Light's Dawn of Azeroth

Chapter 81 36. Alas, the powerful elder is here to call me to account. Should I put down my staff and beg for your forgiveness?
[Updated 39/50] The title is too long to fit in.

(Additional update for brother “Huo Zheng Ting Hao” [4/10])
The Talador region is the central area of the continent of Draenor. Geographically speaking, it is the undisputed "hub" of the continent.

It borders the Nagrand Steppes to the west, the Gorgrond Wilds and the Nataran Jungle to the north, the Spires of Arak, the territory of the Arakkoa Empire, to the south, and Shadowmoon Valley, another gathering place for the Draenei, to the east.

The importance of this area lies in the fact that no matter where you start from in the world of Draenor and want to go to another area, you must pass through Talador as a connection.

Therefore, when the Draenei fell on the Nagrand grasslands and migrated to the Talador region to build a city, other races were hostile to them, especially to the orc clans scattered throughout the continent. When the Draenei's power gradually expanded to the point where they made the entire Talador their territory, the connection between the orc clans in various regions of the continent was almost cut off.

Although the Draenei never set up checkpoints in Talador to prevent orcs or other races from passing through, the twice-yearly Ksh'harg Festival is held on the Nagrand Steppes.

It is the most important clan connection celebration in the Orc civilization. Every year when the orcs of each clan pass through Talador, they can see the huge cities, sacred tombs and towns of the Draenei spreading here like living things.

Faced with such a situation, it was impossible for the orcs, whose civilization was already at a disadvantage, not to have doubts in their hearts.

Any orc warrior or shaman with a little bit of common sense would think that if the Draenei suddenly went crazy and blocked Talador one day, their contact with other tribes would be almost immediately cut off.

This kind of security anxiety arising from the survival of the ethnic group has nothing to do with personal rationality!

At least if it were Dick, when he saw an alien race in the Argus world occupy the mountainous area connecting Mac'Aree and the Antoran Plain one day and continue to develop their own cities, he would definitely not regard these guys as harmless.

I believe you are peaceful, but the problem is that you have occupied my food supply, brother.

Either you move out, or I help you move out!
There is simply no logic in matters like this, which concern the survival of civilization.

Over the past two hundred years, the Draenei's construction of cities and continuous expansion in the Talador region have posed a much more terrifying strategic threat to other indigenous peoples than simply occupying the food routes. After all, even a clueless principal knows that they cannot let the draenei occupy Wuhan, the thoroughfare connecting nine provinces.

To be honest, the fact that the orcs could endure for more than two hundred years before coming into direct conflict with the draenei out of anxiety about their security and under the instigation of conspirators and demons, in itself illustrates the fact that traditional orc clans are not actually belligerent.

What we are saying is that although the Draenei are indeed peace-loving, their vision in choosing a novice village when developing the New World is indeed too poor or too extreme!
Even if they had chosen to build the main city in Shadowmoon Valley or directly in Nagrand Grasslands, they would not have attracted the orcs' current vigilance and hostility.

"If I had stayed sober back then, I would have stopped them from making this suicidal decision to build a city. Could it be that Velen, Hatton, or little Nari really couldn't understand the importance of the Talador region to the continent of Draenor?

What kind of good person would build the main city directly in the heart of someone else's sphere of influence?
Isn't this provoking trouble?"

The Saint of the Guardian expressed the same sentiment for the fourth time as he led more than 300 Tabu sheep hunters who came and went like the wind and advanced towards Telmo City along the main road of Talador.

He observed the wide, interconnected roads built by the Draenei in the Talador region. They compacted the ground, paved it with wide stone slabs, and placed elegant street lamps made of Arkonite crystals on both sides of the road. They preserved the local culture and customs almost as they preserved their hometown in the world of Argus.

While galloping among the rolling hills, Dick could even see the Draenei villages built along the river outside the city of Shattrath, and there was even a Draenei town of Tuurem on the island in the middle of the lake, the largest water source in the area.

It is the "House of Scholars" and the base camp of the Arcanist class of the Draenei clan.

It can be seen that in the past two hundred years, the Draenei have indeed tried their best to turn their settlement into an environment suitable for their own living, and have achieved considerable results in infrastructure. The scenery here even made Dick dream of returning to the scenery of Mac'Aree in a trance.

