Chapter 248

"I am utterly loyal to the royal family!"

"Stop pretending, stop pretending. There are only the two of us here, and you're still pretending."

"... Where exactly did you hide His Highness the Prince?!"

"Ah, I've already killed him."

"..." Tianna was startled at first, but then quickly realized that it was just a lie that sounded like a joke.

"If you don't speak, then prepare to face the anger, condemnation, and rejection of all Demacia citizens!"

"Oh, then go tell others that I executed His Highness the Prince by slow slicing." Chen Ce remained indifferent.

Seeing this, Tianna turned towards the door, preparing to call the proclamation officer over to record and announce the news.

Before she could even speak, one of her trusted confidants rushed in anxiously.

"Grand Marshal!" the man exclaimed in terror.

Chen Ce smiled and silently used [Deceive] to enter stealth mode.

"What's wrong?" Tianna was annoyed by this loud and boisterous behavior—it was too undignified.

"A distress call has come from Fossbarrow in the North!" His trusted aide, kneeling on one knee and panting heavily, exclaimed, "The barbarians from the frigid lands have attacked! They've completely taken over Fossbarrow in half a day!!"

"What?!" Tianna exclaimed in surprise, then turned back to look at the throne but could no longer see the person.

But she was certain the young man was still there.

Magic... damn black magic...

Why did they suddenly call?

"I don't know either..." the confidant said in a trembling voice, "They didn't give any reason, they just took Fossbarrow without warning... They might be planning an attack on the great Demacia ...!"

"Those damned northern barbarians..." Tianna gripped her sword nervously, a hint of panic already appearing in her eyes.

Before she could figure out a solution, another trusted aide rushed in, panting.

"The Gate of Mourning... The Gate of Mourning has been breached...! It's the Noxus...! That elite army...!"

"Elite troops? You mean the Trifarix Legion?" Cold sweat was already beading on Tianna's fair forehead.

"Yes... yes...!" the confidant said anxiously, "They only took three hours... to breach the Gate of Mourning...! They deployed a large army...!"

More than last time?

"More...!"

"How many exactly?" Tianna almost instinctively began pacing back and forth, her unease growing more pronounced. "Five thousand? Eight thousand? It can't be ten thousand, can it?"

"..." The trusted aide paused for a moment.

This filled Tianna with even greater fear.

A moment later, she received an answer that she found completely unacceptable:

"It's... fifty... fifty thousand..."

This terrifying number nearly made Tianna faint.

Fifty thousand men... This is definitely not just the Trifarix Legion... It's likely that other armies have also been mobilized...

Such a massive operation... this is practically a general offensive against Demacia...

Freljord and Noxus...

Why... why is this happening...?

Could it be...?

Tianna slowly walked towards the seemingly empty throne, then tremblingly stretched out a hand.

Sure enough, she touched an invisible hand in the air.

"It's you..."

Chen Ce did not answer.

The two trusted confidants below the steps looked puzzled.

After a long while, Tianna took another deep breath.

No... it's impossible... how could these two great powers possibly obey the orders of just one person...?

There must be some misunderstanding... or some secret deal involved...

As long as we have a good talk with the kings of these two countries...

"Pass on my orders..." Tianna forced herself to calm down, her brain starting to work rapidly.

"Summon all soldiers of the Dauntless Vanguard and follow me to the Gate of Mourning! Also, mobilize troops from the surrounding cities and have Garen Crownguard lead them to Fossbarrow!"

"Yes...!" The two trusted confidants responded, and then immediately got up and headed towards the military camp to prepare to mobilize the troops.

After the two left, the "invisible man" on the throne slowly revealed himself.

He was holding the hand that Tianna had just extended to him.

Are you inviting me, my dear Grand Marshal?

"Let go...!" Tianna gritted her teeth and pulled her arm back, her angry eyes almost spitting fire.

Chen Ce, on the other hand, smiled with great interest.

"Since you're so enthusiastic... then I'll accompany you to the Gate of Mourning, what do you think?"

Ashe and Sejuani stood side by side, and from the hillside below, all that could be seen were Demacia who had chosen to surrender.

The 1,800 border guards were no match for the Freljord army; the first wave of the ice behemoths' charge alone nearly sent them fleeing in disarray.

Those watchtowers, arrow towers, fortresses... all sorts of seemingly impregnable defensive fortifications were reduced to dust in an instant.

That's too easy.

There's absolutely no challenge at all.

Even more deadly is...

The first town captured after breaking through the border garrison was...

"I don't know why, but I always feel a bit stifled..." Sejuani looked at the dense crowd of people, and for a moment she didn't know what expression to make.

Those Demacia... the inhabitants of Fossbarrow...

"Well... at least..." Ashe also looked embarrassed, "At least we 'conquered' this town without losing a single soldier, didn't we... This is a border town of Demacia, and we took it so easily!"

"Are you sure this counts as a victory for us?"

"Um... this..."

"Nine out of ten things are not right..." Sejuani sighed again.

Just then, members of the Freljord Alliance walked up behind her, and...

Lord of Fossbarrow.

The city lord appeared remarkably resolute the moment the Freljord army attacked, and his warriors seemed determined to fight to the death... But after exchanging a single sentence, the situation instantly changed.

