The Golden Army

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Jax didn't seem to care much, simply chuckled and said:

"Because this might be my only chance to beat you..."

Besides, aren't you also yearning for battle? I can sense it; your "qi" has already expressed your innermost thoughts."

Hearing Jax's words, Yuan Chen could roughly guess that his future self, after returning to the past, must have fought Jax quite a few times... and judging from the results, it was obvious that he had won all of them.

Thinking this, Yuan Chen's gaze towards Jax in front of him became somewhat strange:

"If you can't beat the old, you beat the young... You really are a dueling master."

"This is the only opportunity of my life right in front of me. What do I care about being a master or not?"

Jax clearly takes honors lightly, which is related to his past experiences.

Before its fall, Icathia was one of the few city-states that dared to resist the rule of the Ancient Shuriman Empire.

Similar to Ixialia, they also revered truth and knowledge, as evidenced by the title of their supreme ruler, "King of the Magi."

Their fighting strength should be considered quite good; they were able to maintain their independence even in the face of Shurima's invasion.

Unfortunately, all the advantages vanished after the Ascended joined the battle. The fortified city was destroyed at an unimaginable speed, the Mage King died tragically, and his body was left to rot in the streets.

The most elite troops in Icathia were called the "Kohari," and after the Mage King's tragic death, they followed tradition and committed suicide by drawing their swords.

Jax's father, an Aikason, witnessed it all firsthand...

This is where the difference between the Aikason people and normal humans becomes apparent.

Because by the time Jax was born and grew up, Icathia had been under the Shurima for over eight hundred years.

Jax's father, on the other hand, witnessed the tragic death of the Mage King eight hundred years ago and instilled in Jax the deep-seated hatred and vengeance for his country and family.

Later, much more happened, such as following the new Mage-King in the rebellion against Shurima, fighting the Ascended through the Void, playing with fire and getting burned, and the entire Icathia becoming Lost Lands...

During this time, Jax's temperament also changed.

They no longer valued their own honor, but instead tirelessly worked to perpetuate the glory of Icathia and atone for the sins committed by the people of Icathia.

That is, to summon the Void and constantly search and fight.

However... the Jax we know now is different from the one in the original storyline.

After glancing at Jax, Yuan Chen could roughly guess that in the normal timeline, Jax at this point in time should not have mastered the Epic Class, War God.

Is the change due to my own future actions?

Thinking about it, Yuan Chen shook his head and didn't dwell on the matter too much.

After patting the head of Yuumi's cat, who was enjoying the grilled fish, Yuan Chen remained silent for a moment before focusing his attention on the present matter.

"What information do you have to tell me about the Void?"

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Jax, who had been contemplating whether to eat another precious egg, looked up at Yuan Chen beside him and said seriously:

"It's less that I'm telling you, and more that the past... or rather, the future you, asked me to pass this on to the present you."

"This war is brutal; we must gather all the forces that can be mobilized."

Jax said seriously:

"According to that old man Yuan Chen, those Void that sensed Ixialia were not merely remnants of the Void, but rather ancient creations resulting from the corruption of life in the material world by some of the Watchers."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen was taken aback, then frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

"They were the first Golden Army to die in the Battle of Icathia."

"..."

Upon hearing Jax's words, Yuan Chen's brows furrowed with seriousness.

The Golden Army of Shurima...

Admittedly, these members of the Golden Army lived more than three thousand years ago, but the problem is that this world has been in turmoil for more than two thousand years since the Shurima Empire.

The civilization of Runeterra has only existed for about a thousand years.

In a context of cultural discontinuity, a Golden Army from Ancient Shurima, corrupted by the Void...

Thinking about it, Yuan Chen's heart sank to the bottom.

But glancing back at the Ixialia border not far away, Yuan Chen's thoughts began to stir—for other countries, this would be an absolute catastrophe.

But if Ixialia, then at least they still have a fighting chance!

With this thought in mind, Yuan Chen simply asked:

"Is there any more detailed information... about the personnel, their configuration, or whether any of them possess extraordinary combat abilities?"

"I don't know," Jax shook his head.

"According to what you said, the Void riot nearly destroyed the entire Ixialia, and it was only thanks to the arrival of the Rune Mage Ryze that they were barely repelled. But the masters of Ixialia were also almost all killed or wounded."

Jax sighed:

"Although I pressed you for details, you didn't reveal much information at the time; on the contrary, you remained very silent... I'm certain that you were hiding very important information."

"It seems like some kind of agreement, or perhaps something that must be fulfilled. It's as if a spell of silence has been cast upon you; you can't reveal much useful information."

After a pause, Jax said to Yuan Chen:

"Let me tell you, my future self, that being crazy is also a choice."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Chen fell into a moment of contemplation...

He didn't quite understand why his future self would want to convey such a message...

The message was so brief that even Yuan Chen, with great effort, couldn't quite understand it.

Is it because of a contract with someone that the ability to transmit more effective messages is impaired? Who is it? A demon? Or something else entirely?

Runeterra gods and ghosts, and countless beings are capable of forming contracts with it. Faced with such a vast sea of choices, even Yuan Chen is unable to effectively piece together this limited and scarce information.

However, all of this was not without its gains.

At the very least, the fact that the Golden Army will participate in the war is an important piece of information.

The entire Ixialia will be utterly destroyed...

Thinking about it, Yuan Chen couldn't help but clench his Riot Games. Then he stood up abruptly, ignoring how dissatisfied Yuumi was who was enjoying her meal. Yuan Chen grabbed the kitten by the scruff of its neck and stuffed it into the backpack on the kitten's back.

"Let's get ready to go."

Where to?

"Yishuaoken."

Yuan Chen said:

"This is no longer a situation that can be resolved by individual efforts."

This chapter makes up for yesterday's update; there will be five more chapters to come.