However, the more this happened, the heavier the worries in their hearts became every time the orcs and other tribes passed by here.

"But the Talado region does have the best climate on this continent, Saint."

Nobundo rode his war talbuk beside Dick and explained:

"I also participated in the construction of Shattrath City. I know what Archon Hatun was thinking. Our people had just experienced the fear of falling, and it was the right choice to leave the Nagrand grasslands and build a city surrounded by nearby mountains.

There happened to be the foundations of the abandoned ogre capital, and at that time we were no longer able to sustain a long-term migration.

Facts have proven that the establishment of Shattrath City was absolutely the right choice. It is because of that city that we were able to quickly gain a foothold here."

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with the location of Shattrath. It's the intersection of the Nagrand Steppes and the Talador Mountains, and it's close to the Zangar Sea. It's not suitable for the orcs' nomadic lifestyle. There's no doubt that we should build a city there."

Dick shook his head and said:
"I'm saying that with Shattrath City, we should move towards the edge of the Shadowmoon Valley, rather than continuing to develop Talador from Shattrath.

Nobundo, let me ask you, if the climate of this place is so pleasant, then why didn't there exist orc clans as powerful as Warsong or Blackrock in the Talador region before we came?
Isn't it totally unreasonable that there is only a small clan like Renfeng here?
Don’t the orcs know that this area is suitable for the development of civilization?
Think about why the orcs have not allowed any of the great clans to set foot in Talador for thousands of years."

The Vigilant sighed, and after a few seconds, Maraad whispered:
"Only if Talador never belongs to any clan can we completely avoid the devastating wars between the great clans to seize it. This is the ancient wisdom of orc civilization.

Our massive expansion in Talador has clearly violated their taboos. Yes, the saints are right! The hidden dangers of conflict between us and the orcs were already planted when we decided to develop Talador.

If we do not allow other races to strangle our survival, then we should respect other ethnic groups' anxieties about survival security.

But it’s too late to say this now, the matter is done.”

"really."

Dick nodded and said:
"The tribesmen have built this place so well, I can't ask them to evacuate this area. We can understand the concerns of other tribes, but we must not sacrifice the interests of our own tribe in exchange for temporary peace.

In fact, even if we chose to build a city in Shadowmoon Valley two hundred years ago, it would still cause security concerns among the orcs.

I just said that we made a mistake, but now we should not indulge in regrets, but think about how to make up for this mistake and avoid the same conflict from happening again."

"Just open up Shattrath City and Talador."

New recruit Yrel, always full of clever ideas, exclaimed:

“They are afraid that we will occupy this place and cut off their communication with each other, so we should invite them into our city and generously grant them the right to travel, reside and migrate.

That’s what we do at Amboli Village!
The Shadowmoon orcs were afraid of us at first, but after we invited several orc astronomers to come to Amberi Village to use our telescopes to observe the stars, many Shadowmoon orcs began to buy the crystal lenses we ground.

The relationship between the two sides has also become much more harmonious.

At least before that bad guy Gul'dan joined the Shadowmoon Clan, we had a good relationship with them. Draenei like Samara even made friends with the orcs."

"not that simple."

Nobundo shook his head and said:

"Orc civilization, let's be honest. Compared to us, it's indeed a bit primitive and backward. Once the two tribes come into full contact, their traditions will soon be impacted. I heard that before the Bladewind Clan was exterminated, some orcs had already begun to believe in the Holy Light.

This is a terrible example of ethnic change.

A spiritual leader like Ner'zhul would never allow the Draenei culture to destroy the orcs' traditions. Small-scale contacts are not a problem, but once the two sides begin to merge on a large scale, a more terrifying "war of faith" will immediately occur.

At that point, the war will not stop until one side is completely defeated."

"No need to hear about it. At that time, orcs were indeed brought into the Holy Light Temple. I saw it with my own eyes."

Maraad sighed and said:
"After adopting Garona, Lelan took her to attend priests' lectures and sermons almost every week. I felt this was inappropriate at the time, but I couldn't convince the stubborn Lelan. She always believed that the Draenei and orcs would definitely find a perfect way to live in peace. But she ignored the fact that orcs value tradition as much as we value the Holy Light."

