Dar'Khan Drathir's body deformed, different energies swirling all around him, many voices whispering to him, causing him both physical and mental discomfort.

  He staggered and tried to steady himself by gripping the hilt of Frostmourne. Yet, his unsteady hand only ripped the sword out of the ground and it fell with a metallic noise on the bottom of the empty well, as all its liquid contents were turned into a chaos of magic all around Dar'Khan.

  "Go away!" He fell on one knee and gripped the sword again. His mind was in a turmoil, but he had not expected his transformation to be easy.

  Slowly, he felt his mind gaining clarity as he stood back up with his hand squeezing Frostmourne until his fingers turned white. He had not betrayed his race and gave up his position only to be absorbed in a reckless magic of his own doing. He would bend the transformation to his will and use his newfound powers to make a mark on the history of Azeroth.

  He took slow, deep breaths, his large chest expanding and contracting with every hot breath he took. Gradually, he felt the pressure on him weakening, not realizing how unnaturally hot his breath actually was.

  "I am in control now!" Dar'Khan smiled and watched the sword beginning to shine with a red hue and with it, the turmoil in his mind was banished, changed for determination.

  "I will be the one ruling. . ." He stood up confidently back on his feet, his eyes drifted to the panicking high elves that arrived to inspect their beloved sanctum of peace only to find it shattered and corrupted. ". . . slaying, killing the worthless pawns. I will build my empire on their bodies, their blood."

  He gripped his weapon stronger, all of his being transformed. He swore he was able to hear the very blood pumping through the veins of the lowly mortals around him and he wished for nothing more but to paint the grand ruin around him with it.

  "Come, my armies!" Acting on instinct that was suddenly present in his mind, as if it had been there for ages, he gestured and summoned a novel, grand magic that opened a huge red portal behind him. Out of the doorway leading into the unknown, dozens of disfigured creatures began pouring out, their desire for carnage as strong as his own.

  * * * *

  "Watch out!" One of the Alliance soldiers shrieked out right after being hit by a spray of blood. The same blood stained the helmet of the inquisitor, who was maneuvering the ship wildly, still standing at the helm, the soldier who had been in his place was nowhere to be seen. Some time ago, he had been flushed away by one of the columns of blood that kept exploding around them.

  The intensity of the phenomenon had not increased, but the ship could no longer afford to take the hits head on, as the geysers of blood were no longer just barely tangible and their hits packed a punch that might even overturn the ship.

  Kael Gull knew he would be unable to avoid the catastrophe for much longer. The mages around him did everything they could to increase their speed, but the faster they went, the harder it was to keep their ship stable.

  He glanced to the side where the captain was holding desperately onto the railings, his all energy spent on keeping himself aboard. He had not even any time to curse at him anymore. The inquisitor snorted and focused back on the path ahead of them, his attention captured by a muffled screech. His weapon moved and a small winged demon was cut in half, the two halves of it falling to the left and right side of the helm.

  "That is more like it, I must be a step closer to home now." The inquisitor chuckled dryly when he recognized the winged demon. It was one of the pests of Khorne, notorious not for its great might, but its ability to annoy seasoned warriors with its unending numbers and constant probing attacks.

  While dealing with the aerial ambushes, he turned the ship sharply to the left to dodge another pillar of blood that exploded out of the shallow waters of the shore. It seemed they would closely dodge another bullet, when he felt a strong impact to the vessel's side and their bow stopped turning. In the next second, an exceptionally thick pillar of blood hit their bow from below and the ship began turning over while the deck rose sharply, the keel of the ship pointing to the sky.

  People began falling off the ship, including the unfortunate captain, it was obvious they would be crashing into the sandy shore. Unfortunately, due to the intense force of the summoned elemental pushing them from behind, the ship's bow rose to the sky and it turned along two axes at the same time until its main mast was parallel to the water of the shore.

  In the corner of his eye, the inquisitor caught the sight of Antonidas, doing some last minute corrections and the next second, the huge elemental pushed the ship towards the sandy shores of the Isle of Quel'Danas, practically throwing them into the sand.

  The massive expedition flagship flew through the air, its sails tearing and sailors falling off into the shallow waters and wet sand below them. The wood groaned under a force the ship had not been build to withstand and parts of railings and loose wooden planks showered down onto the shores of the Isle of Quel Danas.

  With a loud crash, accompanied by the sounds of splintered wood wood, the flagship of the fleet buried its significant part into the sand of the beach, all its passengers who had not fallen out during the wild ride being slammed against its wooden deck.

  Embedded in the wood of the deck, the inquisitor pulled himself out and looked over the ship's railing. He needed to quickly asses their situation. Gazing through the thick tropical vegetation of the island, Kael saw motion in the grass, red skin of their enemies shining through the natural greenery.

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  "Prepare yourselves! We need to break through the mob and reach the demon, or there will be no end to their numbers!" Kael Gull shouted and took action without waiting for the answer of his allies. He gripped the wooden railing and jumped over it, his armored legs sinking deep into the sand.

  Next to him, the quickest to catch up formed a small group that was about to push forward, but the old wizard of Dalaran stopped them.

  "Wait, the threat is much more extreme than any of us anticipated. Our methods should mirror this fact." Antonidas lifted his staff high and some of the members of the Kiring Tor understood what he was about to do..

  "The enemy has surely disabled the official teleporter in the palace." One of the less experienced members of the magic community doubted the archmage's actions, his eyes glued to the demons advancing through the forest.

