' = Internal dialogue

¨= Normal speech

* = Sounds / Etc

-Chapter 49 Start-

As I stared at the literal personification of the world, she smiled back and waited patiently for me to speak.

"Are you the one who has kept helping me all this time?" I spoke incredulously, as if a lightbulb lit up and I could seemingly connect the dots, however her reaction broke me out of my incredoulus mood.

She winced badly when I spoke, and that's when I noticed that she had an open wound on her thigh. I could see tiny blue droplets of blood slowly running down to soak the invisible floor.

The wound looked to be scabbing slightly, but no other signs of healing showed as black veins covered the skin around the wound.

When she looked into my eyes again, as she kept smiling softly, her mouth did not move. Instead, I felt her talk directly inside my mind,

'No...'

'I am... merely... this world-soul... manifestation... long... before its... destined... awakening'

'The only... reason we... can interact... is because... of where... you are...and your... blessing...from... another... that... you were... guided here...' The gentle tone of the Titan whispered.

'The one... who blessed... you... is a... another self... a... younger me... as I... was forced... to awaken... and mature... as my... lifeblood was... spent...'

'Now... there is... almost no... time left...'

Then, after a brief pause, she finished by saying, 'Without her... blessing... I would... not have... been able... to bring... you... here'

'The creatures... outside has... awoken me... ahead of... time...' she continued and paused before showing a sad smile.

'They have... redirected the... ley lines... and within... short time... this world... will be... no more...' the previously slumbering Titan said while visibly saddened, and something told me it wasn't about her inevitable demise, but the beings that relied on her to live.

'You... have come... from another... time... and world... I have... been watching... you... with hopes... of you... being able... to prevent... something like... this to... occur once... more...' she whispered while her smile twitched momentarily, almost too fast for me to notice.

Things were finally becoming clear. Somehow, I had received the blessing of an alternate Azeroth, and the only reason I was pulled into this... Space was because of my connection to her back in my world.

'I... apologize... when the... dark one... struck... I made... you unable... to see... I... needed you... to be... in a... near death... state... in order... to get... you here... to meet... and part... with something... of my... own...' she whispered apologetically.

That explains why I got ambushed out of nowhere. With my enhanced senses, that would normally be impossible. Somehow, I just couldn't express any anger at the being in front of me. It could be her subtle manipulation of my mind inside this space, but something told me I was mistaken.

She looked me in the eye once more and whispered, '...Are you... willing to... take my... gift? It... will assist... both... of you... and her... during... your journey...'

I nodded slowly as I was still figuring out what was happening, as all this was overwhelming.

Going from a near-death state after being stabbed through the heart and transported into an odd space, then meeting the Titan Azeroth in a matter of minutes, numbed my mind.

When she suddenly stepped forward, ignoring the planet between us as she phased through, her hand stretched outward, and with one swift motion, she plunged it into her own chest where her heart would be. I was surprised and horrified as she grimaced and yanked her hand out, and a blue and yellow core appeared in her hand.

It glowed as it thumped weakly and lay in her hand, which seemed to be shaking.

She gazed at her hand while blue droplets escaped her mouth, and then she turned toward me as if waiting for my confirmation. I just stared at the gaping hole she just pulled her hand out of. It was dark, like the void.

Then I looked up at her face and saw a complicated expression across her face as she put her hand forward, waiting for my reply.

"I'm not sure how to proceed from here... Did you get me here... For that?" I asked while gazing at the core in her hand.

'Yes...' She whispered while smiling at my concern. '...Do not... worry... this world... will end... before I... perish...' Then she stepped up and held the core near my chest.

She did nothing for a moment, and I looked questioningly at the Titan, and then it happened.

Pain, excruciating agony, I felt my very being was torn apart as a headache of epic proportions made every slight movement much worse. I was utterly paralyzed while watching the core enter my chest slowly.

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* The sound of a strong heartbeat settled around me as I felt my body quake from within, her hand still outstretched into my chest cavity.

I only saw white from the agony, and when I could move again, her hand withdrew, and I fell to my knees to the invisible floor. Blood spewed out of my chest, eyes, nose, and mouth as I heaved for breath while the Titan in front of me wept tears of blue blood as if feeling the same as I did.