"But the emergence of a hybrid like Garona means the two races can't remain isolated forever. After all, who can predict the future of relationships? Furthermore, we Draenei have a tradition of being overly romantic."

Yrel sighed and said:

"Although the 'Half Orsen' group is taboo both on our side and on the orc side, I have heard from the priests in the Aldor Temple that there are actually quite a few half-bloods like Garona in the entire Talador region.

They are not accepted by either tribe. We are just a little cold to them, but the orcs will even kill them.

Therefore, Ms. Leland's help is necessary for them."

"The issue of mixed race people is not an issue."

Dick shook his head and said:
"You don't understand the complex relationships between orc clans. In fact, before we showed up, there was already a clan of orc-ogre hybrids living in Gorgrond. Their existence is an example of the special group of people called 'Halfolsen'.

As long as they unite, they can always find their own way to survive in Draenor.

But this is not something that should be done by outsiders like us!
I understand Lelan's kindness, but she was indeed a bit too reckless in this matter, unless there is something else behind it. So, Maraad, tell me honestly, whose child is Garona?

"Uh"

Faced with the question from the overly perceptive saint whom he regarded as his elder, Maraad hesitated for a few seconds and sighed:
"The birth of that child was an accident. Many years ago, a caravan was robbed in Telmor. We all thought it was done by the extreme orcs of the Bladewind clan, but in the end it was proved to be the work of local ogre bandits.

The Bladewind Clan even rescued some of our compatriots.

By the time we found out the truth and went to retrieve our compatriots, the rescued garrison officer had already died due to the worsening of his injuries. However, under the influence of the ogre's evil magic, he had some conflicts with the female shaman who was taking care of him.
Well, in short, Garona is definitely not a child we kidnapped from somewhere!

The Draenei are incapable of such evil things. Her mother entrusted the child to our care. She was very worried that the child's identity would be treated unfairly in the Bladewind clan.

Because Garona's father fought tenaciously when the caravan was attacked, protecting many civilians until the wolf riders of the Bladewind clan arrived. He is our hero, and he also has family in Telmor.

To protect his honor, Lelan, a member of Telmor's defenders, adopted the child.

That incident also brought her into contact with the Bladewind Clan. For the next few years, she often took Garona to visit her mother in the Bladewind Clan's territory, while trying to dispel the suspicion between the two clans through her own efforts. She did a good job, even a little too good.

One day, when Lelan happily brought back several young orcs and said that they wanted to try to convert to the Holy Light, the entire temple in Telmor was in an uproar, and the priests regarded this as the grace of the Holy Light to the orcs.

But who could have predicted that this would be the last good news between us and the Bladewind Clan."

At this point, Maraad sighed again and said:

“Not long after, that clan plundered nearly a hundred of our members and brutally sacrificed some of them, directly incurring the wrath of General Jaid. I was also involved while serving in Telmo City at the time.

I was horrified when I saw the remains of my fellow compatriots who had been sacrificed.

It's not because I'm afraid of death or blood, I'm just worried that my sister is among them.

Fortunately, the protection of the Holy Light allowed Leilan to only be injured. As I said, the Heart of Argus pendant left by her father helped her block the most fatal blow. She survived, but the eleven-year-old Garona disappeared in the chaos.

Leilan has been looking for her for nearly a year, but unfortunately there is no news at all.

Perhaps the scene of General Jaid's ferocious hunters slaughtering the Bladewind clan frightened the child."

"It's more likely that the sight of the Bladewind madman sacrificing the Draenei scared little Garona!"

Yrel said indignantly:
"If that poor half-blood had been raised among us, learning the traditions and customs of the Draenei, she would obviously be closer to us."

Dick did not comment on this.

No one knew better than him what happened to Garona after that incident. It can only be said that although Dick changed Leland's fate, the remaining power of the turning point of fate more than 20,000 years ago is obviously not enough to change the starting point of the life of Garona, a legendary assassin who has an extraordinary status in official history.

However, since it has only been a year since that incident, it means that the genius assassin Garona's mind has not been twisted by Gul'dan to the point of being beyond redemption.

