"Awoo!"
Amidst the piercing howl of wolves, a massive white wolf with snow-white fur burst forth from the forest, stretching its enormous body under the night sky and campfire. The woman riding on the wolf, her cloak billowing wildly in the cold wind, her white hair swaying like willow catkins, raised her beautiful face, held high her ice bow, and roared angrily:
"My Ashe! The reincarnation of Avarosa! All of you here, heed my command!"
"Donna, have the warriors of Winter's Claw form a defensive line. Don't rush forward; prioritize rescuing the wounded clan warriors!"
"Hild, you and Donna go over there and bring the wounded away! Gouma, you lead a group to help the elders and children in this clan, make sure everyone is evacuated safely!"
The snow wolf, Sejuani, landed, Ashe rode on its back, holding a bow in one hand and the reins in the other. Turning the wolf's head upside down, she looked at Sejuani, her expression becoming sluggish.
"Speak," Sejuani said calmly, riding on her Bristle and looking at Ashe.
She knew this wasn't the time to vie for power with Ashe. After all, Avarosa's reputation was far superior to Winter's Claw's. Ashe announced her name, the clan being slaughtered by demons would feel a sense of hope, but if Sejuani announced Winter's Claw, the clan would only panic more, as they might even believe that the demon attacking their clan was in league with Winter's Claw.
With this in mind, Sejuani naturally prioritized the bigger picture.
"You, Tryndamere, Flara will help Li Ke!"
Upon hearing this, Sejuani spurred her Bristle and rushed towards where Li Ke was.
But as soon as she rushed over, she saw Li Ke's body fly backward, traveling more than fifty meters before Li Ke beside Flara.
In his hands, on his left and right, were a middle-aged woman and a little girl, respectively.
Naya, her body trembling and lips pale, was being held under Li Ke's arm, staring blankly at the crowd before her.
Are we saved?
Are Avarosa's Warmother coming to their aid?
Naya was thinking when she suddenly called out "Mother" and looked at Roldo. She saw that her mother's wound had stopped bleeding. Although her mother was not Iceborn, she had a faint Iceborn in her body because her mother could come into contact with True Ice for a short time, which could be seen from her half-gray and half-brown hair.
Li Ke put Roldo and Naya down, then twisted his neck, stretched his body, and grinned at the tall monster in front of him.
Aatrox, the Darkin Blade
Li Ke has become very strong. In terms of strength alone, he believes he is already at the pinnacle among humans, especially in terms of physical strength, where Li Ke is basically unbeatable.
Li Ke even had the courage to compete with Jax in strength, because Jax was almost at the Demigod level and relied more on his martial arts skills. Jax, who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts, naturally had a destructive power that Li Ke could not match. However, even if Li Ke was not as strong as Jax, he shouldn't be too far behind.
However, after colliding with Aatrox, Li Ke was sent flying.
Damn it, this made Li Ke wonder about something: how exactly did Atreus manage to sever Aatrox's arm after losing the power of the Aspect of War?
No, is this thing really something humans can handle?
Even if Aatrox was careless, his physical strength was still far beyond what Atreus, a mere mortal, could possibly match.
Or are Celestials weapons really that powerful?
Aatrox's strength is already very close to that of Demigod, and if we consider his time as Ascended being...
Ha, then we'd better run away as soon as possible!
"Will it work?"
Ashe looked down at Li Ke, a hint of worry Flash in her eyes.
Aatrox was enormous, his body was jet black and exuded a bloody aura, and he had a pair of huge bull horns. To be honest, under the moonlight, Aatrox was incredibly intimidating, so much so that Ashe felt that if her group charged at him, they would just be food for Aatrox.
"Of course it can work," Li Ke replied, glancing at Ashe.
It's possible; Li Ke wasn't just bragging to Ashe.
Li Ke could already sense it when he fought Aatrox just now.
Although Li Ke himself is much stronger than he was in Bilgewater, Aatrox is indeed Nagakabouros.
