The outcome of the battlefield was sealed the moment Kled left.
Perhaps it had already been sealed the moment Galio appeared.
Or perhaps even earlier than that.
In the blink of an eye, in front of the sizable city of Groft, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood had formed.
A scene out of a nightmare seemed to have surfaced there. The stench of blood drifted everywhere, sharp and foul.
Blood dyed the ground red, taking on an eerie color beneath the moonlight.
The bodies of more than a hundred thousand people lay scattered in every direction, along with the corpses of basilisks and drakehounds that could be seen everywhere.
One white-armored soldier after another moved across the battlefield, constantly cleaning up the scene.
They stacked corpse after corpse together, forming a mountain of bodies greater than anything before. Then they threw a flame onto it, and the roaring fire seemed as if it would burn away every trace of filth.
This battle could be described as a complete victory.
Luke's army had paid only a small price in casualties, but in exchange, Noxus's army of one hundred seventy thousand had been wiped out. It had practically been a one-sided war.
Galio, the Colossus, had fought quite a bit. Once the battle ended, his magic was nearly depleted. He stood there, his broad shoulders giving everyone a deep sense of security.
The soldiers used water to clean the blood and grime from his body. Before long, the stone giant was pure white from head to toe, spotless and clean.
Luke ordered the army to enter Groft and set up camp. Everyone could finally get a proper rest today.
As for him, he was waiting for news from Quinn.
According to Poppy, at the final moment, that desert lizard had carried Kled away from the battlefield and vanished.
So Luke sent Quinn, who was skilled at tracking, to find Kled. If he was not dead, she would finish him off. If he was dead, she would bring back the body.
Kled was an enemy, and an enemy who would never stop until one side was dead. There was no possibility that he would ever surrender to Luke, nor was there any possibility that he would submit.
So even though he was one of the "champions" Luke knew of, Luke had no reason to spare him.
An enemy capable of giving a group-wide buff was truly troublesome.
If Kled had not been there today, Luke's army would have been able to wipe out Groft's enemy forces even more easily.
As for why Luke was unwilling to let even the corpse go, there was a reason for that too.
Aside from giving Kled a bit of dignity, it was also to prevent Noxus from using the corpse to cause trouble.
This was hardly the first time they had done such filthy, disgusting things.
Even if someone had been cut into several pieces, they could still pick those pieces up, stitch them together, turn the body into a weapon, and send it back onto the battlefield.
Just imagine it. If Kled came back from the dead, he would definitely bring Demacia even greater trouble.
Quinn was highly efficient. Before long, she brought back the bodies of Kled and the desert drakalops Skaarl.
Luke did not look at them for long. After confirming them, he gave the order, "Burn them."
"Yes."
Quinn accepted the order and left.
Luke found a place to sit and opened the Secret Key.
Yurna walked over, carrying a freshly brewed cup of hot tea. She placed it beside Luke without saying anything to disturb him, then quietly withdrew.
Luke opened the Secret Key and first reported the battle situation to Jarvan III, Jarvan IV, and the others. Then he asked about Tianna and Lev's battle situations.
Lev's marching route was almost identical to his. The city they were going to attack was called Boleham.
It was directly above Groft.
At this time, he first received Tianna's reply. Their battle situation had gone extremely smoothly. They had been advancing the whole time, and they were basically about to clear out the first area Noxus occupied in Shurima.
A little later, he received Lev's reply and could not help letting out a breath of relief.
Boleham had also been successfully taken. They had already entered the city and set up camp.
With that, Demacia's army had taken another great step forward across Noxus's territory.
Afterward, Luke sent Tianna and Lev the same message.
The armies would converge at the next location, Kilgrove.
Once they reached that point, there would no longer be any need to split the army into three routes. They could completely gather all their troops and attack Noxus from a single front with full force.
Kilgrove was a water city of Noxus, also quite a sizable city.
Once everything was done, Luke finally had time to catch his breath.
He found a higher place. With a few flashes, he arrived at the highest point, then slowly sat down and looked up at the sky.
The moonlight tonight was especially bright. Everything happening in the world seemed to have nothing to do with it, and it still gave off soft, pure light.
Before he knew it, drowsiness surged up inside Luke, and he slowly fell asleep.
These days had truly exhausted him. He was not an active person to begin with, but during this period, he had been moving constantly. More importantly, he had been under a great deal of pressure.
Now that Groft had been taken, that pressure had eased considerably.
At that moment, a figure quietly found her way there as well. At a glance, she saw Luke lying there asleep.
She approached on tiptoe, not making the slightest sound.
