As the cavalry of the Winter's Claw began their charge, the death knights of the Scourge also spurred on their death steeds.
The first wave of battle belonged to the cavalry duel. Sejuani charged at the front, Bristle was galloping wildly, and Volibear was also running on all fours.
"Scatter them!" Sejuani shouted. She swung her flail fiercely, dodging the death knight's runeblade attack, while the hammerhead embedded itself deeply into the opponent's chest, knocking the death knight away.
Volibear pounced on an enemy, burrowing under the death steed's belly and heaving upwards, flipping the steed and the death knight on its back to the ground. Before the fallen death knight could stand, he was trampled to death by the boar riders behind.
Miss Fortune Sarah stood further back, firing her twin pistols in rapid succession, knocking enemies down one by one. Vereesa had also caught up, her arrows reaping the dirty souls of these undead with precision and ruthlessness.
Sejuani commanded all the cavalry of the Argent Pact, about one thousand five hundred people, of which nearly a thousand were boar riders of the Winter's Claw. However, their numbers were still less than the death knights. She led a portion of the cavalry into the enemy ranks, while a portion of the death knights broke through their defenses, slaughtering the infantry in the rear.
Every second, warriors died. Swords clashed on the battlefield, and the sound of battle shook the sky. Nazgrael cleaved two Scourge undead with his axe, striding over their corpses. His target was always only one, Broxigar, the corrupted orc death knight!
To break through to the opponent, the orc warriors following him fell one after another, but no orc retreated.
"Broxigar!" Nazgrael finally broke through to the death knight. Broxigar had just used his rune great axe to cleave a Winter's Claw knight and his boar in half. "Prepare to die!" Nazgrael took two running steps, stomped hard on the ground, his strong power erupting, and suddenly leaped high, raising his battle axe over his head, heavily chopping down at the opponent.
"Overestimating yourself!" Broxigar did not dodge or evade; he roared, and the rune great axe slashed upwards. The two battle axes clashed, sparks flying from the blades.
Even though Nazgrael had the advantage of the momentum from running and jumping, he was still no match for Broxigar. His battle axe was knocked away, and his whole body was carried to the side by the enormous force, landing and rolling until someone stopped him.
"We'll deal with him together!" Nazgrael heard a deep, powerful voice.
It was the voice of the bear-man hero, Volibear.
Nazgrael shook his dizzy head, spat out the blood in his mouth, and flipped over to stand up: "Deal with him together!"
He picked up his axe and pounced on Broxigar with Volibear.
This battle entered a fever pitch from the start. Without any probing, the Argent Pact could only fight desperately to open a retreat passage. Blocking them were more than twice their number of Scourge forces. In the Utgarde Keep behind them were still an unknown number of Vrykul. These barbarians had fallen into slumber thousands of years ago, and those they fought in the castle before were only a portion of those awakened. With the outbreak of war, more Vrykul were awakening from thousands of years of slumber. If they could join the battlefield, it would be the worst possible news for the Argent Pact.
Rhonin and Krasus had to use their magic to isolate the Vrykul's pursuit, at least to isolate the attacks of the Vrykul warriors rushing over the ground.
More than a hundred witches of the Frostguard clan jointly cast spells, creating an impenetrable blizzard on the bridgehead to buy them time.
Rhonin chanted incantations, beginning to prepare his most powerful spell.
Lissandra was also doing the same. As a frost witch, her specialty was of course ice magic. Although Utgarde Keep was not covered in snow all year round, the temperature was still very cold. This provided great convenience for her to cast spells.
With her spellcasting, ice fog began to appear on the Ymiron Falls. They gathered in an unnatural state towards the bridgehead, as thick as cotton, and soon made it impossible to see one's fingers.
An aura of danger permeated the air. The energies of frost and arcane constantly converged. The bridge trembled more and more noticeably. The Frostguards were even affected by the tremors and could no longer maintain the blizzard. However, even when the blizzard stopped, no Vrykul warrior dared to step into the ice fog. Although they were barbaric and reckless, they were not fools. There was a chilling aura of danger in that ice fog.
'Stepping in will mean death,' a voice in their hearts warned them.
When the bridge trembled so much that it was difficult to stand, the bridge, which had been indestructible for ten thousand years, slowly reached its limit.
"Crack," the first sound of fracture came, and then quickly became one. The bridge began to collapse from the end at the entrance of Utgarde Keep. The boulders shattered by the energy of the magic fell into the lake bay under the hundred-zhang cliff, splashing huge waves. The lake water, losing its interception upstream, surged out through the narrow cracks, naturally accelerating the collapse of the bridge. The tremors continued, but the ice fog was slowly disappearing. The Vrykul warriors on the other side gradually saw the scene on the bridge:
A section of the dam more than fifty meters long had disappeared, and the ice reflecting the sunlight near the break seemed to be telling them that the expansion of the ice had pried open the bridge.
But was that possible? How could ice have the power to burst dams and bridges?
The Vrykul could no longer find confirmation, because there was no one left on that side of the bridge.
