras, the Fallen Titan, would experience a moment of daze; no matter how brief, it existed. It wasn't like now, where it completely failed to take effect!
"Jie jie jie, should I call you Arthas or Ximen Chuixue! Did you think I wouldn't be prepared for you?
This was meticulously prepared for you. Are you happy? Surprised! Hahaha!"
Xavius's Taunts came again. Facing the burning of the vines, he remained unable to move and let the spells land on him as if they were just tickling. As long as the Heart of Corruption existed, he had a continuous stream of power; the small amount of health lost wasn't even worth mentioning, as it could be refilled in an instant.
This was the source of his confidence. In the Rift of Aln, this was the absolute home field of the Nightmare; no one could defeat him! No one! Unless Lord Sargeras himself descended!
As the only true god in the physical universe, even other Titans could find ways to eliminate the Nightmare, or at least suppress and seal it if they couldn't. But without reaching the level of a Titan's overwhelming might and breaking through with sheer force, one would just have to take a beating.
It was one thing not to Taunt, but taunting would only make the opponent enter a state of blood-rage. It would either lead to impotent fury or an explosion of incredible combat power.
Xavius had no idea what kind of monster he had provoked. While weaving normal attacks with basic strikes was indeed Arthas's most habitual and common method, it didn't mean he didn't know spells.
It was just that spells required time to stack, and their lethality was far less direct than drawing blood with every strike.
"Oh, is that so? Then you're really something!"
Arthas was also laughed out of anger. Did he truly think he was just a brute?
"Infernal!"
A distorted ripple formed in the sky, and a group of Infernals appeared. Previously, it was just a single summon. Later, it gradually evolved into summoning three at once, and now he directly summoned ten, turning it into an Infernal swarm!
Thump, thump, thump!
The Infernals crashed into the tree trunks one after another. These Infernal giants came with their own Fel Immolation; they didn't need to attack much—they just needed to hold onto a section of the roots and use Fel Energy to corrupt it.
Blue Water Elemental servants and Serpent Wards followed, rising from the ground and using their piercing attacks on the roots. These attacks were like mosquitoes—not very painful, but definitely annoying.
Rain of Fire!
The signature skill of a Pit Lord. The Rain of Fire fell on the tree trunks, and the resulting burning spread all the way up. Fire had a natural counter against tree-type creatures; at this moment, faces similar to those of Ancient trees appeared on the trunks, looking incredibly pained.
"What!"
"It's not over yet, you idiot! Flame Storm!"
Arthas opened his hands and performed Kael'thas's signature skill. This move was usually used on buildings, but it could also be used to destroy forests and brutally clear a path; once used, it left the victim speechless.
The flames, their power amplified by Arcane energy, appeared directly on the Heart of Corruption, burning and snapping the twisted vines.
"Ah! Stop it!"
Xavius felt a heart-wrenching pain. With every burn, similar scars appeared on his own body. Although they were quickly repaired by Nightmare power, as soon as they were fixed, new burn marks appeared again. This repetitive process was pure suffering!
After casting a flurry of spells, Arthas stepped forward again, this time launching an attack on the Heart of Corruption from a distance.
Thanks to the ability brought by Alexstrasza, he could turn what were originally close-quarters basic attacks into long-range strikes.
When a Berserker can launch attacks from a distance while still enjoying the advantages of melee, the power is truly infinite!
Besides, Energy Siphon didn't care about any of that; it was draining health and mana every second.
The mana of these Nightmare Ancient trees had long been drained dry, making them completely unable to cast spells; they could only use their vines for primitive attacks.