Arthas killed the last resisting Dark Iron Dwarf, pulling his longsword from the dwarf's eye socket. As he looked at the two men in a standoff ahead, the madness of Bloodlust still lingered in his eyes.
"I'll say it again! Give me back my daughter!" Magni roared furiously. "You have lost your Dwarven honor! As a Dwarf, you willingly became a pawn for the elementals. Don't you know Ragnaros will destroy Azeroth!"
"Old man! I'll say it one more time, get the hell back! You don't need to teach me what to do!" King Thaurissan roared back. The Dark Iron Dwarves were inherently stubborn and hot-tempered. Now that he was provoked, he didn't care if Magni was his father-in-law; he'd beat him up first and talk later!
"You dog! You uncultured beast, go die! Attack!" Magni took the lead, his body suddenly swelling to three meters tall. The warrior's signature ability, 'Avatar'!
Swoosh! Magni hurled a Storm Bolt crackling with lightning. It flew from afar towards King Thaurissan, who had no way to dodge. The Storm Bolt hit him squarely, stunning him on the spot.
The two armies clashed once again. This time, the Dark Iron Dwarves brought Fire Elementals to aid them. These Elemental beings had little intelligence and were composed entirely of fire and magma, with their most important core at their center. Many Dwarves fought these Fire Elementals. Even if they killed their opponents, they would be scalded and develop painful blisters. Continuous fighting would cause the blisters to burst, making it impossible to even hold their weapons.
Brigitte noticed this problem and had her troops form a defensive line, using only ranged attacks to target the Fire Elementals' cores. They would eliminate as many of these Fire Elementals as possible before engaging the Dark Iron Dwarves.
However, from the passage in the rear, Fire Elementals poured out in a continuous, seemingly endless stream. If this continued, they would likely be overwhelmed by this army of elementals. They had to find a solution.
Arthas felt the unbearable heat. Despite the extremely harsh environment, the high temperature was even causing him to lose health. But he was amazed to find that these Fire Elementals gave a huge amount of experience—almost 1% for a single one, whereas it sometimes took two or even five Dark Iron Dwarves to give 1%. In comparison, killing these Fire Elementals was clearly more worthwhile.
He saw the army being suppressed by the Fire Elementals, relying on the Frost magic of Jaina and the other mages to relieve the pressure. A rogue like Vanessa couldn't even get close; the situation was a hard counter for her.
A golden light rose from his shield, and he threw it viciously. The shield turned into a phantom, drawing the aggro of the attacking Fire Elementals. A mark of Holy Light also lit up above his head; this was Holy energy.
Consuming one charge of Holy energy, he reset the cooldown of Avenger's Shield. The Holy Light shield bounced out again, striking ten additional Fire Elemental targets before dissipating.
Watching the health bars above the Fire Elementals' heads constantly drop, Arthas revealed a wicked smile. The sight made the hearts of Jaina, Calia, and the other women tremble; they all thought Arthas looked incredibly handsome like this. He threw Avenger's Shield again and again, repeatedly resetting its cooldown.
At this moment, Arthas was like a Gatling gun that had been switched on, using his Holy Light shield as bullets and firing them continuously. The sound of clanging rang out nonstop.
The Fire Elemental constructs that had been launching fireballs from a distance were silenced after being hit by the shield. They moved furiously toward Arthas, completely abandoning their casting advantage to engage him in melee.
Unfortunately for them, faced with the endless shield throws—a borderline cheating move—the incoming Fire Elementals were continuously slain. The chain effect on ten additional targets made Avenger's Shield incredibly smooth for area-of-effect attacks. There was no need to aim; as long as he hit the first target, the subsequent bounces were guaranteed hits that couldn't be dodged.
"For honor! For Prince Arthas, kill!" Brigitte shouted to boost morale. The Orc captive soldiers, who had been somewhat hesitant, also let out roars and charged bravely toward the scorching Fire Elementals without a hint of retreat.
Ding! The light of a level-up once again shone on Arthas's body. As expected, leveling up was fastest in the midst of slaughter. Unfortunately, quests didn't award experience, only other random rewards, which was why Arthas's progress was so slow.
Although Arthas had not yet reached max level (Heroic Tier), his strength was there for all to see. He had even killed the Horde's most ferocious warrior, Grom Hellscream. Even as an enemy, one had to admit that a warrior like Grom Hellscream was a true badass.
Yet he was still defeated by Arthas in a one-on-one duel, which proved that Arthas's strength had already grown formidable. Relying on his overpowered skills, he performed exceptionally well in both single combat and group fights.
King Thaurissan in front of them shouldn't even be here. According to the normal dungeon layout, he should be acting as the gatekeeper at the entrance to Molten Core. One could only say that his father-in-law had arrived. Perhaps it was out of true love for Moira that he left his post to have a good talk with his father-in-law. He just didn't expect the talk to break down!
The two kings both activated Avatar and started beating each other up. Father-in-law versus son-in-law, son-in-law versus father-in-law, neither holding back, both fighting to the death.
The Dark Iron Dwarf priestesses in the rear began to summon Fire Elementals to assist, while also trying to heal their king. This was stark reality; no matter how powerful a boss was, they were still mortal, with no extra health pools. And if they were mortal, they could die. Even a Demigod could perish, so what right did a mortal have to speak of eternal life?
Arthas did not intervene in their fight. He had to work hard to farm mobs; the experience here was too high. Even a mage probably couldn't farm mobs as fast as he could. Most importantly, it was safe. Stray shots, hidden arrows, and spells were constantly flying at him.
He blocked them all with his parries, but spells were a bit of a headache; he could only rely on dodging or tanking them. Fortunately, his recovery ability was very strong, and his magic resistance was high enough. Otherwise, he would have died too.
This was a stalemate. As long as he killed fast enough, the enemy couldn't deal damage.
"Father! Stop fighting! I am already Dagran's wife, and we have a child. I'm begging you, let us live our lives in peace!" At that moment, a female Dwarf with wheat-colored skin, clad in black armor and with a sturdy, muscular build, appeared at the gate holding an infant, pleading earnestly!