It was only possible with the perfect combination of frost and arcane. Rhonin and Krasus immediately withdrew after completing this earth-shattering destruction. The front battlefield needed their assistance.
Vrykul King Ymiron stood in front of the broken bridge and roared angrily, "My dragon rider warriors, immediately mobilize all of you! Bring back the destroyers! I will personally punish them!"
The dragon rider clan of Vrykul, riding ugly primitive dragons, swooped from the sky above Utgarde Keep towards the battlefield on the other side. Mages could destroy bridges, but they could not destroy the sky!
-----
"Roar!" Volibear let out a fierce roar. He summoned the power of storm and lightning, and lightning flashed on his claws. Volibear swatted away a death knight who attempted to sneak attack him from the side, and then strode towards Broxigar - the most powerful death knight on the battlefield!
"Your strength is strong, but it's not enough in front of me!" Broxigar also came up to meet him. He had just knocked Nazgrael to the ground again. This time, the orc warrior was more seriously injured, and he could no longer fight. An orc soldier dragged him to the back. Broxigar chopped down with his axe, but Volibear slapped the axe body with his palm, blocking it. The power of lightning passed along the axe handle, paralyzing Broxigar for a moment. Volibear immediately seized the opportunity, flipping over the enemy's steed, and smashing the head of the death steed with a slap.
"Now we can have a fair duel!" Volibear stood up and strode towards Broxigar, who had just flipped over and stood up.
"Good! My great axe is craving your blood!" Broxigar showed a bloodthirsty grin, gripping his rune great axe tightly. On the ground, he could exert one hundred percent of his strength, and he had just been a little careless. This bear-man's lightning would never succeed in a sneak attack like just now!
The two charged towards each other again, fighting. However, Broxigar's body suddenly trembled, and his shoulder was shot - Miss Fortune in the distance blew on the smoking muzzle of her gun, turning her target to others.
"Roar!" Broxigar let out a battle cry, his eyes revealing an icy blue light. He dug out the lead pellet from the wound, which was stained with his black blood. He glanced at it, threw the lead pellet into his mouth, and crunched it with his teeth.
"This little injury will not affect me at all, you despicable sneak attacker!" Broxigar mocked, swallowing the crushed lead pellet.
"You have no right to say the word despicable." Volibear roared and pounced, "Embrace the storm!"
-----
The situation on the battlefield was not optimistic. The losses of the Argent Pact were very serious. More than a thousand soldiers had died, and the number of injured was even more difficult to count. Worse, the Scourge had not yet used evil necromancy to resurrect these dead.
Once they did, the Argent Pact, which was already at a disadvantage, would be even worse.
To add insult to injury, a large number of Dragon Rider clansmen flew out of Utgarde Keep from behind them. The shadows of the proto-dragons blotted out the sky, countless in number. Like a moving shadow, they were rapidly enveloping them.
Without enough ranged troops, they simply couldn't contend with the Dragon Riders in the sky.
This was almost the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Lissandra and her Frostguard witches guarded the rear.
"Attack the enemies in the sky!" she calmly ordered. But a hundred or so witches posed no threat to the boundless Dragon Riders.
"Are we... going to be defeated?" Vereesa murmured. She didn't dare spread her despair to the surrounding warriors. Even with such thoughts in her heart, she continued to fire deadly arrows at the Scourge enemies.
"No, we won't," Rhonin encouraged her. "We will break through!"
"But where is the hope?" Vereesa was lost in confusion. This caused the arrow she had just fired to miss its mark.
However, at this moment, a long horn sounded in the distance.
"It's not our people blowing it," a soldier said, immediately looking around.
"Is it Scourge reinforcements?" This was obviously a more despairing guess for the warriors.
"It sounds like the Alliance's horn!"
"That's right, it really is the Alliance's horn!"
"We're saved!"
The warriors from the Alliance quickly told the news to others around them. Before long, everyone had received the news. Cheers immediately rang out.
Soon, the first figure appeared behind the Scourge—it was an Orc warrior riding a wolf. Then, more Orc riders appeared. Immediately, Orcs recognized their banner:
"It's the Warsong Clan's banner!"
"It's the Horde! Our people are here!"
Then, more banners appeared on the horizon.
The banners of the Alliance, Lordaeron, Kul Tiras, Quel'Thalas, Valoran... and under these banners, the valiant warriors of the Northrend Expedition came in overwhelming numbers.
The earth trembled, as did the terrified hearts of the Scourge army.
"Retreat! Retreat to Acherus: The Ebon Hold!" Broxigar shook off Volibear. He had just been fighting fiercely with this bear-man. The bear-man had already been suppressed by him. He believed that it wouldn't be long before he could kill him while he was weak.
But the Northrend Expedition had arrived.
The forces at Acherus: The Ebon Hold were simply not enough to contend with them. Retreat was a wise choice.
"Loktar-Ogar!"
Broxigar heard the most familiar voice from his lifetime. He saw the figure of the Horde. Wasn't that unique wolf rider from the Warsong Clan?
Why were the Orcs mixed up with the Alliance?
