Chapter 229

The strange woman who suddenly appeared had her face covered by a veil, so Chen Ce naturally couldn't recognize her.

But Chen Ce recognized her wings.

They also recognized the "magical shield" that had inexplicably appeared on their bodies.

[Black Shield], one of Morgana's signature abilities - while the shield is active, it can block all crowd control abilities.

This also includes Nocturne's fear of people.

Although the Black Shield cannot remove the fear it has already encountered, it can block subsequent fear, thus preventing Nocturne from further inflicting endless fear on the townspeople and driving them mad.

Fallen Angel Morgana...

One of Demacia's strongest fighters—the other being her own sister, the Judgment Angel Kayle.

However, it is clear that although the two women possess nearly identical combat abilities, their reputations in the mortal realm are worlds apart— Kayle, symbolizing order and law, is revered and regarded as the national symbol of early Demacia. Morgana, also an angel... her love and forgiveness for the people have earned her the label of "traitor."

She argued that those who err should also have a chance to atone, and disagreed with Kayle's extreme measure of executing all criminals, which directly threatened the interests of the royal family and nobility—if everyone had a chance to reform, wouldn't their laws become meaningless?

So they supported Kayle and continued to suppress Morgana's followers.

As time went on, Morgana practically became an "underground party member," while Kayle and her followers became representatives of the light—finally, one of Kayle's followers—her most admired follower, the knight Ronas —decided to arrest Morgana and utterly destroy her "evil ideology."

At that time, in order to protect her penitent followers, Morgana was forced to imprison Ronas in dark flames until he collapsed and died in the dark flames.

This unrest angered Kayle.

The sacred flame descended from the sky, igniting the city, a testament to Kayle's vow to bring justice to the murderers of Ronas. Morgana then flew into the air, facing her sister directly.

And then...

What followed was a period of time I'd rather forget.

In short, since then, Kayle has left Demacia, and Morgana has chained her wings.

She said...

What use are these feet if they cannot stand firmly on the ground?

Does this look like the moment when you're about to space out?

The masked woman's half-joking tone brought Chen Ce back to reality.

The latter came to his senses and looked at the madmen again—protected by the Black Shield, they were no longer afflicted by fear, and gradually they all just covered their heads and knelt on the ground in pain—at least they were no longer going crazy with aggressive intent.

Sona, nestled in his arms, was the same. The Black Shield protected her, allowing her to pluck the strings once more.

"Your strength is quite impressive," Morgana added. "I don't think you're from Demacia?"

"Hmm... that's not it." Chen Ce looked around and, after confirming that no one was awake, confessed, "I'm from Ionia, and I know a little magic."

"Ionia?" Morgana's puzzled expression was hidden behind the veil. For hundreds of years, she had almost never left Demacia, and naturally knew nothing about the outside world.

"Hmm, it's a beautiful continent... Well, now doesn't seem like the time to talk about those things." Chen Ce turned his head to look at the darkness in front of him again. "I'll have to trouble you now, respected the Veiled Lady."

"Heh, it seems you recognize me... and aren't surprised." Morgana raised another hand, and an even stronger magical shield enveloped everyone.

"Because I saw your statue in the forest."

"The one that got smashed?"

"I know your past. Those deliberate slanders are just a joke to me."

"Is that so?" Morgana chuckled again, her words and actions showing no trace of the arrogance one would expect from an "angel."

More than Kayle's divinity, she possessed humanity—perhaps most abundantly, almost entirely.

She didn't like to call herself an angel... let alone a "fallen angel." She hated that power, and she cursed it.

But she couldn't get rid of it.

Therefore, she wants to use this power to save mortals.

"That demon is not simple; we must be careful."

The darkness, which had barely subsided, surged back, and attacked with even greater ferocity.

With Morgana's Dark Shield present, Nocturne's shadow can no longer instill fear in people, but it can still draw upon their "most feared element."

The black mist materialized the "most terrifying thing" in mortals' nightmares.

Once again... but this time it was clearly stronger.

In an instant, wisps of eerie black smoke once again emanated from the townspeople's bodies, swirling and drifting into the air.

Then, they transformed into a massive army of demons with physical forms.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Ce drew his sword and charged forward.

[Counter Strike], [Way of the Wanderer], [Three Talon Strike], [Meditation]... He used whatever skills he had on hand and threw them all out at once.

As long as we can take down these monsters as quickly as possible, that's fine.

People fear all sorts of strange things, and the ground was soon covered with all kinds of monster corpses— Noxus executioners and Freljord barbarians were the most common, but there were also "Hydras," "wingless birds," "pink slime demons"... those were truly bizarre.

But regardless of what they are, their strengths are roughly the same.

It's stronger and more troublesome than before, but not to the point where we can't beat it.

Chen Ce dealt with most of them at the cost of minor injuries, and the rest were not a threat.

But just then, he suddenly heard an unusual melody—it was Sona's piano music, but it was clearly different from the <Song of Celerity> that had previously "buffed" him—it was so loud it hurt his eardrums, and it was coming straight at him.

Chen Ce showed a hint of surprise.

But the next moment he realized—

Ding-dong! The magical musical note struck the darkness behind him.

