As the leader of the combat priestesses recognized by many of her sisters, Maiev's opinions were not something even High Priestess Dejahna could afford to ignore.
Under her strong advocacy, a consensus was quickly reached within the Sisterhood: they would officially break ties with the Moon Guard tomorrow night, breach the blockade of the Seat of the Sky, and strive to reach the main battlefield before the final decisive conflict began.
Nominally, Andreas was just a Druid; the internal decisions of the Sisterhood of Elune had nothing to do with him. However, he planned to lend a hand during the implementation phase of the plan, which would also serve as a perfect opportunity to test the new powers he had just acquired.
After enduring the entire day, the priestesses of the Sisterhood took turns catching up on sleep as dusk began to fall; Shandris was no exception.
Andreas, however, due to his ample sleep earlier, found himself in a state of high spirits as night descended.
The crescent moon in the sky was sprinkling a faint silver glow into the courtyard. Andreas stood in the center of the garden, bathing in the lunar radiance, which felt much cooler and crisper than sunlight.
His spirit gradually entered a special state of transcendence, sinking deeply into the ocean of his own consciousness.
"Child, can you hear my words clearly now?"
A soft and warm female voice seemed to penetrate directly into Andreas' soul. Perhaps the term "voice" was problematic to begin with; it felt more as if Andreas were communicating directly with a great existence through his spirit.
"Yes, Respected Moon Goddess Elune."
Andreas, who usually appeared quite casual and uninhibited, was now exceptionally respectful and polite. His translucent soul-form bowed with a hand over his chest toward the silver sphere of light before him.
"Thank you for your gift, which has given me the basic ability to protect myself in this world full of perils."
The gentle female voice emanated from the sphere of light again.
"There is no need to thank me. I merely used pure energy to perform a high-intensity cleansing of your body, thereby expelling the impurities within you and guiding out the talents you inherently possessed."
"Talents?"
Andreas was stunned for a moment, then spoke with a look of realization, "Does that mean I was born with an affinity for the Shadow?"
"Wrong."
Elune spoke with a hint of a smile in her voice. "Quite the contrary. Just like the other two Night Elves with golden eyes, you were born with an extremely high talent for the power of Light."
"Because of the transformative nature between Light and Shadow, and the unique quality of your soul, you simultaneously possess an equally powerful talent for the Shadow."
The smile froze on Andreas' face, and he let out a confused sound of bewilderment. "...Huh?"
Elune paid no mind to Andreas' distraction and continued with a note of regret, "If you had continued along the path of Light, you would have inevitably grown to heights unreachable by other mortals. Unfortunately..."
"Azshara was drawn by the Well of Eternity and chose the path of the Arcane."
"Illidan Stormrage, in his desire to win Tyrande's heart, blindly pursued powerful strength. He even went as far as to defect to the Burning Legion to gather intelligence deep behind enemy lines. He naively believed that by achieving great deeds, he could win back Tyrande's heart."
Hearing this, Andreas' brow twitched slightly. Has the Demon Hunter already been born?
Elune's tone shifted, speaking to Andreas with deep meaning, "And you, you are a different case entirely."
"An external soul merged with the broken soul of this body, forming a brand-new soul morphology that has even begun to reverse-influence the physical form. Such a situation is something even I have never seen before."
"This..."
Andreas looked at the great silver sphere of light in horror. "Respected Elune, do you... know my true origin?"
"Of course."
Elune chuckled softly. "I noticed you the moment you descended upon Azeroth, my outworlder kin."
Andreas took a step closer to the sphere of light and asked urgently, "Then do you have a way to send me back to my original world?! My parents must be very worried about me!"
Elune remained silent for a few seconds before answering in a regretful tone, "I am sorry, child."
"Aside from the fact that I cannot track which specific world your soul originated from or how to send you back, there is also the matter that since you entered Azeroth in a soul-form, it means... your body in your original world is already dead."
"Even if you could return to your home world, your body could not be resurrected unless you used death magic to turn it into an undead. Could you accept such a thing?"
Elune's explanation left Andreas' mind a total blank. The common joke from his old life looped repeatedly in his head.
It took a good while before Andreas' lips twitched. With a strange expression that showed he couldn't quite bring himself to smile, he murmured, "So, I can't go back?"
"I'm afraid so, child."
Elune comforted him softly, "Although I cannot determine the exact reason your soul was drawn to Azeroth, I believe it is related to the Burning Legion tearing through dimensions and the massive portal constructed via the Well of Eternity."
"Spatial disturbance?"
"Yes. In the absence of sufficient evidence, this speculation is likely the closest to the truth."
Andreas clenched his fists, the blank look on his face gradually turning into one of determination and ferocity.
"The Burning Legion... I have yet another reason to destroy you all!"
Elune advised gently, "Child, do not let hatred consume your life."
"Destroying the Burning Legion is indeed a noble ideal, but I hope you do not abandon other beautiful things because of it."
"First, I must apologize to you. Because the privacy of your soul is too low, I accidentally read a fleeting image from your memories just now."
"This..."
Andreas asked with a pained expression, "Respected Elune, that means... I have no secrets before you? Even the things I think in my heart can be easily perceived?"
"Yes. Although I do not actively read your thoughts, when your emotional fluctuations are intense, certain memories will naturally surface."
Shaking his head with a bitter smile, Andreas sighed. "Well, it seems learning how to improve my mental defenses will be a key subject for future study."
"So, which part of my memory did you read?"
"Regarding Illidan Stormrage."
Elune spoke with some emotion, "I do not know where you obtained those fragments of the future, but I must say, the end of that Demon Hunter fits his personality and style of operation perfectly."
"After completely losing hope of winning back Tyrande's heart, Illidan made the destruction of the Burning Legion his life's sole conviction."
"To achieve that goal, he was willing to pay any price and could harden his heart to give cruel orders that others could not."
Elune said earnestly, "Andreas, I do not want your future to be as empty as his. Try to embrace the world; there are many more beautiful things in Azeroth waiting for you to discover and touch."
Andreas rubbed his brow with a bitter smile. "I will try my best. Thank you for your guidance, Moon Goddess Elune."
Elune's words revealed a sense of relief. "It is good that you are willing to accept my suggestion... Time is short. My consciousness cannot project into the material world for long."
Elune's "voice" became increasingly distant, leaving one final request.
"Andreas, my other kin, Tyrande, has run into great trouble. I must leave the last bit of the power remaining from this manifestation to her."
"Relying on my power alone is enough for her self-protection but insufficient to help her escape. I hope you can lend her a hand."
"I know Tyrande; she is a person who clearly distinguishes between favors and grudges. One day in the future, she will surely do her best to repay this kindness."
As Elune's consciousness receded from the material world, Andreas' body standing in the courtyard of the Great Temple opened its eyes.
"Great trouble?"
He reached up with his left hand to stroke his beard, speaking thoughtfully, "Has it reached that point in time already? It seems I must act quickly."