The Pincer Attack

Garen's reasoning was simple: the Freljord revered force and found it difficult to resolve issues through dialogue.

Moreover, Avarosa started this whole thing; they had absolutely no intention of uniting, which will ultimately lead to disaster.

If we seize this opportunity to subdue them, we might be able to achieve a temporary alliance, at least to get through the current crisis first.

My initial thought was simply to keep Demacia out of the way and not get involved, but I didn't expect Garen to have this idea.

But thinking about it carefully, this isn't bad either. The two nations of Denos are attacking Avarosa from two directions, which is almost the same plot as the previous joint war.

Last time, Uncle Wolf used his Beast Army to pose a serious threat to us, but now that Warwick is helping us, we don't need to worry.

Jarvan strongly agreed with Garen's suggestion, "Then we'll leave this matter to General Garen. I'm sure our friends in Ionia will understand."

Syndra, representing the people of Ionia, stated. "We are here to seek unity. Since war is inevitable, then so be it, but we will not participate in it."

"That's natural. This is a matter of our own grievances, and we won't trouble you all. Actually, it's not really a grievance, but rather a way to resolve it."

"I have something else to ask the person next to you to discuss it with?" Syndra looked at Zhao Xin.

"Chief Steward Zhao Xin? You know him?"

"I know them, and we're quite familiar with each other."

"Should we excuse ourselves for a moment?" Jarvan asked, looking at Zhao Xin as if seeking his opinion.

"No need, Your Majesty. I have kept my origins a secret for so many years. I am grateful for your and the Third King's trust in taking me in. Now it is time for me to tell you..."

Zhao Xin recounted his experiences in front of everyone, revealing many twists and turns in his seemingly casual recounting.

Years ago, when Noxus first invaded Ionia, Zhao Xin single-handedly held off an elite Noxus force to cover the retreat of his village.

He failed and was captured. A Noxus officer sold him into slavery to the gladiatorial arena, specifically to Tam Kench.

Zhao Xin did not want to be treated as a slave and manipulated by others, so he refused to step into the arena, showing a spirit of fearlessness in the face of death.

Tam didn't pressure him, but instead offered an enticing deal:

Fight ten matches as a gladiator and win them all to gain your freedom, plus a travel allowance to return to Ionia.

At first, Zhao Xin didn't believe Tam. The Noxus had gone to great lengths to capture him; why would they release him so easily?

Later, after hearing from other gladiators that Tam always kept his word and that many had left the place through their own efforts, Zhao Xin was moved.

After about ten days, he could no longer suppress his desire to leave and volunteered to go into battle.

The days that followed left an indelible mark on Zhao Xin's life; he had once been a respected Shepherd, but here he had become a wild beast for all to observe.

His opponents went from one to two, then to four, seven, twelve, and finally twenty... When humans failed, he switched to wild beasts: giant wolves, Man-eating Bear, long-toothed beasts...

During this process, Zhao Xin gradually came to enjoy the feeling of fighting. When he achieved his ninth victory, he even felt a little flustered because he didn't want to leave this place.

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Since their debut, every day without cheers has been boring, and every day without the smell of blood has been extremely difficult to endure.

Tam seemed to read his mind and delayed arranging a tenth battle until two months later when he was scheduled to appear again.

In fact, after these days of reflection, Zhao Xin has decided to stay. He has found the meaning of life in the arena, which is fighting. The comfortable life in Ionia is not suitable for him.

As for the money he had accumulated, he could give it to those who wanted to leave, especially the captured Ionia, as a small consolation to his conscience.

This time, the enemy was a Demacia. She was small and unremarkable in appearance, and because of her tattered clothes and dusty face, it was barely possible to tell that she was a woman.

Zhao Xin sensed an unprecedented threat in her eyes; he knew this was going to be a tough battle, more difficult than ever before.

The woman's weapon was a heavy sword, while Zhao Xin always wielded Steel Spear. Their eyes met, and the two immediately engaged in a fierce battle.

Zhao Xin didn't go into details about the battle, but in short, as he gradually gained the upper hand, chaos broke out in the arena:

A Demacia assault team stormed in, their objective being to rescue the woman who had entered the arena.

Seeing that he was about to win, this happened, and Zhao Xin was furious. What happened in the arena was none of his business; the glory of battle could not be abandoned!

Driven by this idea, he pursued relentlessly, following them all the way into Demacia before catching up with the commando team.

In fact, the woman had the same thought. Although she was at a disadvantage in the end, she had not yet failed and did not want to give up halfway, so she slowed down and waited for Zhao Xin to catch up.

Now that they were in Demacia, the commando team was no longer in a hurry to move forward. Seeing the woman slow down, they all stopped as well.

Zhao Xin was fearless, holding his spear and standing opposite the crowd, his eyes fixed only on his former opponent.

In a flash, the two clashed again. Despite their exhaustion from traveling for many days, they fought from noon until nightfall without a clear victor.

After leaving the dueling arena, the surrounding environment changed, and the woman's movements became much more agile, which could conveniently conceal her lack of strength, making it difficult for Zhao Xin to gain the upper hand.

Moreover, her previous weapon was a bit heavy, but now that she has switched to a rapier, her overall strength has increased significantly.

If things continued like this, the two would have died of exhaustion before a winner could be determined. Finally, at the suggestion of the assault team leader, Zhao Xin returned to Silver City with them, deciding to rest and recuperate before resuming the competition.

He did not face discrimination in Silver City; on the contrary, the commando captain took good care of him, arranging accommodations and sending him many supplements to help him recover.

Zhao Xin didn't care about any of that; all he wanted was to meet the woman as soon as possible and have another exhilarating competition.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. After returning to Silver City, Zhao Xin never saw a woman again. Occasionally, the assault captain would come and challenge him to a duel, but in the end, neither of them gained an advantage.

Gradually, the smell of blood on Zhao Xin dissipated. He grew to like Demacia, a place full of justice, and most importantly, he had no shortage of opponents here.

As his martial arts skills improved, Zhao Xin's chances of winning against the assault captain increased, and eventually he almost completely gained the upper hand.

They also developed a deep friendship through their sparring. More than a year after they met, Zhao Xin learned the name of the assault team leader: Garen.