Although the north had already entered winter, the Silithus desert was still hot.
The Crusaders' 300,000-strong army had reached the mouth of Un'Goro Crater and could enter the great desert from the mountain road at any time.
Eldre'Thalas had prepared 100,000 night elf troops, plus 50,000 troops from the four centaur vassals:, the Maraudine, the Gelkis, the Magram, and the Galak tribes.
Since the night elves were nominally the initiators and the Crusaders were allies, Galen divided the war zones into east and west, with each side responsible for one zone.
He originally thought that the initiative of the war was in his hands, and all he had to do was gather the army and push through.
As a result, that night, hundreds of Qiraji crystals shot out from inside the Scarab Wall!
The Qiraji crystals flew into the sky like meteors, and then fell to the ground like meteors!
Galen, who was in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes!
He sensed the movement of the Scarab Wall!
When Galen rushed out of his residence, he only saw faint red dots under the dim clouds. Those were the reflections of the crystals. It was impossible to detect them without careful observation, but Galen sensed the evil aura in the Qiraji crystals.
They can't be allowed to fall!
This was Galen's first reaction!
"Air raid! Air raid alert!"
Galen's voice covered the entire Cenarion Hold!
The garrison of Cenarion Hold reacted immediately, but they did not find any trace of enemies in the air.
A druid hurried over. Like Fandral, he had a white beard and looked even older than Malfurion.
In fact, few druids of the current generation are older than Malfurion. A large number of young and middle-aged people were lost in the War of the Ancients, and the mainstay of the night elves now is still the elite who survived the war and the second generation who grew up.
"Grand Warlord, I am Omurom, in charge of the fortress's air defense. Where is the enemy!"
Omurom was also a legendary powerhouse, and his eyes were sharp. Although the sky was dim at the moment, the night elves were nocturnal creatures and had night vision, but they found nothing.
If Galen hadn't been in a high position and had a high reputation among the night elves, and had fought side by side with the Sky Goddess Aviana, then Omurom's tone might not have been so good.
"Omurom? Skycaller? A follower of Aviana?"
Skycaller Omurom, the leader of the Teron Druids, the most beloved follower of the demigod Aviana.
Teron Druids usually refer to the part of the druids who are proficient in the Storm Crow form of the druid transformation. They are the guardians of the night elf sky.
These druids maintain a close connection with the demigod Aviana. Even after Aviana died in the War of the Ancients, they still revered this demigod in the Temple of Aviana.
Because of this, they learned the power of the sky. Druids can freely transform into storm crows soaring in the sky and collect information on the battlefield.
Faced with the enemy, their claws can also tear their enemies, using the magic of Elune's Fire to weaken the enemy's defense and armor. Even stronger Teron Druids can even summon hurricanes.
"Omurom, I heard about you from Aviana. Now, please lead your colleagues to take off and intercept those dark red crystals! Quick!"
Following Galen's finger, Omurom saw a large number of small red dots appearing from the clouds in the sky, and then falling from the sky, most of which were near Cenarion Hold!
Seeing the increasingly large dark red Qiraji crystals in the sky, the memories of a thousand years ago resurfaced!
"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!"
The shrill whistle sounded, and then thousands of druids transformed into storm crows on the spot, flapping their wings and taking to the sky!
These air defense forces are not enough!
"Lady Aegwynn!"
Galen continued to deploy troops!
"I understand! Highlord!"
Aegwynn raised her Aluneth staff high, and the originally dim staff instantly burst into dazzling light.
In an instant, a large amount of white light appeared in the sky above Cenarion Hold!
It's the Gryphon Riders!
In the sky, the crystals falling from the clouds were getting closer and closer, and the night elves on the ground could even see their full appearance!
These dark red crystals were rhomboid, rushing down from the clouds with swirling air currents.
No one knew how these crystals were launched, but Galen already had a picture in his mind!
The Teron Druids summoned hurricanes, and the Gryphon Riders used Stormhammers, attacking the crystals with all their might, trying to shatter them or intercept them!
Under the attack of these air defense forces, some crystals slowly stopped rotating and then began to shatter!
Fragments kept splashing around, and eventually the crystal was broken down.
Although the Teron Druids and Gryphon Riders had done their best to intercept the crystals, there were still some that slipped through and fell into the desert!
"Order!"
"Lady Maiev, immediately dispatch the Watchers to investigate the specific location where the crystals fell!"
"Fandral! Immediately have the army of Eldre'Thalas cross the mountains and garrison the left wing of the fortress!"
