687 Chapter 687: The Bells of War

November 11th at the Dark Portal, a day known as Singles' Day on Earth, held no significance in Azeroth. Yet, on this night, a tense atmosphere enveloped Watcher's Keep.

Not just the Keep, but all watchtowers near the Dark Portal were on high alert, with soldiers changing shifts every two hours.

"Hey, Corporal, stay sharp! We're on level one combat readiness, got it?" A mounted Alliance officer jolted a dozing soldier awake beneath a watchtower.

Corporal Randel chuckled, "Lieutenant William, don't be so jittery. Look at the cursed land ahead. We've guarded it for nearly two years without anything to block off. Besides, isn't Pondle on the lookout? Right, mate?"

His comrade, another soldier on lookout, grunted affirmatively.

Despite his unease, Lieutenant William had to agree. The past two years had transformed initial terror into calm; nothing ever happened here.

No orcs, demons, not even animals roamed this place. Other than the wind occasionally rolling a roundish stone across the crimson earth, it was devoid of any life.

"But maybe you're right, Randel," he conceded, wiping his face with his gloved hand. "Even upon our arrival, Deputy Commander Marcus only issued a level three readiness, nearly a vacation. But now, it's level one! Pair up for vigilance, understand? The fresh seafood we've been enjoying since this year's second half is for what? To enhance our night vision, right? The top brass wouldn't be so kind otherwise."

"Alright, considering the deliciousness of the seafood. Oh, I can hardly imagine, fish transported over a thousand kilometers, still alive," Randel stood up and earnestly scanned the Dark Portal with a monocular.

Thanks to military industrial progress, what was once exclusive to generals, now every one of the twelve watchtowers surrounding the Dark Portal was equipped with two telescopes.

The soldiers kept watch ahead.

Under the illumination of strategically placed fire pits,

They could clearly see a flickering light in mid-air behind a pile of rubble. The narrow rift, about the width of one person and twice as tall, was the remnant of the Dark Portal, and their duty was to keep vigil over it.

Lieutenant William rode off with a few patrol soldiers.

"Must say, this job's quite easy. Triple the pay of a soldier of the same rank for just staring at a motionless rift. If anything happens, we blow the alarm and run. Plus, our shift ends in an hour," Pondle spoke up.

William was about to add something but stopped, his eyes widening behind the telescope, whispering, "Look there!"

In the firelight from the pre-set fire pits, they clearly saw something emerge from the twisted gateway. The shadows of these creatures, cast upon the large screen erected behind the portal, were monstrous, their elongated fangs terrifying.

"Wooh—"

"Did you hear that?" Pondle nudged his partner as more green-skinned giants revealed their true forms in their field of view.

"Hell! That's Teralach's alarm! We aren't hallucinating! Damn it, it's the Horde! Those vile greenskins are here!" William frantically lunged for the horn hung on the wooden watchtower's panel.

The alarms resounded—one, two, three... up to twelve!

Soon after, the watchtowers further back also ignited massive signal fires and sounded their alarms.

"Whoo-whoo-whoo—"

Every Alliance soldier on the watchtowers, having fulfilled their duty, immediately jumped down, unleashed the horses reserved for escape, and fled at full speed.

On the walls of Watcher's Keep, Lieutenant Thuralyon, Anduin Lothar's deputy, was patrolling. Suddenly, he halted and signaled silence to the other soldiers around him.

For a brief moment, they all stood in hushed anticipation, trying to discern something in the wind.

Then, Thuralyon heard it.

The alarm sounded initially like the low moan of a giant beast awakening, rapidly transforming into a roaring warning.

"I need the magical mirror image of the Dark Portal!" Thuralyon immediately called out to a mage on duty.

The middle-aged mage hastily chanted a spell. When the pre-arranged mage's eye relayed the image, Thuralyon gazed at the space rift in the image and took a deep breath. The chilling wind seemed to rob him of speech.

The rift had expanded!

"Ring the warning bell! Level one alert, the enemy has appeared!" He waved his arms excitedly, calling to the guard in the bell tower.

However, the young guard, obviously new, was frozen in fear.

"For the Light's sake! Don't freeze up at a time like this!" Unable to wait, Thuralyon drew his hammer from his waist and hurled a "Wrath Hammer" directly at the huge bell.

The Wrath Hammer, having no special effect on intact beings or objects, but being one of the few ranged attacks for a paladin, did its job as a thrown hammer.

"Dong—" The massive sound finally startled the guard into action. He braced himself and frantically rang the bell rope.

"Dong! Dong! Dong!" The bells of war tolled.

In the command room next to Watcher's Keep, Anduin Lothar, who was a light sleeper, suddenly opened his eyes. His two attendants jumped up and clumsily strapped the already prepared armor onto their commander.

When Anduin Lothar, fully armed, arrived at the command room, he found his deputy Thuralyon, Danath Trollbane, Muradin Bronzebeard, Hass, and the representative of the mages, Krasus, among others, all gathered.

"Report the situation!"

With an admiring glance westward, towards Karazhan, Thuralyon reported, "Deputy Commander Marcus's prediction was entirely accurate; the Horde has come. The latest message from the scouts of Military Intelligence Section 7 confirms the presence of death knights and over 2,000 Horde warriors. The initial assessment is..."

Listening to Thuralyon's report, everyone thought the same thing: the completion of Watcher's Keep was indeed timely!