When Relna arrived at Frostguard Citadel, it was early morning. After dismounting from her Frostwolf mount, Relna handed it to a tall Frostguard soldier and then walked towards the bridge.
Frostguard Citadel is definitely a major landmark in Freljord.
Although Relna arrived at Frostguard Citadel at a very young age, she was still amazed by it. She was not born in Frostguard Citadel, but in a place called the Village of the Abandoned.
Near the magnificent Frostguard Citadel Fortress, the Frostguard Tribe provided a haven for orphans whose families had been taken away by the cold. Therefore, even when she grew up and heard various condemnations of Lissandra from the outside world, Relna would ignore them.
Because Relna's life was given to her by Lissandra.
Some might ask, then, could it be that Lissandra created the Village of the Abandoned? Could this place be a result of Lissandra having the Frostguard persecute neighboring clans and then capturing innocent children to expand the Frostguard Tribe's power?
No, that's not true, because no matter what, Lissandra is on the side of humanity.
The Frost Three Sisters are the leaders of humanity. It is true that Lissandra betrayed Avarosa and Serylda, was misled by the Void, and made mistakes. However, she also knows that she did make mistakes, and she has been making amends for her mistakes for the past ten thousand years.
Therefore, the Village of the Abandoned does indeed take in orphans who cannot survive due to the harsh environment of Freljord.
Passing through the archway, the dominant color here is the eternal black ice. Frostguard Citadel is built between two gorges of the iceberg, so it appears somewhat tilted. The massive Frostguard main fortress leans to one side, and from this angle, it looks like the curled ribs of a giant beast on its deathbed. Purple magic flows on every black ice brick that forms the fortress, just like congealed poisonous blood in a vein.
The battlements were filled with Frostguard soldiers, clad in black armor. Their gazes, piercing through their helmets and fixed on Relna, were filled with a frosty blue. These men were all warriors of the Frostguard, possessing diluted Iceborn.
Relna raised her hand and waved to them, but they ignored her. They shifted their gaze from Relna and looked ahead, staring intently at a white figure in the distance.
Relna was used to this, and with a light hum, she passed through several more archways and arrived at the entrance to the main castle hall.
Looking down from here, you can see another bridge in Frostguard Citadel, a bridge covered with historical traces. It is the Lost Stone Bridge built by Ornn to suppress the powerful creature sealed by Lissandra.
On the bridge, large swathes of gray-white vines climb along the cliff and the bridge itself, inch by inch, year by year, until now, they are reaching the main fortress.
Relna's gaze then turned downwards from the bridge, meeting the abyss in her eyes.
Then you see a radiant purple hue, and in the distance, there seems to be a whole sheet of transparent ice. Upon closer inspection, you can see some enormous black shadows huddled beneath the floating ice.
Countless thick chains formed from True Ice bound the dark figures. The abyss seemed to tremble occasionally, causing the earth to shake. At this moment Lost Bridge would emit a painful cry, and gray vines would fall in tremors, with large swaths of ash disappearing into the depths after a few moments.
Relna withdrew her gaze; she roughly guessed what Li Ke meant by promising Lady Lissandra.
It's probably related to the creatures living under the bridge.
As the leader of the Frostguard, Relna's current status is naturally due to her crossing the Lost Bridge and visiting the Hall of the Nine. Although she had been there, she didn't really know what was suppressed beneath the Hall of the Nine. However, that visit left a deep impression on her, and she clearly knew what kind of danger was sealed beneath it.
For this reason, Relna had serious doubts about one thing: could Li Ke really help Lady Lissandra solve this problem?
He was indeed very powerful; he even killed the new king of the troll race with a single sword strike. However, beneath that barrier lay things that even the legendary Ornn couldn't completely defeat, and could only build a bridge to strengthen the seal.
Shaking her head, Relna cleared her mind of distractions, stepped over the massive Frostguard ice sculpture, and entered the fortress.
The main hall of the fortress was large, but these areas were for the Frostguard's activities. Lady Lissandra's quarters were at the very back, in a place where the Frostguard were not allowed to enter unless proclaimed by the Lissandra's Eye.
It took Relna about twenty minutes to reach the main castle where Lady Lissandra was. Looking up, she saw an enormous black door, two doors, each about fifteen meters high and four meters wide. On either side of the door stood two Frostguard priests.
