A lack of effectiveness didn't mean it had no effect.
In an instant, Sion let out another pained roar.
He wanted to grab Chen Ce, but with one leg missing, his body was at a serious disadvantage—even if his fists and movements were fast, it was hard to outrun his opponent with only one leg.
Karma felt a little relieved at the sight. Sion was having trouble moving, so she just needed to keep a safe distance and attack from range. Sooner or later, she could wear him down.
But the very next moment, Sion did something she hadn't expected—
He stopped fixating on chasing Chen Ce and instead turned and charged toward the corpses of the Resistance Army soldiers he had crushed earlier.
He stuffed the mangled corpses into his mouth.
Crunch... crunch...
The sound of bones being chewed was horrifying.
Unclotted blood trickled down his esophagus, then gathered in a peculiar way inside the magic core in his chest.
Then his broken body began to rapidly regenerate... first the parts wounded by blades and flames, then the leg Chen Ce had cut off.
In no time, most of his wounds had healed.
Karma was shocked.
Fortunately, Chen Ce had seen this coming and already had a plan. He knew Sion too well.
The sword in his hand rang with the roar of the wind once more.
"Karma, lend me your power!"
At the call, Karma immediately came to her senses and focused all her strength on gathering energy from the Spirit Realm for her companion, using the Spirit of Ionia as a conduit.
In an instant, Chen Ce felt power unlike anything he had ever experienced.
The gale gathered along his sword's edge was greatly strengthened as well.
The gale was about to become a tornado.
Just like the "complete form" of Yasuo in the cinematic.
Perhaps even stronger.
Too bad Yasuo wasn't here, or he'd have to shout:
"Watch closely, Yasuo! This is how you use the Way of the Wanderer!"
"Hasaki!"
The fierce gale surged forward with the swing of his blade, so powerful that it formed the shape of a tornado.
Everything along its path was swept up, and then the tornado slammed straight into Sion.
The tremendous force lifted Sion's massive body, which weighed over a ton, more than ten meters off the ground.
At that moment, Chen Ce suddenly sensed something—a call from the sword in his hand.
That was right. The blade was calling to him.
It was a unique sword intent.
A supreme sword intent that could only be grasped in an instant.
[Last Breath]
Chen Ce closed his eyes and let his body move with that sword intent alone, as if it were a sudden muscle memory.
When he opened his eyes again, the blade had already left countless cuts across Sion's body.
And he had appeared at the center of the storm.
Countless sword shadows swept past like gusts of wind.
"Suolieeikietong!"
PS:
I'd like to ask what you readers think: would you prefer shorter chapters in the future (2K words per chapter, 10 cat biscuits), longer chapters (4K words per chapter, 20 cat biscuits), or medium-length chapters like this one (3K words per chapter, 15 cat biscuits)?
As for the pros and cons, shorter chapters have a higher chance of being forced into awkward cliffhangers (Cola has been criticized for this quite a few times...), but each chapter costs less. Longer chapters, on the other hand, are less likely to end on a cliffhanger, but each one costs more (although the actual price is the same, since the website sets prices according to chapter length and authors can't adjust them).
If you'd prefer short chapters, my friends, post "1" in the comments below. If you'd prefer long chapters, post "2"; if you'd prefer medium-length chapters, post "3." Cola will decide based on your feedback!
Chapter 60: The Black Rose Will Bloom Again
The terrifying tornado swept across the entire battlefield.
Many Noxian soldiers who failed to get out of its way were instantly swept into the air by the powerful gale. When they fell back down, they were mangled corpses—the terrifying wind blades tore apart their fragile bodies, and the impact of the fall crushed their internal organs, ultimately taking their lives.
At the very center of the storm, the "Noxian monster" they had placed so much hope in was also suffering terrifying damage. Chen Ce's Last Breath struck him with its full force, and the dense sword shadows shattered his limbs.
That was the Way of the Wanderer, empowered by Karma.
It might not have been invincible in the world—not even in Ionia—but it was undoubtedly at the pinnacle of human physical combat.
It was more than enough to deal with one Sion.
Boom—!!!
The blade storm ended, and Chen Ce and the gravely wounded Sion hit the ground at the same time.
