Watching the immensely fierce Rhodes charging toward him, Archimonde gave a cold snort. He produced a golden hammer from his person and met the assault without a hint of fear.
At this moment, Rhodes's physical size was indeed terrifying, standing at five meters tall. However, Archimonde was a staggering twenty meters in height. The clash looked like an adult fending off the attack of a child. Archimonde's voice exploded across the battlefield like rolling thunder, his twenty-meter blue frame causing the earth to tremble with every step.
With a thunderous BOOM, the giant mace and the iron hammer collided. A horrific shockwave rippled outward, knocking back nearby demons and coalition members alike. In this demigod-level struggle, ordinary mortals didn't just lack the power to intervene—they barely had the right to watch.
"Arrogant beast! Feel the wrath of the Legion! I shall burn you to ash!" Archimonde roared, immediately unleashing Fel sorcery. However, these localized Fel spells were instantly countered by the nature magic of the surrounding Wild Gods. Archimonde glared around, visibly annoyed.
Rhodes slowly straightened up, his dragon tail swaying gently behind him and his mace resting on his shoulder. His amber vertical pupils locked onto Archimonde's burning Fel-eyes without a trace of retreat.
"Blue-skinned goat, you certainly have a loud mouth," Rhodes grinned, revealing rows of sharp, white teeth. "Too bad shouting doesn't kill people. Come, show me your real skill!"
"Haha! Well said! That blue monster is hideous!"
"Lord Demigod, take down that blue freak!"
Suppressed laughter and cheers erupted from the coalition lines. The Wild God's proactive challenge had immensely bolstered their morale. Cenarius shook his head helplessly—his disciple's fighting style was becoming increasingly wild, and his tongue was just as sharp. But in times like these, that was exactly what was needed.
Archimonde's pupils contracted dangerously. "Insect, you shall pay for your arrogance. I will personally crush your bones and tear out your soul, leaving you to wail in eternal torment—roasted in Fel flames for ten thousand years!"
Before the words could even finish, Rhodes's figure abruptly vanished, turning into a teal blur! This wasn't a magical teleport; it was pure physical explosiveness. In his Dragonman form, Rhodes's leg muscles were optimized, combining draconic strength with humanoid burst patterns. One step covered hundreds of meters.
"Too much talk! Eat this! Thunder Bagua!"
Rhodes's voice rang out beside Archimonde as the mace swept in, trailing wind and thunder! Archimonde's eyes flashed with shock, but his combat instincts took over. A Fel shield condensed instantly at his side while his left arm bulked with muscle to block.
CLANG—BOOM!!!
The dull sound of metal hitting flesh coincided with an energy explosion. The Fel shield shattered like glass upon contact—the anti-magic properties of Rhodes's weapon allowed the strike to bypass the energy defense entirely!
However, Archimonde's body was exceptionally hardy, far surpassing ordinary demigods. This strike didn't cause significant damage to the Demon Lord. Noting the size disparity, Rhodes snorted and channeled a massive surge of life energy into his body. A shroud of Nature energy wrapped around him, and his body swelled, growing from five meters to a full twenty-plus meters—equal in height to Archimonde.
"Combat power doesn't grow based on size, you foolish beast," Archimonde snorted at the tripled-in-size Rhodes.
"Don't worry, I'm big enough. Today I'm smashing your head open, and even Sargeras won't save you. I said it," Rhodes countered.
As Rhodes grew, his mace initially looked like a short stick. He immediately used Life magic to inject a hard-wood seed into the core of the mace, causing it to expand. In an instant, the weapon became a fifteen-meter giant pillar—wrapped in anti-magic metal with a core of solid Ironwood.
The two titans clashed again. With their sizes equalized, Archimonde found himself completely outmatched in close-quarters brawling. Within a few rounds, Rhodes caught a opening. The mace slammed into Archimonde's blocking left arm, metal and demon skin screeching with ear-piercing sparks. The force sent Archimonde staggering three steps back, each step leaving a deep crater in the earth.