They were covered in black threads, but upon closer inspection, it became clear that they were not threads at all, but rather strands of black ice silk wrapped around the backs of the two priests and burrowing into their flesh.
"Relna, what are you doing here?" a hoarse voice rang out from the priest on the left.
He was over two meters tall, with strong muscles and a pair of goat horns on his beard, and he was looking at Relna with kind eyes.
"Reporting to Lord Rhodes, I have something important to inform Lady Lissandra," Relna said respectfully.
During the time when Lady Lissandra was not present, the Frostguard was maintained by the priests, and these two priests were the highest-ranking members of the Frostguard. The tall, bear-like man on the left was named Rod Black Ice.
Beside Rhodes was a woman who looked young and was handsome, but whose face was covered with red marks on the left side of her face, extending up to the fourth of her forehead.
The mark resembled a burn scar, or perhaps a bloodstain. It belonged to a woman who looked only thirty or forty years old, but in reality, she was over four hundred years old. With Lady Lissandra's help, both priests had gained long lifespans.
Her name is Flara Broken.
She was the most powerful warrior in the Freljord era 240 years ago. She slayed ice worms, charged mammoths, and killed black bears. She is known as the legendary warrior of the Frostguard.
She is also in charge of each trip down the Lost Bridge.
"You wish to see Lady Lissandra?" Flara's status was clearly higher than Rhodes', and Rhodes shut his mouth as soon as she spoke.
As mentioned before, this is a matriarchal society, where women's social status far surpasses that of men.
In Freljord, there is no difference in strength between men and women. Iceborn and magic make up for any innate deficiencies, and women have an additional ability: the power to bear children.
"Yes, Lady Flara." Relna's expression became even more respectful.
Sejuani is very powerful. Relna admits that she is no match for Sejuani, and that they would be evenly matched at best. However, Sejuani is definitely no match for Lady Flara either.
The difference between her and Lady Flara was just like the difference between herself and Lady Fura.
This is not surprising, considering how many years the Frostguard has existed.
It's at least seven thousand years!
Seven thousand years of foundation, how could Sejuani and Ashe possibly make up for it? It was only because Lissandra changed her mind that Sejuani's conqueror and Ashe's idealist were nothing but a joke in the face of Lissandra's absolute power.
Udyr couldn't stop Lissandra!
As Flara loosened her shoulders, the black ice behind her fell away. Relna looked down at the black ice and confirmed her suspicions. Just like the straws Li Ke had brought, this black ice had a tiny opening and was gushing out magical liquid.
"Come, I'll take you to see Lady Lissandra," Flara said to Relna, then looked at Rhodes and said in a deep voice, "Keep an eye on the door."
"Yes, Lady Flara." Rhodes nodded vigorously.
He looks much older than Flara, but he is indeed Flara's junior.
Upon hearing this, Flara turned around, raised her arm, and her wool coat fell off her shoulder, revealing her strong body. She raised her muscular arm towards the black ice gate, and a layer of floating ice instantly appeared around Flara's body.
Her eyes turned completely into a mixture of white and blue, her long white hair fluttered behind her, and an extremely cold aura emanated from beneath Flara's feet, causing Relna beside her to shiver.
This door is accessible only to the two priests and a few other priests; a commander like Relna has no right to touch it at all.
Black True Ice. This is a new True Ice created by Lady Lissandra on True Ice, uniquely belonging to Lissandra.
It is bitterly cold and extremely destructive!
"Open!"
Flara shouted and forcefully pushed open the door.
Light shone through the crack in the door, and she called out, "Go in!"
Relna rushed inside.
Flara followed suit and crawled inside.
The vast space was filled with white light, where thousands of ice mirrors refracted light, creating paths as if they were being carved out.
But Relna knew that among these thousands of mirrors, only a few were real, and only the two priests could find the true path to Lady Lissandra.
Relna waited nearby, and saw Flara reach out and touch the ground, closing her eyes as if sensing something.
A moment later, she raised her head and said coldly, "Let's go, stick close to me."
"If you get lost, no one can rescue you except Lady Lissandra."
"I understand," Relna nodded.
Ten minutes later, after passing through the Long Mirror Hall, Relna arrived at an empty place. A throne sat atop the True Ice Altar, its back carved with countless patterns. Beside the throne stood a massive ice coffin.
"Lady Lissandra, Relna has something to report," Flara said, kneeling on one knee and bowing her head.