When she reached him, she sat down gently. Then she turned her head and lowered it slightly, carefully studying Luke's sleeping face. Her beautiful, bright eyes flickered like starlight.
A spill of golden hair fell down. The young woman stared without blinking. Then the corner of her mouth suddenly curved into a wicked smile. As if planning a prank, she took out a feather.
Then she moved it toward Luke's nose, imagining that the sight of him sneezing himself awake from his sleep would definitely be hilarious.
However, as she watched the feather draw closer and closer, she suddenly stopped again. Looking at his even breathing and the way his handsome brows had relaxed, she figured he must be having a good dream.
After thinking about it, she withdrew the feather.
Then she slowly lay down beside him. It seemed a little too far, so the young woman moved closer without the slightest hesitation, until there was only the width of a finger between them. With just a small sniff, she could smell the clean scent drifting from him.
Then she lay flat in satisfaction and looked at the night moon from the same angle.
The pure moonlight spilled down like a snow-white blanket draped over them, turning the scene into a beautiful painting.
Time passed in a flash. In the blink of an eye, five days had gone by.
Noxus's capital, the Immortal Bastion.
With a loud bang, Darkwill slammed his palm onto the table in fury, his face so dark it almost seemed ready to drip water.
"What did you say? Groft and Boleham were both breached?"
There was a trace of disbelief in his voice. Blue veins stood out on the back of his hand, enough to show the rage and turmoil in his heart at this moment.
The ministers around him were silent as well.
Just now, they had received the battle reports from the west.
Groft and Boleham had both been breached by Demacia at the same time. These two cities could be considered mid-to-upper-level cities in Noxus, and they were even higher in rank than Trevale.
They had already sent no small number of reinforcements there.
However, not only had the rather famous Demir died in battle, but Kabud and Omov from the magic academy, who were sent later, had also died on the spot.
Between the two cities, two hundred fifty thousand troops had been completely wiped out.
Even bad news had come from the Shuriman continent. The port city of Urzeris had also been breached, and the Demacian army was continuing its advance eastward into Noxian territory.
And what was Demacia's situation now?
With only a tiny number of casualties, they had exchanged that for massive Noxian losses.
After that, they were advancing in a straight line across Noxian territory as if there were no one in their way, and they could not be stopped at all.
Darkwill had never dreamed that Noxus would lose so miserably.
Even Kled had died in this battle.
What kind of existence was Kled?
He was a Noxian hero whose legends had spread everywhere before Darkwill had even taken the throne. He had fought countless wars and accumulated countless accomplishments.
And yet even someone like that had died under Demacia's attack.
Darkwill sat on the throne, his expression shifting between gloom and uncertainty.
At this point, he had finally started to panic a little.
Something was wrong. This was completely different from what he had expected.
In his expectations, even if Demir and Kabud could not win in the end, they should at least have forced Demacia to pay a certain price.
After that, he could have sent more troops over and completely repelled Demacia.
However, the price Demacia had paid was almost the same as nothing.
Most importantly, he had invested no small number of troops there, and now they had all been wiped out. At this moment, he could not even mobilize that many troops again in a short period of time.
"Damn it."
His heart wavered, and for a moment, even his thoughts became chaotic.
This time, Demacia had suddenly become a little too monstrous. What kind of methods had they used to win like this?
Because their entire army had been wiped out, they could not even grasp the detailed intelligence from the battlefield.
All they knew was that Demacia's firepower had been too fierce, forcing Demir and Kabud, under Kled's leadership, to charge out of the city and fight them.
At this moment, Darkwill was not the only one in the room panicking.
The ministers who had been extremely confident earlier were also losing their composure one by one.
When Demacia had first launched a surprise attack, breached Trevale, and advanced all the way forward, they could still comfort themselves.
That was because Noxus had not yet recovered from the shock.
Now they had recovered, taken the matter seriously, and sent out no small number of troops. They had originally thought that this would be enough to drive Demacia back, but they had still gotten stomped.
That made things awkward as hell.
Right now, although the territory occupied by Demacia added together was still only a corner of the map to Noxus, that was no longer the real problem.
The real problem was how they were supposed to stop Demacia's continued offensive.
If even that many troops could not stop Demacia, then the territory they occupied afterward would only keep growing.
And the speed would be extremely fast.
No matter how vast Noxus's territory was, it could not withstand this kind of loss.
Before long, someone ran in from outside and reported.
"Grand General, the matter has already spread. Now people all over the city are talking about our consecutive defeats, and they are panicking."
"We cannot allow this to continue. We have to find a way to stop Demacia, or the consequences will be hard to predict."
