N'Zoth's birth caused quite a stir, and Aiden couldn't possibly be unaware, especially since he had planted an informant by N'Zoth's side—namely, the "Void Eye" Vel'koz, whom Queen Azshara had invited back to the abyssal depths as an Old God.
Now, Vel'koz had essentially digested the essence of the true Old God Y'Shaarj's heart, gaining unparalleled power from it. Coupled with the previously extracted energy from the Sun God Ya'al, he was now one of the top heroes under Aiden's command.
Similarly, this further aroused N'Zoth's "appetite." Having just escaped from tens of thousands of years of imprisonment, he was in dire need of various energy supplements. Although the ongoing war in Azeroth was providing him with a large amount of flesh and blood, it was merely a drop in the bucket for N'Zoth, who was eager to grow stronger.
Now, only the essence of his own kind could allow him to rapidly grow stronger. With the other Old Gods of Azeroth already dead, N'Zoth could find no other Old God to devour besides this "outsider," Vel'koz.
Therefore, to better usher in the Twilight Age and welcome the End Time, N'Zoth had to devour Vel'koz—and this was just the beginning.
"Vel'koz, my good friend," N'Zoth returned to Queen Azshara's palace and immediately sought out his "prey."
"Ah, it is the great N'Zoth—you have been freed! Congratulations, truly congratulations!" Vel'koz feigned humility and flattery, resembling a weakling fawning over a strongman.
After calculating, he decided that this was the best approach in the current situation.
"Yes, I have been freed," N'Zoth let out a sinister laugh.
His shape was very peculiar—even among the Old Gods, who had seen many oddities, such as the Primal Thornbeast, the Thousand-Eyed Demon, the Thousand-Throated Demon, the Sha, slimes, centipedes, and even the Mountain King Tarim, a monster so hungry that it ate its own head, at least these Old Gods had defined physical forms.
However, the Nightmare God N'Zoth was different from his other brethren—he appeared to be a mass of dark mist, yet upon closer inspection, he seemed to have a physical form.
Upon seeing him for the first time, Vel'koz noticed a change in the surrounding environment—he felt as if he were in a sea fog with a damp aura, and his perception seemed to be greatly suppressed—but this description was not entirely accurate, as Vel'koz rationally realized that his perception was not being suppressed, but rather "distorted."
Vel'koz remembered that if his position had not changed, he should now be in Queen Azshara's palace. With his position as the origin, there should be a marble pillar as thick as five people could embrace sixteen meters to his left front, and a statue of a Night Elf woman holding a vase pouring water twenty-one meters to his side rear.
However, after N'Zoth's arrival, the positions of these two things changed—they became much closer to Vel'koz, with the distance shortened by more than twofold.
At the same time, he sensed things that did not exist in Azshara's palace—corpses, flesh, banners, and a dark purple light.
These things, which he defined as illusions, existed on a certain level of consciousness, where his will could extend almost infinitely, with no end in sight.
N'Zoth, he actually appeared to be an Old God without a physical form!
These kinds of beings are often the most difficult to deal with, like souls—only a very few methods in the world can affect souls. For example, Holy Fire—the Nathrezim demons should be unkillable, because even in death, their souls can return to the Twisting Nether to be resurrected, but years ago, when Aiden first arrived, he killed several famous Dreadlords, because he and Kayle's Holy Fire could affect souls.
However, most people do not have such means. Otherwise, more than twenty years ago, when Sargeras's soul possessed Medivh and was besieged by Sir Lothar and his men, he might not have been able to escape back to the Twisting Nether—he might have truly and completely died in Azeroth. If that had happened, there wouldn't have been so many troubles later.
But in reality, this was just wishful thinking. Back then, when Aiden killed Archimonde in Outland, it was also difficult to truly purify Archimonde's soul. Because an opponent of that level had a soul that was too powerful, even if Aiden wanted to do so, he would not be able to complete much before the opponent escaped from the real world.
