However, this time he didn't aim for the enemy's head. After all, a "corpse" like Sion had little self-awareness to begin with. His every action was guided by instinct and black magic, so there was no such thing as knocking him unconscious by hitting him on the head.
Reality wasn't the Rift.
The spear aimed at Sion's nearly torn-apart right leg.
Crack—! The shaft and spearhead struck in turn, instantly smashing the already-fractured knee apart. His thigh and lower leg were severed from each other.
Rumble—! Sion's massive body lost its balance and crashed to the ground.
As he fell, Chen Ce followed up with his third skill—Three Talon Strike.
A perfect thrust slashed across Sion's chest, then pierced upward through his jaw and straight into his skull.
Clang, clatter... A metal object fell from his jaw, landing right beside Chen Ce's feet.
"Jarvan II's crown, huh... You once plunged all of Demacia into terror, but now your glory has left you, Sion."
"Vermin—!" Sion barely had any awareness and couldn't understand what the other man was saying, but he knew he'd been hurt—and badly.
His right leg was completely severed, and his left arm had nearly been broken in his earlier fight with Irelia and Karma. He no longer had the strength to charge around as he pleased.
So he could only make up for that with blood and corpses—
War! Bloodshed! Death!
"I'll tear you apart—!"
The enormous double-bladed battle axe came crashing down. Even Chen Ce, protected by Counter Strike, didn't dare take its full force head-on.
Boom—! The axe struck the ground, carving out a small ravine. Chen Ce quickly rolled aside to dodge, then swung his sword before the second horizontal strike could reach him.
A sharp whistle of wind rose as fierce gusts gathered along the blade once more.
Steel Tempest!
The already-sharp blade grew even keener with the wind behind it, easily slicing through Sion's flesh, hard as steel. Steel Tempest—true to its name, it could cut through iron like mud!
Whoosh—! As the wind swept down, half the sword plunged straight into the "furnace" in Sion's chest.
Chen Ce knew this was Sion's greatest weakness.
The Black Rose's modifications had all stemmed from this magic reactor, like a furnace—the source of energy that had driven him to rise again in the body of the undead.
Crack... crack...
The blade slowly came free, and the core of the magic reactor was instantly covered in fractures.
Bang—! At last, the core shattered.
In an instant, Sion's already dark-gray flesh turned even blacker, like a corpse rapidly rotting away.
His massive body crashed to the ground, and his enormous double-bladed battle axe fell with him.
The Resistance Army soldiers on the city wall stared blankly for a moment, then burst into wave after wave of cheers.
That monster! It had been defeated!!
Everyone was saved! We're saved!!
"Chen Ce! That's Chen Ce! A warrior of our Second Legion!" Someone quickly recognized the hero who had slain Sion.
"I know him! He used to be a squad leader!" More people recognized him in turn. "I know him too! He was the squad leader who often sparred with our leader!"
"Chen Ce! Chen Ce! Chen Ce!"
"Chen Ce! Chen Ce!"
Their resounding cheers spread across the battlefield.
Only Karma remained worried. She shouted a warning: "Chen Ce! That monster's carrying a lot of chemtech weapons, and they're still releasing poison gas. Get away from him!"
"It's fine." Chen Ce smiled back. He really wasn't as afraid of the gas anymore.
The wind swirling around him would disperse the poisonous fog.
Of course, he wasn't lingering beside Sion's corpse to show off that trick or look cool. He was...
Guarding the body.
That's right. It wasn't over yet.
Sion would get back up again... and that would be when the real danger arrived.
"My respected Karma, I may need your help now."
Chen Ce took a deep breath and turned to look at the countless black specks on the horizon.
They were Noxian soldiers.
They were carrying huge quantities of chemtech weapons.
If their numbers were like those he'd encountered in Dragonspine Canyon, he could handle them all by himself. But there were enough of them to fill the entire horizon...
His Way of the Wanderer alone wasn't enough.
To handle both Sion, who was about to "rise from the dead," and that vast number of chemtech weapons, he needed Karma's help.
He needed to turn the gusts of the Way of the Wanderer into...
a tornado.
Chapter 59: Wind Swordsmanship? Tornado Swordsmanship!
Blood...
Death...
Pain, screams...
They're getting closer...
A thousand shattered bodies, burning houses... They're burning all around me...
It ended too soon! Not enough! Give me another!
People are watching. Their eyes are full of fear. If they're afraid to see victory, then I should rip those cowardly eyes right out!
War! Blood! Death!
I'm wounded. I can feel the ragged scars all over my body... but there's no pain. They thought I was dead. Now I'm their trophy. Fate is laughing out loud. I won't be caged! They'll regret not killing me when they had the chance!
Ionia's vermin! This place is a cold, damp pit!
Noxus! Demacia! Shurima! Freljord! Ionia!
Every land will tremble beneath the general's iron hooves! Leave their bodies strewn across the ground!
