Disclaimer - I do not own Warcraft
While the dragons were still fighting their way to place the Pillars, Sylvanas and the rest of the main army were locked in a huge battle against the Legion's forces. The demons have pulled their forces from the eastern side of the Broken Isles to defend the Tomb however, most of their forces that were in Pandaria or the Eastern Kingdoms have not returned thanks to the Scourge revealing themselves. Magtheridon was put in charge of this group and even though they were under attack, he returned to the Broken isles along with Talgath. They aided Mephistroth, Azgalor and Arganoth in defending the Tomb
Even though Therazane joined the battle, it soon became clear that brute force wouldn't be enough. Mephistroth used a simple illusion spell to kill the earthmother. The dreadlord was furious when the Tomb itself became under attack by their enemies' ships but the struggle for air dominance was difficult for both sides. Neither side can even continue to use their ships since the Legion's was shot down while the Legionfall's were damaged and near unusable thanks to the constant rain of constructs
After killing Therazane, Mephistroth turned his attention to the death knights that were still busy engaging other demons and sent a swarm of bats their way. They were caught off guard and one of them was even killed instantly when the dreadlord teleported behind him and sliced off his head. Before Mephistroth could kill another one, Rivendare attacked him from behind and was able to inflict a wound near his wing. The dreadlord turned around and sported a smirk upon seeing his attacker
"Rivendare, is it? The lich's favorite pet? I see you're still alive." Mephistroth greeted mockingly
"And I see you're still as irritating as ever. Sometimes I wonder why Kil'jaeden keeps you around." Rivendare returned the favor
Mephistroth growled in irritation and summoned a demonic sword before charging at the death knight. Rivendare was able to dodge the first attack and spun around, releasing a small trail of ice. The dreadlord took to the skies and dodged this as well but Rivendare quickly released icicles to attack him. A few hit but it only mildly annoyed the dreadlord who quickly disappeared in a small burst of fel fire before reappearing behind the death knight. Rivendare turned around only to be hit by a swarm of bats that was quickly followed up by a fel bolt. Mephistroth did not give the death knight any chance to recover and quickly flew towards him. He then pinned Rivendare to the ground with his sword
"This time, stay dead, you damn human." Mephistroth said as he gathered fel energies. As he was about to overload the death knight, a powerful shield formed in front of his target, causing the energies to combust and knock him back. He was not familiar with whatever created that shield since he has never encountered it before but the one responsible revealed himself when he climbed on top of a small pile of corpses from both sides. Mephistroth has never met this individual before but knew from the reports of his identity. "So, Malfurion Stormrage, I take it? Surprising you're not letting mortal girls do your fighting for you, at least according to what Lord Archimonde had said."
"Have we met before?" Malfurion responded but didn't wait for an answer as he shot spirits of nature at the dreadlord
Mephistroth promptly dodged this in a burst of fel fire. He was genuinely curious to see how powerful Malfurion was compared to his brother. The dreadlord was well aware that the other Stormrage was just short of Archimonde's power level but he had no clue about Malfurion. Mephistroth did the same trick he did with Rivendare but to his surprise, more spirits surrounded the night elf's backside. The spirits then quickly lounged at him so he created a shield of fel energy to defend himself. Malfurion took this chance to create vines from beneath the ground, preventing the dreadlord from moving
'Is this your idea of a trap?' Mephistroth thought in irritation and quickly burned through the vines. Deciding to surprise his enemy, he suddenly shot multiple beams of shadow magic in various directions
Malfurion's eyes widened in surprise as he knew what that magics was, having controlled it firsthand. It was none other than the magics used by the Old Gods. He was growing concerned if the Legion was in league with the Old Gods because if it was true, then their problems would just get more complicated. Mephistroth saw the surprise when the elf created a shield around him and the shadow magics slowly devoured it
Since his sword was still lodged in Rivendare's body, Mephistroth created one using his fel and shadow magics while charging at the druid. He had just about enough with magics and wasn't confident that he was more powerful than Malfurion based on the reports from the War of the Ancients but direct combat was another story. As the dreadlord thought, Malfurion was not that good in close combat. The druid was completely on the backfoot, barely avoiding every slash
"What's wrong, Stormrage? Is this all you can do if you can't use your magics?" Mephistroth mocked before shooting a stream of shadow magics at the druid, scoring a direct hit, or so he thought
Instead, Malfurion was able to quickly erect a shield that was backed up by thick vines from behind. Afterwards, he quickly grew multiple vines that wrapped around Mephistroth. However, Malfurion was aware that the dreadlord would just burn through it and transformed those vines into treants. This caught Mephistroth off guard and part of his left wing was damaged by the treants
