Chapter 216

Lux remained silent, lowering her head without daring to utter a single word.

Tianna was not only her aunt, but also the family leader who had been kind to her entire family—even Garen was introduced to the Dauntless Vanguard by her.

Within the entire Crownguard family, whatever Tianna says goes, and no one else has the right to resist.

Lux could only give Chen Ce an apologetic look before slowly walking into the manor with a dejected gait.

Chen Ce witnessed this scene and immediately understood the main reason why Lux had been unwilling to go home and face Tianna —just like in the original timeline, Tianna, in order to further her own power, had arbitrarily "married off" her niece to...

"You should stay away from Luxanna." The cold voice rang out again, interrupting Chen Ce's thoughts.

The voice even carried an air of command that brooked no refusal.

"Otherwise, I will mention this to Eldred."

Eldred, naturally, is the name of the commander of the Mageseeker Order.

Lux backed down, but Tianna wasn't about to give up—she turned her attention to "the princess's knight," Chen Ce.

She recognized the distinctive uniform at a glance.

The uniform of the lowest-ranking Mageseekers.

At the same time, she was reminded of something else... A few days ago, someone reported to her that Lux was seen chatting and laughing with a young man on the street.

Chen Ce looked at the other person's raised eyebrows, showing no anger whatsoever from being looked down upon—he was calm—and even felt that this scene was somewhat... familiar?

Those clichéd plots I often saw on Blue Star... like the Crooked-Mouthed Dragon King hiding his identity and being jilted by a wealthy woman...

He suddenly felt like laughing.

"If you want me to stay away from Lux, shouldn't you be throwing money at me?" Chen Ce chuckled, suppressing a laugh. "Give me a hundred or two hundred thousand to get lost or something... How about it, got the money?"

Upon hearing Tianna was first taken aback, and then felt a surge of anger, as if she had been made a joke.

Lux, who was supposed to leave, stopped in her tracks at that moment.

She glanced back at Chen Ce, then at her aunt's increasingly angry expression, and quickly stepped forward to defuse the situation. "Aunt Tianna... Chen Ce... he didn't mean any harm... please don't..."

"I'm not talking to you, Luxanna." Tianna's face was icy as she grabbed Lux's wrist. Although she usually took great care of herself, her identity as a knight meant she possessed extraordinary strength. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to rise all the way to the position of Grand Marshal of Demacia.

Her forceful grip immediately caused the girl to show a pained expression.

"You only need to obey my orders, Luxanna —you are a member of the Crownguard family, you were born to contribute to the Crownguard family —you must obey my arrangements. For the Crownguard family to advance further."

"Aunt... I..." Lux was being pinched painfully, and the last bit of resistance in her heart finally began to erupt at this moment.

"I... I... sometimes I also want to have my own ideas...!"

Upon hearing this, Tianna was absolutely furious.

She raised her other hand, ready to teach this disobedient junior a lesson.

But Chen Ce wasn't just a passive observer.

"That's about it, Tianna."

Snap! The wrist that was about to fall was caught by another hand.

Moreover, its power is beyond imagination.

Tianna not only couldn't pull it out at all, but she also experienced Lux's pain.

"Remember your place, Mageseekers!" she roared.

In an instant, a squad of guards poured out of the manor.

Seeing this, Chen Ce, who had been holding back his laughter for a long time, finally burst out laughing.

"If you wish to test the skill level of the Great City Mageseekers... no problem, my esteemed Grand Marshal."

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Wicked Stepmother × Wicked Aunt √

Chen Ce took the sword from his waist.

Although he had not yet drawn his sword from its sheath, the mere act of brandishing his weapon was enough to classify him as "a villain plotting against the Grand Marshal."

In an instant, the Grand Marshal's guards all lowered their weapons and aimed them at Chen Ce.

Tianna seemed to have regained her previous confidence—or perhaps she had never lacked confidence at all. She always felt that the whole situation was under her control, and even if Chen Ce's strength exceeded her expectations, it would not be a problem—because of the absolute advantage in numbers.

Her guard consisted of dozens of people, all of whom were elites selected from the Dauntless Vanguard. Each of them was a powerful warrior capable of taking on multiple opponents at once—even Garen, the swordsman captain of the Dauntless Vanguard, dared not claim that he could take on several of them by himself.

So what if he's a low-level Mageseekers... even if he's a bit strong?

Tianna touched her wrist, which was still a little sore from being squeezed earlier. The arrogance and disdain in her eyes were as if she were looking at a "barbarian" from the countryside—who was only a little strong and had no other merits.

Reckless, impetuous, and overconfident... to think that having a little strength means they can make a name for themselves in Great City and even challenge the powerful? How ridiculous!

Demacia has no shortage of duelists and martial arts masters.

But there can only be one Grand Marshal—and there can only ever be one.

That was her Tianna Crownguard.

A low-level Mageseekers challenging the Grand Marshal? Ha! No matter how strong he is personally, it's just a joke.

"If you apologize to me now and leave Great City forever, I can pretend that tonight never happened."

Tianna was about 1.76 meters tall, and standing on the top two steps, she could even look down at Chen Ce. Her arrogant posture and disdainful gaze were unpleasant.

