Internal Crisis

On their way back to the Immortal Fortress, Darius and Swain enjoyed one of the most carefree periods of their lives. ✊💚 ඏ☆

During those days, they didn't have to participate in training or worry about military affairs. In their spare time, they also visited many famous sites, including the Colosseum of Doco. The journey that should have taken them more than ten days took them more than a month to return to the Immortal Fortress.

It was at this time that Darius learned that Swain came from a prominent noble family and that his father was a high-ranking official close to the emperor.

Swain went directly to the military camp in Dukao and confessed his crimes to him.

Surprisingly, Dukao didn't blame him; instead, he revealed something important to him:

A battle for the throne has begun between the current emperor Brawn Darkwill, and Great General Sok.

At that time, Noxus was in a state of great turmoil. Apart from the relatively stable Flame Legion led by the old commander in the north and the Sandstorm Legion led by Kled, there were many other scattered forces.

Dukao, Sok, Darkwill are the three most powerful factions. If they don't have conflicts, the others certainly won't dare to cause trouble, otherwise the group will definitely fall apart.

Dukao explained that he sought Swain's opinion because he was impressed by his strategic thinking, which had caught his attention since Swain was a sergeant major, and he now valued him highly.

That being said, Swain knew he was standing on the edge of a precipice. Rather than Dukao valuing his intelligence, he wanted to see where he stood.

If things go according to his wishes, I will definitely be given an important position; otherwise, given Dukao's personality, he will surely kill me to silence me.

It's common knowledge that Dukao and Sok are old friends, and now there are rumors that Kled also supports Sok. If that's true, then the competition is a foregone conclusion.

After analyzing the current situation, Swain gave his answer: he supported Brawn Darkwill.

Dukao was very surprised. He didn't expect someone as intelligent Swain to say that name. He became very angry, drew his sword and held it to Swain's neck, signaling his men to seize him.

Swain remained calm, neither begging for mercy nor offering his reasons; he believed Dukao would give him a chance to explain.

Swain's composure did not mean Darius was the same. Upon hearing that his close friend had been arrested, he rushed to the general's tent despite being outnumbered and outmatched.

Dukao was surprised again, never expecting that this young man could defeat several generals and rush to his side.

At this point, all the guards rushed to the camp and surrounded Darius, but Dukao ordered them to retreat, giving Darius a chance:

If they challenge themselves and win, both he and Swain can be exonerated; otherwise, they will be sent to the prison of the Immortal Fortress.

As expected, Darius lost. He hadn't expected Dukao to be so strong; he hadn't had a chance to fight back at all.

He later learned that Dukao's greatest strength was not direct combat, but his unparalleled assassination skills.

After their defeat, the two were imprisoned. There, Swain recounted the events and the power structure of Noxus to Darius, and explained his own thoughts:

He supported Brawn Darkwill for two reasons: his surname and his age.

Although Noxus is a country where status is earned through military merit, there are still some powerful families, such as the Darkwill Family.

The Darkwill Family originated in the north, Flame Legion is their direct force, always under the control of the family. If war breaks out between the two sides, the Flame Legion will always support Darkwill, regardless of who others support.

This would mean more than just internal strife; the Freljord tribes in the north would inevitably seize the opportunity to invade southward, causing incalculable losses.

Sok, on the other hand, came from a commoner background, and his subordinates mostly idolized him, without any blood ties or inseparable interests.

People might blindly support him out of such adoration, but once Sok is killed, morale will quickly wane, and the internal strife will soon subside.

As for their ages, Emperor Brawn was in his prime, full of ambition, while Sok was already in his twilight years. Although he claimed to Runeterra, he might not back down when faced with major difficulties.

As Swain finished speaking, a person appeared silently in front of them: Dukao.

The two had no idea when he arrived; he left no trace, proving himself to be a top-tier assassin.

He didn't explain his purpose at first, but only told the two that he had been Sok's student and that Sok was the one who had nurtured him to achieve what he had. Therefore, he would help Sok no matter what and didn't want him to be disgraced.

By this point, Swain had realized that Dukao agreed with his idea; his talk of helping Sok probably meant he wanted to assassinate him himself.

Dukao stared coldly at Swain, but Swain sensed no murderous intent. On the contrary, he felt that Dukao greatly admired him.

Later, Sok died suddenly in the army. Everyone knew he was assassinated, but no one knew who did it.

As Swain analyzed, when Sok's men found that the person they admired was dead, most of them surrendered to Darkwill, and only a small number resisted.

This group of rebels relied on the famous founding father, Kled.

Kled used to dislike getting involved in such matters; as long as he could fight on various battlefields, he didn't care who was emperor.

But this time it's different. He and Sok were very close. How could he ignore the mysterious death of his friend?

Thus, instigated by some people with ulterior motives, Kled decided to confront them.

Going to war with Kled would undoubtedly be a disaster, which gave Emperor Brawn a great headache. Dukao had long seen this out, and he knew that only by persuading Kled could this internal strife be finally quelled.

However, persuading him was not an easy task, because Kled was not a very reasonable person; he preferred to solve problems with force rather than talk.

So Dukao made two preparations: he sent Swain and Darius to the Sandstorm Legion together, and if Swain's persuasion didn't work, then Darius and Kled would have a duel.

Therefore, he gave Darius a week of special training. Dukao greatly admired this energetic young man during their last encounter, and after learning about his ambitions, he treated him like his own son.

He firmly believed that Darius and Swain would become his right-hand men and accomplish great things in the future.

And so, the two set off with a mission in mind; this journey was one of either success or Cheng Ren.