' = Internal dialogue

¨= Normal speech

* = Sounds / Etc

-Chapter 75-

As I stared into the eyes of the one responsible for the demonic assault and, consequently, the third war and the second invasion of the Burning Legion, I felt... oddly at peace about the upcoming battle that would take place.

Or rather, that was until I felt a bloody smirk appear on my face as my magic shot out all around me.

My arms lit up with purple lightning as my entire body was encased in a layer of ice and earth, with the outer layer wearing a thin, barely noticeable layer of white flame that made me more visible as a result.

In so much newfound power that the air crackled and trembled, then the winds around me turned volatile.

Dozens of meters surrounding me suddenly joined in as dust, rocks, and pebbles all started to circle around my body before they suddenly stopped and fell to the ground as the wind disappeared.

Suddenly, I heard two ghostly howls coming from both sides as two ghost-like wolves resembling Hati and Skoll stood, bared their fangs, and growled with bloodshot eyes.

Their bodies had an other-worldly glow as if they had become something akin to an elemental. Clearly, they were not here in the flesh but seemingly as spirits, or at least that was what my intuition told me.

'How?' I thought momentarily before I saw the thin connection leading toward my inventory where the revolver resided. ' Ahh, that makes sense... they did somewhat bind themselves to the weapon, didn't they...'

*THUMP*

As the makeshift armor of the elements now stilled around my body, the two ghost wolves snarled menacingly as we stood before the army of demons; the sight made for quite a scary image in the eyes of the army before me as they gazed with widened and horrified eyes simply because of the intense pressure coming from both wolves and I.

Then, the battlefield turned silent. No warcries, no pained yelps, not a single entity dared to move.

There was only an eery and deathly silence as the demonic forces of the Burning Legion stood between me and Archimonde.

As I gazed toward the Defiler and saw the contemptuous look, he directed my way before the demon lord broke the silence, "I have heard of you, the one who turned the Nathrezim whom I foolishly gave several important tasks... ground into dust beneath your very feet like the ant he was." Archimonde's voice, tinged with disappointment, was heard as if he were directly in front of me and not several hundred meters away.

"I will give you one chance, mortal who wields the elements. Join us; The Burning Legion is Inevitable, and I am only extending an invitation because it was demanded of me. There are forces beyond your comprehension at work, mortal.

Suddenly, the voice of Kaz'rogal sounded out with surprise and slight horror at Archimonde's words.

"LORD! A PUNY INSECT LIKE THAT-*Blerghh* The Doom Lord shouted before puking out blood as he was lifted by the throat by a green claw-like hand after getting a large stone stalactite out of his chest.

Archimonde simply stared, kept his gaze directed at me, and ignored the one who currently towered over his own height with a hole through his chest that was closing itself as the flesh reformed.

"... Kaz'rogal, without borrowed power, you would have perished thrice over before being sent back to the nether..." Archimonde said as his voice turned frosty; as he turned his attention toward the Doom Lord, who froze up and ceased his struggle, Archimonde continued, "Speak to me in that tone again, and I will ensure your next thousand years will be... less than pleasant."

The demon, now known as Kaz'rogal, did not dare to move as his ugly fel-tinted eyes widened in terror, trying his best to ignore the pain as he was let down with a loud *Thud*.

He groaned, then started walking forward while swaying left and right until he stood between Archimonde, me, and the demon army kneeling toward the former.

"What is your decision?" Archimonde questioned in an amused but demanding voice.

"No." I answered without hesitation.

Lightning buzzed as tendrils of life-like ice whirled underneath the solidified layer of earth inside my makeshift armor. The outer layer had a thin membrane of wind to let the white flames act as the first layer of defense and offense if needed.

"Foolish... but no matter." The Defiler said simply as fel-colored flames rose from the ground around him.

