The Empire's Past

Darkwill is said to possess unparalleled bravery, earning Kled's praise and approval, who then helped him eliminate his enemies, thus ensuring the smooth establishment of the Empire. 🐳♔ 👺♬

However, Darkwill's rise to power did not quell the domestic struggles; they simply shifted from open conflict to covert infighting, with the most active group being an organization called the Black Rose.

The Black Rose emerged after Mordekaiser's death, and its leader LeBlanc, is known as the Pale Lady. Legend has it that this organization killed Mordekaiser at a crucial moment, allowing the Allied forces to achieve victory.

At first, the Black Rose were not mysterious; they appeared openly before the people, seeking people with magical talent to join their ranks.

Later, Darkwill sensed the threat posed by the Black Rose and secretly organized assassins to eliminate them, personally killing their leader LeBlanc.

Strangely enough, after clearing out the Black Rose, Darkwill suddenly fell seriously ill and soon died.

Some say it was the remnants of the Black Rose who carried out the murders, while others say it was other hostile organizations that took advantage of the chaos. In any case, Darkwill's son continued the bloody purges after taking the throne.

Thus, Noxus maintained a state of war externally and was internally unstable until Brawn Darkwill ascended to the throne, which triggered a civil war.

Brawn was much like the first emperor, a brave and resourceful warrior who cultivated a large number of loyal confidants.

For example, legendary general Du Krocção, his own brother Rappor Darkwill, and Swain's father.

At that time, Darius and Swain had already begun to show their talent and become outstanding among their peers.

The internal strife escalated, with even many troops fighting abroad returning to join the struggle. Although Brawn held the upper hand, he was unable to quell the unrest.

The victory was only secured through the all-out efforts of Dukao, Kled, and others.

Brawn did not disappoint upon ascending the throne. Unlike his predecessors, he did not carry out a large-scale purge of hostile forces, but instead focused his energy on consolidating the country.

Over the past decade or so, while Noxus's expansion has been limited, its strength has been largely consolidated, and its national power has reached unprecedented levels.

Emperor Brawn underwent significant changes in his later years, and his behavior became incomprehensible, most notably by his dismissal of Darius and Swain.

Prior to this, Dukao and Swain's parents had also committed many foolish acts, which is why Darius conspired with Swain kill them.

Darius had never told me this story before, but he did today in front of everyone.

Swain was the first to notice something was wrong. He rarely went home since joining the army. Later, he took a long leave due to injury, but when he returned, he found something was amiss. Not only was the atmosphere at home strange, but his parents' behavior was also odd.

Once, while chatting with his mother, he overheard her mention the name "Pale Lady," which immediately alerted him.

Swain knew that the Pale Lady was the leader of the Black Rose, and that the royal family had been working to purge Black Rose for years, until Brawn's accession to the throne eased the tensions.

Later, he discovered that his father frequently associated with strangers, all of whom had a black rose embroidered on their collars. At that moment, he finally realized that his parents had betrayed Emperor Brawn!

Swain pondered for several days and finally decided to put aside his own family for the greater good. Compared to the interests of the nation, he was willing to abandon everything, which was something Darius deeply admired.

After returning to the army, Swain found Darius and wept bitterly all night. The next day, he was almost blind and it took him many days to recover.

But just as Swain was recovering, he received even more unfortunate news from Darius: Dukao was dead!

Swain was momentarily stunned. As a legendary general of Noxus, shouldn't his death be a cause for national mourning? Why was there no sign of it?

At this point, Darius explained that after Dukao was killed, he was controlled by the mysterious man and was now in a state of mindless madness, and his actions were not his own thoughts!

Reflecting on the changes in his parents, Swain finally realized the seriousness of the problem; the undercurrents in Noxus were probably more turbulent than he had imagined.

Finally, they united with all those they were on good terms with to overthrow Dukao, kill his supporters, and take his place to finish the rest of the war.

Emperor Brawn did not blame them when he learned of all this. Instead, he divided Dukao's army in two and gave it to the two men, who later became the Black Feather Legion and the War Axe Legion.

At the same time, he granted Darius's request to attack Demacia! That is, the war I participated in as Leivo.

Later they learned that Emperor Brawn had also changed; he was being controlled, just like Dukao, and that the Black Rose was behind it all!

It turns out that the Black Rose did not disappear after years of cleansing; instead, it infiltrated Noxus's upper echelons.

Darius and his allies secretly amassed power and launched their first coup, the one I participated in as Zhao Xin. It failed because of the obstruction of a powerful witch.

After a period of reflection, Darius purchased many Nullifying Weapons in Demacia, and Swain, under guidance, awakened a terrifying binding power.

After making thorough preparations, they launched another coup. What they expected to be a bloody battle turned out to be surprisingly successful.

Riven personally slew the witch and learned that she was the current leader of the Black Rose and the ninth Pale Lady to be killed.

From the first emperor's slaying of LeBlanc to Riven's killing of the witch, all the leaders of the Black Rose over the generations died in the Great Purge. Strangely, the identities of all the Pale Lady who died after LeBlanc are unknown.

Later, Swain and Darius both learned from me that Riven had also killed LeBlanc.

Only then did they realize that the Noxus empire they had always been so proud of was merely a toy in LeBlanc's hands; the Black Rose and fell, but the Pale Lady never truly died.

They still can't do anything about LeBlanc, and they've stopped focusing their efforts on Black Rose. Since she's so powerful, they'll just let things take their course.

At this point, I dropped another bombshell: LeBlanc might Sage the old sage Tarbo from Demacia!

Jarvan and Darius were both stunned. These two people seemed completely unrelated. It was possible they had heard of each other, but how could they know each other?

I told the Sage Tabor and LeBlanc the prophecy they had given me. At first, LeBlanc said, "Beware of the harbor," and later the Sage Tabor said, "The calamity of the harbor will be neither dead nor destroyed."

LeBlanc said she heard it from somewhere else, Sage Tabor said he told a woman about it, which makes it quite clear.

Furthermore, it was LeBlanc who helped Swain awaken his powers before the second coup. Swain already knew this when they last met, but Darius did not.

However, as he said before, it doesn't matter whether LeBlanc is friend or foe; let things take their course. At least she's not an enemy now.