The space around us warped momentarily as I stilled after what felt like an eternity. I could barely open my eyes and saw a giant black tentacle approaching me from the miniature-sized planet behind the tear-filled Titan. Still, with a *BOOOOM*, it was slung back inside the miniature-planet. Azeroth turned around and balanced her hands around it as if soothing something I could not see.

'What the fuck, aren't we in her space? How can an old god reach out like that!?' I thought before I realized she could hear my thoughts as the Titan recoiled.

'...The boundaries... put in... place... by the... others of... my kind... has long... since fallen... when the... creatures outside... derived me... of the... ability to... defend myself... by redirecting... the lay... lines...'

'I lost... as the... corruption spread...' she whispered into my mind with a tinge of regret in her soothing whisper of a voice.

She then turned around, showing me her back while pulling her armor to the side. It was then I noticed.

Thick black veins spread across her back like a spider's web, and it all seemed to come from the wound on her thigh. She had been fighting this for years, and with the ley lines focused only on Northrend, she had lost the ability to fight against the corruption elsewhere.

'...We do... not have... long... child... take this... moment... to get... used to... my gift...' She whispered as she focused on the miniature-sized planet.

While still on my knees from the pain upon receiving her gift, I quickly checked my notifications after her insistence.

—

[New!] Passive: Heart of Azeroth

-Description: You have received the figurative heart of a titan who awoke before her designated time with hopes of you being able to prevent the same tragedy that will happen to her from happening again.

-Communicating with the slumbering Titan: Azeroth - This is made much easier as the connection has become more intimate.

-Excess experience is now being stored and collected for later use if the Character can access higher levels.

-This effect has been put in place by Titan: Azeroth#51900101

-Can now absorb the lifeblood of Titans and beings alike to gain bonuses.

-Current bonus: None

[Note: This effect only applies if said the [Being] is willing, or if it is an enemy of the world -Derived from the title: Breaker of Fate]

—

-Weapons and armor can be imbued with the lifeblood of Titans.

[Note: Any lifeblood used through the Titan: Azeroth will instead use the Character's HP as a medium.] Current lifeblood: 3/10,000

-Character HP Increased: Modifier added = Multiply Base HP x11

[Base HP: 5,840] = [New Base HP: 64,240]

[Note: Your old heart has been replaced by the heart of a Titan.

-New organ cannot be destroyed.]

—

Clearance Given: You can now access: Passive : [Blessing Of The ?-?] = Blessing Of The World-Soul.

-Description: You have received the blessing of a World Soul. Which is now integrated into your being.

-1/2 Remaining Attunement receive a permanent trait once raised to Tier IV.

-Next Attunement reward Tier: IV

-The difficulty of increasing Attunements to: [Tier: IV] has been significantly reduced.

-Current Tier IV traits 1/2:

-Arcane Tier IV = You automatically absorb magic from the environment around you, speeding up your regenerative MP and HP recovery capabilities.

-HP = Recovers 10x faster = 977 HP Per 5 Second

-MP = Recovers 10x faster = 1843 MP Per 5 Second

-Mana Adaptability: When absorbing ambient mana, you will gain some of its traits of the mana absorbed from the surrounding area.

This effect varies depending on the environment.

—

'Holy shit.' I thought before I realized that the Titan, who had her back turned to me, giggled slightly before coughing into her hand. I saw blue blood drip between her fingers and down to the invisible floor.

'I... hope it... was a... fitting gift... and that... It's good... enough to... excuse me... for bringing... you here...' She whispered while facing away from me.

I rose to my feet once more, refreshed and checked my current HP and MP.

—

HP: 13,244/61,600

MP: 39,540/46,830

It certainly seemed that I was close to dying mere moments ago. I swore to myself, even if it was the will of the Titan before me, that I'd try to avoid anything similar from happening again.

Deciding to clean myself up a little, I was stopped by the Titan, who put her hand out and whispered, 'There is... no need... this space... is not... real... '

'But... what happens... here is... real...'

With a smile, she retreated away from the small planet and turned back toward me, but not before wiping her mouth to make the blood pooling there away.

'...I will... be sending... you back... now... please... if you... can... put the... ley lines... back before... you leave... it will... make it... slightly less... demanding to... keep the... world stable... until my... final rest...' she whispered gently.

I nodded as she floated toward me before stopping, then looked deep into my eyes and whispered without moving her mouth.

'...Take care... of the... young one... upon your... return... and... tell her... she is... not alone...' These were the last words I would ever hear from her before everything turned black when she touched my forehead with her finger.