His voice boomed around the battlefield, "LET OUR ENEMIES FEEL THE MIGHT OF THE BURNING LEGION, EXTERMINATE THE VERMIN INFESTING THIS VERY WORLD THAT BELONG TO US! RIP THEM APART, DEVOUR THEIR YOUNG, FEAST UPON THEIR VERY ESSENCE, AND LET THEM TASTE FEAR WHEN THEY REALIZE THEY ARE BUT MERE INSECTS IN OUR PATH!" Archimonde roared as his arms rose to each side while blackish-green portals came into being behind him.

The different races who fueled the previous portals had all turned to dust at that moment, leaving a soul-wrenching wail to go through the battlefield just as Archimonde finished his grand speech.

The battlefield was yet again eerily silent before Archimonde's hands lit aflame. He pointed toward me and the world tree behind me and shouted fervently.

"ANNIHILATE THEM ALL! FOR THE BURNING LEGION!"

*SHREEK*

*ROOOAR*

"FOR THE BURNING LEGION!" Sounded out as the battlefield went into a frenzy, felguards stomped their polearms to the ground, Doom fiends roared, Imps and undead with a shred of sentience shrieked, and infernal creatures exploded in intense flames as their magical cores lit up with increasingly intense flames of green, succubi brandished their whips, and an alluring aura surrounded them with a pink-ish looking vapor coming from their bodies.

Entirely undisturbed by whatever the demons had going on, I started picking up pace with my two wolf companions.

My slow walk turned into a light jog, then a sprint as the earth I stepped on launched me quicker and quicker for each step.

In contrast, the wind resistance around me turned non-existent while the wolves sprinted at my side whilst growling menacingly.

And just as we would collide with the demonic forces, Khaz'rogal was behind the first wave while casting some kind of spell, which quickly enveloped the demon with a crimson-red mist.

Archimonde, who had just finished his speech, just stared from the backline without a shred of emotion on his face.

I was grinning, and if the demons in front of me could see the crazed face I was making, they would for sure reconsider their newfound morale, but that did not matter as my hands reached outwards before I roared while putting 1/5th of my overall mana into both palms as they collided with each other.

Meanwhile, my entire body lit up with bright white light, which increased in intensity the closer my palms came to one another.

The moment my palm touched the other, bright sparks could be seen as whatever was going on was intensifying to the extreme in the blink of an eye.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM* *ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR*

A white wave of flames now shot out toward all sides, and within a fraction of a second, the wave rose taller than 200 meters above ground and 400 meters wide.

The air trembled as the fire roared, absorbing the ever-increasing supply of air that was shoved magically throughout as if empowering it.

My two wolf companions jumped into the flames.

Their bodies exploded with power as they merged with the fire. The flames swirled momentarily before they became animated with two wolf-like skulls that snarled and made the surroundings shake violently as the wave surged forward before the demons could react.

As the fiery white wave of death had started its path and already broke through the front line of demon fodder, I then stomped my leg hard into the ground with another 1/5th overall mana, which was close to full once more due to the magic surging from the world tree, as if was intentionally assisting me by giving me free access to its mana.

What that did was the fact I brought up solid earthen walls and spikes as if walling the forces in while pinning the demons in place.

I held no delusions that this attack would contain Archimonde, or any of the stronger demons for that matter.

Still, his forces were another factor that needed to be brought down as quickly as possible upon his arrival.

As the roaring wall of flames enveloped the demons, the earth below cracked open and swallowed the thoroughly scorched body parts that had been blasted asunder upon impact, almost like a trench opening up wide before closing shut as dirt fell in its place, effectively turning the demons into fertilizer for the world tree behind me.

The wall of fire soon stilled as Archimonde seemed to finish casting a spell, and I could see his hands weave into the air. A crack in space opened up as an intense vacuum started to suck the air, demons, and flames into it.

To his dismay, the white flames of death follow my every command.

The flames now spread outward in a circle-like manner around Archimonde and his remaining army of fodder, and only half of the conjured flames remained due to The Defiler's spell.