Nocturne's rough, hoarse cry followed.

This time, even Raum failed to notice the [Paranoia] in time.

Chen Ce quickly turned around to attack, but the Muramana only struck Nocturne's razor-sharp hands.

The moment the metallic clang rang out, the latter screamed and released even more black mist.

The townspeople who had knelt on the ground rose again—they were still protected by Morgana's dark shield, but they charged forward with strange screams as if they had gone mad.

Chen Ce's sword was only enough to parry Nocturne's powerful and fast attacks, and he was gradually surrounded by the crazed townspeople.

He cursed under his breath, realizing this was bad.

However, he had clearly underestimated the fighting prowess of that "fallen angel" —Morgana began to slowly and deliberately untie the chains binding her.

Ring ring ring... Ring ring ring...

The sound of the chains dragging on the ground was quite noticeable.

The bound wings gradually unfurled in response to this sound.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you... I will seek justice for you—from that damned demon."

Morgana's wings were fully spread.

The black wings were over two meters wide, flowing with powerful magical energy that seemed to strike straight to the soul... Everyone who caught a glimpse of those wings was captivated by them.

The next moment, countless magical chains flew out from her wings.

Clang! Clang...!

Dark magical shackles bound the ankles of all the townspeople, and the magical energy that struck straight to their hearts caused them to let out painful howls—this did not cause any real harm to their bodies, but the mental anguish was clearly more unbearable than the physical pain.

The emotional pain outweighed the control of fear.

People stopped moving forward, and their inner fears gradually subsided... Their consciousness began to become somewhat confused, but at least they were able to distinguish between reality and illusion.

"You will pay for this." Morgana's last chain was left for Nocturne.

Clang--!

Nocturne's illusory body was also bound by shackles, making it difficult for him to break free for the time being.

It was forced to engage Chen Ce in direct combat—which was not its forte.

Shadow magic is all about "mind attacks," about destroying a person's will and then launching a surprise attack from the darkness... In a direct confrontation, even a notorious demon would not stand a chance.

Not to mention that Chen Ce's forte is direct combat.

The Counter Strike has begun again, and Nocturne's "hand chop" has once again failed to deal any damage.

Once the Counter Strike ends, it will be Chen Ce's turn.

The blade first sliced through the left half of Nocturne's body, then swung the sword towards the eerie head.

It was a lucky coincidence.

But... it didn't cause any damage, nor did it stun the target as it usually does when using Counter Strike.

The sword slammed into a magical shield—definitely not Morgana's.

[Shroud of Darkness], Nocturne's own skill.

"Humans...!" Nocturne's rough, hoarse voice sounded full of disgust, like a whisper from a nightmare, sending chills down one's spine.

It struggled and twisted its illusory body, no longer even making any defensive moves.

After the Muramana struck it countless times, the magical shackles binding it finally broke free.

Faced with both Chen Ce and the "Angel," it knew it was no match for them.

It quickly disappeared into the darkness, preparing to make its escape.

But Morgana wasn't about to let it get away—another powerful surge of magic erupted from her hand, ready to seize Nocturne.

Unfortunately, Nocturne was incredibly fast after disappearing into the darkness, Morgana's immobilization attack missed.

Chen Ce wanted to give chase, but the pitch-black darkness made it impossible for him to find his target—running around aimlessly in the dark like a headless fly would only increase the risk of being killed by Nocturne.

Both he and Morgana secretly considered giving up.

But some people are still unwilling to give up.

The girl playing the piano.

Thump--!

An exceptionally wild melody began, and golden magical notes instantly filled half of the shadows.

Even the fleeing Nocturne was struck by this "Crescendo".

Guided by the magical melody, it began to dance uncontrollably.

A footless, ethereal demon danced in the darkness.

Its enormous maw, meant for devouring mortal dreams, even parted involuntarily—yes, it was laughing, laughing uncontrollably under the influence of the "Crescendo."

The hideous demon was laughing loudly, while the poor townspeople wailed in agony... This scene... anyone who didn't know better would think that Nocturne had won.

That's really bizarre.

But Chen Ce didn't care about any of that.

He stepped forward with his sword drawn and thrust it out in the fading shadows.

The blade of the Muramana pierced through the gaping maw of the Nocturne, stabbing its head in a clean cut—unfortunately, this terrifying demon had no brains or blood left.

"Uh... uh..." The undead demon, with the sword in its mouth, emitted hoarse and weak sounds from its throat.

"Well done, Sona!" Chen Ce couldn't help but turn around and praise her.

The girl holding the zither smiled slightly—being able to help was her greatest honor.

This is a crucial and extremely important favor!

"Magical music... This is the first time I've ever heard of such music." Morgana subtly expressed her admiration.

Chen Ce then turned his gaze to Nocturne, pondering how to completely eliminate this malevolent spirit that had caused so much harm.

Just then, the voice of another demon rang in his mind:

Eat it...

"Huh?" Chen Ce was taken aback.

[Its secrets are hard to fathom... I need some time to slowly "digest" it...] Raum emphasized the word "digest," clearly referring to... digestion in a physical sense.

But Chen Ce was still somewhat puzzled. "You have this ability?"