"Clang!"
From the start, Aiden understood that he was no match for Broxigar. However, he didn't expect that the orc's rune battle-axe would send him staggering back several steps with a single heavy blow, the immense force nearly numbing his sword-wielding right hand. Taking advantage of his unsteady footing, Broxigar, riding his giant scarab, immediately followed up, holding his axe in reverse.
Aiden waved his staff with his left hand, casting Time Warp and Time Bomb, the two spells he was most familiar with, on the orc's head at the fastest speed he could muster.
Several soldiers shouted as they raised their shields and charged forward, hacking at Anub'arak with their swords. The Crypt Lord shrieked, swinging its two serrated forelimbs, easily cleaving two soldiers and their shields in two. Then, with a thrust and a flick of the sharp horn on its head, it sent a soldier with a pierced abdomen flying away.
Quinn's crossbow aimed at Anub'arak's head. The scarab leader's head was very small, with the rest of its body protected by thick carapace, a defense even stronger than a knight's plate armor.
She tried firing an arrow, but Anub'arak merely tilted its head slightly, letting the carapace on its shoulder take the hit instead. With a 'ding,' a shallow white mark appeared on the carapace.
"Bang," the Time Bomb's countdown reached zero and exploded. Broxigar's helmet was blown off, his head lacerated and bloody. Black blood flowed down his cheeks into his mouth, soaking his teeth and making his enormous tusks look even more ferocious and terrifying!
Broxigar shook his head vigorously, shaking off the discomfort brought by the explosion's dizziness.
"Shoot the orc!" Aiden shouted. He stepped forward, knowing full well that he couldn't fight this combination of an orc and a Crypt Lord head-on, and could only rely on his agility to maneuver around them.
Fortunately, with Time Warp applied, he easily dodged Broxigar's second axe strike. The silver Judgment, ignited by holy power, blazed with blue flames, and his retaliatory strike left a scorching mark on Broxigar's left shoulder.
Vayne had been looking for the right opportunity to strike. She agilely dodged an attack from a charging spider creature, circled around to Broxigar's side, and aimed her giant crossbow at the orc's left waist: a spot where it would be difficult for him to deflect the bolt with his weapon.
As Aiden launched an attack from the front, she seized the opportunity from the side and fired her first arrow!
Broxigar's combat experience was extremely rich. While confronting Aiden and Quinn head-on, he had been watching Vayne's movements. He would never forget the threat posed by this female hunter. It was this female hunter who, under his pursuit, broke through the defenses and, relying on her stealth ability, simultaneously shot Rivendare and Kel'Thuzad with a single arrow, forcing his master to transform into a Lich ahead of schedule, and Rivendare had to be transformed into a Death Knight.
And now both of them were dead. They both died to buy him time and create opportunities!
When Broxigar saw Vayne circling to the side, he killed a human soldier carrying a shield and picked up the shield, holding it in his left hand. He was well aware of the disadvantage of being on the back of the scarab, making it difficult to dodge. As long as he had a shield, he could protect the left side of his body, which was most vulnerable to attack.
"Snap!"
The crossbow bolt hit, but the target was not Broxigar's lower back, but his thigh, which was not shielded. This left leg had been shot through the knee once by Vayne during the day, causing the orc Death Knight unbearable pain. It was Broxigar's greatest weakness.
The burning pain coming from the thigh near the hip joint caused Broxigar to roar in anger. He was fighting Aiden and had no time to pull out the crossbow bolt that was constantly corroding his flesh. The pain stimulated him to become even more violent. He shouted "Charge," completely ignoring Aiden's sword strike, and chose a life-for-life tactic, similarly hacking his axe at Aiden's neck—he was certain that while he was being cut in half, this confidant of the Lich King would either have his head chopped off by his axe or his chest and abdomen pierced by Anub'arak's sharp horn!
This orc was not afraid of sacrifice, as long as the sacrifice was worthwhile! The only concept he retained from being an orc was—to die with honor!
It was just that the object of dedication had changed from the orc tribe to the Lich King—who had once been a respected orc.
Aiden didn't have time to think about whether he should retreat or advance. He subconsciously shouted "Quinn," his right hand's sword momentum undiminished, while his left hand waved his staff to release a golden holy shield in front of his chest—he had learned how to use the Judgement Angel's invincible ultimate move "Divine Protection" from the Holy Transformation Ritual, but he didn't have enough power to cast it completely, so he could only create a light shield. During the day, it was this light shield that saved Jaina, who was almost waiting to die from a sudden attack by a Crypt Fiend. He had also blocked the full blow of the black dragon assassin in Durnholde.