However, what his spell actually accomplished was to thin out his forces even further as the weaker demons, which were not powerful enough to save themselves, were sucked into the black crack in space and, as a result, died the moment they crossed from one side to the other due to the powerful vacuum ripping them apart.

All this was visible from the outside and gave me grim satisfaction as I watched the demons being pulled away, squirming and flailing while their lord simply did not spare them a glance.

Now, the Doom Lord from before, who went by the name Kaz'rogal, swung his weapon toward the white flames, expecting them to be blown aside as he started charging toward my position. And to no one's surprise other than Kaz'rogal, his weapon melted when it came too close.

He was only saved by the fact that Archimonde's magical might was so damn strong that he could multitask several of those cracks in space, which now, on further inspection, not just cracks in space, but beyond the black veil, was a stone platform decorated with skulls and skeletal corpses of different creatures, behind them was a throne lit up with fiery green skull-like flames on each side.

'A space pocket of sorts?' I pondered internally as I saw the area Kaz'rogal was entering open up, and my flames were brushed aside by the insane pressure the moment the shattered space repaired itself into normalcy.

"You are proving to be quite the obstacle. Tichondrius failed to describe your mastery over the powers you wield in ample words... take this as a compliment from one practitioner of magic to the other." The Eredar Overlord said from the backline as magic surged toward me and Kaz'rogal.

Suddenly, the Doom Lord was yanked backward violently until Archimonde's hand wrapped around his throat; I was surprised when I noticed that in just a matter of seconds, Archimonde had grown to double the size of Kaz'rogal.

"Let it be known that I, Eredar Overlord of the Legion Forces, will not be bested by such crude magic."

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!" Kaz'rogal cried out in pain when Archimonde's hand clenched as a green glow surrounded them.

The effects were immediate as The Doom Walker shriveled up slowly. His skin turned grey as he fought against what Archimonde was doing by flailing his half-melted sword in a crazed attempt to free himself from the ongoing effect of the Eredar Overlord's drain.

Kaz'rogal tried to tear Archimonde's arm off his throat desperately, clawing at the hand that seemed to be made of the strongest metal known to demonkind.

Still, it was for naught as the overgrown doomguard's arms turned bristle, his eyes shrunk inwards, exposing two green and rapidly decaying eyes full of panic and dread at what was to come.

The battlefield was silent except for the crackling flames that burnt around us when Kaz'rogal's arms went limp. A low groan was heard as Archimonde opened his mouth, revealing two fang-like teeth on each side as he inhaled.

An almost invisible figure seemed to escape the limp Doom Walker, desperately trying to get back into the body, which was breaking down rapidly, but to no avail.

Kaz'rogal's soul fought against the Defiler the best it could. The figure let out a soundless scream as it was swallowed by the Eredar Overlord.

Archimonde's body swelled as he grew while green fire danced around him. A chuckle could be heard before it stopped, and he spoke, "It has been centuries since I have had to resort to using this magic. You could have had something similar if you had accepted our offer. Prepare yourself because I will tear out your soul and let the lowest of imps feast upon your magic for ETERNITY!"

Just as he finished his proclamation, the entire mountainside shook. Where he now stood, plants withered, and rock turned to dust as his magic grew.

As a giant stalactite shot up from the ground before Archimonde and directly impaled itself through his leg, I whipped out my revolver. Then, I powered up a significant amount of mana into the following five projectiles.

*THUD* THUD* *THUD* *THUD* *BOOOOM*

As I fired the five bullets of pure power into the growing Eredar Overlord, I felt something shift on my left. Space warped, and so did I as I appeared far from my previous location.

Archimonde, however, staggered before he chuckled, "If this is all you can do, then I am sorely disappointed."