[Aegwynn Pov as the MC flew away from the first platform]

After blocking the explosive frost nova from the Lich, I saw my grandson increase his ascent. At the same time, a blue-looking flame chased after him, which was blocked by my apprentice.

'So, what do we have here... three undead dragons... two who seem quite normal but seem to have been on the verge of becoming wyrms? No... one was a wyrm while the other seemed tainted by something except undeath...' I thought as I gazed toward the transforming black dragon, changing my gaze from the half-skeleton blue dragon.

Then I looked back toward the third drake, 'This seems like the aspect of life. Her transformation appears to have significant complications, and something is fighting the process... almost as if she is halting the process by herself but to no avail. Being bound by undeath twists the will of the converted if directed by the animator, or at least that was my assumption of whatever the undead dragon was going through.

As she morphed like an ugly glob of flesh and bones mixed together into what looked like a rotting dragon that had yet to finish decomposing, I confirmed it: what made her an aspect was now gone, and from what I could tell when looking directly at the ribcage of the dragon, was that she had done it herself before being turned completely.

I was put out of my musings when a potent bullet made of pure arcane mana headed directly toward the black dragon and blasted away part of his skull before he could fully transform. It was utterly ignored as he finished his transformation, and the skull was repaired by some odd magic coming from the ex-red dragon aspect.

"Ah, Antonidas's lapdog. How is he, by the way? Still dead?" The Lich asked my apprentice, who bristled at the question.

'Ah, so he recognizes her. It seems my apprentice has some history with that Lich, and I must admit, he seems... Powerful, this will be fun.' I thought and turned toward my apprentice when I heard her say something in a whisper, "Traitor..."

'Ah, so he's one of those.' I thought when I realized that his torn robe had a mark that resembled the Kirin Tor, which he now wore as a skirt of some kind.

*ROOOOOOAR* 'The two dragons finally transformed, huh.'

"Apprentice, you and Thorim deal with the dragons. Let me deal with the Lich." I told her calmly and received an instant response, "But I-" I cut off Jaina's reply with a glare. I said, "You are bound to make mistakes against an enemy that already has managed to manipulate you. I would have let you handle this, but only if you did not have such strong hatred against this particular Lich."

"Listen to your new teacher, little apprentice. Perhaps you will witness this one's end as you seem to switch magical mentors quite often." The Lich said mockingly, hoping to provoke more reactions from Jaina. This time, however, she ignored him and focused on the female dragon, who had started channeling an attack as her maw filled with a gray-looking flame.

"I'm going to move away from this area. Good luck, apprentice, Keeper." I simply said as I reached for Aluneth and blinked toward the Lich.

After briefly channeling my magic as a barrier surrounded me and him, I teleported both of us to the platform above.

The moment after the Lich flew into action, an aura of decay surrounded him. The rotting cloud of decay rapidly approached where I stood while a nova of frost spread from underneath him as he tried to bind me in place for some odd spell he was secretly casting as his right hand went behind his back. Too bad the Lich's ribcage was see-through as I saw his skeletal hand turn black as a shade appeared under me right before the frost nova struck.

With a wave, I counterspelled that foul-looking spell and let the frost nova hit my barrier before launching a spell toward the Lich, who seemed surprised. The area around the Lich slowed down to a halt. I could see his unholy aura slowly counter my slow spell as if it were being consumed by invisible insects.

But before he could do anything else, I swung Aluneth in his direction as the air at his location twisted and warped before four orbs of purple appeared. The four orbs swelled with arcane magic for a moment before they crashed violently into the Lich, who tried to defend even as his entire body slowed to a halt.

The four bolts of magic struck the Lich. After a moment, the orbs imploded on themselves while attached to the skeletal frame of the undead, effectively removing four large chunks of the Lich before two orbs took their place outside the slowed area and tried to repeat the action.

However, the Lich broke out of the slow, and his undeath magic swelled before his previous aura of decay swapped into that of a deathly cold one. The platform underneath turned into dark ice as it flew toward me hungrily.

Turns out that was a distraction when I felt something penetrate my barrier. I blinked slightly to the right to avoid whatever entered it but saw nothing until I focused on the area where my barrier was struck.

