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// Pandaria: The Mantid Empire 
// Story: Sunset Shimmer: Path of the Damned 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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With Sunset overtaking the Shado-Pan Monastery, claiming both of the Prime Sha that were trapped in there while slaying the rest of the living inside it, she marched outside and started to make her way down the western side of Kun-Lai Summit, as there was a gate heading into Townlong Steppes.

"The Yaungol have been trying to break through here for years, but now we don't have to worry about them." Taran Zhu said, speaking as Sunset and her army approached the area that would allow them to complete the pincer attack on the rest of the Mantid Empire, finding that the Yaungol were, in fact, gathering to attack Kun-Lai Summit, only to stop when they noticed the army that was approaching their location, "Shall we kill them?"

"Indeed. Death to the living." Sunset stated, as she could tell that the pandaren soldiers were still having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that they had been slain and revived as killing machines, while the Shado-Pan, having been trained in the art of battle, adapted and passed on their training in record time, as being raised into this state made them learn things at a faster rate.

Sure enough Taylor flew overhead with his airship, blasting the war camps of the Yaungol on the other side of the wall, as it opened the way for the army to march on the rest of their enemies, who were temporarily distracted by what was going on in Townlong Steppes, a fatal mistake on their end. With the attack on two fronts it really wasn't a fair fight for the Yaungol, as they were dying before really having a chance to stand before her might, but Sunset was fine with this as her army tore their enemies down and the val'kyr raised them to sow chaos among the enemy's ranks. It never ceased to amaze her when she watched that happen, that each race, even those that were said to not care about their own kind, were utterly surprised and caught off guard when they came face to face with their raised loved ones. Such a thing broke the morale of everyone her army fought, even the mighty Yaungol warriors weren't immune to this, so Sunset did nothing as she studied the province they were invading, finding Mantid amber trees and a temple to the west, which had to be her next destination, Niuzao's temple.

Fortunately it seemed like the majority of the Mantid Empire was focused on the battle with Nazgrim's forces, who were getting stronger and more numerous as more enemies rushed to their deaths, meaning the val'kyr over there were busy raising the fools into undeath, allowing her to focus on her targets in this province.

Once they had broken through the last time of the Yaungol's defensive line her forces surged the rest of their villages, as it allowed them to spill out into Townlong Steppes and gather more soldiers for the cause, where Taylor and Taran Zhu just turned their attention on their targets. Sunset had the Admiral deal with the Mantid, while the pandaren force would head over to Niuzao's temple and bring it down, allowing her to turn the fourth and final August Celestial into a force of Death, where her force leaders nodded their heads before getting underway. She, on the other hand, followed the risen monks to the west, as she wanted to fend the Black Ox with her own hand, like she did to his fellow Celestials, and while she did that her soldiers knew what to do when faced with the living, that command was drilled into their heads. Of course there were a few small camps that seemed to be scouting positions for the rest of the Shado-Pan, where at first the pandaren thought that reinforcements had come to aid them against the Mantid, only to discover the truth as Taran Zhu beat one of them up as his soldiers did the same.

While her forces did that, however, she walked down the path in front of her and crossed the bridge, where she stared at the large temple in front of her, which looked more like an open arena with a resting place for Niuzao to stand on, since it was far too easy for her to see the ox in question. Niuzao, to his credit, stood his ground as he tried to trample her as soon as she stepped down into the arena, showing her that he knew she was a threat and wanted to eliminate her before she could do any damage to him or his personal order. His monks, on the other hand, were ready and waiting with arrows, all aimed at her so that the moment she showed him any openings one or more of them would use it against her, which she knew was another good strategy, but, at the same time, it was flawed, as it wasn't taking into consideration the Scourge she had brought with her. Her archers opened fire immediately, shooting to kill as their arrows struck their targets with a surprising degree of lethality, at least to the living, once more reminding her that when one was raised into undeath, and started to serve the Jailer of the Damned, their personalities were twisted into something new.