The stalactite that went through his leg moments ago shattered and turned to dust as he weaved his hands through the air before the four bullets impacted his chest, systematically hitting where the liver, kidney, heart, throat, and brain would have been. However, these bullets only penetrated the green-tinted barrier around Archimonde before they collided with him and promptly turned to dust shortly after impact.

The fires surrounding us suddenly dimmed as Hati and Skoll shot out toward Archimonde; with maws wide open, they threw themselves toward his neck.

Recognizing what they wanted to do through our connection, I lent them half my mana pool. The result was explosive as both wolves' sizes increased drastically, and their bodies rapidly changed as lightning, fire, earth, and air intertwined themselves around their ghostly forms.

The air trembled as they practically lit up with power, and as both wolves now collided with Archimonde, I could see the Eredar Overlord recoil as his previous smirk disappeared when he realized that the wolves weren't being dispelled as he had assumed would happen the moment they came in contact with an invisible barrier which somehow faltered like a failing forcefield being bent inwards.

"AAARGH!" Archimonde roared angrily as his hands reached toward the giant wolves' heads, who had almost pierced the layer of said barrier and intended to crush their skulls as putrid green magic enveloped him from the hand and up to the elbow.

But before he could, I warped before him and punched with all my might.

*CRACK* *CRACK* *BOOOOM*

His head recoiled backward as if he was hit by a figurative truck, which, in this case, was inaccurate when I believe I have far surpassed that amount of force with my attacks.

All this happened simultaneously when Hati and Skoll crashed through Archimonde's defenses, and razor-sharp maws clenched shut on each side of his throat.

Unfortunately, The impact was dampened massively.

I was met by two powerful barriers before I could adequately reach the completely Eredar Overlord, who was taking the punch to the jaw relatively lightly, all things considered.

As Archimonde was sent staggering backward, both Hati and Skoll tried to tear out his throat as they growled.

Due to the powerful punch, Archimonde had yet to register the fact that these two had passed by his barrier. His eyes had become unfocused at that moment, but a second passed later, he conjured the same space-shattering phenomenon as before.

But before he could completely finish the cast, I warped in front of him, grasped his wrists, and pulled him into a skull-shattering headbutt.

*BOOOOM*

The Eredar Overlord staggered yet again; his nose was twisted to the side and bled profusely as he was yet again unfocused from the pure physical might he was met with. Clearly, Archimonde was no warrior, all things considered.

He suddenly focused his eyes on me. They were filled to the brim with pure and unadulterated malice.

As I still held his wrists, I could feel his magic flare up as my wolf companions and I were sent reeling backward into a boulder a distance away by an invisible force.

Both wolves suddenly whimpered as their previous magic seeped out of them, directly toward Archimonde, who adjusted his nose, all the while glaring at us unblinkingly.

'Both Hati and Skoll are severely drained of magic after coming in contact with whatever Archimonde has around him... yet why don't I feel the same?' I thought as I studied the close-to-invisible layer around Archimonde.

Then I turned toward the wolves and gently soothed them through our connection as they tried to stand back up, 'Rest.' I mentally commanded as their eyes met mine. With a weak nod of affirmation, they disappeared into my inventory, where my revolver resided.

I then turned back to see that Archimonde was almost fully recovered, at least visibly, as his nose was corrected. However, he still had a solid bruise on his jaw from my previous attack.

"...I will personally see to it that you and your loved ones will be tortured for eternity for this..." The Eredar Overlord said with an unnatural calm as if this was all a foregone conclusion.

"You talk too damn much," I replied, warping behind him. Purple lightning surrounded me as I punched forward.

This time, however, I did not break through any barrier; the moment my lightning touched said defense, it split off and hit nothing, literally as if trying to avoid its intended target.

"You wield the elements somewhat masterfully, but do not think I have no means to deal with such parlor tricks," Archimonde said condescendingly.

I ignored him as I studied the mana around us.

It was then I noticed that whatever he did, he disconnected the lightning from its path and onto a weird-looking disc flying on each side around him, almost like mirrors and very camouflaged due to his barrier.

