Chapter 164
"As far as I know, although you put many of the Watchers into a deep sleep back then, only one is truly about to awaken, right?"
"That's true..."
"Furthermore, as far as I know, the True Ice you use to freeze the Watchers is different from ordinary True Ice —it's much harder, practically indestructible, right?"
"Sort of..." Lissandra didn't really want to answer the question, but she nodded slightly anyway—it reminded her of some very bad memories. Those "unique" True Ice were obtained by sacrificing living beings.
It could even be said that it was built from the blood and flesh of living people...
"So, once Aatrox is thrown in, he basically has no chance of escaping on his own," Chen Ce continued. "With those layers upon layers of frost barriers separating him, it will be difficult for him to 'disturb' the other Watchers."
"Absolutely not." Lissandra rejected the suggestion without hesitation.
The reason is also easy to understand:
"This Icefield Demon is indeed powerful, but he is still far too insignificant compared to the Watchers... Throwing him in would only serve to accelerate the Watchers's awakening and destroy the world."
The Watchers was only showing signs of awakening, but throwing Aatrox in would be tantamount to directly Watchers it up.
Aatrox was no match for the Watchers; the Watchers would kill him in an instant.
Then... the seal was broken.
Destroy the world.
Lissandra's concerns are not unfounded.
But Chen Ce was very clear about another very important point --
"Aatrox is indeed no match for the Watchers, but perhaps you need to consider something..."
He turned his head again to look at that terrifying "demon".
At that moment, Aatrox was pinning Volibear to the ground and giving him a brutal beating, his ferocious and bloodthirsty appearance exactly matching his self-proclaimed title— the World Ender.
Of course, he wasn't unscathed either— Volibear's lightning had also electrocuted him beyond recognition, leaving his body covered in charred, mangled flesh that emitted a strange, nauseating "meaty smell."
Unlike Volibear, his injuries did not prevent him from continuing his frenzied attacks.
Even though he looks like a berserker at his last gasp right now.
"Aatrox is immortal. He can hold the Watchers captive indefinitely."
"What?" Lissandra looked puzzled.
"He fought the Watchers thousands of years ago," Chen Ce explained calmly, "During the war that marked the beginning of the decline of the Shuriman Empire ... He and several other Ascended went deep into the Void, and almost all of the Ascended accompanied him died—including Empress Setaka, who was then considered the strongest being in Runeterra ..."
"And he, Aatrox, escaped almost unscathed."
"Several thousand years later, he began to seek death, only to discover with dismay that... nothing in this world could kill him—not even himself."
"He can't even commit suicide. And that's the real reason he spreads wars and tries to destroy the world."
So, do you understand now?
After hearing her words, Lissandra fell into a deep silence.
She only sighed softly when Volibear's sharp roar came again.
"But we still face a very serious problem—how do we get the Icefield Demon into the abyss? Will he willingly go and fight the Watchers?"
Faced with this question, Chen Ce shook his head frankly. "No. Although Aatrox is filled with hatred for Void creatures, he'd probably rather let the Watchers destroy the entire world first, and then personally seek revenge on the Watchers."
"So, you mean we should willingly send him into the abyss?" Lissandra frowned again. "Send such a powerful being?"
"Yes." Chen Ce nodded again.
So, Lissandra stared intently at Chen Ce with her blind eyes.
Given this, the answer is quite clear.
Since the Icefield Demon couldn't willingly leap into the abyss to fight the Watchers, the only option was to forcibly "send" him in.
This requires bait...
So, who would be the easiest target to lure the Icefield Demon into...?
Faced with Lissandra's ill-intentioned "gaze," Chen Ce...
He scratched his head sheepishly.
"Don't look at me like that, it makes me feel embarrassed..."
Aatrox's victory was a foregone conclusion.
All the members of the Ursine knelt on the ground, emitting mournful cries. The pitiful sight was more heartbreaking than if their own mother had died.
Without a doubt, this was the perfect opportunity for the Freljord Alliance army to take advantage of the situation.
But no one is rushing up to harvest these bear-men who are busy "mourning."
Because... it's meaningless.
Yes, it's meaningless now.
Even if Volibear dies and the Ursine falls, so what?
The most terrifying thing right now is that Icefield Demon... He alone is enough to slaughter the entire Freljord Alliance and even the entire Freljord.
Faced with a more powerful enemy—or even a common enemy—the original war seems insignificant.
Chen Ce couldn't beat him, and Ashe and Sejuani's attacks weren't very effective against him either... No one could stop him.
Perhaps some true warriors still don't intend to stand still and wait to die, but they really have no way to continue fighting now—it's not that they don't want to fight, or that they can't fight, but that they simply can't encounter those incredibly fast Icefield Demon that can fly high into the sky.
