Chapter Thirty-Four: The Enemy Attacks

The Light Screen before the massive portal rippled. A moment later, it "spat out" a Horse Carriage loaded with cargo, along with more than a dozen accompanying figures. Most of them carried bulging backpacks and had all kinds of tools hanging from their belts. They were Noxian War Stone Masons. Of course, unlike their elite colleagues who infiltrated other nations to gather intelligence and sabotage them, these people fit the literal meaning of their unit's name better. Their main job was to accompany the army and handle battlefield engineering and weapons equipment. That included behemoths like the Noxxstra, naturally. As long as the teleportation core of the portal's magic wasn't damaged, they could get it running again.

"One squad stays behind to cover the masons while they work. Everyone else, spread out and secure the perimeter!"

Dark Claw's orders were quickly delivered to everyone through Communication Magic. The portal had successfully restarted, and that had eased his mind somewhat, but he remained on high alert. After all, the commotion they had just made was enormous, and there was no telling whether it had alerted any nearby enemies.

The masons began working in a flurry. Ling Ying leaped onto the city wall in a few bounds. Before long, a Shadow Walker from the Black Rose appeared beside her and handed her an Injection Potion.

"Master says you performed well."

The voice came from beneath the other person's mask, hoarse as sandpaper scraping against stone.

"She hopes you'll continue to prove your worth."

After delivering the message with what Ling Ying considered an insufferably smug air, the person turned and walked away without another word. Ling Ying pursed her lips, rolled up her sleeve, and injected herself. As the potion flowed into her, the turmoil inside her settled somewhat. She took a deep breath through her nose, then slowly exhaled the stale air from her lungs. When she turned around, she found someone standing there whom she hadn't expected. It was that Crimson Elite archer who could barely hit the broad side of a barn. He had taken off his mask, revealing a very young face.

"Uh... hi..."

The young Crimson Elite gave Ling Ying an awkward smile and waved. Then, a little flustered, he held out a small cloth pouch.

"Uh... would you... would you like some candy?"

Ling Ying curiously glanced at the pouch in his hand. It held several translucent, pale-green cubes. They seemed to be the candy he'd mentioned. Cautious by nature, she had wanted to refuse, but seeing the bashful look on the young man's face, she picked one up and tossed it into her mouth. A cool, mint-like sensation spread through her mouth, and she immediately felt more refreshed.

"Thanks."

Ling Ying nodded to him. At the sight of that, the tension finally left the young man's face.

"Whew. My captain told me everyone in the Black Rose was a cold-blooded killer who never smiled. Seeing you take out so many people just now really scared me. But you don't seem that hard to talk to after all."

"No, people in the Black Rose really are just like your captain said,"

Ling Ying muttered to herself. She didn't say it aloud, though. She only...

"Oh, right. About earlier... thanks. It was my mistake, but you had to help me fix it."

"No, it was nothing."

Ling Ying shook her head.

"We were just doing what we had to for the mission."

"Ah, the mission... Come to think of it, this was my first mission since joining the Crimson Elite, and I almost ruined it. The instructors were right. The battlefield really is different from the training grounds."

The young man sighed, sounding reflective. After tossing a piece of licorice candy into his mouth, he took a deep breath to clear his head and continued.

"Enough about that. This licorice candy tastes pretty good, doesn't it? Heh, my sister made it. Where we're from, licorice grows all over the hills. Lots of people know how to make candy from it, but my sister makes the best. At least, I think so."

"Mm, it does. It has a calming flavor."

Ling Ying chimed in at just the right moment, drawing a good-natured laugh from the young man.

"Ha, right? I wish she'd turn it into a proper business. Then she'd at least never have to worry about making a living. But she doesn't seem all that interested. She likes music. Hey, you know how hard it is to make a living playing music back home. But she loves it, so what can you do? If she can spend her life doing what she loves and be happy, that's good enough for me. Luckily, the Crimson Elite pays pretty well, so I can support her. As her big brother, I can save up a decent dowry for her. Finding her a good husband—that's my greatest wish."