"Of course... you understand what 'leaving forever' means."

"You want to banish me?" Chen Ce chuckled. "I am an officially certified Mageseekers from Demacia. Do you think you have the right to banish me with just words? Then I suppose you can pick the best chair in the Hall of Valor and sit down."

Upon hearing Tianna frowned again—this was essentially an accusation that she was a traitor.

Her sarcastic remarks suggest she wields power comparable to a king...

If someone with ulterior motives were to overhear this, they could even interpret it as her wanting to...

Plotting to seize power...

"I naturally don't have the power to exile you, but I do have the power to ensure you can never set foot in Great City again." Tianna's tone was icy, her words sounding like an order being given to the guards.

"How can someone paralyzed from the waist down step into the city... Mageseekers Chen Ce?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the guards took another half step forward.

Their weapons were less than thirty centimeters away from Chen Ce's flesh and blood.

So Chen Ce also fiddled with his sword with both hands—still not drawing it.

Not only did he not draw the sword from its scabbard, but he also wrapped the hilt with the cloth strips from the scabbard—as if vowing never to draw the sword.

This behavior puzzled everyone, including Tianna.

Lux rushed over nervously.

She shielded Chen Ce with her frail body, crying, "Auntie... no, please don't...!"

"Luxanna," Tianna said coldly, "I command you to return."

"No... Aunt... You can't hurt Chen Ce...!"

"Are you disobeying my orders?"

"I didn't... it's just... this really has nothing to do with Chen Ce... you can't..."

I'll count to three.

"Aunt... Chen Ce and I really have nothing going on...!"

"One."

"Chen Ce just took me home... nothing happened between us...!"

"Two."

"Aunt...!"

"Three!"

Tianna extended three slender, long fingers, and a guard immediately reached out to grab Lux.

However, before the hand covered in arm armor could even touch Lux's clothes, it was violently swung downwards—pressed down by a brute force.

He tumbled over and fell heavily to the ground.

Lux stared wide-eyed at Chen Ce, who had come to her aid, her expression filled with unease. "Chen Ce... we can still explain... no... no..."

"Don't worry, it's alright." Chen Ce gently patted the girl's head as before, his smile as warm as ever. "Besides... the point of contention has changed—it's no longer just a problem between us."

Chen Ce knew what was Tianna's anger.

Lux's disobedience in running away from home, coming home late, and her "ambiguous" relationship with him... these were all just the fuse.

What truly angered this domineering and arrogant Grand Marshal was...

She felt that Lux was disobeying her orders.

She is the leader of the Crownguard family, and she does not allow any member of the Crownguard family to disobey her orders.

As for Lux's own feelings and the true nature of her personal emotions? She doesn't care.

In truth, she didn't care whether Lux had a boyfriend outside or not, nor did she care who that so-called boyfriend was... Whether he was a hooligan or a street vendor, as long as it wouldn't affect the family, she didn't care what kind of person Lux's "ideal partner" was or whether their future life would be bad.

Of course, this is on the premise that it will not affect the family.

Now, she has designs on Lux's marriage—she wants to arrange a marriage between this well-known beauty in the Great City and a royal noble family to solidify the Crownguard family's position in Demacia —and further advance her own power.

Under these circumstances, she would become angry with Lux.

So the real issue isn't whether Lux comes home late or not, or whether she's hanging out with other men... those are just superficial things right now.

Oh right, and there's also the fact that I was "disrespectful" to her; she was so angry she wanted to have someone attack me.

In short, the real contradictions are irreconcilable.

"It seems you're prepared to offend the entire Crownguard family..." Tianna watched Chen Ce and Lux's intimate interaction, her eyes and tone turning icy cold.

She could no longer tolerate it.

"Take him down!"

At a command, the guards finally took action.

Chen Ce had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

He gently pushed Lux to a safe position, then raised the scabbard above his head.

Counter Strike, activated!

Clang clang clang clang--! A whole circle of halberds and spears were blocked by the spinning scabbards, and the sound of sharp objects colliding was incessant.

It's the same old three dishes.

Spin, parry, and then knock everyone around you unconscious at the end.

Thump thump thump! Thump thump thump!

The Counter Strike ended, and the scabbard tapped the guards on the head one by one, the perfect rhythm like playing a melody.

The guards in the first circle immediately felt dizzy and saw stars.

Chen Ce easily dealt with them.

"Damn it..." Tianna found it hard to believe that such a simple, unpretentious, swift, and perfect battle was so intense—these elites, selected from the Dauntless Vanguard, were the kind of fighters even Garen had to be careful with!

And at most, one can only take on two or three!

How did they manage to take down almost ten people in one fell swoop...?!

Tianna was both shocked and annoyed, but far from panicked—after all, she still had a large number of guards.

"All of you, charge! Archers, fire!"

It was another cruel order. The remaining melee soldiers all charged, while the archers nearby, through skillful coordination, found firing angles that would not harm friendly forces.

But Chen Ce remained calm—he even found it somewhat amusing and nostalgic.

The last time I faced this situation was when I was fighting the Noxus in Ionia.

"Ants can't kill a lion... What a pity, Grand Marshal."

The sword blade remained sheathed, but Chen Ce instead placed the scabbard back at his waist.