Furious, Mephistroth quickly burned one of them before trying to burn the other. His anger grew when Malfurion created a shield around the treant. Turning his head towards the druid, he was unable to defend himself when Malfurion charged at him in bear form and slashed his torso. Mephistroth tried to slash him back but the treant kept his sword arm from doing anything and Malfurion was able to inflict a large bite in the dreadlord's upper torso. Now more furious than ever, Mephistroth hid in the shadows and disappeared from sight
"What?" Malfurion asked in surprise
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Mephistroth released multiple bolts of fel and shadow magics and inflicted multiple wounds on his enemy. Malfurion was not able to dodge every single one even in his bear form. Unlike the other Kalimdor inhabitants, Malfurion was not able to train at all since he had been occupied with trying to cleanse his home and he was badly injured. The dreadlord saw this and after moving from one area to another, he reappeared in behind Malfurion. Mephistroth grabbed him and slammed him into the ground
"As I thought, you really are nowhere near the level of your brother." Mephistroth said before releasing a stream of fire at the druid. But before he could completely burn him to a crisp, a powerful arrow was shot right through his torso. Even he himself was surprised as that arrow pierced right through him. Mephistroth turned and saw his attacker was a female. Based on the reports, this had to be none other than Tyrande Whisperwind. "So, you must be that priestess I've heard so much about? Time to join the bear in his grave." he said before disappearing into the shadows once more
Rather than panic, Tyrande simply closed her eyes and prayed to Elune. When she opened her eyes, she could clearly see where the dreadlord was and dodged his attack. Unlike Malfurion, Tyrande was skilled in close combat but not that proficient in magics. Drawing her blades, she engaged Mephistroth in battle and completely surprised him with her skills
After being forced on the backfoot for a while, Mephistroth was forced to use his magics to force her back. This did not faze Tyrande at all who simply spun around gracefully to dodge before grabbing her bow and shooting multiple flaming arrows at him. It wasn't enough to bring down the dreadlord but it did cause his movements to slow down. Despite this, Tyrande knew that she was outmatched. Once the dreadlord would make full use of his magics, she would stand little chance against him
Mephistroth, after being shot by arrows, simply burned them off his body. "You little whore!" he hissed out before shooting a blast of shadow magic. The priestess was hit and was sent flying away
"Tyrande!" Malfurion said before gathering whatever strength he could and shot a blast of nature's energies at the dreadlord, who hissed in pain. "I'll kill you for that, demon. This is the last time you will invade our world!" he declared before creating more vines that wrapped around the demon. He then created more treants which began ripping Mephistroth's body apart while Malfurion slowly drained his energies in order to prevent him from doing anything. Eventually, the druid killed Mephistroth and slowly realized that raw power alone is not enough to fight against competent enemies especially those who don't fight a fair fight
In another area of the battlefield, Velen was providing cover at range until he saw a very familiar face and one that he hasn't seen since his people left Argus. The individual in question killed a few of the Legionfall forces before finally laying eyes upon the prophet and he grinned
"Well, well, if it isn't the prophet. You've finally grown some nerve and stood your ground. I would have thought you would leave the moment we entered this world, just like always." the individual, an eredar, greeted mockingly
"Talgath." Velen said, ignoring the mockery
"This is a rather amusing change of pace." Talgath responded to that. "Your departure has greatly wounded Kil'jaeden and I don't think he has ever recovered. You should be ashamed of that, prophet." he hissed before shooting beam of fel at him
Velen blocked this and knew that there would be no holding back this time. As soon as his holy shield dropped, Talgath charged at him, blades at the ready. Close quarters combat was not something Velen was good at and was forced on the defensive. The prophet was forced to infuse his staff with the Light and use it as a melee weapon. This simply caused Talgath to grin again since as far as he knew, this wasn't something Velen is good at. To the eredar's surprise, Velen wasn't simply engaging in direct combat. The prophet would constantly release blasts of holy energy. This pressured Talgath since he wasn't aware of how powerful Velen truly was
"I see you like to fight dirty, prophet." Talgath said and tried to cut him down which Velen easily blocked with his staff
Gathering his magic in his hands, Velen forced back his former comrade before binding him in holy chains. Talgath struggled to break free as the prophet released a large blast of holy energy and as a result, the eredar was badly bleeding. "This ends here, Talgath. Now, where is Kil'jaeden?"