If the child could be found in time, he or she would take a different path from the past.

Isn’t this the meaning of the existence of the “Hand of Fate”?
Diakum looked at the approaching Holy Land of Auchindoun. He knew that after a few hours of speeding through here, he would reach Telmor City. He made a burning determination in his heart.

Since the decision has been made to reverse the fate of the world of Draenor, it is only natural to include Garona, the poor girl who has always been at the mercy of fate.

What's more, if he took care of Maraad and Lelan as his own children, then Lelan's adopted daughter Garona would be like his "granddaughter" to him, right?
When I think about the good or bad things that Garona will do in the future history, well, I suddenly feel a little honored. Why?
For the sentinels who bear racial responsibilities, this kind of "star-chasing mentality" is unacceptable!

------

"Quick! Keep casting! Summon more infernals to destroy Telmor's walls! They're outnumbered, and now's our chance to seize the gem! Kill them all!"

A hoarse, sharp voice echoed in the battlefield filled with the smell of fel energy and sulfur. A gloomy orc sorceress screamed and swung her bone staff, causing a meteorite wrapped in dark green evil fire to roar and hit the town wall not far away.

However, when the extremely destructive hellfire fell, it seemed to hit an invisible wall, causing its destructive power to be severely weakened.

This scene made the sorceress's eyes full of greed.

She knew that there was a treasure called "Shadow of Leaves" stored in this Draenei city. That thing could make the entire city disappear in an instant and could also withstand magical attacks. If it were not for the "secret information" from the orcs, their multi-clan coalition would have no idea of Telmor's specific defenses.

The weak Draenei lost their vigilance when protected by such treasures. Even in this time of war, they had not adjusted their previous defensive arrangements, which gave the orcs an almost perfect opportunity for a surprise attack.

The warriors of the Bonechewer Clan have already rushed to the city wall, the hunters of the Laughing Skull are climbing the city wall under the cover of the warlocks of the Kil'thorro Clan, and further away, the two-headed ogres from the Twilight's Hammer are constantly casting violent bloodlust spells on the warriors so that they can unleash extreme destructive power.

Except for the Twilight's Hammer, these four clans are all small clans with only a few thousand or tens of thousands of people. Kil'solo is a new clan that was established less than half a year ago. They have to unite to have enough troops.

Fortunately, Kil'solo and the Twilight's Hammer under the Shadow Council have enough spellcaster support, so attacking a small city like Telmor is not a problem.

However, the Draenei's counterattack was equally fierce.

On top of the city wall, the garrison officers kept shooting down the orcs who climbed up, while the arcanists kept manipulating the Arkonite Crystal Tower to emit lightning and arcs to stop the attack.

This made the "Witch" Giselda, the patriarch of the Kilsoro clan who was supervising the battle in the rear, very dissatisfied.

As a disciple of Gul'dan and a high-ranking warlock of the Shadow Council, she knew that she could not delay any longer. Telmor was not far from the Holy Land of Auchindoun. Once the defenders there came to support, the only way out of today's battle would be retreat.

So the cunning warlock took a rare risk.

She personally led a group of the most elite warlocks in her clan to approach the city wall under the cover of the magic blood warriors. Then, seizing the opportunity, everyone worked together to cast a spell to summon several hellfires to bombard the same area. Even with the protection of the "Shadow of Leaves" gem, multiple bombardments in a short period of time still caused a small section of the city wall to collapse.

The most dangerous thing about high-level evil energy like Hellfire is definitely not the crushing attack brought by the initial bombardment. When those huge structures with dark green evil fire burning all over their bodies roared and rose up on the ruins of the city wall, even the bravest garrison officers felt fear.

A small section of the city wall has collapsed.

If they cannot defend this place, once the orcs invade the city, their compatriots will be met with only a tragic massacre.

The culprits behind all this were the two orc boys who had been treated with the most kindness by the good people of this city! Durotan of the Frostwolf Clan and Orgrim Doomhammer of the Blackrock Clan!

Those two shameless bastards must have revealed Telmor's defenses to these warlike orcs!

"Ha, blue skin, where do you want to go?"