As soon as the young man started talking about his family, the words poured out of him without pause. Ling Ying watched his face, glowing with happiness. Suddenly, she wondered whether her prejudice had been wrong. Noxus certainly wasn't a good place, but its people weren't all bloodthirsty lunatics. Perhaps they were ordinary people, too, chasing after a better life, just like the young man in front of her.

"When this war is over, I'll go home and—"

Before he could finish his flag-raising declaration, Ling Ying abruptly kicked him onto his backside. Of course, it wasn't because she believed in some supposed debuff from jinxing himself. It was because she'd suddenly sensed an intense killing intent right at their backs, making her whole body jolt.

"Whoosh!"

Ling Ying felt a metallic gust of wind sweep past her. Fast! Too fast! She couldn't even see what was in front of her. Even though she reacted immediately, she still got hit. Her thigh, which she hadn't managed to pull back in time, was torn open by a deep gash, and dark-brown blood gushed out. Ling Ying stumbled from the pain, nearly losing her balance. The attacker, however, didn't hesitate. Seeing the first strike had failed, they immediately abandoned the attempt to kill Ling Ying and vanished like a breeze. From the attack to the escape, it had taken no more than a second, and Ling Ying had never seen the attacker's face.

"What was that?"

The young man Ling Ying had kicked to the ground sprang to his feet and warily scanned their surroundings. He didn't ask why she'd kicked him. Anyone who made it into the Crimson Elite wasn't a deadweight. He might not have noticed anything at first, but seeing Ling Ying's reaction was enough to make him understand. Still, he couldn't spot the attacker.

"Where did they go?"

"They weren't after us."

Ling Ying sensed the lingering traces in the air, then looked toward the inner city, where the portal stood. Her gaze turned ice-cold.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Dark Claw suddenly leaped out from his hiding place in a corner and flung three throwing knives through the air. The air in front of him rippled as if it were scorching under the summer sun. A spark flashed in the darkness, and all three knives were knocked to the ground. Before he could even react, two glints of Cold Light flickered in the air. They were also throwing knives, swooping toward him along erratic trajectories. Dark Claw barely dodged them. As he spun in midair, a pair of Steel Claws, each nearly a foot long, sprang from the armor on his wrists. He was about to launch himself at the enemy with a leaping strike when his face changed beneath his mask. He stopped his attack and vanished in a streak of pale light. A moment later, he reappeared some distance away in another direction, gasping and clutching his left arm. Bright red blood was gushing from it. He knew that without activating his emergency Blink Emblem, he would already have been a corpse. The knives he'd thought he'd dodged had actually doubled back, curving toward him at an exceptionally vicious angle with ghostly agility. They were more than twice as fast as before!

"That move... you're..."

Dark Claw seemed to recognize something, but before he could act, several figures suddenly leaped out from all directions, sending more glints of Cold Light toward their attacker. Dark Claw knew those were Black Fox and the others, who had been lying in wait nearby. But his expression didn't improve. Instead, his face turned ashen. He knew that if the enemy really was the person he remembered, an attack like this was useless!

"Fall back! Fall back, now!"

His warning came a moment too late. The air around the infiltrator suddenly churned violently, and a dazzling array of blades exploded in every direction. There weren't just a few—there were dozens, hundreds. In the blink of an eye, they engulfed Black Fox and the others. The blades didn't simply pierce and slice their bodies. Sharp enough to cut through metal and bone, they tore the men apart. A rain of blood fell from the sky, mixed with pieces of bodies of all sizes. A half-missing head rolled a long way before coming to rest by Dark Claw's feet. It belonged to Black Fox.

Looking at that familiar but mutilated face, Dark Claw's whole body spasmed. His mouth fell open as though he wanted to say something, but in the end all that came out was a low roar. Like a furious beast, he brandished his Steel Claws and charged at the infiltrator. Yet halfway there, he suddenly raised his right arm and fired three black Crossbow Bolts ahead of him. At the same time, he vanished once more in a flash of light, reappearing in another direction. His Steel Claws continued their downward slash toward the infiltrator.