In any case, creatures without physical forms have very few weaknesses, making them difficult to attack, while their own attacks are unpredictable—this is simply the most troublesome characteristic!
"Vel'koz, my little brother, would you be willing to do me a small favor?" N'Zoth suddenly asked, cutting straight to the chase.
"Of course, I'd be very happy to. Great N'Zoth, what are your orders? Is it to kill the mortals on the surface? I can go right away!" Vel'koz replied.
"That is our goal, but not now," N'Zoth chuckled, and a mass of tangible black mist transformed into thousands of whisker-like tentacles, silently enveloping Vel'koz without the latter noticing.
"Then what do you want me to do now?" Vel'koz was very sensible and seemed completely unaware of everything.
"Fighting mortals is a very laborious task, and I think it is necessary for us to unify our strength. What do you think?"
"That would be wonderful—great N'Zoth, what is your plan?"
Vel'koz at this moment resembled an Old God who completely trusted N'Zoth and was somewhat lacking in intelligence.
N'Zoth, the God of Nightmare, was best at mastering people's emotions and was also proficient in how to convert a person full of justice into his servant.
In Azeroth, except for the Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza, the remaining four Dragon Aspects had been more or less seduced by him, especially Neltharion, who had been completely converted into the "Destroyer" Deathwing. There were also the Nightmare Lord Xavius, Queen Azshara after the War of the Ancients, and so on. These proud people eventually became his pawns.
Being able to do these things was by no means a fluke, but entirely due to his ability to grasp people's emotional changes and see the true desires in their hearts.
In fact, as early as when Azshara discovered and brought back Vel'koz, N'Zoth had already decided to devour Vel'koz, both to replenish his body, gain a powerful talent ability, and eliminate future troubles, killing three birds with one stone. Why not?
The first thing he did after escaping was to find Vel'koz to carry out the previous plan, but after truly seeing the other party and feeling what the other party was thinking, N'Zoth hesitated:
Because it clearly saw the unwavering loyalty in Vel'koz's heart, without a hint of conspiracy or any ambition to covet power. In its heart, it never even considered being disloyal.
N'Zoth thought that Vel'koz must have come from a secluded planet where there was no struggle. No other Old Gods oppressed it or wanted to plunder its power. Otherwise, how could it not be accustomed to conspiracies and deceptions like its counterparts?
Loyalty?
That word never existed in the Old Gods' dictionary.
N'Zoth sighed inwardly. It was now somewhat reluctant to devour such a unique being as Vel'koz, and even willing to add the word "loyalty" to the Old Gods' dictionary for it, proudly proclaiming to its counterparts that there was such an anomaly in their group.
But after thinking about it, N'Zoth still felt that it was too much trouble. Although losing a loyal subordinate made it feel a little down, it was still easier to devour Vel'koz.
The Old Gods are not mortals, so why would they need "loyalty"?
That derogatory term is for mortals.
"My idea is—to borrow your energy!" N'Zoth revealed its long-hidden fangs.
"Oh, is that all? How much do you want to borrow? Tell me, and I'll give it to you!" Vel'koz replied with noble righteousness.
"All of it!" N'Zoth suddenly exerted its strength, and the black tentacles tightened abruptly, binding Vel'koz tightly, and then sending the lamb-like Vel'koz into a huge, open maw composed of black mist.
—
In Los Angeles, Aiden suddenly stood up and said loudly, "The time has come!"
Everyone's hearts tightened. This time, they were about to face the last and most powerful of the Old Gods of Azeroth.
If they killed N'Zoth, then the internal threat on the planet of Azeroth would be completely cleared. As long as no extraterrestrial forces attacked, the people could truly enjoy eternal peace.
This was exciting good news, and they would definitely do their best to end N'Zoth!