'So whatever those things are... misdirected my magic from its initial path... Oh well, I might have to resort to punching more then...' I thought as my arms lit up with a white flame. The air around me shifted and twisted, almost like a mirage was conjured into existence, until nearly all the oxygen near me fed the fire while its intensity increased.

Archimonde did not stand by idly as he charged up an attack of his own in the form of a green fireball, which compressed in on itself as a core formed.

A blue vapor appeared briefly before it suddenly shot into the core, and a scream of anguish could be heard only for a moment before whatever happened consumed the blue residue that disappeared into the core.

The thing Archimonde held in his palm intensified as green fire exploded outwards and devoured all the dust and pebbles in an area around the Eredar Overlord before it reached me within moments as I flung myself toward him, both arms lit up with white flames.

A roar escaped both of us as our magic shot into the environment around us; large boulders turned to dust, corpses turned to ash, and the dirt-filled and trampled road we stood on was slowly corroded by the hellish heat fighting for dominance.

My elemental armor, as I had come to call it, was being slowly corroded by Archimonde's magical green flame; it was not that his fire was hotter than mine, but rather its corruptive and decaying nature.

My flames showered Archimonde as well, and patches of skin slowly melted off his arms and face; the rest was hidden beneath enchanted gold-like armor that was gradually being devoured by the intense fires.

His gold-like jewelry slowly melted into his flesh as the Eredar Overlord grit his teeth, clearly not expecting the level of heat to bypass his barrier.

As the barrier between us slowly receded, I forced myself closer to Archimonde. I prepared to give him a taste of my fist, but as I swung my arm toward his ribs, he leaned slightly forward and caught my punch before it could hit.

This was not without consequence for the Eredar warlock, who was slowly pushed back while his arm up to the bicep sizzled and cracked as flesh melted and was thoroughly cooked by lightning.

His magic had now broken down my defenses as I grappled his other arm and bent it backward.

With an audible *Crack*, his wrist bent in the wrong direction as Archimonde grunted in pain when the green orb hovering above him ceased to be.

"AAAARGHH!" We both shouted as our magic tore into one another; my hands were decaying as they were closest to the Eredar Overlord, and my skin was slowly turning gray.

The pain was excruciating as I felt the effects of Archimonde's magic crash into me like a tidal wave.

It was not only physical pain as I felt my very being corrode and cry out in anguish. 'Fucking piece of shit! Of course, he has soul magic!' I roared in my mind due to the folly of going into close combat with a warlock thousands of years old without expecting the spellcaster to have tricks like this against physical attacks. It was beyond stupid, to the point that I wondered if I was affected by mental magic.

I was not the only one to suffer, though; Archimonde was panting and could barely breathe as the air around us ceased to exist due to my flames, one of his eyes seemingly melting out of his eye socket just to be replaced by a vile green flickering light taking its place.

Without hesitation, I pulled on my reserves and conjured layers upon layers of ice over my skin to attempt to heal myself; it was a half-success as the thin shields formed only to be devoured by his magic moments later.

The thin layers still managed to heal the worst damage he was doing, albeit barely.

It managed to keep me able to stay in close combat for the next few seconds as I conjured purple lightning that coursed through me and into the Eredar.

Then I made the scorched earth underneath him rise up as it impaled his left knee.

Archimonde grunted once more as I attempted to impale his jewels with a blackened earth spear.

This time, he jerked his left knee to the side and managed to sidestep the incoming attack of unsaid dangers, but only slightly as it tore into his right calf.

Blood ran down his face as the white fire did its job; the lightning scorched his other eye as it exploded outward, said gore flying onto me due to the intense pressure.

Archimonde roared in pain as his broken wrist was torn off.

I felt my health drop low, and I quickly checked the current status worriedly.