When the dizzy city defender Ms. Lelan fell from the collapsed city wall and used her sapphire staff to support herself, a cunning voice sounded in front of her.

Lelan, who was bleeding, looked up and saw an orc sorceress with a face covered in fel corrosion, looking at her with disgust and jealousy.

"Witch" Giselda stared at the beautifully dressed Draenei witch in front of her whose age could not be determined. Her heart was filled with jealousy and hatred. She was once the orc known as "beautiful" in the clan, but after learning fel energy from Gul'dan, her former beauty had turned into the price of power.

This made her feel a dark desire to destroy anything beautiful, not to mention that the blue-skinned person in front of her was immortal! Draenei women could maintain their most beautiful appearance throughout their lives, but why did they, who were so weak, receive such a supreme blessing?

"I'm going to carve scars all over your face! I'm going to make you a slave girl who does lowly hard labor to satisfy my lust!"

The witch sorcerer had obviously brought too much personal emotion into the matter. She screamed like a ghost and waved her hand, and immediately violent orcs came forward to capture Ms. Lelan alive.

Of course, the Arcanist couldn't allow herself to fall into such a desperate situation. She tried her best to cast a spell and sent out a barrage of arcane bullets to repel the green-skinned orcs, but the next second she was caught in the backswing of the spell by the Witch, and a shadow burn seemed to ignite Lelan's heart and lungs.

The already injured girl screamed, but she used her staff to support her body so that she would not fall down. She was the best spellcaster in Telmo City. She had lived in this city for many years, and her mother had spent the last part of her life here!

This is her second home besides the manor in her memory in Oronar City!

She must protect this place!
The courageous arcanist shouted hoarsely to his fellow warriors who were still fighting beside him:

"I am Lelan! I am the daughter of Brigadier General Malderan! I am a descendant of the Vigilantes! The Hand of Argus watches over this place and protects it, my compatriots! Do not give up! Keep fighting!"

"Ha, what's the point of calling on your weak and incompetent father at this time?"

The witch grinned and sent out another ball of shadow fury, knocking Leilan down. She stepped forward, grabbed the girl's neck and lifted her up.

She admired her struggle and teased her in a sarcastic voice:

"Are you still hoping your dead father will rise from his grave to save you? Well, when the blueskins are scared, they're no different from those ridiculous iguanas. Save your energy, bitch!
Only when your vile body gives birth to a pathetic Havr Olsen will I allow you to die."

"whoosh"

Just as Giselda was about to throw Lelan to the orc warrior behind her, a sharp sound of breaking wind suddenly sounded from the edge of the battlefield, and a beam of scorching light passed through her body and hit her from behind. When the thing landed, it splashed a thunder strike like golden lightning, and the dazzling and scorching halo burst out, instantly repelling the surrounding demon blood orcs.

When the light faded, the Grudge of Kazzak stuck in the ground also let out bursts of low laughter like explosions, and the malice sealed within it seemed to be eager to taste the delicious blood.

The beam of light that just passed by her burned her, and this amazing power made Giselda feel extremely dangerous.

The cunning warlock left Leilan behind and was about to escape using the demonic teleportation, but the warhammer attack that followed whistled and hit her chest, shattering the solid magic armor in an instant.

Lylan fell to the ground and looked back in pain. She saw her brother riding a Talbuk sheep and leading hundreds of fierce hunters into the battlefield. Further ahead, a figure wrapped in holy light was sweeping across the battlefield and rushing towards her like a shocker.

As the light approached, Lelan's blood-stained face showed a shocked expression.

When the figure kicked the screaming orc warlock away and then punched the bad guy who had just bullied him, beating him half to death, when he walked to his side, the shock on Lelan's face turned into a look of relief and tears of grievance in his heart.

"I heard you adopted an orc as your daughter? Your stuffy father would be furious."

She heard this harsh question as the other person reached out, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her up. But Leland no longer intended to pay attention to it. She rushed forward and hugged the familiar figure that appeared in the light before her.

As tears flowed, she finally felt like she could put down her burden and cry freely. She seemed to have found support. She whispered in a tearful voice:
"I'm glad to see you, too, Uncle Diakham."

(End of this chapter)