"Lady Aegwynn, immediately have the Scarlet Crusade advance to Silithus to defend the right wing of the fortress!"
"Attention all personnel of Cenarion Hold, be ready for battle at any time!"
Galen's face was solemn, but he still issued his orders one by one in an orderly manner.
Indeed, he was careless.
He thought Ahn'Qiraj was just a turtle in a jar waiting for his army to arrive, but before his army had even gathered, C'Thun slapped Galen in the face.
Those things that looked like dark red crystals were not crystal creations in essence; they were actually polymers of a large number of insect eggs!
In the original timeline, Ahn'Qiraj relied on launching these insect egg polymers to form the insect nests scattered throughout the Silithus desert.
Among them were three super-large insect nests, which were named by the night elf druids as the Yassir'j Hive, the Rego'j Hive, and the Zora'j Hive.
Galen roughly estimated that in the previous wave of insect nest crystals, the Teron Druids and Gryphon Riders only destroyed most of them, and at least a small half of the crystals landed!
About an hour later, the Watchers returned, but not alone!
Behind each of them were large groups of Qiraji chasing after them!
These Qiraji were the type that Galen had discovered during reconnaissance: worker insects!
These worker insects looked very similar to beetles, except that their size was magnified more than ten times. They had black carapaces and six slender but powerful segmented legs.
The insect sea advanced on the desert, making a rustling sound, and their sharp mouthparts destroyed all obstacles in their path!
Looking at the dense mass of insects, Galen felt his scalp tingle. In his previous life, he was only afraid of two kinds of creatures: those without legs and those with more than four legs!
At this moment, he would rather face thousands of felhounds!
"Sentinels! Free fire! Take out these bugs!"
Galen casually condensed a Sunfire Storm, burning the fastest-charging group of Qiraji into coke. The elite sentinels in Cenarion Hold received the attack order and immediately fired a volley of arrows!
These sentinels, who were sent to garrison the dangerous southern border, were elites among elites. Under their snipes, the unstoppable Qiraji were contained!
"Fandral, you have experience dealing with the Qiraji, you take command!"
Fandral immediately took over the command. With a wave of his hand, a group of druids immediately began to transform. Then, the giant bears and boars that these druids transformed into came to the outside of the city wall to build a second line of defense, killing the Qiraji that rushed up.
After Galen handed over the command to Fandral, he settled down in the rear as a magic turret. Under his guidance, mass entanglements were cast, and a large number of thorns grew out of the sand, firmly binding large swaths of Qiraji, and then Sunfire, Moonfire, and Starfall rained down, killing the Qiraji.
On the other side, Vereesa, who was shooting non-stop with her black bow, couldn't help but sigh as she watched Galen display his divine power: "So powerful. I estimate that even King Kael'thas may not be able to compare to the current Highlord Galen Lotheridan."
Immeriel on the side was also attacking. Her arrows were like a continuous barrage of artillery fire, blowing the heads of the Qiraji worker insects one by one!
In dealing with the Qiraji, our Shadow Warden has maxed out her buffs. She is full of hatred for the Qiraji.
It was because the Qiraji killed her mentor and destroyed most of the Hidden Path that indirectly led to this mysterious ancient organization accepting hunters of other races.
Immeriel heard Vereesa's words and said with a gossip-filled face: "What, is the little princess of the Windrunner family taking a fancy to our night elf hero?"
Vereesa scolded and turned to shoot a Qiraji.
"Master Immeriel, don't joke. Highlord Galen Lotheridan is from the same era as the ancestors of our Windrunner family. Besides, the Highlord has two confidantes!"
"For long-lived races, seniority is not a problem at all!"
Fandral's granddaughter is already able to go to the battlefield, and Tyrande and Malfurion just got married, didn't they?
Night elves don't care about that.
"Also... Sylvanas and Alleria are veterans of our Hidden Path. You should not be worried about these two."
Immeriel remembered what Shandris had told her in private, that these two heroines might no longer be alive!
Thinking of this, Immeriel's heart darkened. This was a huge loss for the Hidden Path.
"Master, what did you say?"
"No, nothing, focus on killing the enemy!"
The fierce battle lasted for nearly an hour before the Qiraji were killed. The periphery of Cenarion Hold was covered with the corpses of the Qiraji, and their green blood was spilled all over the desert.
"Mentor, we need to clean up those remaining crystals. Once they grow, they will hinder our advance into Ahn'Qiraj."
Fandral clearly remembered that the insect nests of a thousand years ago were the outposts of the Qiraji!