A Reign of Chaos
Of course, even without high transmissibility, these people still pose a significant danger. Swain ordered a city-wide search, thoroughly investigating everyone who had previously been close to Vladimir. 👮🔥 Claw 🎁🐊
The news that Duke Aivor was a vampire quickly spread throughout the city, and many people provided clues to the military. It was eventually determined that the three escaped vampires had gone underground.
The underworld of the Immortal Fortress has always been a paradise for criminals. There, no one cares, and as long as they don't do anything to harm the surface, they are basically not interfered with. This situation is very similar to Zaun and Piltover.
Things are different now; vampires have infiltrated the area and could cause trouble at any moment.
As for how to arrest those vampires, I'm not worried about that anymore. Now that Vladimir has been dealt with, I should return to Ionia, after all, I am the leader there.
Just as I was about to say goodbye to Swain and the others, devastating news arrived: all the Blackfeather mages stationed at Aivor Castle had been killed!
Because Vladimir could not be put on trial, Swain left behind more than ten mages to investigate his conspiracy and see if they could find any clues, but they all lost contact with him!
When we rushed back, we found that vampires were pouring out of the castle. Some of them were in a frenzied state, while others were powerful types who had escaped.
We didn't have time to figure out where these vampires came from; we were simultaneously evacuating the local population and fighting off these reckless individuals.
The entire Immortal Fortress immediately descended into chaos, with almost everyone capable of fighting joining the battle, and the elite Battle Axe and Black Feather troops stationed outside were also on their way.
Looking at the thousands upon thousands of vampires, I felt a chill run down my spine. I just thought the chaos was over, but suddenly so many appeared. How many people has Vladimir harmed?
Draven went home as soon as the chaos broke out; he needed to ensure the safety of the orphanage, which was full of children who had little ability to protect themselves.
Thus, the city guards and the vampires were caught in a chaotic battle, and the situation was very unfavorable. No matter how strong we are, we cannot fight forever. We must find the source of these vampires' appearance!
They all came from Aivor Castle; there must be some secret hidden there!
Darius and Swain thought the same as me: we would stop covering the others and charge back towards Aivor Castle!
With my gale as cover, returning was not difficult. Even powerful vampires that could break through the gale were no match for us. In this way, we returned to the castle almost by trampling on the vampire's corpse.
Based on the vampires' origin, we quickly found the source: there was a room here connected to the underworld, and they had come up from underground!
Vladimir has been amassing power underground, and these vampires are his subordinates. It seems that even if we don't take action, he will launch a large-scale war. The massacre of the nobles and high-ranking officials is just the beginning!
I used the Gale Force to freeze the exit, which temporarily eased the situation in the vicinity, but the city was still in turmoil, because the underground world had more than one exit. If they couldn't come up from here, they could break out of the ground from elsewhere.
There was no other way but to wait for the elite troops to arrive and wipe them out completely.
After holding out for most of the day, we finally received reinforcements. The generals of War Axe and Black Feather led their troops in.
Meanwhile, the generals of the Flame and Sandstorm Legion, who were disarming in the north and south, also put aside their work and rushed over, until the portal became overloaded and could no longer function.
Through everyone's joint efforts, the situation was finally brought under control. At this time, the Immortal Fortress was in complete disarray, even worse than Silver City during Sylas's rebellion.
Soldiers surrounded Aivor Castle from all sides, slaughtering all the vampires along the way, leaving only the remnants of the underworld as enemies.
Just as we were discussing how to go down and clean up, we suddenly felt an undercurrent surging beneath our feet. Soon after, the ground trembled, and several fountains of blood gushed out, filling the surroundings with a strong stench of blood.
Immediately afterwards, the Aivor Castle collapsed, and we all took cover. Soon after, a person emerged from the ruins, carrying a silver-white box.
This box is the silver box that we sealed Vladimir in, and the one holding the silver box is none other than Vladimir himself!
He was no longer the elegant figure he once was, but a ferocious mage in a bright red robe, just as he had appeared when he attacked Darius!
"I like seeing rivers of blood! We meet again, Swain." Vladimir greeted Swain without any hint of hatred in his tone.
"Should I call you Duke Aivor, or should I call you Vladimir?"
"They actually know my name, huh? Is it because of this Ionia?" Vladimir noticed something amiss.
"That's not important. Why did you do this? Did you simply want to destroy Noxus?"
"You were the one who struck first. For decades, I've dedicated countless sums of money to Noxus, and in the end, I was ambushed by you and almost lost my life."
"Stop with the nonsense. You've already harmed many high-ranking officials and almost killed Darius. If I don't act, do you expect me to wait until you kill everyone and then seize power in Noxus?"
"What a joke! Noxus has always belonged to me and Lord Mordekaiser. How can you call it usurpation?"
Vladimir uttered a moving name: Mordekaiser.
He was once a warlord in this land, ruling it with bloodshed and creating the Immortal Fortress.
Later, the people united to overthrow him, ending his dark rule here, and now, for some unknown reason, he has been resurrected on the Shadow Isles.
Vladimir said Noxus originally belonged to him and Mordekaiser, presumably his actions were preparation for an imminent counterattack, but we reacted first:
Are you preparing for Mordekaiser's return?
"You know quite a lot, Ionia."
"That's what everyone says, and I probably do know quite a bit about it, but your wishful thinking is probably going to fall through!"
"You lot? You're probably not even enough for my sucking practice!"
After Vladimir finished speaking, he raised his hands, the dust behind him dissipated, and a blood-red light shone on the ruins of Aivor Castle —it was a Magic Circle!
I suddenly remembered what LeBlanc had said: You'd better not mess with him, or you'll just become his food!
It's impossible to retreat now, because there are still many soldiers around us, and they will suffer if we leave!
Upon seeing the Magic Circle, Swain quickly ordered everyone to move away, while secretly gathering his strength, ready to fight Vladimir the moment he made a move!