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Quote from "XxL2PxX" »

Their are many different versions to the 'prophecy'. The original one can be heard in Diablo 2's untouched trailer, where an unidentified man starts reciting the prophecy. Many races including demons such as Mephisto have different versions of said prophecy. The Prophecies of the Final Day is the barbarian tribes' version of the prophecy

Quote from D2 Manual »

"And a child will cradle Terror in his breast as the heart of man falls under the shadow.

A Wanderer will pass through the ancient lands trailing chaos in his wake.

The Three Brothers will be reunited as the mortal world trembles before their might.

And so it was foretold that the Three, once reunited, would be shattered again --

And the last of them would set his sights on the holy mount. The warnings held that
Their defeat would be illusory - that the final gambit had yet to be played . . ."

* * *

And now at last the storm surges forth from the southlands, and the hand of Destruction
Reaches out to undo the workings of the Ancients. The tides of Hell surge - ready to smash
Down upon the shores of the mortal world - to drown the guilty and the innocent alike."


- Excerpt from the Prophecies of the Final Day

Quote from D3 Official Site »

"The comet carries a dark omen in its fiery being and it calls the heroes of Sanctuary
To defend the mortal world against the rising powers of the Burning Hells –
And even the failing luminaries of the High Heavens itself."

Quote from "XxL2PxX" »

Could be that

Or he didn't have an army at all, while he was journeying to Mount Arreat. As Atrumentis said, an entity could easily make it up there unoticed. There are many portals to Hell on Mount Arreat, so when Baal probally reached there, he rallied all he could and sent his army southwards onto Harrogath while he searched for the Worldstone Chamber