One minister rose to his feet, his expression solemn.
Darkwill looked at him, then shifted his gaze away without speaking.
Of course he knew that.
If they continued allowing Demacia to fight on unchecked, the impact would not be minor.
Most importantly, during his reign, he had lost so much territory. This would severely affect his reputation.
In the past, there had been no shortage of bold fools who dared attack Noxus. However, they had almost all been suppressed very quickly by the reigning Grand General.
A situation like this, where chunks of the map were lost one after another, had almost never happened before.
Although Darkwill had also conquered plenty of territory for Noxus during his reign, the two situations were completely different.
Good news stayed at home. Bad news traveled a thousand miles.
In the end, people would only remember that he had been brutally beaten by Demacia. They would not remember his accomplishments at all.
Darkwill wanted to keep clinging to the throne forever, so this was absolutely something he could not allow.
He asked in a deep voice, "Is there still no news from Darius?"
He urgently needed someone capable of stopping Demacia. Since even Demir, the man recommended by the Pale Sorceress, had failed to stop them, after thinking it over, the only person with that ability seemed to be Darius.
His subordinate quickly replied, "We have tried many methods, but we still cannot make contact with General Darius."
Darkwill fell silent. He rubbed his fingers several times. After a brief struggle, his gaze grew colder and colder, and he still made his decision.
"Recall a portion of our forces from Ionia. Also, notify the warlords in every region. They are to jointly dispatch troops to stop Demacia. Demacia's current actions have already damaged the dignity of Noxus as a whole. No one is allowed to disobey."
"And... release Sion."
His voice grew colder and colder.
The name Sion fell like a forbidden spell. The instant it landed, everyone present froze.
One minister paused, then said, "But..."
"There are no buts!" Darkwill cut him off in an unquestionable tone, his eyes icy. "Just do it!"
"Yes!"
The minister quickly accepted the order.
Darkwill sat on the throne, his breathing gradually becoming steady.
If this had not been a critical moment, even he would not have wanted to release Sion.
But now, there was no other choice. Without Sion, there might be no one under his command who could stop the current Demacia.
Right now, he only wanted to see Demacia destroyed.
The meeting dispersed.
Noxus began preparing its follow-up reinforcements.
Deep within the Immortal Bastion, silence and deathly stillness always accompanied this place. Darkness shrouded everything, giving off an indescribable chill.
With a hiss, a flicker of firelight lit up and spread into the space inside, also bringing a trace of warmth.
Then more and more torches appeared. An elite squad, clad in heavy armor, strode forward.
Before them stood a heavy black iron door. Complex craftsmanship had been carved into the door, and its handles were like two skull-like eye sockets.
And this was actually a tomb.
"Open it."
The squad captain spoke to an old mage.
The old mage nodded and stepped forward. He pressed his staff against the eye sockets of the door handles, his expression serious and cautious, and began chanting a spell.
Magic began extending along his staff like countless threads, pouring into the iron door.
Immediately afterward, the entire iron door lit up and emitted a cloud of green steam. With a rumble, it opened on its own without any need for a key.
"Be careful. Once the door opens, his seal will be undone as well."
After finishing the spell, the old mage withdrew his hand and warned the squad behind him.
The squad captain nodded seriously, then slowly pushed open the door before him, revealing the space inside.
Inside was a spacious inner chamber. It was extremely empty, with nothing in it except a huge black coffin placed in the center.
He and his squad members entered. The torches lit up the inner chamber completely.
At that moment, everyone shuddered unconsciously. It was not because the temperature was too low, but because this place carried a feeling of deathly stillness. Even the air was heavy.
The coffin was forged from black iron, extremely sturdy and heavy, and it looked imposing beyond measure. Judging by its size alone, at least a dozen people could lie inside.
At this moment, the coffin just lay there quietly, without the slightest movement.
But the squad members exchanged looks, and for a while, none of them dared approach.
"Do not be afraid. He is inside. He can only come out if it is opened from the outside."
The squad captain spoke, taking the first step forward.
Only then did the squad members behind him follow one by one.
Their squad had twenty people in total. All of them had been sent to carry the coffin. Next, they had to quickly transport this coffin to the west. The situation was urgent, and no mistakes could be allowed.
And every single person present knew what kind of existence was locked inside this coffin.
The clacking of battle boots stepping on the ground rang out. Perhaps because they were getting closer and closer, the sound grew louder and louder.
At last, the sleeping being inside the coffin was awakened.
"Roar!"
In an instant, a furious roar burst out from inside the coffin like rolling thunder. It was deafening, and even their heartbeats seemed to stop for a moment.
