Chapter 52

Not allowing Mannoroth free roam, Cyrus threw his [Avengers Shield] which he had laced with extra holy damage at Mannoroth, instantly enraging him.

Mannoroth, in his current gear he knew he could solo him, but he also knew the way Mannoroth fought.

He was a simple being, only craving blood and carnage above all else. He willingly submitted to the Burning Legion because they would allow him to wage unending war against mortals across the universes. He was terribly efficient at destruction and was cursed with an immeasurable, unending thirst for blood.

Cyrus knew he would get reckless if people weren't dying with his every attack. It was why Cyrus wanted Mannoroth to attack him first.

If he allowed him to kill others he would be empowered by the blood of the dead, driving his endless bloodlust and strengthening him. But when he sees Cyrus survive an attack it will keep his attention on him, he wasn't your typical boss. Taunts didn't work too well, especially if a party member died within close proximity his aggro is reset. He feeds off the blood so he would generally move closer to the dead rather than the tank trying to hold his attention. Blood empowered him, every. battlefield he was on was a bloody mess after he left. He would strike already dead corpses just to spread the blood within.

Focusing on Lady Deathwisper, due to she being much more dangerous, many of the group had to be reminded to move and attack due to their shock and amazement at Cyrus fighting such a large foe and parry his large spear without being thrown back. Normally he would be, but Cyrus was using proper footing and lessening the impacts on parrys by deflecting rather than head on parrys. He still slid back a bit each time he parrys but he stayed within striking distance of Lady Deathwisper. Her health began dropping quickly once Ned and Stannis both saw a chance. Both ran in and performed a full fury powered [Execute] which took large chunks of her health putting Cyrus' mind at ease. Performing his own finishing moves he was able to kill Lady Deathwisper, golden flashes began appearing over most of the group. Any who had survived up till now got a large chunk of experience, those lower level people had gained a good chunk of levels while those who were closest to the Starks most had reached the level cap.

Cyrus no longer needed to worry about the cultists, so he focused entirely on Mannoroth. He was getting more brutal in his attacks but it was also leaving more openings for Cyrus to use, erratic but predictable. Just as Cyrus got into Mannoroth's rhythm to then take control of it, he was blindsided by a heavy blow to the back by a [Mortal Strike] followed by [Improved Slam] launching him straight at Mannoroth.

Grunting in pain he quickly used [Evasion] so he could improve his dodge ability, he then used [Power Word: Shield] on himself since healing effects were halved thanks to the [Mortal Strike].

Before Cyrus could touch the ground to evade, Mannoroth swung his giant double-headed spear directly into Cyrus, since he was already airborne he had tried to use a [Shield Slam] to mitigate his being tossed too far.

Seeing he was flying over the deep lake he quickly cast [Water Walking] allowing him to land on top of the water, sliding atop it rather than slipping into the water.

Upon seeing who had attacked he was excited and shocked, Grommash "Grom" Hellscream was charging over wielding his legendary two handed axe [Gorehowl].

"Don't Kill Grom!!" Cyrus quickly shouted as he polymorphed Grom.

"Keep him under control, he will be freed once Mannoroth is defeated. We need him." Cyrus yelled to the others then refocused on Mannoroth. This told Cyrus exactly who was in this rift if the Lich King sent Mannoroth with Grom.

'Thrall, it must be two for one orc day.' Cyrus thought as he waited for the right moment to reuse his cooldowns. Using [Blink] to reengage Mannoroth on land to reduce the load on his father, who was holding his own against the large demon. Using his holy attacks to hurt Mannoroth the most to pull his attention the quickest since he was resistant to taunts, he was also keeping an eye on Grom to polymorph if needed.

Many like Sansa and Margaery were out of mana because of trying to keep so many alive, Shireen was running around in [Tree Form] healing all who she could. Myrcella and Justicar Julia were maintaining the melee attackers while Alexstrasza focused on Cyrus and his father.

Oberyn and his family were having a blast the whole fight. They had been the few who were not overcome with fear from Mannoroth's aura and had saved a lot of people. They had put many of the other knights to shame, the Viper and his Sand Snakes were excited. They knew that now Cyrus would have much stronger weapons they could use now that they had reached the cap, thanks to the death of Lady Deathwisper.

There was a large gap between a level requirement of 69 for an item and an item that required level 70.

Gear that required the level cap had much vaster gaps between item levels. They would now be able to wear the gear that is dropping from the bosses they defeat.

With Grom being crowd controlled the group was able to bring down Mannoroth quickly after Cyrus had used his cooldowns after Mannoroth was brought to 20% health.

The final blow was done by Arya who acted like a spider monkey and climbed up Mannoroth and used the rogue ability [Decapitate] which did exactly that.

Cheers erupted after seeing they had finally won, everyone quickly crowded around the conjured [Refreshment Table] to recover. Many were injured but quickly recovered after eating the food from the magic tables that were laid out.

All the classes that could heal and resurrect had combed thru the battlefield but unfortunately only a few were able to be saved. Both Lady Deathwisper and Mannoroth had very brutal attacks, especially if you weren't high level enough.