Despite his injuries, Talgath simply laughed. "Do you really think that you would stand a chance against Kil'jaeden? Or that he is interested in what you have to say after what you did to him?"
Knowing that his former comrade wouldn't listen. Velen decided to finish him off once and for all. Still bound in chains, the prophet released an even larger amount of holy energy and completely destroyed Talgath's body
At the thick of the battle, Azgalor was engaging their enemies. Compared to the others, his powers were comparable to Mephistroth and slaughtered large groups of his enemies. He was already bleeding from multiple hits but he wasn't even slightly fazed by it. Like with all other pit lords, he relished the feeling of battle, both being injured and slaughtering his enemies. He was slightly disappointed that Archimonde did not take him on the assault on Silvermoon as he wanted revenge on Illidan for humiliating him in the last invasion
He was able to near singlehandedly slaughter a large groups of his enemies with nothing but his brute strength. None of the Kalimdor's forces can match the pit lord's strength but magic was an entirely different matter. With a significant number of liches and val'kyrs still alive, lesser undead kept Azgalor busy while Sylvanas's rangers and the mages would attack it from range. The rate of which the liches and val'kyrs would raise the dead eventually put Azgalor into a position where he wouldn't make any further progress. If he tries to engage anything or anyone that isn't a lesser undead, then those very same lesser undead would cause him a lot of trouble. This made Azgalor furious and called upon his own minions but unfortunately for him, his enemies were dedicated to protecting the Scourge spellcasters
Eventually, Kalithresh was able to make his way behind the pit lord and stab him right in the back of the neck. Thanks to the high elven mages, they were able to create a shield that was strong enough to protect him from the natural flames that emanated from the back of Azgalor. Kalithresh's slash inflicted a fatal injury but the pit lord still didn't go down. Maraad saw this and quickly ran over before the naga could be killed. The draenei then stabbed Azgalor right in the head and slowly caused the pit lord's body to explode. The explosion was so powerful that not even the shields around the naga was able to protect him and was sent flying away. Maraad, being completely unshielded, was instantly killed by the explosion as he wasn't able to reach a safe distance in time
In a different area, Magtheridon also suffered a similar predicament. Thanks to the Scourge's experience in fighting the Legion after Illidan's arrival in Lordaeron and in Outland gave them the knowledge they need on how to fight them effectively and it was used to great effect especially against the pit lords. The fact that he had a significantly lower level of magical power compared to Mannoroth and Azgalor only made matters far worse for him. While he was able to slaughter large groups on his own, the fact that the Legion had a difficult time to kill the Scourge's spellcasters put them at a significant disadvantage. Fortunately for Magtheridon, a large number of abyssals rained down from the fel storms and landed near him. For the Legion, the only thing that's keeping them from being immediately overwhelmed was the constant rain of constructs, which would slaughter large groups upon landing. This allowed a Magtheridon that was badly injured by Thrall to retreat back into the Tomb. The pit lord lost an entire wing and half of his face was greatly disfigured but still lived
The last Legion commander, Arganoth, was the weakest among the commanders holding the Tomb's entrance and needed help from the rest of the demons. He was the one that was engaged by Sylvanas and Rhonin in the chaos of the battle. Compared to the eredars and other demons, Arganoth's magical power was near non existent but unlike a pit lord, he was far more maneuverable thanks to a more humanoid body structure. This allowed him to fight much more effectively against his attackers
Noticing that the fel guard has little to no magical powers, Sylvanas decided to take advantage of this and engaged the demon in direct combat. She knew that despite the fact that the fel guard commander's lack of significant magic, he was still more than capable of being a massive threat. After slaughtering the demons in her way, Sylvanas immediately drew blood against the demon with a slash in the upper body. The elf wasn't surprised in the slightest bit when the Arganoth shrugged this off like it was nothing and the two of them engaged in melee combat for a while. Arganoth then tried to cleave her in two but she dodged out of the way and kicked him back. While the fel guard was significantly stronger, the ranger general was much, much faster than he was