It was this desire to end all life that allowed her forces to wipe out Niuzao's forces, and the Mantid trying to assault part of the small island it was situated on, while she dealt with the Black Ox before he could even run away, allowing her to raise the last of the August Celestials into undeath.

"With this I hold the keys to entering the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, but first I require the sixth Prime Sha." Sunset said, to which her forces bowed their heads to her for a few seconds, showing that they understood her wishes, before she and all of her new soldiers headed into the rest of Townlong Steppes, where she turned them loose on the living that were here, so they could join Taylor's force and capture the province.

Sure enough the Mantid were surprised by the sudden arrival of another army, where she was fortunate that they weren't linked by a hive mind, otherwise her plan would have been ruined, before Sunset smiled as the rest of her forces in Kun-Lai Summit joined them, namely the lesser Sha that spread their corruption across the land. Some of the stronger soldiers had stayed back to keep an eye on the Zandalari Empire, as in the trolls that were looking for something, as it would lead to the Mogu's precious Thunder King being revived, someone she would cut down before worrying about the Vale, so for now she was just waiting for her forces to report his revival. With the might of her forces in Townlong Steppes the Mantid stood little chance of actually surpassing them, allowing Sunset to watch as they were put down and raised to serve her as the power of Death spread to their precious amber trees, showing the living that nothing could resist her power. She also discovered that the only path into the Dread Wastes was to use the fallen husk of a tree to cross the gap in front of them, where she used a bit of her power to manipulate the amber that was now under her control and rapidly formed walkways for the rest of her ground forces to use.

Once Townlong Steppes belonged to her, and no living remained, Sunset gave the order for her army, both halves of it to be exact, to march into the Dread Wastes and lay waste to the rest of the Mantid Empire, where she watched as Taylor's force marched in as Nazgrim's finally went on the offensive after defending the Valley of the Four Winds for a time. As her forces did that, however, Sunset felt several areas that had amber energy coming from them, not counting the main hive itself, and one came from a place crawling with Mogu ghosts, so she made her way to the ancient stronghold. Sure enough she used a bit of her power over Death to raise the spirits of the fallen Mogu as her servants, before spotting an interesting sight, there was a Mantid with a tuning fork of some kind that was being attacked by it's own kind, likely two separate factions based on what she was seeing. Either way it was irrelevant to her as Sunset cut down both sides without pausing, allowing her val'kyr to raise them as soldiers of the Scourge, though while that happened she learned of the Klaxxi Paragon that was buried in this place, where she gestured for the awakener to raise his charge from the amber he was trapped in.

The figure in question was a Mantid warrior who seemed far stronger than any other she had encountered so far, though as he emerged from the amber she stabbed him in the chest, allowing him to fully awaken as a soldier of the Scourge and grant him all of his former power within seconds.

"I am Kil'ruk the Wind-Reaver, my Queen. Speak your desire, and I will fulfill it." the ancient warrior stated, taking a moment to kneel and bow to her, though while she expected such an ancient and powerful Mantid to resist her power she found that being in the state of amber induced slumber, for a long period of time, weakened his body, to the point where her power was enough to break him, but she also felt that it was due to the power she was gathering.

"My forces will be conquering the rest of the Dread Wastes, though you and I will be seeking the rest of the Paragons, as I'm sure they'll prove useful for our assault on the Empress' palace." Sunset stated, because her powers informed her that there were eleven other places that matched Kil'ruk's temporary resting place, meaning there were eleven more members of the Klaxxi Paragons to awaken into undeath and add their power to her army's growing might.