Aiden created a portal in front of him and said, "This time, our battlefield is inside N'Zoth's stomach. A teleport beacon has already been deployed on the other side, and we need to rush over immediately. At the same time, everyone should be mentally prepared. This will definitely be an arduous battle, and it may be more difficult than all the battles we have encountered before. We will encounter all kinds of unexpected dangers, and only by working together can we defeat the enemy."
"For Azeroth!" Aiden held out his hand.
"For Azeroth!" Dozens of hands stacked on top of it.
No matter what difficulties there are, as long as they work together, they will definitely be able to overcome the enemy!
Aiden opened a huge portal in front of him and was the first to pass through.
Alexstrasza, who was behind him, turned back and told Onyxia, "You must stay close to me, understand, Onyxia."
"alright, alright, I understand," Onyxia nodded.
This was a very dangerous journey, but the Black Dragon Princess didn't seem nervous at all, and even a little excited—to be precise, she was no longer the Black Dragon Princess, but had been crowned as the Black Dragon Queen—just two days ago, Azeroth had another Embrace of the Twin Moons. It was at that time that Onyxia was officially recognized by the Titan system and became the Queen of the Black Dragon clan.
The Embrace of the Twin Moons only appears about every four hundred years, but it is not a fixed event, but artificially controlled—the Moon Goddess can completely decide when the Embrace of the Twin Moons will appear.
If Elune was willing, she could make every night like that.
So after Aiden spoke, Elune readily agreed, activated the Titan facilities, and changed the orbit of the Twin Moons, giving the power exclusive to the Black Dragon King, the Earth Guardian, to Onyxia.
Now, the five Guardian Dragons are complete once again.
—
This time, the campaign against N'Zoth can definitely be called the largest-scale action in the history of Azeroth, involving high-end forces.
More than two hundred heroes joined this operation, some from the League of Legends, some from Valoran, and some from Draenor, and even Ethereals and Naaru.
Generally speaking, to deal with very powerful opponents, it is basically necessary to dispatch a team like the Guardians of Azeroth team that fought against Dimensius before, requiring the stronger the individual strength, the better. Not seeking many people, but seeking elites.
However, when facing N'Zoth, one cannot stick to the rules.
Before Aiden inherited all the Titan authority, he had already checked the timeline of Azeroth, and could be regarded as knowing the past and the future. In the future, N'Zoth will undoubtedly become the big BOSS waiting for players to push down, but its identity is not ordinary, because it is one of the final BOSS in the entire World of Warcraft, and also the only must-kill BOSS to clear the Warcraft plot.
Because it is the real initiator of the "End of Time". Once it succeeds, the entire universe will be occupied by the Old Gods. If the player's challenge fails, the plot will become the arrival of the End of Time, the Old Gods will capture the Burning Legion and the Pantheon, and eventually unify and destroy the entire universe.
Such an ending is of course a failed ending.
To defeat this truly world-destroying N'Zoth, a key figure is needed—that is, the future savior—Med'an.
This half-breed has unparalleled talent, and his body can infinitely withstand power. From the plot point of view, Med'an is actually the key to defeating N'Zoth, and the "player" is just playing a connecting role.
Now that Med'an has become Sargeras, Aiden can no longer find this future savior, but now the situation is already on the line and has to be launched. What's more, he believes that he can do what Med'an can do in the future, and may even do better.
No matter how powerful N'Zoth is, it is just an Old God. Without the help of other Old Gods, it will eventually be unable to escape death.
He brought so many heroes to participate in this battle, it can be said that except for the main commanders left on the ground, he has swept in all the heroes of Azeroth. This is because the battle with N'Zoth is more special—this is not purely a contest of strength—of course, strength is also essential, but at the same time, the contest of will is more important.
As the God of Nightmare, N'Zoth is best at manipulating people's hearts and playing with illusions.
People with strong power do not necessarily have strong enough minds, and the past those who fell under N'Zoth's temptation all prove this point.
So the key to this battle lies in how many people can persist to the end and fight its body after being ravaged by N'Zoth!