Several squad members who had gotten close were immediately frightened into retreating a few steps. Then they heard continuous snarls and roars coming from inside the coffin, along with violent struggling and the frantic rattling of iron chains.
It was as if he had inexhaustible strength. He simply did not know how to stop.
The entire inner chamber was filled with his roaring, chilling everyone's hearts.
"There are twenty iron chains binding him inside that coffin. He cannot get out. Ignore it."
The old mage spoke from outside.
Only then did the squad members feel a little more at ease. They forced down their fear and began approaching the coffin.
After assigning each person's position, everyone worked together. With a shouted "Lift," the huge coffin was slowly raised, and they began carrying it outside.
The old mage followed behind the group, looking at the coffin being carried away, and murmured to himself, "Another slaughter is about to begin. To fight Demacia, Darkwill is willing to release him again?"
His gaze grew unfocused, and he could not help returning to many years ago in his mind.
The existence locked inside the coffin was named Sion.
He was a legendary figure from Noxus a hundred years ago. He had led Noxian armies and wiped out countless enemies.
His greatest feat was charging into the Demacian army and tearing apart the opposing king, who had personally led the campaign, on the spot. In the end, he died gloriously in battle.
Such an achievement could be said to be unprecedented, and no one after him had ever matched it.
Later, his corpse was recovered by every means possible and sent back to the Immortal Bastion for a state funeral. Noxus mourned Sion, and his body was buried beneath a towering monument as an eternal symbol of him.
Until fifty years later, when his corpse was dug up again.
Noxus used a forbidden secret art to revive him from death.
At the same time, it also brought him even greater power. He would never die again.
How powerful was this forbidden secret art? It could bring the dead back to life and make them unable to feel pain ever again. Even if he was killed again and again, he could always return to life through the secret art.
This allowed Sion to break past his former strength and become an unstoppable existence.
However, forbidden secret arts also had a price.
And that price was that it stole Sion's reason, turning him into a machine that knew only slaughter.
He was controlled by the desire to kill. Beyond that, no one could control him anymore.
And this killing did not distinguish between enemy and ally.
Sion was certainly powerful. He was so powerful that one man could face an entire army, and he brought Noxus countless victories.
However, Noxus also paid a heavy price.
Because Sion was a double-edged sword.
In every battle, whether the people around Sion were enemies or allies, he killed them without mercy.
He was like a tireless killing machine. The old mage had once witnessed Sion slaughter both sides of a battlefield until none remained.
From then on, Sion was given the title of weapon of war.
No one dared fight alongside Sion anymore, so the soldiers forced to stand beside him in battle began fleeing without a fight.
In the end, Darkwill gave the order to bury Sion again.
Since then, the weapon of war had been sealed here, under the old mage's watch.
After so many years, the weapon of war was unsealed once again. The old mage knew that no matter how powerful Demacia was, it would likely be unable to stop Sion's desire to slaughter.
He could not help feeling a trace of sympathy even for the enemy.
One day later, in a town located in northeastern Noxus.
"Have you heard? Demacia has already reached Groft."
"Yeah. Demacia's coming in hard this time."
"The western border is miserable right now. Who knows how many people have died?"
"The higher-ups are still recruiting soldiers. Who would dare go?"
"Just how powerful is Demacia?"
As the news spread, people all over the city discussed it. Some sighed, while others could not help feeling afraid.
For a month straight, all they had heard was bad news. There had not been a single victory report.
In Noxus, this had never happened before.
In an underground tavern, a cloaked figure slowly walked in. Listening to the discussions around her, the bright green eyes beneath the cloak flickered.
Then, without hesitation, she reached out, pushed open the tavern door, and walked all the way toward the innermost room.
When she reached the door, she knocked on it three times, her finger striking at one-second intervals.
With a click, the door opened.
She pushed the door and walked in. First, she saw the servant who had opened it.
"Hello, Katarina Du Couteau."
A deep, calm voice sounded.
Katarina's gaze shifted over, and she saw the target she had come to find this time.
Jericho Swain.
"We should sit down and discuss what comes next in detail."
Swain's face was somewhat pale, without much color, but he wore a gentle smile as he spoke. Then he gestured toward the seat opposite him.
Katarina removed her cloak and, without saying much, sat down on the chair. With a table between her and Swain, she said coldly, "To put it simply, I find Darkwill extremely unpleasant."
"What a coincidence. So do I."
Swain smiled faintly. "It seems we have something to talk about."
In a small underground tavern, a tremendous storm was quietly brewing.
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