Broxigar resurrected his warhorse, even though its skull was shattered. As long as it wasn't completely pulverized, it could be fully restored with a little soul power. It was much stronger than a living warhorse!
Broxigar rode it towards Acherus: The Ebon Hold. The composition of the Northrend Expedition filled his heart with doubt. He had to report this to the Lich King.
However, Grom, who was leading the Warsong warriors to launch the first battle of the Northrend Expedition, had no intention of letting the opponent go so easily. He let out a deafening roar, leading the brave Orcs to charge into the enemy first. Gorehowl easily chopped off the first Scourge head, and then split the second in half.
Grom needed to vent! Needed to prove himself!
Orcs were more valiant and skilled in battle than humans!
Those who underestimated the Orcs must pay the price!
Under his superb combat skills and immense strength, the Scourge in front of him fell like crumbling ruins. Grom didn't even encounter a target worth fighting with all his might. But soon he found one—the Orc Death Knight! That evil leader! That undead who defiled the honor of the Orcs!
"Broxigar !"
The Scourge warriors were retreating into Acherus: The Ebon Hold in batches.
Broxigar guarded the entrance to the fortress. Seeing Grom charging over, he roared, "Are you here to die, Hellscream!?"
"I'm here to send you to your doom!"
"Then we'll see if you have the ability!" Broxigar spurred his death steed to meet him head-on. The two most powerful Orc warriors immediately began a fierce battle.
—
Ashe led the elite archers of the Avarosan tribe, along with Halduron Brightwing's rangers and archers, to attack the rear of the Silver Covenant. The addition of a large number of archers immediately relieved the pressure brought on by the proto-dragon riders. Quinn merged with Valor, transforming into a giant eagle and flying into the sky, hunting down one enemy after another with agility and ferocity. In the sky, Valor was almost unmatched.
The same was true for Seraphine. She wreaked havoc among the Dragon Riders, attracting many javelin throwers from the Dragon Rider clans. However, the most powerful attack methods of these Vrykul couldn't even touch a single feather of this angel. She had also accepted the power of the Naaru, and now she was completely beyond the reach of these clumsy primitives.
Varok Saurfang led a group of Orcs to scatter the Scourge that had previously besieged Rhonin and Vereesa. He grinned and laughed, "It's been a while, old friend!"
Rhonin breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, revealing a relieved smile: "Yes, old friend. Your arrival is really timely!"
Halduron came to Vereesa and saluted her: "Lady Vereesa, the High Elf forces are now under your command!"
"It's so good to see you all." Vereesa had been in this harsh land of Northrend for more than half a year. Times had changed. At first, she only wanted to avoid her family's opposition to her love and, out of trust in the Alliance, formed the Silver Covenant volunteer army of less than a thousand people. She never expected that, after many twists and turns, she would now become the Grand General of a multi-racial force of over ten thousand, and even the expeditionary force sent by Silvermoon City had to accept her command.
"But," Vereesa blushed a little, thinking of her own affairs, "General Halduron, you know my background. In Quel'Thalas, I had never led a formal unit of more than fifty people. And you are the renowned Ranger General of Silvermoon City. You should still be the commander of the High Elves!"
"No one is born a commander. Lady Vereesa—I should call you Grand General Vereesa now!" Halduron looked at her seriously, without the slightest hint of jest, "You have done an excellent job! I believe you can lead us to victory!"
Vereesa didn't continue to decline. She couldn't help but think of ten years ago when she and Rhonin met, when she was just a rookie who had just finished her ranger studies. Arrogant, willful, and impatient. Who would have thought that she would have such achievements today?
However, she immediately thought of another thing, and her brow furrowed slightly. "General Halduron, do you know Sylvanas's current situation?"
"She is conducting military deployments in Silvermoon City."
"I... when I was at the Frozen Throne..." She wanted to tell her sister about seeing Sylvanas become the Banshee Queen. But she hesitated.
"She already knows. About that matter." Halduron heard what she meant, "Please rest assured. General Sylvanas is stronger than you think. Prince Kael'thas will not be defeated either."
"Then I'm relieved." Vereesa finally showed a relieved smile.
The battle was coming to an end. Only a few abandoned Scourge were still struggling in vain on the battlefield. Grom ultimately failed to keep Broxigar . Although he really wanted to kill him, Broxigar was no pushover either. The Death Knight had no intention of fighting, and after most of the Scourge warriors retreated to the fortress, he forced Grom back, then boarded the fortress and ordered it to retreat from the sky.
Currently, everyone didn't have a dedicated weapon against the flying fortress, and could only watch it leave helplessly.
And the Vrykul Dragon Riders found that as more and more archers and mages joined the battlefield, their losses immediately increased exponentially. They had no choice but to retreat to Utgarde Keep in a sorry state under the pursuit of the angel and the giant eagle. King Ymiron was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
After the bridge was broken earlier, Ymiron was worried that he could not lead the main force to join the battlefield. But now that the Alliance's main force had arrived and driven away the Scourge, it was his turn to worry about how he could resist if the humans repaired the bridge and their army attacked.