  "Sure, but they have not erased its coordinates from my memory." The aged wizard smirked and his staff shone with blue-white light before he slammed it into the ground. Judging the stone faces of some of his colleagues, Keal realized the magic they were about to use was to a large degree an improvisation of the experienced wizard, the surrounding members of the Kirin Tor not confident in performing it themselves.

  With a flash of blue light, the inquisitor found himself dozens of meters in the air, a vast ruin burning below him. Without delay, another spell affected the bodies of the small elite group that dared to attack deep behind enemy lines. Kael Gull felt his body becoming light as a feather and instead of falling down with a speed appropriate to his weight, they all began to slowly descend to the ruins below them.

  They saw the massive demon commanding the enemy forces just a few dozen steps in front of them. The unholy beast saw them as well and its pupils burned with fire, while its jaw clenched, an inhumane growl came through its teeth.

  "We are sitting ducks." The inquisitor looked to the right, his gaze meeting the eyes of Lord Uther, who seemed to be thinking alike.

  "Lord Uther, the head of your hammer." Kael quickly put away his chainsword and extended both hand in an obvious gesture and the paladin immediately realized his intentions.

  Uther the Lightbringer outstretched his hammer, letting the inquisitor grip its end. The robust figure in plaststeel gripped it and spun it forcefully around along with the paladin before letting it go, catapulting Uther directly at the face of the demon. The expedition leader nimbly rotated his body and swung with great force accompanied by a golden glow of Light, aiming to squash the demon's head into paste.

  The demon was surprised by their move, but it was not enough to prevent him from lifting his demonic sword to parry the incoming attack. Its weapon looked a little different than before, the most obvious of its new features was its size. Kael would categorize it as at least a three handed sword, despite the original had been wielded by a single hand. The ominous blade intercepted Lord Uther's hammer and both weapons collided in an explosion of white and red light, the very air and ground around them vibrating from the impact.

  The clash created a small shock wave that pushed the rest of the group further from the demon before their feet touched the charred ground of the former palace, the corpses of elves all around them, charred and bloody. As their feet touched the ground, a pair of plate boots sunk heavily into the ash and rubble. it was Lord Uther, the impact of the collision threw him a considerable distance away from the demon.

  The demon itself was forced to make just a single step back after its successful parry, the difference in the strength of the two parties apparent.

  "What is this thing? Mannoroth himself?!." One of the elite paladins next to Lord Uther faltered, his wrist shaking while he shifted his sword into a defensive stance.

  "For the Emperor!!" Kael Gull did not care for the banter of the paladins and charged the servant of the Archenemy with his chainsword held high and his bolter spewing metal with each heavy step of his power armor.

  He knew that the enemy was most likely able to summon a squad of demons with a single gesture and every second it did not was precious.

  The inquisitor saw the ominously glowing blade descending on his head and jumped forward, passing under the blade. For a second, his eyes met up close with the demonic pupils of the servant of chaos and his chainsword moved in a wide arc, aiming at its chest. The demon bent back, dodging the blow, the chainsword roaring inches away from the red skin of his belly as Keal flew past the demon.

  Turning swiftly, the demon faced the inquisitor who had his feet already planted in the ashen ground. The unholy beast wanted to sneer at its adversary, but its arrogant gesture turned into an ugly grimace when it saw a bolt embedded in its knee.

  "Tough maggot to squash." Kael Gull snorted, observing the results of his attack. The bolt had been unable to cripple the demon's leg even though his aim had been true.

  Meanwhile, Uther the Lightbringer got himself out of the rubble and was rushing towards the demon's back while his paladins followed him closely, all their doubts melted by their combined faith.

  The demon was caught in a pincer attack, about to be tested by the wrath of both the Emperor's servant and the Light.

  The mages of the Kirin Tor played a crucial role, as they were the ones who had to draw the demon's attention before the melee fighters arrived. In order to keep initiative, they unleashed their spells without holding back, as no one wanted to find out what aces had the demon up its sleeves.

  A barrage of flames, arcane energy and chunks of ice bombarded the red skin of the entity, causing only superficial damage, but the attack achieved its purpose.

  The inquisitor saw his enemy turning to face the more numerous threat of the paladins and was determined to use the opportunity to his advantage . He gripped his weapon with both hands and moved to vertically split the demon's spine in two. His chainsword hit the upper vertebrae and started crunching though the demon's spine, creating a gruesome fountain of blood and bone splinters.

  Keal Gull felt the burning Light that pressured the demon from the other side as all the paladins unleashed their might. He did not dare to be optimistic and channeled the full strength of his ceramite power armor into his blow. The demon roared in anger and agony while Kael watched the chain of his sword executing its grim work.

  When his sword reached the middle of the demon's body, he noticed there was a lot of blood gathering around them and it was not only the blood of the demon. The blood was being gathered from all the bodies of the high elves and a single paladin who fell under the lucky strike of the chaos artifact in the demon's hand. The blood swiftly gathered on the heavily injured demon's skin, merging with its body.

  "My wounds are of no consequence, blood only makes me stronger!" The demon roared and crouched, a brief moment later, its leg muscles exploded with strength, creating a huge could of dust. The demon jumped high above their heads, a fountain of blood spraying out of his heavy wounds.

  A pair of wings erupted from its back and heaved mightily, propelling the servant of the archenemy even higher. Yet, the force tore the demon's half-split spine apart, creating a huge hole in its chest. The demon caught one of his flying minions who were swarming the battlefield and stuffed it inside its wound. The injury closed around the vermin, sealing the wound along with the new part of the demon's body.

  Most of the paladins were distraught after they had seen the demon turning airborne with an ability to reassemble itself after what should have been a mortal injury.

  The battle for the Isle of Quel'Danas was far from over.