Aatrox was undoubtedly incredibly powerful; in his prime, he could certainly have killed Nagakabouros, but that's where the problem lies.
From a timeline perspective, Aatrox is currently active in Freljord Aatrox, meaning that Li Ke suspects he may have just been unearthed and then given a temporary body by the people of Freljord.
Because he was not proficient in blood magic, yet possessed immense power, Aatrox could only use the corpses of various living beings to create a body for his use.
In other words, the colossal creature before them was actually pieced together from various pieces of flesh and corpses. Aatrox needed to constantly kill to obtain blood essence to maintain his body; otherwise, without a body, Aatrox couldn't do anything in the form of the Darkin Greatsword. Every Darkin is like this.
He couldn't even use blood magic to bewitch creatures and draw them closer to him like other Darkin.
As for why he doesn't seek out a host to parasitize like other Darkin, it's because Aatrox's original body is too powerful. An ordinary person's body simply cannot serve as his vessel; it would have to be replaced after a period of time, which would only consume more of his life force.
Tryndamere's physique was barely acceptable to Aatrox, but in Freljord, Tryndamere's physical attributes were only worse than Braum and Olaf.
Therefore, to put it bluntly, Aatrox simply couldn't find the most suitable body to parasitize. Without a suitable body, Aatrox, who wasn't proficient in blood magic, couldn't unleash his true power.
As the timeline progresses, by the time Aatrox led a group of barbarians to the foot of Mount Targon, he had killed at least several thousand Freljord, so naturally his vitality would be abundant, and he would become even stronger.
But right now, Li Ke thinks it's worth a try.
If they can win and get Aatrox back to his sword form, then there will be so many things Li Ke can do.
Let's just throw Aatrox into the Icathia wormhole! Wouldn't it be perfect to send him to fight the Void?
"Attack together!" he shouted, and with a flick of Li Ke right hand, a storm-formed longsword appeared in his grasp. He charged straight toward Aatrox.
Beside Li Ke, Flara, whose white hair resembled a wolf's tail, heard the sound, crossed her hands and reached for her waist, then pulled out two short daggers from her waist.
Those were two True Ice Daggers. If we were to say among the crowd at this moment, aside from Udyr, the Demigod who was covering for his side, then the strongest people would naturally be Li Ke and Flara.
Having lived for over four hundred years with the Iceborn, and having been trained and tamed by Lissandra, Flara has long since transcended the realm of humanity.
Her body blurred into a blur as Flara closely followed Li Ke.
Then came Tryndamere, wielding a large sword, who could no longer contain his rage upon seeing Aatrox.
"Bristle, charge in!"
Sejuani also sprang into action, charging towards Aatrox from the side on her Drüvask Boar, while Ashe raised her Holy Bow, conjuring an icy arrow in her right hand, aimed, and fired!
"@#*￥!#"
Aatrox seemed somewhat angry as he faced the group of people rushing towards him.
"What is he even saying? All that gibberish." Sejuani's eyes flashed with mockery as she shouted at Aatrox, "Can you speak human language?"
The shackles slipped from his grasp, turning into frozen ice that struck Aatrox's left leg, while Ashe's arrow followed, landing at Aatrox's waist.
Flara leaped several meters into the air, appearing at Aatrox's shoulder. With her hands clasped together, she raised them and forcefully stabbed Aatrox in the left cheek.
The power of the True Ice weapon lies not in its indestructibility, but in the fact that, apart from beings with the Iceborn, all other living beings attacked by the True Ice weapon will have their bodies frozen. As a result, Aatrox's body was already covered with a layer of frost, and the thin layer of frost slowed down Aatrox's movements.
Li Ke charged toward Aatrox's chest, thrusting his longsword towards Aatrox wound.
"#￥@, me"
"I say, no matter how many ants there are, they are still just ants!"