"What!" Archimonde looked at his left arm in disbelief. The skin had split, and dark blue demonic blood was oozing out. More shockingly, the strike hadn't carried Arcane, Fel, or Elemental power... it was pure life energy, detonated in the form of violent lightning!
"Life essence... can be used like this?" Cenarius marveled from afar.
"Surprised, Archimonde? The life of Azeroth is far more interesting than maggots crawling out of the Twisting Nether," Rhodes swung his mace, electric snakes crackling along its length.
"Die! Witness my Fel Storm!" Archimonde finally snapped. He slammed his palms together, and a horrific Fel shockwave erupted from him. Emerald flames expanded in a ring, withering plants and melting rocks. Dozens of low-level demons were vaporized instantly.
"Everyone, get back!" Jarod Shadowsong shouted to the mortal troops.
Rhodes, however, did not retreat. He charged forward, meeting the Fel storm head-on. A layer of flowing emerald light formed over his skin as he roared. The Fel fire hissed against the light-shield but could not penetrate it—Life and Fel were antithetical, and they were now engaged in a primal war of attrition.
"Your fire... is too weak!" Rhodes stepped through the storm, grass and vines sprouting at his feet with every step, only to be consumed by the green energy a second later. He lunged again.
Archimonde was ready this time. He thrust his palms forward, and dozens of Fel chains shot from the void, tipped with soul-corroding spikes. "Bind him! Fel Chains!"
The chains converged from all angles. Rhodes didn't dodge; instead, he spun the mace with incredible speed, creating a lightning vortex.
"Thunder Tornado! I'll show you a real storm!"
The spinning mace became a teal whirlwind, grinding the Fel chains to dust upon contact. Anti-magic metal combined with high-speed life-lightning was the ultimate counter to energy attacks.
"What kind of spell is this?" Archimonde finally felt a sense of threat. He stopped underestimating his foe and began chanting an ancient Eredar incantation. The sky darkened as Fel clouds gathered, revealing massive green shadows.
"Descend! Rain of Chaos! Infernal!"
A meteor shower covering several kilometers began to fall. Cenarius moved to help, but Malfurion held him back. "Wait... look!"
Rhodes looked at the falling Fel meteors and grinned. "Now it's getting interesting."
He slammed the mace into the ground, gripped the handle with both hands, and took a deep breath. His chest expanded visibly, emerald light leaking from the gaps in his scales. Then, he roared to the heavens!
Knowing this move from the future Battle of Mount Hyjal, Rhodes wouldn't let it succeed. His body began to shift further, transforming into a 300-meter-long Azure Dragon! He soared into the clouds, his vast life energy clashing with the Fel clouds. He commanded the elements of Azeroth—wind, fire, and thunder—to extinguish the Fel storm. Only a few stray Infernals landed, doing little damage to the coalition.
Returning to the ground in his Dragonman form, Rhodes stood as a symbol of terror to the Legion and hope for the coalition.
"This is impossible... how can a mere Wild God have this level of power?" Archimonde was genuinely shaken. He had killed dozens of demigods across countless worlds, but he had never seen a monster like this. This creature had neutralized his Rain of Chaos with pure physical presence and life force.
He didn't know that Rhodes's power didn't just come from being a Wild God—it was bolstered by the attribute points of the Heroes of Might and Magic system and a traveler's unique understanding of energy.
"Now..." Rhodes's voice boomed. "It's my turn."
He pulled up the mace, and the blue lightning dancing on it surged tenfold, weaving a massive net in the air. Rhodes's figure became a blur—not disappearing, but moving so fast he left dozens of afterimages.
"Illusions? No... afterimages from speed! Wait, some are phantoms!" Archimonde tried to judge, but it was useless. Rhodes was blending truth with fiction.
Dozens of voices rang out from all directions, converging into a single cry:
"Lightning... Wild Kill!!!"
The afterimages vanished as the true Rhodes appeared directly in front of Archimonde. The mace swung at full force, connecting squarely with Archimonde's face. The anti-magic metal tore through the Demon Lord's defenses like paper.
Time seemed to slow. Archimonde could see the mace coming, could feel the condensed energy, but his body... couldn't keep up!