After pushing back Arganoth, Sylvanas quickly threw a dagger at him but he was able to dodge. The demon then swung his battleaxe sideways when the ranger charged at him but Sylvanas dodged this by sliding herself below it. This worked against her as Arganoth quickly slammed the back of his hand at her, sending her back. Arganoth then quickly swung his axe and it barely missed the elf. Sylvanas was lightly grazed at her bare abdomen from that attack. She was slightly stunned because she knew that if that attack fully connected, she would be dead instantly. Aragnoth took advantage of this by delivering a very strong kick, sending her into the nearby waters. He then turned his sights and killed a human paladin that tried to blindside him with a single slash
Sylvanas however, did not stay underwater for long. While that kick did a number on her, she did not let that stop her and quickly got up. The ranger wasn't thrown that deep into the water since it was still on a shoreline and she did not waste any time nocking an arrow and shooting it right at the fel guard, who had just cleaved a paladin in two. Arganoth was hit in the back and staggered before he could kill someone else. He turned around and saw Sylvanas charging at him. The demon was barely able to block when she tried to slice his head clean off. The ranger didn't let up as she then quickly slashed him right below the neck
Arganoth growled in pain and was helpless when Sylvanas sliced off one of his arms by the elbow by using the pain from the attack on his neck as a distraction. Out of fury, he threw another kick at her. Sylvanas however, fully anticipated this and moved back, dodging the attack altogether. The demon then tried to swing his axe at her and was able to cut her right below her right breast but it wasn't a fatal wound. Sylvanas forced herself to ignore the pain and threw her sword right at him, hitting him right in the neck. While Arganoth staggered in pain, the ranger general moved to slice his head off, killing him
As soon as Sylvanas killed Arganoth, the felstorm rained down another volley of constructs, one of which was headed straight for the ranger general. No matter how fast she would run, Sylvanas knew that she wouldn't make it out in time and closed her eyes, resigning herself to her fate. To her surprise, she felt arcane energies around her and was transported somewhere else. The ranger looked around and saw that the one responsible was Rhonin. "Thanks for the save." she said gratefully, gripping her wound
"Don't mention it. Vereesa would kill me if I let anything happen to you." Rhonin answered with a smile before growing serious. "Sylvanas, Mephistroth is already dead and Thrall has already forced back one of the pit lords." he explained before pointing to the sky. "Look."
Sylvanas looked and was relieved at what she saw. "The felstorm, it's growing weaker."
"Indeed. We must take this chance to push forward. Drak'thul had said that there were five seals and there were only three Pillars remaining. Kel'thuzad theorized that the Legion was fueling the portal from their side so with the Pillars in place, their portal must be growing weaker." Rhonin explained
"Do it." Sylvanas replied and grunted in pain. "Let's finish this." she said and to her relief, a nearby healer saw her and quickly tended to her wounds. While Rhonin went on ahead, the general took a few moments to rest and allow her wounds to heal. It wasn't enough for her to be back to full strength but it was just good enough to close the wound below her breast and allow her to continue fighting
The rest of the Legionfall's forces then pressed on towards the Tomb. With the felstorm weakened, there was no longer a constant rain of the Legion's constructs, the demons were left much more vulnerable. Mephistroth was already dead and the Scourge still had a significant number of val'kyrs, liches and necromancers still alive. They have exhausted most of their magics just to keep up their ranks and take advantage of the pit lords so they weren't able to raise all the corpses, which were very vast in numbers and consisted of troops from both sides
Inside the Tomb, they encountered more demons and their siege weapons. A lot of troops got killed upon entry but thanks to the Legion trying to retake the positions of the Pillars, the debris from the lower levels rendered most damaged and allowed the Kalimdor forces to destroy them. After killing the demons guarding the entrance area, they made their way forward. The Scourge had mentioned the layout of the Tomb but inside, they learned that the Legion had done some renovation but it was clear that they had the advantage. The Legion had exhausted most of their troops in trying to retake the Pillars and fight them off outside
While the Tomb normally forked some distance from the entrance, now, it was gone. The Legion had turned it so that there was only one pathway from the entrance and finally, they lied eyes on the one individual the Kalimdor forces have been wondering on his whereabouts. It was none other than Kael'thas Sunstrider, who was simply observing a very large corpse behind him
"Kael'thas!" Sylvanas yelled, having made her way to the very front as the group stopped to stare at the traitor
Kael turned around and sported a grinned at their reaction. Unlike the last time they had met, his body was now laced with large amounts of fel energy. His skin was paler than before and his eyes were now glowing green. His fingers had now looked like talons. "I was wondering if you would ever reach this far, Sylvanas. It is good to see you again."