Relna, who was standing to the side, also knelt down immediately, both knees on the ground, her eyes filled with piety.
"Did Li Ke send you?"
A melodious voice rang out, and Relna felt a chill run down her spine.
She instinctively knelt and turned around, only to see Lissandra, dressed in a long white dress, standing before her—a woman she had never seen before.
No longer enveloped in blue ice, nor wearing a strange crown, nor with flowing black True Ice beneath her feet, she was now Lissandra, barefoot, wearing a white dress, her white hair piled up behind her head, revealing a sweet face.
On her lovely, clean face, Lady Lissandra's white pupils were lifeless, yet she stared directly at Relna.
Flara, who was standing nearby, was also surprised to see Lissandra like this, but she didn't say anything.
"Li Ke says he needs your help, sir. He has already gathered Ashe, Sejuani, Winter's Claw, and Avarosa to form an alliance. Now, all that's missing is the Frostguard."
"I never agreed to that," Lissandra said, finding it odd.
Did she not explicitly state in her conversation with Li Ke that she would allow the Frostguard to join the alliance?
She remembered that what she had promised was that the Frostguard and she would no longer attack Winter's Claw and Avarosa, and that the Frostguard would once again fall silent, awaiting news from Li Ke.
But now, is Li Ke going to drag her out?
Wow, this little guy is really brave.
Lissandra found it amusing because of the appearance of Li Ke, a guy who knew more about the Void than she did and had ties with multiple Demigod, which made Lissandra feel relaxed for a moment.
She had no secrets from Li Ke. Li Ke knew about the past frozen beneath the ice, about the Void, about Shurima, about Icathia. Therefore, in front of Li Ke, Lissandra let go of many things and shed heavy burdens.
As a result, she has been getting good rest recently, and actually fell asleep twice while lying in the ice coffin, instead of suffering from insomnia and wandering into other people's dreams.
Thinking of this, Lissandra couldn't bring herself to complain about Li Ke's little schemes.
After hesitating for a moment, Relna gritted her teeth and said, "My lord, Li Ke said that the sooner you arrive, the faster the matter you asked him to do will be completed."
Flara, standing to the side, glanced at Relna with a worried expression; there was a hint of threat in her words.
Is Relna courting death?
How dare they help outsiders threaten Lady Lissandra?
As Lissandra's bodyguard, Flara knew exactly what kind of person her mistress was: cold, ruthless, unsmiling, cruel, and cunning. That was Lissandra.
The last person to threaten Lissandra— Flara didn't know if such a person even existed, but if he did, he was definitely dead, unless the other party was Demigod.
After all, it's rumored that Lady Lissandra was threatened by Volibear, but Volibear's strength is undeniable.
But to Flara's surprise, a silvery laugh rang out. Flara looked up and saw Lissandra with a faint smile on her face. She nodded and said, "I understand."
"Flara, get ready to come with me."
"Yes!" Flara replied immediately.
Lissandra then looked at Relna, thought for a moment, and said, "You should come along too."
"Yes, sir!" Relna replied quickly.
If she could, Relna really wouldn't want to leave Winter's Claw. She could eat her fill of hot mutton hotpot every day—a privilege even she, as the commander of the Frostguard, didn't receive.
"Remember to brush your teeth, your breath smells strongly of mutton."
Before Lissandra left, she inexplicably said this.
Relna and Flara stood there, stunned.
After a moment, Relna hesitated and looked at Flara, whispering, "Lady Flara, was that really Lady Lissandra just now?"
Flara's expression was also strange. She nodded, then shook her head, then nodded again, and finally whispered, "Who would dare impersonate Lady Lissandra?"
"But something really isn't right. Lady Lissandra is actually laughing, and she's even joking with you. She seems to have become more human."
Relna nodded vigorously.
That's exactly what she wanted to say!
It's one thing that Lady Lissandra's appearance has changed, but why has her personality changed as well?
The last time she saw Lissandra was two years ago. She was dressed in flowing ice, incredibly tall, with a hoarse and indistinct voice, and wore a crown, obscuring her face.
Relna's visit to Li Ke was ordered by the Lissandra's Eye, and therefore, Relna truly didn't know the reason. Could it be that something good had happened in Freljord in the last two years?
But is there a possibility that...?
Is this actually Lissandra's true personality?