Confrontation

"We're here, at the holy Frost Guard Fortress."

Hearing the old priestess's calm tone, Ato felt an impulse to regard her with reverence.

They were all Guardians of the world, hidden in the darkness and unknown to others, each bearing the responsibility of saving the world alone, even though they knew they were being used.

The old priestess, Loraka, made a gesture, and the fortress's heavy gates swung open by themselves, revealing the decorations inside to Ato.

The most eye-catching feature was the enormous skull in the center of the hall just beyond the entrance. It might have belonged to some kind of beast.

Religious ornaments hung from the ceiling, strung together with cords. Thick carpets covered the floor, and most of the other furnishings were made of polished stone.

"The Matriarch is waiting for you in the ceremonial hall upstairs. Please follow me." The old priestess turned a corner and climbed a rather steep stone staircase.

Ato followed close behind her to the second-floor corridor, walking all the way to its end.

The old priestess made another casting gesture and opened a stone door. Inside the room stood Lissandra, tall and slender.

The old priestess bowed deeply to Lissandra, then turned and left, leaving Ato and Lissandra alone.

Ato first said goodbye to the old priestess, then entered the room.

It was a circular hall, with several stone seats arranged on either side. Intricate symbols covered the floor, and a few candles burned on the altar at the far end.

Lissandra stood in the center of the circular hall. She was already over two meters tall, and with the True Ice platform beneath her feet, she stood more than two and a half meters high.

Standing only a little over 1.8 meters tall, Ato looked like a child who hadn't finished growing beside Lissandra.

"..." Ato tilted his head back and stared at Lissandra speechlessly. "Are you really going to talk to me like this? My neck can't take it!"

Lissandra crossed her hands in front of her and lowered her head to "look" at Ato. "It is rather inconvenient," she said calmly.

Then, to Ato's astonishment, she waved her right hand, and the True Ice platform beneath her feet vanished.

She drifted slowly to the ground, strode over to one of the stone seats, and sat down gracefully.

"...So she does have legs and feet, and she can walk! I thought her robes were made of True Ice—hard as stone, and impossible to sit in!" Ato complained silently.

"Your thoughts are extremely rude. I can hear you!" Aatrox promptly reminded him.

"Uh... This is much better." Ato forced a smile and went over to the stone seats, leaving three seats between himself and Lissandra.

"Let's get straight to the point."

She wore a flat hat that covered her eyes and was joined to her dark blue robes, but her "gaze" never left Ato, as if she could still see.

Combined with her commanding tone, it made Ato feel an invisible pressure.

No wonder she's an Old Hag who's lived for over ten thousand years. Compared to her, my less-than-thirty years of life would probably be seen through at a glance... Ato felt as if he were facing a parent.

"It's just the two of us here. You can drop the disguise of the one behind you."

Lissandra used her unique way of observing to try to see the Demon Sword's true nature, but with the Sword Sheath in the way, she couldn't sense anything.

Ato shook his head. "I can't. We're too close to the Howling Abyss. He was once corrupted by the Void. If he leaves the Sword Sheath, he might establish a connection with the Watchers below."

"Although I can control this weapon, anything can happen. If the Watchers corrupt me through the weapon, I can't guarantee what might happen."

"He's right." The disguised Demonic Sword of the Dark moved away from Ato's back and floated between them. "We can talk like this. It's best not to make me leave the Sword Sheath."

"I see." Lissandra focused her attention on the Sword Sheath, sensing that it was extraordinary.

"This scorching sensation... Is it the work of the Demigod Ornn? What did you use to persuade him to make a divine-grade Sword Sheath for you?"

"Nothing much, just some information he was interested in." Ato waved a hand. "That method won't work again. I just got lucky."

Lissandra took a deep breath and folded her hands neatly in her lap. Then she asked seriously, "Can you tell me the specifics of the war three thousand years ago that you showed me in the dream, as well as the origins of those enormous warriors?"

Here it comes... Ato considered his words before answering. "Before that, I have a deal to offer you. Are you interested?"

"What deal?"

"I know you've been stirring up trouble between the Avarosa Tribe and the Cerylda Tribe, hindering the development of both."

The Cerylda Tribe was an offshoot of the Winter's Claw Tribe, and one of the tribes growing especially quickly.

Its War Mother was Sejuani, who had inherited Cerylda's will. She had once been Ashe's close friend, the War Mother of the Avarosa Tribe.

At the mention of those two names, the exposed half of Lissandra's face changed dramatically.

She had no idea how this mysterious person knew about the things she had been working to bring about in secret. Only a handful of her trusted followers knew!

"The deal I'm offering is this: you stop hindering those two tribes' development and stop driving a wedge between them. Instead, when they encounter difficulties, you help them."

"What can you offer me?" Lissandra suppressed all her emotions. She had already decided that if Ato couldn't offer her enough, she would refuse the deal!

"Reinforcements." Ato said it casually, as if it were something insignificant.

"What reinforcements?" Lissandra leaned forward, but then seemed to realize something. Her face filled with disbelief. "The tall warriors from the dream?"

"It's a deal with nothing to lose. When the Watchers break through the True Ice seal, you'll see reinforcements from our side. They once drove back the Void head-on."

"What do you think? Feel more confident now? You don't have the means to cast that ultimate spell from ten thousand years ago again. How many more sisters do you have to sacrifice?"

"You..." Lissandra shot to her feet, wisps of cold mist covering her arms.

The secret she had concealed for ten thousand years—the secret preserved in the only sealed handwritten copy in the entire Frost Guard Fortress—had been revealed so casually by a human!

"Is keeping your secret more important to you than fighting the Void?" Ato stood up too, refusing to back down as he faced Lissandra.

"That Grand Magic cost you dearly to cast. Was it so you could kill everyone there and conceal the fact that you were the one who made a deal with the Void?"

"Would you rather make a deal with the Void than fight it alongside me?"

"You've been a Guardian for ten thousand years. Are you going to let all that effort crumble to dust over petty scheming between tribes?"

"I know the truth about what happened back then. Does it really matter that much?!"

Whew... Ato sat back down on the stone seat. He hadn't expected someone as inarticulate as himself to fire off a string of questions that struck so deep!

From the moment they began talking until now, Lissandra had barely said a word!