A strange light flashed in Li Ke's eyes as he looked at Aatrox's moving throat, where the flesh was rolling and twisting, seemingly trying to form something.
Aatrox finally used Valoran, his voice strange and indescribable, as if a mixture of a child's and a woman's voice, but soon, the voice changed again, turning into a deep male roar.
"A bunch of insects dare to challenge me!"
Aatrox felt no pain; after all, his true form was a sword, and his body, forged from corpses, had no senses. Therefore, he allowed Flara and Ashe to attack him, his eyes fixed solely on Li Ke.
The Darkin greatsword was raised, then brought down heavily, striking Li Ke's face.
Li Ke reacted swiftly, raising his sword upwards, "Gale Slash!"
Wind elements gathered on the sword, transforming into scythes, but under Aatrox's immense strength, Li Ke's attacks were largely ineffective. Instead, he was once again sent flying by Aatrox's strike.
But when Li Ke regained his footing, he faced Aatrox, his right hand loosely gripping the longsword. Li Ke held a breath of air, squeezing out a violent cloud of energy from between his teeth. His hand glowed with a vibrant green, and in the next instant, he yanked his loosely gripped hand upwards, aiming straight for Aatrox's face.
Draw Sword!
This is Li Ke's most powerful move at the moment, and the most lethal move in the Wind Technique.
The sword energy stretched for dozens of meters, Draw Sword away the shattered ice along the way. Under tens of thousands of floating ice floes, Li Ke's figure disappeared again, hidden among the shattered ice.
When he reappeared, Li Ke's sword was already slashing towards Aatrox's right arm, which was holding the sword.
He wanted to emulate Atreus, severing Aatrox's connection to his body and disconnecting him from the internet!
But amidst the shattered ice flying in the air, Aatrox's ferocious face was reflected. Aatrox was laughing wildly, his blood surging forth. Aatrox's laughter was shrill, shaking the entire forest. For a moment, the sounds of beasts echoed through the Ice Needle Forest under the night sky.
The birds and beasts scattered, Aatrox looked at Li Ke with satisfaction, his wicked eyes filled with lust for Li Ke.
"That's more like it!"
As Aatrox raised his arm, the wind pressure sent Sejuani and his Bristle flying. Flara, who was perched on his shoulder, leaped away nimbly, while Ashe arrows Ashe had shot at him shattered into ice fragments.
"I want your body!" Darkin shouted excitedly at Li Ke, raising his greatsword in front of him, shattering Li Ke's plan to attack his arm. Then, with a speed that seemed incompatible with his body, Aatrox raised the Darkin broadsword, which had just formed a giant shield, and thrust it towards Li Ke's face.
"Clang!"
With his wind sword shattered, Li Ke quickly reached to the side and grabbed another wind sword to defend against the incoming heavy sword.
Among the crowd, the Ice Stone Clan members had all been taken away. Udyr stood silently beside Ashe, his fists clenched.
Ashe looked anxiously ahead, nocking her longbow but unable to fire an ice arrow.
It took her a lot of energy to condense the ice arrow, but the ice arrow she just shot had no effect on the Darkin.
This made Ashe anxious, and what annoyed her even more was that Tryndamere went silent after charging out and being swatted away by Aatrox like an insect.
Ashe wasn't worried about Tryndamere's safety because she knew Tryndamere had a special constitution; Tryndamere possessed powerful regenerative abilities, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was immortal.
Even so, Tryndamere was unable to participate in this kind of battle.
"Udyr, aren't you going to make a move?" Ashe looked at Udyr beside her and shouted.
But before Udyr could answer Ashe, Li Ke shouted from afar.
"Udyr, don't make a move!"
Ashe paused for a moment after hearing this.
Udyr took a deep breath; he understood what Li Ke meant.
Just as Lissandra is unable to act, Udyr is also unable to act at this moment.
If he were to summon a spirit beast to empower him, Volibear would be the first to sense it. Although Udyr had not signed a contract with Volibear, as Demigod, Volibear could not possibly fail to detect when Udyr communicated with other spirit beasts.