"Surrender, Prince Kael'thas, and we may yet show you mercy." Tyrande ordered, genuinely wanting to see if the former prince can be redeemed. Like with Sylvanas, the priestess was still injured from her battle with Mephistroth but she had been healed so she continue to fight
"You are outnumbered, Kael'thas. Even you must be able to see that." Thrall added but tightened his grip on his hammer
Rather than be afraid, Kael simply began laughing madly. He was not at all afraid of his enemies. "Really? Do you honestly think that the likes of you has the capability to bring me to your so called justice?"
"You're mad, Prince Kael. No matter, you cannot hope to fight all of us alone." Rhonin said boldly as everyone else to ready their weapons
This simply caused Kael to begin laughing again, this time much more maniacally than earlier. He then drew his sword, Felo'melorn, which he had taken with him. Even his ancestral sword was now imbued by fel energies. "What makes you think I am fighting alone?"
As if on cue, the corpse behind Kael began to glow with fel energies. Suddenly, it moved its head and turned to look at their enemies. For a few moments, it didn't do anything more than observe the Legion's enemies, who have begun attacking it with ranged weaponry in the meantime. All of the arrows and bullets just bounced off harmlessly while Kael just shielded himself. The corpse, which was the Avatar of Sargeras, then raised one of its hands. A trail of fel soon came out and it took on the shape of a sword. The trail of fel then became an actual sword, a large one at that
"Look out!" Thrall yelled as the Avatar brought down the sword. Most were able to dodge but a large number of their warriors were killed in just one hit
Malfurion then tried to hit the Avatar with the spirits of nature but it did nothing more than irritate it. The Avatar just scratched where it hit as if to insult the druid. Rhonin tried to release a bolt of arcane energy but had similar results as Malfurion. All the while, Kael had moved back and watched in amusement at their futile attacks
As their enemies continued to try and bombard it with ranged projectiles and magic, the Avatar got tired of it and raised its sword, slamming the ground again. This time, it was much harder and caused the entire floor to collapse, sending them all falling down to the bottom level, which was where the main portal was located. The bottom level, which was usually submerged by the waters of Azeroth, was now instead submerged in a very large pool of fel energy
The group that arrived from the Tomb's main entrance weren't the only ones who fell down. The Avatar's last attack also caused the upper levels to collapse completely which was partially aided from the holes created by the necropolises and the dragon aspects' own sheer size. There were still a few demons trying to retake the Pillars and they too fell along with whoever remained on the upper levels. Upon landing in the pools of fel, most of the lesser undead did not last long and was burned. The living forces were able to last longer and many were able to make their way to land although they weren't in a fighting shape. Most even died while trying to regain their breath especially those who ended up drinking even the slightest bit from the pool of fel. Malfurion tried his best to restore their energies as best he could be knew that it would be a very difficult task as both the Avatar and Kael'thas began to approach them
"Now then..." Kael trailed off as he pointed his runeblade at his enemies. "Let us see how you fare when your world is turned upside down."
Here is the battle in front of the Tomb, which happened concurrently with the ones for the Pillars of Creation. I didn't put a lot of details into this one as at this point, I got tired of trolling the pit lords. I think the way they were killed earlier in the story are enough. Instead, I just gave Malfurion another battle. This time he actually lost. In all honesty, I think Malfurion is more powerful than Mephistroth but again, this is another case of how powers are used. Mephistroth's powers are more suited to deception which is how he won. As mentioned many times, raw power isn't enough to win since the battles aren't just two individuals shooting beams of energy non stop until one of them loses. Again, Malfurion isn't weaker. He just wasn't fast enough to react to Dreadlord tricks
I also added Talgath to this story and it was short. To be honest, I really don't think he would stand a chance at all against Velen, unless Velen decides to manfight him that is. In the Argus Campaign, Talgath was destroyed rather easily by Velen so i didn't think he was anything too special
Instead, I also added something that is a bit more fair and square. This time, it was Sylvanas against Arganoth. If you don't know who that is, he was actually one of the demons engaged on the Broken Shore after the Tomb of Sargeras Cinematic. I think he was only exclusive to one faction but that's beside the point. If you still don't remember him, it is where Maiev and Illidan bickered because he was late to the battle and Velen told them both to shut up, which I found hilarious