As the others did what they could for those on the battlefield, Cyrus checked on Grom. Grom was unconscious, the mental toll of being taken over by Mannoroth and sharing in his unending hunger had put a lot of strain on him. Seeing that he was no longer a threat, Cyrus turned his attention to the rift just at the shoreline to the freezing cold waters of the lake.

Looking to Alexstrasza, who gave him a nod to confirm his suspicion. So he approached the rift and upon touching it his vision went dark and he felt like he was being sucked through a hose until he was suddenly blinded by lights.

As his eyes were adjusting he heard what sounded like cheering.

Once his vision adjusted to the light a familiar sight lay before him.

He found himself in his home territory of Hillsbrad Foothills, within Durnhold Keep to be exact.

It used to be an internment camp and prison Arthas father King Terenas Menethil had used that Aedelas Blackmoore had pretty much turned into a gladiatorial arena.

This was where Blackmoore had brought Thrall after he found him and raised him as a gladiator, wanting to turn him into his own orc general to command.

Cyrus looked down into the arena and saw Thrall battling a large ogre and losing.

'I remember this, this was the trigger that changed Thrall's attitude to Blackmoore. After successfully defeating eight opponents back to back, even though he was exhausted. Blackmoore forced this ninth match. After losing, rather than healing him Blackmoore beat him to an inch of his life because he lost so much money in that last fight. He then beat and raped Taretha Foxton who was a close personal friend to Thrall and the closest thing to family Thrall truly had, after he had already sent her to Arthas to please him. Arthas however didn't do so and just chatted with her.' Remembering the lore as he watched an exhausted Thrall put up as best a fight as he could against the much larger ogre.

'Shortly after healing from this fight Thrall would escape then eventually become the Warchief of the Horde. Damn, I wish there was something I could do to change Taretha's fate, she died a horrible death when Thrall returns with an army to negotiate with Blackmoore. She is tortured, beaten and beheaded. Blackmoore tossed her head to Thrall causing him to cry for the first time in his life which also enraged Thrall so much Durnhold became ruins shortly after that.' Cyrus watched the fight come to an end, Thrall was barely alive and was dragged out of the arena. Blackmoore's shouts next to him were irritating him.

Just as it originally happened Taretha was sent to his room that night, but unlike the Arthas before he didn't send her out after their talk. He had her lie in his bed and he put her to sleep. Even though she was but a time remnant like everyone else here except for himself and Thrall, he couldn't in his right mind send the woman out knowing what would happen. Thrall was getting out now, not months from now, and these time remnants would soon disappear. He knew it was all fake but he also knew if Arthas knew what was to happen to the girl who reminded him of Jaina after he had her leave his quarters, he definitely would've not only kept her there he would've killed Blackmoore right then.

Using [Stealth] he began to have some fun while he made his way into thru the keep, he began to [Pick Pocket] and place small bombs on timers into the guards pockets.

'My kind of distraction. All Taretha did was light a few fires to help Thrall escape, so easy to top. I should maybe mix some fireworks in with the ones outside to add to the spectacle.' Cyrus thought as he made his way out of the keep and into the prison camp area where the prisoners were kept.

He took his time, not that he wanted Thrall to get beaten by Blackmoore again but it did kinda need to happen for history to repeat itself. He needed the Thrall that was reborn from that beating. It also gave him time to make sure to find every guard placing the time bombs and fireworks into their pockets. By the time he was finished he had watched Blackmoore leave Thralls cell.

Quickly using [Sprint] while in stealth he quickly got close enough to slip two time bombs and three full stacks of fireworks into Blackmoore's pocket before he made his way to where Thrall lay. He wanted any survivors near Blackmoore to really see the festivities of his death even if he wasn't real. It was the principle.

Seeing the beaten, broken and battered body of Thrall made him subconsciously shake his head. Thrall's skin was no longer green, it was dark purple and swollen. His breathing, shallow and labored. He was left laying in a pool of his own blood without a care if he lived or died.

Using [Greater Heal] which took a few seconds to cast, instantly Thrall was healed to full health and all his cuts and bruises healed. Just as Thrall sat up in confusion Cyrus handed him a [Mana Biscuit] which would help with the weakness from blood loss.

"Eat Thrall, you will need your strength if we are to make it out in time to enjoy the show." Cyrus said as he shook the biscuit in front of Thrall.

"I...I.. I don't know what the Prince requires of me." Thrall was still quite confused due to his head still scrambled from the beating he just took from both the ogre and Blackmoore back to back. He also knew who Arthas Menethil was, Arthas was very famous before and after he became the true Lich King.

Even though Arthas was a paladin who disliked slavery, they usually only were really offended when it was the same race as them. Very rarely did a paladin's righteous fury cause them to protect a stranger of a different race. There were exceptions of course such as affiliations or if they knew them or not.

Thrall had no idea why the paladin in front of him was not only helping him but seemed friendly. Taking the biscuit he quickly ate it and enjoyed the refreshing feeling washing through his body. He hadn't felt this good even on his best day.

"Are you ready? Just give it 10 more seconds, then we will have two and a half minutes to get to that hill overlooking the keep so we can have the best view." Cyrus explained wanting it to be a surprise.