Braum... Is that you? I can hear you. What are you whispering?
Ravens... What are they saying now?
Chattering away!
Make them shut up!
When did I lose my leg?
I can still smell blood. Battle. It brings comfort.
Hunger is eating away at me. I haven't slept. Time crawls by. I'm so tired.
No... This isn't what I want...
I once crushed a king's fragile neck... I felt his final heartbeat in my grip. How crisp! How sweet!
Yes! This is what I crave!
Killing!
Blood!
Death does not claim me!
The Death Realm does not welcome me!
The secrets hidden deep within the Immortal Bastion tremble because of me!
War—!!
Chen Ce knew that Sion's "zombie" state wasn't limited to the Rift.
The Black Rose's modifications had two stages—or, rather, the forbidden black magic had two phases.
The first stage brought Sion, who had been dead for decades, back to his feet. It made his body huge and hard, like a solid boulder, and gave him immense strength.
The second stage came after his "death"—his second death.
Once his magic core was destroyed, the magic energy within it would pour out all at once, granting him even greater strength and making him more brutal and bloodthirsty.
So even though Chen Ce had defeated Sion at the cost of his own injuries, he didn't dare leave right away to deal with the Noxian Legion.
He had to guard that massive corpse.
"Everyone, get out of here!" he shouted to the Resistance Army soldiers on the wall, his voice ringing above their cheers. "Get as far away as you can! This monster isn't dead yet!"
Though they had plenty of questions, everyone immediately gathered their gear and left the nearest section of wall. Now wasn't the time to question him.
In an instant, the area within several hundred meters of Chen Ce became a no-man's-land. Everyone moved to the other side of the wall and took up their crossbows, preparing for the approaching Noxian Legion. The wagons they were escorting concealed those terrifying chemtech weapons.
"Chen Ce, what should I do?" Karma didn't know how Sion's "resurrection" worked or what terrible events were about to unfold, but she was willing to trust Chen Ce and help however she could.
"Two things." As he spoke, Chen Ce did his best to damage Sion's corpse, weakening him as much as possible before he came back to life.
"First, this monster named Sion is about to revive. I'll need you to shield me with magic and help me attack him."
"Second, when the wagons carrying the chemtech weapons get close, I need you to amplify my strength with everything you have—in whatever way you can."
"I've mastered the Way of the Wanderer, but I'll need you to strengthen me if I'm going to disperse all those terrifying chemtech weapons at once."
Karma nodded firmly, then looked a little surprised. "The Way of the Wanderer... I thought you were using another, similar technique. I didn't realize you'd actually mastered it. We haven't seen each other in only a few days, and you've already managed to surprise me."
"It's because I was lucky enough to stumble across an opportunity... But let's leave that for later." Time was short, and Chen Ce had no chance to explain. He could only blame himself for not showing everyone what he could do back when he first learned the Way of the Wanderer.
Soon, a faint tremor came from the massive corpse lying on the ground.
First his fingers, then his forearms... Next, his entire body began to convulse violently as a terrifying surge of black magic burst from his chest.
"Here it comes!" Chen Ce didn't dare withstand that powerful magical energy head-on and immediately retreated.
At the same time, Karma cast a magical shield over him, and Inner Flame was ready as well.
With a terrifying explosion, Sion stood up once more.
His body was in a terrible state. Every inch of skin and every exposed muscle was pitch-black, but they also seemed to brim with strength—more so than before.
He didn't pick up the giant axe lying on the ground. Instead, he roared and swung both fists.
His target, naturally, was the Ionian who had gravely wounded him earlier.
His intention was clear: he wanted the other man to taste death too.
"War—!"
His fist and roar came at Chen Ce together. Chen Ce instinctively tried to dodge, only to find that Sion was much faster than he'd expected. Despite his massive frame, he could throw punches faster than Sett.
Unable to dodge in time, Chen Ce had no choice but to activate Counter Strike and block the deadly punch with the shaft of Doran's Spear.
But he had still underestimated its force.
Even though Counter Strike perfectly blocked Sion's enormous fist, it couldn't absorb all that immense power. A violent jolt traveled along the spear and into Chen Ce's hand, nearly knocking it from his grasp.
The blow split his palm open, and blood flowed freely.
As the saying went, overwhelming strength could overcome a hundred techniques. Even the most perfect skill showed countless flaws in the face of absolute power.
"Karma, now!"
Chen Ce shouted. The spear in his right hand and the sword in his left struck at the same time, combining Three Talon Strike with the Way of the Wanderer. Rather than seeming awkward, the result looked a little like the legendary art of fighting with both hands independently.
That was what mastery brought: the ability to blend techniques seamlessly.
The spear and sword pierced Sion at the same time, tearing away a large chunk of rotting flesh.
At the same time, Karma's Inner Flame struck Sion. The spell wasn't quite as effective against a corpse as it would have been against a living person, but its powerful magic still dealt damage.
Before you continue