Dark Claw had always been calm. Even with his subordinates' deaths driving him into a rage, he hadn't lost his head. He knew that would accomplish nothing and only ruin his chance to avenge his brothers.

"Clang!"

Sparks flew as the metal blades clashed, dazzling Dark Claw and finally forcing the attacker out of hiding. He saw the attacker's true appearance: a lean figure dressed in a dark-blue cloak suited for stealth, with several belts studded with throwing knives and other blades, and an Arm Blade covering the right arm to block the Steel Claws. Dark Claw stared up in shock at the half-face visible beneath the other person's hood. Even with only half a face to see, he immediately recognized the features. Once he noticed the distinctive outfit, he couldn't help calling out.

"Talon... Captain?"

The name made the attacker pause for an instant—but only an instant. The next moment, the other hand came up, swinging a strangely shaped, dark-red short blade down toward Dark Claw's neck. Dark Claw wanted to dodge, but for some reason, the instant he saw the blade, it was as if his soul had been snared. He couldn't tear his eyes away. By the time he snapped out of his sudden daze, the short blade had already sunk into his chest, striking his heart with perfect accuracy.

"W-why...?"

Dark Claw gripped the blade embedded in his chest, staring at the other person in disbelief, hoping for an answer. But he never got one. The blade twisted inside him. Dark Claw spewed a mouthful of blood and fell, soon becoming a corpse on the ground, eyes wide open. Talon withdrew the short blade without the slightest change in expression and flicked it aside, sending out a streak of blood. Then he glanced at the still-warm corpse and spoke in a low voice.

"You still haven't improved."

He turned around. A transparent Light Screen slowly enveloped him, but suddenly a powerful sword-light struck from above and shattered it. At the same time, it forced him to roll to the side in a somewhat awkward manner.

"So fast!"

That was Talon's only thought as he dodged. He was certain no one had been behind him just moments ago, yet the instant he sensed the killing intent, the attack came from behind. There was only one explanation: the attacker's assassination skills were every bit as good as his!

After dodging the sword strike, Talon warily watched as a figure emerged from the churning black mist. The person was dressed in the same sort of dark clothes he wore, suited for concealment, and carried a plain-looking longsword. Judging by the slender build, Talon guessed that the person who had nearly caught him off guard was a woman.

"A woman?"

Talon's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. Someone's face involuntarily flashed through his mind: an assassin who was his equal, and a woman, too, with a striking figure and a mane of blood-red hair.

His train of thought stopped there. The other person had made a move. The strange black mist flickered, and the figure vanished from the spot. The next moment, she had closed to within three feet of him.

Talon was no easy opponent. He shifted his step and darted backward, flinging several throwing knives with his right hand, hoping to force his opponent back and create an opening to move in. At the same time, he gripped a Blink Emblem in his palm, ready to activate it and escape her range. But she didn't act as he'd expected. She bent nimbly at the waist, sliding forward almost flat against the ground. After evading the knives, she suddenly planted both hands on the ground and sprang up, her legs sweeping toward Talon's lower body with tremendous force.

Talon clearly hadn't expected that move. As he scrambled to dodge, the Blink Emblem slipped from his hand and hit the ground. With his escape cut off, Talon simply stopped dodging. A blood-red glow spread across the Arm Blade on his right arm, and he thrust it down. Well-versed in martial arts, he knew his opponent would have to retreat to avoid the strike. If she insisted on attacking him, she would land a kick—but there was a good chance she would die on his blade.

Once again, fate played a joke on him. A cloud of black mist burst apart in front of him, and when he looked again, his enemy had vanished.

"Not good!"

Talon's instincts screamed a warning. He quickly twisted half his body aside and swung the dark-red short blade in his left hand close to his body, tracing a half-circle.

"Crack!"

Just as he'd expected, a powerful sword strike suddenly came at him, landing on the short blade with a strange sound. Then the longsword snapped in half. Its blade spun up into the air.

