The battle on the ground had already turned into a blazing inferno.
On the ridge near the City of Blessings, that towering ancient tree suddenly began to shake violently. In the next mont, countless roots as thick as giant pythons burst from underground, yanking, twisting, and trapping the armies closing in on the city walls.
Farther back, endless waves of cave spiders, scorpions, icefield snow wolves, insectoids, centaurs, and ogres pressed forward.
The assault troops weren't about to stop their charge or retreat just because others had fallen. In particular, the centaurs and ogres worked in small squads, hauling rams, catapults, and battering contraptions step by step toward the City of Blessings.
Of course, the Blood Elves had more than those writhing tree roots on their side—arrows, bolts, and massive boulders rained down from the city's defenses. In a flash, the City of Blessings beca a hellish battlefield.
anwhile, up in the air, after that brief pause in the furious lee, things exploded once again.
"Charge!"
With Orion's thunderous roar, the Northern Coalition turned their combined fire toward Gno Brimli, the weakest of the Blood Elves' leaders and the easiest to pick off.
anwhile, Grand Elder Lireesa and Blood Elf Elanor focused their attacks on the unfortunate Gareth. However, both sides were a lot more cautious this ti, and the targets managed to avoid most of the incoming strikes. Even so, Brimli and Gareth ended up taking heavy damage.
"Ironhoof, cover !"
With a barked command, Orion transford into lightning and lunged at Blood Elf Elanor, who was drawing her bow. Lokiviria and Bluehide, as if moving with one mind, flanked Grand Elder Lireesa. As for Ironhoof, the mont Orion shouted, he and the wounded Gareth surrounded Gno Brimli.
"WAAAGH! I hereby declare the Giant Race is no longer a vassal of the Blood Elves! Starting with , Orion Stoneheart!"
As the battle split apart into separate skirmishes, Orion dropped his mask completely. He unleashed the strength of an upper Legendary-level combatant, sending a crushing aura rolling toward Elanor.
The four attribute-less Lord's Stones he'd gotten from trading with Arthas had all been absorbed, pushing Orion straight to upper Legendary level. Going all-out, he was even capable of fighting those on the cusp of Legendary peak.
Orion's wild laughter filled the air as he cast Eightfold Spear Barrage, locking Blood Elf Elanor in its path.
"That giant's already at upper Legendary power?!"
"No way!"
Elanor's shock was written all over her face. Orion's upgraded strength could completely shake up the battle.
Lokiviria, Bluehide, Gareth, and Ironhoof were just as stunned—yet deep down, they felt a rush of excitent. Riding that surge of adrenaline, they all hamred Lireesa and Brimli even harder.
---
Inside the Eightfold Spear Barrage, Elanor's figure flickered, and suddenly she flashed right in front of Orion, sword stabbing for his chest. Orion just snorted, twisting the trident in his hands to knock her back with ease.
At the sa ti, the raging energy of the Eightfold Spear Barrage closed in on them both again, and Elanor, now out in the open, had to shield herself from a rain of spider spears falling from every angle.
Not far off, Gareth and Ironhoof were nearing victory in their own two-on-one assault. Brimli the Gno was badly wounded, and it looked like he was a goner.
"I'm ready!" Brimli croaked. "For my people! No matter what happens, I'm King of the Gnos. Take your lumps from the Gno King's wrath!"
Brimli's tall form shrank drastically, collapsing into a blood-sared orb not much bigger than a soccer ball. Transcendent power surged inside that sphere, along with mysterious runes flickering into view.
Boom!
A cataclysmic explosion erupted in midair, so great that the blast waves raked across everything around—even Orion and Elanor inside the Eightfold Spear Barrage felt it. As for Gareth and Ironhoof, caught at ground zero, they took the brunt of the devastation.
Brimli used a self-destructive thod to perish together with Gareth, while Ironhoof was severely injured and fell heavily to the ground.
When the shockwave finally subsided, two Lord's Stones shimring with starry light hung in the sky, instantly riveting everyone's attention.
Crackle!
In a flash of lightning, Orion appeared beside one of the Stones, snatching it into his storage ring. Then, turning to grab the other, he saw Lokiviria and Bluehide slamd aside by a swiftly appearing vine. Grand Elder Lireesa seized that second Lord's Stone before Orion could react.
He frowned but held his attack, shifting his gaze groundward to look for Jorik and Boarion, who had fallen from the sky earlier. But no matter how carefully he hunted for their bodies, he saw no sign of them.
Orion glanced up, suspicious that the Blood Elves might have whisked them away. Yet Lireesa and Elanor were both staring back at Orion with the sa puzzled expression. It seed neither side knew where the two had disappeared to.
"Could they have been devoured by ogres or spiders?" he wondered. "No, that's a stretch. Maybe so ambitious alpha-level creature snatched 'em?"
A dozen possible scenarios flitted through Orion's mind as he kept an eye on both the battlefield below and the remaining Blood Elf leaders in front of him.
All of a sudden, Ironhoof burst up from below, not saying a word before fleeing north at top speed. Badly injured in the explosion, he was done gambling with his life; faced with death, he chose to get the hell out of there.
That left Orion, Lokiviria, and Bluehide eyeing each other. Aldous quickly ca flying in close to Orion's side. Lokiviria briefly glanced at Orion, hesitated, then ended up drifting over, though he kept a bit more distance than Aldous did.
Now it was three against two, and the battle had slipped into another tense balance. Among these Legendary fighters, only Orion and Lireesa had gained anything—that single Lord's Stone each. Suspicion crackled between the two sides, both unwilling to make a reckless move.
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They hovered in the sky, glowering at one another, while below them a brutal siege raged on, and above them Elven King Anasterian clashed with White Dragon Frostsire's will projection within the golden barrier.
No one dared blink, and no one dared back down.
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