The city lord immediately surrendered and opened the city gates to warmly welcome him...

"Why don't you two move to the main hall to rest?" The bearded Lord of Fossbarrow bowed slightly, behaving with utmost respect. "We have prepared fine wines—all from the trade with Freljord; we're sure you two will enjoy them."

"..." Sejuani didn't turn around to respond, remaining silent for a moment.

Ashe smiled helplessly.

"Lord, I must remind you... we come from Freljord. We have brought a fully armed army, and we are here to occupy your town."

"I know," the city lord blinked, looking quite matter-of-fact.

"If you don't put up a fight, it will make us seem like..." Ashe shook her head again.

"Oh... I see, you want us to just put on an act? That's fine." The city lord slapped his forehead. "You definitely want Mr. Chen Ce to see how serious you are, right? After all, just entering the city like this would make you seem too relaxed... I understand, I understand."

"No... sigh..." Ashe didn't know whether to laugh or not. "Even though you know Chen Ce, there's no need for this... We are invaders—aggressors, shouldn't you put up some resistance?"

"No, no, no, no..." The city lord hurriedly waved his hands, "Mr. Chen Ce is a great benefactor of our Fossbarrow, and you two are his wives. How could we be disrespectful to you two?"

"To betray an entire country for personal favors... aren't you afraid of being punished by your king?"

"That's definitely not the case."

"Why?"

"Because... it's not just about Mr. Chen Ce's favor." The city lord smiled, his tone revealing confidence and trust. "Many of us actually saw it... Mr. Chen Ce received the support of the 'The Veiled Lady.' The Kayle's will represents the will of all of Demacia, and I believe the King won't blame me."

As he spoke, he sighed inwardly, his eyes filled with shame. "It's shameful to admit... we even slandered the Veiled Lady... and yet He repaid evil with kindness and saved us..."

"Fine... whatever you want." Ashe didn't quite understand what the Veiled Lady, but she knew that was the end of it.

After a moment, Lord Fossbarrow added, "Besides, if you two really intend to attack the city, no matter how we defend, it will be in vain—it will only increase unnecessary casualties, won't it?"

Tens of thousands of Freljord warriors... wouldn't it be a piece of cake to conquer a small border town with only a few hundred soldiers?

Since they are the benefactor's people, there's no need for that.

"Alright," Ashe shrugged, "But I must make this clear beforehand: even if you welcome us, our purpose will not change—we will still take some of the city's resources, and our advance will not be halted."

"I have prepared the resources for everyone," the city lord said with a smile, "Various kinds of food, cotton clothing, metal, and stone... As for your plan to continue south, that is none of my concern."

"Okay, I'm glad you understand." Ashe stopped dwelling on this bizarre "war" and gladly accepted the various resources that Fossbarrow offered.

At the same time, she and Sejuani were also preparing to continue south— Chen Ce hadn't allowed them to fight their way Great City of Demacia, and they themselves felt that it would be difficult... but they still needed to continue occupying several cities in the north.

After a brief reorganization at Fossbarrow, it's time to continue south to Mithral City.

I heard that's the hometown of the "Crownguard family"... and there are many dragon birds there too? Clearly, that's the main attraction.

"Go and get the soldiers ready," Ashe said to Sejuani was standing beside her.

The latter nodded and went back to work.

But no one noticed...

A group of outsiders had already quietly slipped into Fossbarrow.

They had trudged through a forest trail.

They all looked disheveled and exhausted.

The leader was a man whose hands were bound with chains made of Petricite stones.

"Just cross this last town... Freljord will be right in front of us...!"

"Just tell those barbarians of the frigid lands how rich Demacia is... and they'll gladly go there...!"

"That guy Chen Ce... you will die along with the Demacia royal family...!"

Compared to the "peaceful" scene at Fossbarrow, the Gate of Mourning appears far more brutal.

Darius, under Swain's command, led the Trifarix Legion on a rapid advance, crushing countless Demacia armies along the way.

After easily capturing the Gate of Mourning, Trifarix Legion continued westward, conquering Lunwall and Tobicia along the way.

With the Great City chaos and Demacia completely unprepared, the Noxus army was virtually unstoppable.

Although this country is full of Petricite, greatly reducing the battlefield effectiveness of mages, the dragon lizard riders and Trifarix's melee troops alone are not something those small, dilapidated towns can defeat.

If Chen Ce hadn't repeatedly emphasized in his letter to avoid killing as much as possible and to accept surrender if possible, Darius would have already turned this country into a bloodbath.

He scoffed at the idea of "future teammates," but he had no choice but to do as Chen Ce told him to do.

He neither wanted to nor dared to offend that elusive young man.

The Trifarix Council has three members, and apart from him, the other two are completely on Chen Ce's side... Although Noxus currently has no king, Chen Ce's position among the Noxus elites is roughly equivalent to that of a king.

It's just that most ordinary people are unaware of this secret.

Now, in Noxus, whoever Chen Ce wants to die, will die.

His orders are absolutely correct.

"Ha, cowardly Demacia... You should just hide behind the Petricite, raise the white flag, and wait for us to come and tie you up."