—

HP: 43,677 / 236,170

MP: 55,255 / 111,020

—

'Shit! he managed to get me this low only after this little amount of time!?' I thought with worry, but that did not matter in the next moment as Archimonde suddenly stepped backward on one knee.

The Eredar was clearly taking a beating as well; my attacks did not let up, but I did focus much more on healing after seeing the damage he was doing; my right arm suddenly came free as he released his own hand that was heavily scorched, my own hand was barely a hand anymore as it had turned into a skeletal limb. And even then, the bone was brittle and turning gray until I warped backward to get out of his range.

Ice covered the ground as I let the arctic and chaotic ice form wildly in all directions while enveloping me as I kept my eye on Archimonde, who was slowly but surely growing in size; his wrist was slowly closing its bleeding as well, however.

"I will admit... you have impressed me. I can only count the ones that can prevail more than half a minute of my magic on one hand... Even as you have managed to wound me, know that I will easily recover from such injuries upon my return to the nether... Your soul, however... will not have such luxuries..." Archimonde calmly said as his injuries visibly healed, all except for the missing hand and eyes.

My injuries were now healing rapidly, my HP was now above 80%, and my arms had healed back to normal, tissue had reformed, and the previously wiggling rotten flesh had fallen off.

Inside the ice, I could move as if walking underwater, as the ice clung to me while I chugged down several health potions to increase the healing; I did not forget Jaina's homebrew, though, and could only *Hic* in surprise as I became slightly woozy before the feeling quickly passed.

Archimonde, clearly not pleased by the fact that I could heal from whatever he attempted to do to me, now spoke in a haughty tone as several cracks in space started to form. "However, I do not have time to waste on this primitive fight.

Let me show you why I am known as The Defiler, Eredar Overlord of the Burning Legion, and as my last mercy to you..."

Archimonde, The Defiler, Eredar Overlord of the Burning Legion, now stretched both arms into the skies above, although missing a hand, shouted, "PERISH!"

*WOOOOOSH* Violent winds raced through the battlefield where thousands of demons further down the hill cried out in panicked cries as their bodies turned to dust.

Cowardly imps fled to all directions, hoping to avoid the inevitable, but were turned to dust all the same.

Thousands upon thousands of demons simply disappeared into the winds as their souls were being pulled toward Archimonde, who now had a maelstrom of souls above himself that was quickly turning more chaotic by the second.

I did not hesitate as I made the ice disappear and warped before Archimonde once more. Still, I was repelled by several cracks in space that appeared just as I would collide with the Eredar Overlord.

One of these so-called cracks, which led to the throne-like dimension, closed around my left hand and directly severed my connection with the limb. 'FUCK!' I shouted internally while grunting in pain as I warped around 100 meters back to distance myself from the rapidly forming cracks in space.

Archimonde seemingly ignored my attempt at interrupting whatever he was doing and opened his mouth wide; the vortex of souls was pulled into The Defiler's maw as thousands of demons cried out in agony as they were devoured with no chance of ever coming back.

I conjured ice around my missing limb and watched it reform rapidly as blue blood dripped to the ground.

*THUMP* *THUMP* *THUMP* A drum-like heartbeat came from Archimonde as he slowly closed his maw shut and breathed out loudly as blue-like vapor escaped his eye sockets, mouth, and nostrils, clearly residue of the souls he had devoured.

He gave me a side glance as his eyes focused on the world tree while his body ballooned in size, his bones cracked, and previously melted gold ornaments fell off his body as he turned toward the world tree, his body reached toward the skies.

In mere moments, Archimonde stood tall, 200 meters into the sky, his body surrounded by green smoke and surging magic that was seeping out of his tall form, which turned into a natural pressure that would push most creatures of Azeroth into mush.

'It's time for the endgame...' I thought to myself wryly, but I also looked forward to seeing what would happen now after my recent increase in level.

Then, his foot positioned itself above me and came crashing down as if the sky above decided to visit the earth.

-Chapter 75 End-