Traveling to Northrend was an itinerary Andreas had determined long ago. After the earlier capture of Malygos, Alexstrasza, the Life-Binder, had extended an invitation to him.
Wyrmrest Temple is located in the Dragonblight on the continent of Northrend. This vast snowy plain is the birthplace of the proto-dragons and also serves as the main base for the five Great Aspect Dragonflights.
The sudden appointment from Elune had disrupted Andreas' original plans, and possessing the infinite energy of the Well of Eternity caused him to temporarily postpone his intention to create another source of magic power.
However, visiting Coldarra remained a planned part of his journey. If he could leverage the merit of recovering Malygos to obtain ley line node adjustment rights from the Blue Dragonflight, it would significantly aid the layout of his subsequent plans.
On the other hand, if Andreas remembered correctly, there was another group of Night Elf kin scattered across the distant continent of Northrend.
The northernmost city of Shandaral—a city used during the era of the Night Empire to store Arcane relics and artifacts.
After the War of the Ancients began, the Arcane relics and artifacts of Shandaral were urgently transferred by Queen Azshara and transported to the "Jewel of the Night," Suramar.
Although Shandaral was located in the frigid, bitter cold of the far north, there were still many Highborne responsible for managing the city.
More than 2,000 years had passed, and Andreas wondered how this group of Highborne had endured such a long time while facing the pressure of mana addiction. He intended to take the time to visit them and attempt to recruit them back into the newly formed Night Republic.
...
With the infinite energy of the Well of Eternity as a backdrop, Alan, who had gathered enough manpower, accelerated the testing and improvement of the Arcane Golems.
Half a year later, the Arcane Golems that had completed basic testing were transported to the Tanaris front to formally begin field evaluations.
Most Night Elves, including Nawaz, had seen these autonomous magi-mechanical constructs during the era of the Night Empire.
However, Queen Azshara and the Highborne had not sent Arcane Golems onto the battlefield at that time; most were kept for patrolling near the noble districts and the royal palace. The commoners were not clear on the combat capabilities of these golems.
Although Nawaz was somewhat distrustful of these autonomous machines, he followed his orders and arranged for his army to create opportunities for the Arcane Golems to lead the charge into the deathly silent city of Zul'Farrak.
Having endured more than a year of hardship, the elderly, weak, and sick in Zul'Farrak had long since perished. The women and children had been taken back by Andreas to undergo brainwashing education.
The Sandfury Trolls, desperate for food, had repeatedly streamlined their population. Now, only about 200,000 young and able-bodied males remained in the entire city, and every single one was starving.
Even if Andreas had not issued the order, Nawaz had planned to storm the city soon to reap the fruits of victory.
Since there were Arcane Golems available to lead the way without costing lives, Nawaz was more than happy to lead his troops behind them.
Ten heavy Arcane Golems took the lead, while the other two models followed temporarily behind the "Light of Elune" units. The empty and silent city seemed to pose no threat.
However, crisis usually appears at unexpected moments. When the group arrived at the central plaza of Zul'Farrak, a red-eyed Theka the Martyr personally led his best-fed, trusted soldiers in a sudden ambush.
"Purple-skinned freaks, die, all of you!"
Clang!
Theka's two-handed sword slammed into the leading Light of Elune golem, actually flipping the heavy treaded Arcane construct over on the spot.
"Hmm?"
Nawaz, who was advancing steadily at the rear of the column, noticed the glowing two-handed greatsword in Theka's hands.
"Interesting. Is that a legendary artifact passed down by the Sandfury Trolls?"
It was a strangely shaped greatsword, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. Two dark green orbs of light, filled with a voodoo aura, rotated around the blade, which was inscribed with runes of unknown meaning.
Theka's valiant performance bolstered the morale of the Sandfury Trolls. The trolls, who had been besieged for over a year, used their last strength to launch a counterattack.
But their impact all crashed against the front-line Light of Elune golems. Except for the first unit personally disabled by Theka, the sturdy shells forged from a mixture of Thorium and Mithril remained almost unscathed under the trolls' weapon attacks.
"Boom!"
A high-output Light of Elune golem, fully charged with energy, punched a charging troll. The massive force not only punched through the troll's flesh but also sent the enemies in several rows behind flying backward with undiminished momentum.
Clang~ Clang~
The standard-version Arcane Golems in the rear also stepped out with pulsing mechanical strides, throwing punches left and right into the trolls.
Facing these invulnerable, bizarre constructs for the first time, most Sandfury Trolls were momentarily beaten into a state of total confusion.
As the Chieftain of the Sandfury Trolls, Theka suddenly recalled the Zandalari voodoo golems he had read about in ancient texts.
Hum~
The "Wings of Elune" trailing at the very back had been acting very low-key to conserve energy. Upon entering combat mode, they finally revealed their fangs.
Their Arcane energy wings unfolded, and these mechanical creations took to the sky under the incomprehensible gazes of the trolls.
Swish~
Sharp Arcane energy wings sliced through a vertical row of trolls. A few seconds later, the upper bodies of the stationary trolls began to slide off at different angles, and blood immediately sprayed from the incisions.
The Sandfury Trolls had only managed to muster their morale under the desperate encouragement of Theka. Faced with these unknown and terrifying existences, their morale collapsed rapidly.
Although none of the Sandfury Trolls present fled because of Theka's frantic performance, their numbers were being reduced at a visible rate.
The number of Light of Elune golems destroyed by Theka reached four; even one of the Wings of Elune flying in the air was swatted down by him when he caught an opportunity as it skimmed low. However, that was his limit.
Huff~ Huff~
Gasping for breath, Theka had run out of strength. The wounds on his body had healed as before under the trolls' innate regenerative ability, but his exhausted stamina could not be restored.
Nawaz drew the two-handed sword gifted to him by Andreas from his back. "Move aside, I will see him off on his final journey."
This two-handed sword, named Gurthalak, had a very strange design. The blade parts were almost completely separated, held together entirely by the weapon's own energy.
This sword was one of the weapons Andreas had "borrowed" from Deathwing's vault. Since he had no use for it himself, he gave most of them to his subordinates as rewards.
Seeing Nawaz assume a combat stance and stand calmly before him, Theka, knowing he could not escape today, burned his life force to forcibly recover a bit of stamina.
"Come then, Night Elf! The Sandfury Trolls will never surrender!"
Nawaz calmly dodged Theka's frantic vertical overhead swing and used the hilt of his sword to strike heavily against his chest.
"Cough!"
Coughing up blood, Theka ignored his injuries. He lifted the legendary sword passed down through the Sandfury clan for countless years—Sul'thraze the Lasher—with one hand. Ignoring his own defense completely, he launched a final charge at Nawaz like a mad dog.
Clang~ Clang~
Most attacks were dodged by the emotionless Nawaz. A few tricky strikes were perfectly blocked by him using Gurthalak.
Becoming increasingly powerless, Theka finally couldn't hold on. Overextending himself, his foot slipped, and he fell to one knee.
Nawaz raised Gurthalak and said in a flat tone, "It ends here. Farewell, Chieftain of the Sandfury Trolls."
Slash!
As Nawaz snatched the legendary sword Sul'thraze from the headless Theka and held it high above his head, the Night Elves raised a collective victory cheer. The Sandfury Trolls hiding in the city, waiting for death, looked toward the sound with vacant empty eyes.
In their hearts, they all understood that the thousands of years of Sandfury Troll history had come to a complete end today.