Rather than hoping for Volibear and his Ursine to die, it's better to hope they hold out a little longer—after all, the Icefield Demon's next target is all the people of Freljord.
Under such circumstances, even Braum, who was wholeheartedly devoted to protecting others, stopped raising his shield.
He can't protect anyone.
He could only exchange a smile with Gragas, who was also bald, and then sit down to share the wine—with all his people.
The drinking session was both exhilarating and tragic.
Until a figure arrived.
"This wine smells wonderful."
"Hmm?" Gragas looked up with dazed eyes and saw a familiar face in a blur of images.
A young man.
One of his main purposes in bringing Braum here was...
"Chen Ce?"
"Long time no see, Gragas." Chen Ce warmly shook hands with the bald, muscular man, then turned to look at another bald, muscular man.
Braum touched his mustache in confusion.
There are now several people surrounding him.
Ashe, Sejuani, Chen Ce... and a tall woman I didn't recognize.
Everyone else was fine, but Chen Ce's eyes were a bit frightening...
That... lustful look in his eyes...
He had only ever experienced that kind of gaze in some strange bars...
"W-What's wrong...?" The two-meter-tall super strong man curled up like a frightened little white rabbit.
Chen Ce simply gave a warm smile.
Then, she quickly reached out her hand to him.
He immediately closed his eyes in alarm.
The strange sensation I had imagined didn't come... I didn't even feel anything.
He opened his eyes again, puzzled.
That strange man had already run far away.
The other women also started jogging with complicated expressions.
Braum was puzzled.
Then he discovered that the shield he had been standing in front of him was gone.
Instead, the slightly panicked voice of the young man who had fled was heard:
"No time to explain, lend me your shield first...!"
Snowflakes are falling, the north wind is howling...
Braum's eyes widened, then he stiffly turned to Gragas.
"You brought me here... just for this...?"
"..." Gragas raised his glass and fell into a deep silence.
Chapter 41 Aatrox, don't leave after school, I'll call my older brother!
Aatrox went berserk.
More than half of Volibear's massive body had already been chopped into mincemeat, with white bones mixed with various deformed and twisted pieces of rotten flesh scattered all over the ground, like a red mudslide that swept away countless houses.
In the severed waist and abdomen, countless broken internal organs and intestines spilled out from the rotting flesh, as soft as a trampoline and as cumbersome as a great river.
However, it always emitted a terrible, bloody smell.
Those thunderbolts, those arcs of electricity, that terrifying power... Volibear's trump cards for ruling Freljord are all gone. To Aatrox now, he's nothing more than a larger pile of rotten flesh.
Just like any ordinary mortal.
It was already unable to move, and even the strength to roar had been completely exhausted by the excruciating pain.
The so-called gods, the so-called creators of Freljord... now appeared so pathetic.
If Aatrox wanted to kill it, he killed it.
"Your life is in my hands... like a fragile stone, how pathetic... hahahahahaha↗!"
The Darkin Blade was hurled high into the air before crashing down, piercing Volibear's vulnerable throat.
Aatrox placed one foot on Volibear's throat and the other against his chin, his demonic wings, fully extended to the sides, blocking the last ray of sunlight from Volibear's eyes.
He laughed loudly, his posture arrogant. He toyed with the greatsword in his hand, finding a trace of pleasure in the god's pain.
Only in moments like these could he find a sense of being alive.
Only by killing all those high and mighty so-called gods could he quell the anger in his heart!
"Hypocritical demigod! You're ridiculous!"
"You are no match for me! You are no match for the great... Ascended!!"
"Your glory is borrowed! Your power is only manifested in the slaughter of mortals!"
"And I— Aatrox, I have slain the Aspects! I have ravaged the Void! I have stood atop the world!!"
"The taste of death, I will let you taste it!"
Aatrox pressed down hard on the hilt, the immense force propelling the Darkin Blade straight through Volibear's neck.
The massive, hill-like head began to roll to one side, like a boulder that Sisyphus could not support tumbling down a cliff.
Volibear, being a demigod, exists in a form far beyond that of ordinary life forms. Even if his head is severed, he will not die, but he will certainly be rendered powerless for the time being.
No matter how deformed or distorted its "Volibear incarnation" may appear, it can never compare to a bear's head falling to the ground.
Having dealt with that foolish big bear, Aatrox felt his confidence return to its peak.
So he no longer hesitated.
He was no longer afraid of Chen Ce's so-called threats.
Because... Chen Ce couldn't possibly survive. He would definitely kill that cunning and untrustworthy mortal, then rip out all his intestines, tie them into hundreds of knots, and finally use blood magic to devour him alive—today!
He immediately turned his head to look in the other direction—with an extremely confident look in his eyes.
He spotted a familiar voice amidst the swirling snowflakes.