"Whoa! It runs so smoothly, way more comfortable than the horses back in Tarren Mill!" Anveena Sunstrider, the newly minted Blood Elf princess, cried out happily while gripping the feathers on the Hawkstrider's neck. Free from the constraints of the court, she seemed exceptionally lively.
The young girl sped along on her mount, relishing this rare taste of freedom. Back in Tarren Mill, she had been restricted by her illusory parents, who never allowed her to leave the surrounding area. This was her first time racing across the fields with such abandon; the sensation was nothing short of wonderful.
Jaina watched the energetic Anveena and smiled helplessly before spurring her own mount to ride alongside Rhodes. "Rhodes, are you certain Dar'Khan will show up? Our current path seems to be skirting the edge of the Dead Scar."
"He'll come. Dar'Khan's hunger for power has twisted his mind; he's like a hyena with a sharp sense of smell. He won't let any energy source that could make him stronger slip through his fingers. And Anveena... to him, she's a walking treasury of power," Rhodes said with a chuckle.
"I see. You plan to use Anveena as bait to lure the snake from its hole. But do we need to wear disguises? Or perhaps have Anveena suppress her... well, overly 'dazzling' aura?" Jaina asked, nodding.
Rhodes's lips curled into a meaningful smile. "No, quite the opposite. We need to make her 'glow.' If she isn't bright enough, people won't be able to see her."
As a former top-tier High Elf mage, Dar'Khan would surely notice as soon as Anveena appeared near Tarren Mill. Even if he didn't, Rhodes could find him using View Earth magic.
In the original timeline, Dar'Khan should have already begun secretly amassing a force of Scourge undead. He had sensed the residual essence of the Sunwell long ago and had been secretly tracking Anveena's group.
Dar'Khan was actually quite powerful. In the final installment of the Sunwell Trilogy, he even defeated both Sylvanas Windrunner and Krasus. There was even a famous scene in the manga where the Dark Lady herself was suspended in mid-air by his magic. If Anveena hadn't released the Sunwell's energy to burn him to ashes, he wouldn't have been defeated—and even then, he eventually resurrected, albeit with diminished power. Later, in The Burning Crusade, he became an elite mob that players could easily dispatch, but by then he had died and returned too many times, leaving him a shadow of his peak self.
Currently, if Rhodes didn't use a disguise spell to mask her, Anveena's energy was so potent that any top-tier mage could feel it from miles away. Similarly, any Paladin would sense the Holy Light within her.
"I understand the plan now. Is this Dar'Khan guy really that strong?"
"How should I put it? In terms of raw mana, he isn't much inferior to Kel'Thuzad. He was, after all, a premier mage of the High Elves," Rhodes offered a fair assessment based on the trilogy's events.
Kel'Thuzad was formidable, but he wasn't the absolute pinnacle of Azerothian mages. A peak Dar'Khan was roughly his equal. The main difference was that Dar'Khan was unwilling to stay under the Lich King's thumb; he always wanted to strike out on his own. Conveniently, as Arthas took the Frozen Throne, the Lich King's control over the undead weakened—partially due to Illidan's actions—allowing Dar'Khan to slip the leash.
"About the same as Kel'Thuzad? Then there's not much to worry about," Jaina huffed confidently. When she first met Rhodes, she had hunted Kel'Thuzad with Arthas. Back then, the necromancer hadn't shown much strength before being cornered and killed by the three of them.
"Kel'Thuzad was throwing the fight back then. He wanted to die at Arthas's hands."
"What's the difference? Facing you as you are now, I could handle this Dar'Khan myself. As for Kel'Thuzad, I don't feel I'd lose to him anymore," the female mage said, radiating confidence. Over the past year following Rhodes, her strength had exploded. She had mastered Titan magic and, thanks to Anveena, now commanded high-tier spells like Lightning Bolt and Summon Fire Elemental. A mere Dar'Khan was no longer a major threat.
"Hahaha, you're right. To us, he really is a small fry now," Rhodes laughed. As strength grew, leveling up became harder. Killing murlocs, kobolds, or quilboar only yielded a pitiful 1 experience point. To keep leveling, he needed to hunt the Burning Legion or the Scourge.
Speaking of which, since he knew the Legion Portal spell, maybe he should try some "entrapment"? He could find a safe spot, rip open a portal, and beat down any demons that stepped through. It would be a fast way to farm points, though it carried the risk of accidentally summoning Kil'jaeden or other high-ranking Legion lords.
However, Rhodes felt that even if Kil'jaeden showed up, he wouldn't be too afraid if he went all out. His roster of Level 7 units was substantial, including Holy Light Phoenixes and Archangels that reached Level 8 status. Soon, he'd even have "Demon Hunter" versions of Arch Devils. He had already gifted Illidan a few Arch Devils before leaving Outland. With Anveena by his side to blast demons with Holy Light while he landed the finishing blows, the plan felt brilliant.
Rhodes beckoned Anveena over. "Here, Lord Rhodes!" she said, steering her Hawkstrider closer.
"The Holy Light techniques I taught you—how is your mastery?"
"No problem! Look!" Anveena raised her hand excitedly. A warm, pure pillar of golden light shot into the sky, instantly illuminating the entire forest. Finnall watched with a look of pure adoration; her years of Paladin training paled in comparison to Anveena's raw talent.
"Very good," Rhodes nodded in approval. "Your mission during our journey is to continuously and 'accidentally' emit these pure energy pulses. You need to pretend you can't quite control the Sunwell's power. The three of us will use Disguise to look like ordinary mercenary adventurers and wait for the prey to take the bait."
"Understood, Lord Rhodes. I want to get rid of the traitor Dar'Khan too," Anveena agreed. she was eager for a real battle to see how strong she truly was. Dar'Khan was a top-tier Blood Elf mage, making him the perfect practice target.
The rest of the trip became a rehearsal for Anveena. Under Rhodes's tutelage, she practiced finely controlling her pulses of Holy Light and Arcane power. To lure Dar'Khan, she had to keep the Light faint—a necromancer like him wouldn't dare approach a blinding beacon of holiness. Instead, she focused on radiating Arcane waves laced with the scent of the Sunwell, a scent Dar'Khan would know better than anyone.
Rhodes had no intention of letting Dar'Khan resurrect this time. Under his watch, there would be no second chances.
After a few days, they arrived near Tarren Mill, Anveena's old home. "How nostalgic! Not long ago, I was living here freely as a farm girl, with my parents and my fields," she sighed, feeling the weight of the changes. She was still here, but her parents were gone—or rather, they had never truly existed.
Well, according to Rhodes, her "father" was a Red Dragon who created her, and her "mother" was, strictly speaking, the Sunwell. It was a bizarre family tree. (Thanks to Rhodes's deliberate framing, a certain Red Dragon was now mentally tagged with the title "Well-playing Man.")
"We'll stay at your old home tonight," Rhodes said with a grin. "Remember to keep those Sunwell vibrations going."
The four of them settled into the modest house. Meanwhile, amidst a ruin in the Ghostlands...
"Ah... that familiar, sweet scent... it's the Sunwell! So pure, so... enticing! It's nearby! A masterless, surging fountain of Sunwell energy! You've finally appeared. I must have your power," a man in a black coat and a high-crowned hat muttered to himself. Though he was undead, this Blood Elf mage looked remarkably like a living person; without close inspection, one wouldn't even realize he was Scourge.
"Master, what should we do?"