While Sunset had no need for such a powerful warrior on her side, not with the power she possessed, she knew that this would give her a front row seat to Kil'ruk's power, before she sent him back to the front lines, hence why the two of them, three counting the val'kyr, departed for the other hidden Klaxxi Paragons. What she first discovered was that many of the Paragons were alchemists, warriors, assassins, and even precious inventors, as two of them were behind the very method that preserved them in amber, or at least one was when she learned that another had modified the existing formula for a smaller companion pet. The other thing was that, true to his work, Kil'ruk slaughtered his enemies with ease, almost as if he was dancing on the wind, allowing him to watch as the val'kyr raised those he slew into undeath, showing him that the more he slew the greater their army became, even though he also showed some caution since he was still fresh from his prison. The last thing she discovered as her forces started to cover the Dread Wastes was that each Paragon she was able to uncover were in a weakened state, allowing Sunset to stab each one and raise them into undeath like she did to Kil'ruk, and she even claimed one before the power of the Sha fully corrupted him, until eventually all twelve signatures belonged to her.

With that done Sunset turned her army loose on the rest of the province and watched as the Mantid Empire collapsed as her forces tore down the insects, and it wasn't long before everything expect the palace belonged to her, to which she and the Paragons marched into it, leaving Nazgrim and Taylor to keep an eye out for any living that they might have missed during their various invasions of Pandaria's vast provinces.

As Sunset entered the palace she heard the sermons of one of the Empress' most trusted followers, who seemed to be in the middle of whipping the lesser Mantid into shape, though her new Paragon tore into the enemies in front of her as she focused on the targets she needed to take out. The Imperial Vizier was the first one she had to take out, where she quickly followed his voice and found him flying around one of the main chambers of the palace, who seemed annoyed by the fact that she was turning his soldiers against him and the Empress. What was amusing was that it took little effort to drag him down to their level, her forces just had to cut down all of the Mantid that were in the chamber and then he flew down once he was the last one left, though a simple stab from Frostmourne ended him. Sunset suspected that the same would be true for the rest of the Mantid in the palace, the soldier level figures would be ended by her own force while the commanders, or whatever they were called, would fall before he might, to which she continued along the path as the val'kyr raised the fallen into undeath.

The path brought her to an area that a military commander happened to be resting in, the domain of the Blade Lord, and he had four instructors that he seemed to be passing information to, though they and their trainees were nothing compared to the might of her Paragons, allowing her to cut him down and move up a nearby ramp.

Such a thing brought her to an outside area that another important figure, the Wind Lord, was resting in, though before she could tear him down she had to deal with a large Kunchong that was brought up to deal with attackers, since they were on a balcony of sorts. It was incredibly easy to take out, as all one had to do was strike it's four legs to weaken it and then slay it with a well placed blow, which she did after the Paragons wiped out the lesser soldiers, before she challenged the Wind Lord to a fight, who had been watching them from an area above where the Kunchong was dropped. Of course he and his small group of followers stood little chance against her might, as she was able to slash all of them down with a matter of seconds, to which she and her growing force marched inside the palace once more. After that it was a simple matter to track down a large chamber that possessed a number of amber creations, along with their master, though the Paragons who worked with amber were displeased with his actions and tore him down with their strength, allowing her to make her way into the lair of the Empress.

Part of the reason she was doing this was because it would eliminate one of the races and deprive the living of potential allies, though the other one happened to be because of the large shadowy figure who was lurking in the darkness of the final chamber, a Prime Sha who was a twisted black-purple color and had red eyes, claws, and spikes.

"Sha of Fear, it is time to join the other five Prime Sha I have absorbed." Sunset stated, noticing the massive pod that likely held the Empress inside it, who had to be scared of the power that had torn it's way through her forces, so she focused on the figure before it decided to leave and make her hunt it down again, "With all six of you I'll be able to track down the last of the Prime Sha, the Sha of Pride, and with all seven of you I will track down the last components of Y'Shaarj, allowing me to do many things with you and his core."

That seemed to be all the information that the figure needed to know, where it surged through the air and was absorbed like the others, giving her a sixth gem that formed a near perfect circle around the heart gem, though without looking she drew Frostmourne and launched it with her magic, killing the Empress without looking at her, before catching it as she left, leaving the val'kyr to raise the Empress into undeath as she focused on the next target she had to take down.