Once this warmonger discovers this, it won't be long before he gets involved in the war.
"It's okay, I can still manage!"
Li Ke said loudly.
He didn't really intend to defeat Aatrox. What Li Ke was doing now was just to deplete Aatrox's health; as long as he could withstand Aatrox's attacks, that was enough.
"Sejuani will provide cover, Flara and I will handle the actual combat!"
"Relna, go and take Tryndamere away. Don't let him get involved after he wakes up!"
Li Ke gave the order loudly.
Relna responded and quickly ran into the snow, finding Tryndamere unconscious. His chest was caved in, a broken rib piercing through his chest, but his breathing was surprisingly steady!
This intrigued Relna.
No wonder he became Ashe's sworn brother; this barbarian is quite strange!
Back on the front lines, facing Aatrox's ferocious attacks, Li Ke also suffered serious injuries, but with the blessing of Lamb's Respite, Li Ke's recovery ability far surpassed Tryndamere's.
Li Ke, who received Kindred and affection from Kindred, is truly immortal!
"Come on, let's see who runs out of power first!"
Li Ke raised his longsword, his elemental mastery frantically absorbing the magical elements of Freljord to empower himself and contend with Aatrox.
But in another round of clashes, Sejuani used True Ice attacks multiple times, her arms becoming stiff and powerless from the True Ice. Flara slashed Aatrox's ankle, hindering his movement. After Li Ke spat out several mouthfuls of blood, suddenly, a roar that shook the heavens and the earth rang out.
"Roar!"
In the crowd, Udyr suddenly raised his head and looked in the northwest direction.
At an immeasurable distance, thunderclouds swirled in the sky, and a gigantic phantom composed of lightning, standing a thousand meters tall, appeared.
Li Ke also heard the sound and looked towards the northwest.
"Grass!"
Upon seeing this, Li Ke cursed angrily.
"It seems, Li Ke, your plan has failed." Udyr stepped out of the crowd and walked step by step toward Li Ke's location.
His eyes gleamed, and he continued, "Thinking about it, it makes sense. Even if Lissandra and I don't intervene, your battle with the Darkin is enough to wake Volibear from his slumber."
"Now that Volibear is awake, he'll be here soon. What should we do next?"
"What else can we do? Flara, please call Lissandra, she has to come out." Li Ke thought with a headache after hearing Udyr's words.
But in fact, Li Ke had considered that this might happen from the very beginning.
After all, his battle with Aatrox was not a battle between Demigod. Li Ke was still far from being Demigod, while Aatrox was extremely weak in his Darkin form. Compared to himself in his Ascended form, Aatrox at this moment was probably only one-tenth of his Ascended strength.
Even during the Darkin War, the Darkin Blademaster in his prime was still quite a distance from the Ascended Aatrox.
Even so, the commotion it created was significant enough.
The mammoth herd fled the tundra because of Aatrox's roar and blood aura, and the beasts of the forest were engulfed in a beast tide by Aatrox's blood aura.
Damn it, it was actually Aatrox who made the biggest commotion!
With that in mind, Li Ke no longer hesitated.
"Sejuani, get everyone out of here. Leave Aatrox to Udyr!"
Sejuani readily agreed; even if Li Ke hadn't said it, she would have taken her people and left.
Because of the roar of the bear spirit, the Ursine will march south!
Their southward journey will take Winter's Claw!
At the same time, Flara also moved away from Aatrox, went to a corner, and cut her palm with a dagger, using her blood to carve strange runes on the ground.
She wanted to tell Lissandra about what had happened here, although Flara suspected that Lady Lissandra had been observing this place all along.
And what about Li Ke?
He's also preparing to call in reinforcements.
Are you kidding me?
Swain, Janna, Karma —everyone who can come, come quickly!
The war is no longer a battle between supernatural beings.
The next battlefield
Belong,
Demigod!