Talon felt the other person's movements pause for an instant, presumably in surprise, but he remained calm. He thought that if she knew the name of the blade in his hand, she'd be just as calm as he was. There was no other reason: it was one of the few legendary weapons in all of Valoran—Draktharr's Shadowknife.

But as it turned out, she didn't know, and she wasn't calm at all. She leaped backward into the black mist, reappearing in another direction in an instant. Naturally, it was the "late-arriving" Ling Ying. Looking at the broken sword in her hand, her expression darkened. She hadn't expected the weapon that had accompanied her for so long to be so easily cut in half by a short blade several times smaller. And she'd been the one to strike first. She couldn't help regarding her opponent with greater wariness.

"Hmm? That look..."

She'd only just had a chance to get a good look at her attacker when she realized she knew him. Not in this world, of course, but in Summoner's Rift, back when it had only been a game. Setting aside a few minor differences, Ling Ying was certain the man in front of her was more than eighty percent similar to Talon, the Blade's Shadow from the Rift who vaulted over walls like the wind and was an ADC's worst nightmare.

"Well, well. The Blade's Shadow is here, too."

As she put the broken Doran's Blade away in her storage pouch and took out the Hextech Gunblade, Ling Ying's mind raced. She'd thought this was just a simple rebellion suppression, but Talon's appearance confirmed that something out of the ordinary was going on. Why was this iconic Noxian champion here? Ling Ying had no idea. But after glancing at the Crimson Elite corpses covering the ground, she could easily tell he meant trouble—and that he was probably working against whatever she was trying to do. The question was, he was a champion, after all, and bound to be powerful. From their brief clash, Ling Ying could even vaguely sense that he was stronger than her. Of course, that might be different if she could unleash her Void Power, but as she was now, she wasn't very confident she could beat him.

"Whatever. For now, I'll just keep him busy."

Having made up her mind, Ling Ying pointed the Hextech Gunblade at Talon from a distance and took a stance ready to meet his attack. Talon, for his part, didn't act rashly either. He also assumed a stance for a frontal fight, while subtly shifting his feet backward so he could withdraw at the first opportunity. He had no desire to fight Ling Ying to the death. The hard-to-predict black mist teleportation and her swordsmanship—which had no clear style or pattern, yet packed a tremendous punch—were a serious headache. After all, he was an assassin. Though his superb martial skills meant he didn't fear a head-on fight, that didn't mean he enjoyed one. Lurking in the shadows and killing with a single strike—that was the true way of the assassin. Besides, he hadn't infiltrated this occupied fortress just to kill a few people. In fact, the rebel leadership had long since abandoned the fortress. Not because of what you might think, but because of an experiment—one that might be able to destroy the Noxian expeditionary army.

"About time."

Talon glanced at the glowing portal nearby and reached into a pocket on his chest. A blood-red, diamond-shaped crystal appeared in his palm, then dropped straight to the ground.

"I hope the general made the right choice."

Muttering something under his breath, Talon disappeared into a smoke bomb. By the time Ling Ying realized what was happening and rushed into the smoke, he was long gone.

"Damn it."

Watching Talon escape so easily left Ling Ying frustrated. But soon, the enormous malice behind her left her no time to worry about him. The dark-red crystal embedded in the dirt suddenly spread a dazzling red light far brighter than its tiny size suggested. The beam shot straight into the sky, and in the blink of an eye the entire fortress was as bright as day.

"Ugh... ah..."

Under the red light, Ling Ying saw something that was almost impossible to believe. Dark Claw, lying on the ground nearby, made strange noises as he staggered to his feet. Meanwhile, the chunks of flesh from Black Fox and the others, who had been torn apart, began to move as well. They twisted and knotted together, forming a patchwork monster that made her scalp crawl.

"Why do I always run into all this bizarre crap?"

Ling Ying frowned deeply and quickly backed away. But it wasn't long before she realized the entire fortress had come alive. Somehow, it had become a land of the dead, where the dead roamed.