A dark shadow loomed at the area I just moved from before it retreated into the ground. 'A Shade, and one who bypasses magic with such efficiency...' I thought with slight surprise, such an efficient find, 'Would be a shame if it somehow disappeared and ended up becoming someone's research, wouldn't it?' Crossed my mind before I reached toward my pouch and pulled out a miniature black hourglass.

As I mentally commanded Aluneth to slow the area around where the shade currently is, now as I was aware that I was being haunted by a Shade, it was easy to focus on the spot the magic in the air avoided, so I threw the hourglass at the shadowy figure and accelerated it so the throw wouldn't miss.

With an unholy wail, the shadow creatures disappeared as the hourglass changed from black to white and flew toward me as soon as it hit the ground.

"What did you just do, woman!?' I heard the raspy voice of the Lich shout out in outrage. This made me smile as I turned toward him while putting the hourglass into my pouch and replied, "Oh, whatever do you mean, little lichling? Something the matter?"

"Wait...Who... are you...?" The Lich spoke while seemingly narrowing his eyes. The only indication of such a gesture was the orbs he had as his eyes became smaller and seemingly more focused.

"I'm surprised you have not heard of me. Anyhow, I have not heard of you either, but I will humor you if you answer a few of my questions first." I said with a smile, which seemed to unnerve the undead ex-mage.

"What is your connection with the blue dragon Malygos? And why did you try so hard to taunt my apprentice into fighting you?"

We both stopped what we were doing when we realized that no signs of spells were being cast and then the Lich spoke, "I am Kel'thuzad, Archlich, Lord of Naxxramas, Lieutenant of the Lich King."

Then, after a slight pause, the Archlich deflated slightly and spoke, "... I am simply coerced into following the orders of the vile dragon you call Malygos. For now, somehow, these pesky reptiles managed to get my phylactary... And that of... Mr. Bigglesworth." A comforting purr sounded out as a ghostly visage of a cat leaned into the Lich's neck and soothingly snuggled up to him.

'Aha... so Mr. Bigglesworth is... A cat? A lich-cat? Never before have I seen a lich having any sort of bonded familiar, especially one so... Normal, though it is quite green... Ah, it is a Slime cat. Those are quite the rare specimen... especially one bonded to that of an Archlich's phylactary.' Was my thought until I saw the cat run and hide within the Lich's robe as if noticing my thought process.

'Too bad the cat seems thoroughly bonded with the Lich, I would... Borrow it if that wasn't the case.'

Then the skeletal mage continued, "As for... your apprentice, I believe she needs to die for my sire's continued rule. A human who has been close to my king for a long time... can create complications, as I firmly believe that previous attachments to the living after death are unnecessary. Even if my king has thrown aside anything related to his last occupation, it has become my task to rid all mortal traces of his ascension to the throne." The Archlich said while gaining a slightly manic tone.

'Ah, my apprentice has much explaining to do, especially so with her choice of romantic interests. Oh well, she's spellbound by my grandson at this point, but regardless, I am thankful that this bag of bones is giving me such... Valuable information, which she seems to avoid bringing up.

He goes on about mortal attachments, but that cat... Seems to be one of his own...' I thought as I gazed back at the Lich.

"I suppose it is a worthy trade. You have given me much valuable blackma- Oops, well, it is only fair. I am Aegwynn, the longest-serving Guardian of Tirisfal. Honestly, they don't teach mages of the Violet Citadel anything these days."

If there were any surprise about this information, then Kel'thuzad showed none, as he simply kept his gaze on me. Suddenly, however, the Lich keeled over before his ghastly white eyes increased in intensity, "It is an honor to meet the strongest guardian to ever grace the order. The last thing I had heard of you was that you disappeared many years ago. I even searched for you when I was young in hopes of becoming your apprentice.

However, believe we are running out of time. Prepare yourself. We have spent enough time conversing."

Then he raised his arms, and two beams of dark magic crashed into the invisible barrier behind him with a sound of glass shattering. Distant insectoid chittering was heard as large portals started to expand.

A towering spider-like creature slowly wrestled itself through the narrow black portal before it could fully expand and chittered aggressively in my direction. 'I have never encountered a being such as that... Interesting, too bad it's undead...' I thought as I saw the white sheen coming from its spider-like face.

As it franticly clawed the platform to get through to reach me, I pointed my hand toward the black portal, and with a heavy thud, the being was cut in half. As I counterspelled the portal, that did not seem to do anything to the creature; however, as it now was free and clawed itself toward me, considering half its body lay on the other side of the portal, the spider-like creature rapidly approached, as I was going to counterspell the other portal I felt something once again behind me, as a gap of my barrier opened.