Now it was his turn to try using this shield to withstand the full force of two heroes at the same time!
When Quinn heard his call, she suddenly leaped forward, rushing in front of Broxigar and firing an arrow with her crossbow almost touching the orc Death Knight's head, then used the recoil to do a backflip and land back in place.
Almost simultaneously, this attack that determined the fate of both sides also occurred—in that instant, Broxigar's head, attacked, tilted slightly, and Quinn's arrow pierced his brow bone and hit his left eye, causing the rune battle-axe in his hand to deviate slightly and, together with Anub'arak's sharp horn, struck Aiden's golden holy shield in front of his chest.
Aiden's sword also failed to achieve its full effect due to the impact on his body. The tip of the sword cut through Broxigar's abdominal plate armor, leaving a nearly foot-long wound, and black blood gushed out of the wound, which was still stained with blue sparks, but it did not injure his internal organs. Although his holy shield blocked the attack, the impact of the full force of one orc and one scarab leader still knocked him flying, and his back hit the soldiers behind him, bringing him into intimate contact with their hard steel breastplates. His internal organs seemed to have shifted, making him so uncomfortable that he almost couldn't stand up.
Although there were mutual injuries, it was clear that the orc was more seriously injured. Moreover, Anub'arak had been attacking within the "Sanctuary" demarcated by the three angels, and its legs had been continuously burned by the holy power. The longer it dragged on, the more obvious the effect would be.
At this time, the dwarf leader Daggol, who was operating the mortar on the top of the mountain, suddenly shouted, "Hold on, allies, I see our reinforcements are on their way! They'll be here in ten minutes at most!"
A cheer erupted from the human lines. Even though they had already suffered more than 20% casualties, they were now greatly encouraged.
Anub'arak retreated a little while carrying Broxigar. It conveyed to the orc through mental communication: "Use the plague!"
Broxigar was stunned. Hadn't his former master given him an entire bag of plague venom and the crucial plague cauldron? Although the plague venom wouldn't take effect immediately, when the concentration was high enough, the effect would be very, very fast, and the panic it brought would almost immediately cause these people to lose their will to fight!
"Good idea!" Broxigar revealed a cruel smile. He first reached out and used the special ability given to Death Knights by the Lich King to resurrect a group of fallen human soldiers, then immediately took out two wooden barrels filled with plague venom from his spatial bag.
"Have a taste of this!"
Broxigar punched a hole in the wooden barrels, then forcefully threw them towards the center of the human lines.
Seeing this scene, Aiden immediately realized that something was wrong. He almost immediately judged that this was definitely not a good thing. The sharp-eyed Quinn even shouted as soon as Broxigar threw the wooden barrels: "There's green liquid inside!"
"Plague!" Aiden immediately understood and immediately shouted, "Retreat, retreat immediately!"
But he himself pounced forward, instantly activating the Seal of Sirus, summoning a whirlwind to engulf the flying wooden barrels, forcing it to change its trajectory and fall towards himself.
Having undergone the Holy Transformation Ritual, Aiden's body was protected by holy power and could almost completely resist plague infection. What's more, he had already held his breath to prevent himself from inhaling even a trace of green mist.
The other barrel was caught in the air by the hawk Valor's claws and taken to another place—it was injured during the battle with the Dreadlord during the day and had almost no ability to fight head-on, but it still played a key role at this critical moment!
After throwing the two barrels of plague, Anub'arak continued to charge over with Broxigar on its back. This was a great opportunity for them. The human soldiers were all retreating under orders, leaving only Aiden and his two heroes on the front line, almost isolated.
Seeing the tunnel that Anub'arak had dug out earlier under the light barrier, Aiden immediately used holy power to open a gap in the ground light barrier and threw the wooden barrel of plague in his hand into the tunnel, then prepared to face this group of powerful enemies.
The last ten minutes are really difficult, he thought to himself.
After repeated battles, he was also severely depleted. Time magic could only be used once or twice at most, and if he was forced to open the Holy Shield again, his holy power would also face exhaustion.
He complained inwardly, Broxigar had clearly suffered so much damage, losing an eye, but why did he and Anub'arak still look so energetic, not at all like they had suffered much exhaustion?
"Soldiers, hold the line!" General Duminlun also understood that this was a critical moment. Previously, in order to avoid unnecessary losses, Aiden had always kept ordinary soldiers from participating in their confrontation with the two Scourge heroes, but now the situation was critical and ordinary soldiers had to be used to delay enough time.
Aiden cast Time Warp on himself to make himself more agile. He was no longer a match for them in a head-on confrontation. He could only resort to guerrilla warfare!