Kel'thuzad apparently had some tricks of his own as his skeletal hand shot toward my back. He had blinked behind me and had cast some kind of frost imbue on his clawed hand as vapor rose from it.

As I tried to slow time again, I felt the effect bounce away as if repelled, so I did the next best thing: accelerating my time. I rapidly blinked in quick succession. That was when I noticed the platform had been covered with frost for hundreds of meters.

Whenever I stopped moving, the Lich would appear behind me and attempt to touch me with his hand.

After a few minutes, this was getting slightly tedious, so I stepped up my game. Even as I levitated off the ground, the Lich would simply appear and bypass my barrier with the help of some kind of green orb.

'Aluneth dear, do you mind?' I mentally asked my loyal companion, and it replied with slight glee, 'As you command, my troublesome lady.'

And I closed my eyes as a violent hum sounded out through the air, stopping the Lich in his tracks as he again appeared behind me and bypassed the barrier. The frozen platform underneath shook, and I felt my magic dance around the air with manic glee, almost as if a dam had been torn open. My body surrounded itself with the magic in the air, as if it folded itself on me, resulting in a barrier shaping itself around me for a moment until it looked like some kind of purple lightning started woke up as sparks of purple escaped the surface barrier, then Aluneth shifted unnaturally and disappeared.

I laughed because for the first time in hundreds of years... I could let loose without backlash or fear of consequences.

'A short time ago, I had believed this to be only a warm memory, but now... I can once again...'

'Let loose...' sounded in my mind as Aluneth synchronized itself with me.

Purple blinding light tore out of my eyes as I felt my entire body delight in the feeling of overwhelming power once more.

I gaze toward the Lich, who stands frozen behind me, his eyes frozen in time. Even if temporary, this state I was in rapidly melted through my mana reserves. Luckily, for my recent upgrade, I could keep this up for quite a bit longer than I ever could before.

I pointed my arm toward the Lich as a thin purple mark engraved itself on his forehead, and then I decided to test something on him.

As if stealing whatever kept his current spell up, I saw my hand turn blue before the effect disappeared entirely, the current sheen on the Lich's hand fading.

The next moment, I blinked up in the air and released a large wave of arcane magic that rapidly flew toward the Lich. The skeletal mage finally managed to remove himself from the stasis spell from earlier and yelled out. A giant wall of ice rose before him to stop my attack as it neared him.

*BOOOOM*

Large chunks of ice flew violently aside and struck the invisible barrier in the distance. The Lich could not avoid taking damage as his body was thrown away from the zone of impact and crashed into the undead behemoth of a spider, which was still clawing at the platform in its poor attempt at crawling desperately toward me.

The other spider, who seemed to have waited for the portal to open, had also made itself known as a gray claw extended from the platform, seemingly coming out of nowhere, directly toward me.

I did not even bother as the barrier surrounding me bounced it off like a pebble striking a rock.

I directed my hand toward the undead spider. Hundreds of miniature orbs took place all around it. They rapidly assaulted the creature, tearing it apart bit by bit as the carapace cracked and opened, revealing the soft tissue underneath.

As the small orbs managed to press themselves into the opening, the creature twitched and spasmed until its legs failed, and it faceplanted toward the platform.

*SPLAT*

Then, it exploded into a shower of gore. Guts flew everywhere and landed on the ground with a meaty thud, covering a large platform section. The Lich seemed to be up to something again as I felt my vision darken slightly.

I realized the little Lichling just... tried to curse a mage. I laughed before instantly dispelling it, I laughed and reached for a dark-looking hourglass in my pouch and threw it toward the Lich as he now did not move as he channeled something again, with a dull thud the hourglass struck the Lich who stood there looking at the item as he now grasped it in his palm.

With a calm hum, the dark hourglass vibrated and the space around the Lich shook as the space around him folded on itself making the undead magus cry out in surprise as he tried to teleport away, too bad for him I had a counterspell focused on him the entire time.

The Lich gave me one last look of contempt before disappearing into the black space that folded on top of him, then the hourglass flew toward my hand and I pocketed it into one of my containers I usually stored volatile materials inside.

All of a sudden, I got a terrible feeling and gazed directly upward, then my eyes widened in shock.

-Chapter 49 End-