The sword in Chen Ce's hand wasn't some divine weapon. It was a weapon he had taken from a gladiator in the Underground Fighting Pit. In a battle of this caliber, it couldn't withstand Sion's exceptionally tough flesh for long, nor could it withstand the strength of an empowered Chen Ce. Cracks quickly appeared along the blade.
With his final thrust, the sword broke completely.
Unfortunately, Sion still hadn't been fully defeated.
He crawled toward the broken corpses, then restored part of his body by devouring their flesh.
Even as Chen Ce and Karma attacked him relentlessly, they still couldn't stop his limbs from regenerating.
Things weren't looking good. If Sion ate any more, all their previous efforts would be for nothing.
Fortunately, they still had help.
A brilliant Twin Gemstone fell from the wall and struck Sion squarely in the chest.
As the gems were pulled back by magic, a strange energy from the Spirit Realm burst directly inside Sion's magic core.
Sion's movements briefly stiffened.
Just then, Ahri called out from the wall: "Boss, catch!"
Chen Ce looked up and saw a broken black greatsword flying toward him.
That was... Riven's Black Stone Rune Greatsword!
"Try using your Way of the Wanderer to activate it!" Riven shouted right after. "The magic within this sword is very similar to the power of the gale. It should work!"
"Got it, thanks!" Chen Ce reached out and caught the broken Black Stone Rune Greatsword.
Riven had said she wouldn't kill again or take part in the fighting directly, but she would help the Resistance Army as compensation. Her actions now were clearly how she was helping them.
A good quartermaster did more than just boil water and cook.
Making sure the Resistance Army soldiers had weapons was also part of the job.
The instant the greatsword landed in his hand, Chen Ce followed the sword intent in his heart and called forth the gale.
The wind began to rise, and Riven immediately tossed down the remaining fragments of the greatsword.
In an instant, the fragments of a blade that had once symbolized slaughter, sin, betrayal, and shame began to reassemble.
It worked!
"The day the broken blade is reforged..." Chen Ce felt the great power within the sword.
The broken sections still bore plenty of obvious cracks, but the power of the runes and the gale surrounding them made the blade strong enough.
"Use it to defeat Sion!" Riven shouted. "Use the weapon the empire gave you to defeat the empire's killing machine! This war is meaningless. Don't let anyone else die!"
"Once we've driven out every invader... I'll do as you wish!"
Chen Ce took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the greatsword.
The next moment, the power of the gale and the runes erupted together. A savage force burst from the blade and charged straight at Sion.
A perfect combination of Steel Tempest and Wind Slash!
Thump—!
With enough power behind a weapon sturdy enough to withstand it, even Sion's rock-hard flesh proved helpless.
In a single instant, his massive body was severed at the waist.
Chen Ce, Karma, and Ahri naturally weren't about to waste this chance. They immediately unleashed their full power against the fallen body.
This time, Sion didn't even have a chance to eat flesh and replenish his strength.
In just a dozen seconds, his massive body had been reduced to a heap of mangled flesh, and the magic core the Black Rose had given him was completely shattered.
He wouldn't get a third chance to come back to life.
At last, it was all over.
Having dealt with their biggest threat, Chen Ce didn't celebrate prematurely. He immediately turned to look at the other side of the battlefield.
There was still another, smaller threat—the Noxian Legion carrying alchemical weapons.
Over three hundred warhorses dragged countless alchemical weapons toward them, nearly filling the entire horizon.
The Resistance Army soldiers shot flaming arrows at them, hoping to detonate the deadly poison gas along the way. But the Noxians weren't fools. They would never let their weapons explode beside their own men. They held thick steel plates in front of the double-eared clay jars to keep the arrows from hitting them directly.
If a steel plate slipped during the horses' charge, they would even use their own bodies to block the arrows, just to make sure the alchemical weapons reached the wall safely and exploded there.
The Noxians called it a "necessary sacrifice."
"These things are a bit of a problem..." Karma furrowed her brows, something she rarely did. "There are so many alchemical weapons that even a tornado would have trouble scattering them all at once..."
Chen Ce nodded calmly. "That's true. A tornado as powerful as the one just now takes a lot out of me, so I can't use it repeatedly. One or two wouldn't be enough to disperse all the poisonous fumes coming from every direction."
"Then... what was the solution you mentioned earlier?"
"If I can't blow them away, then I won't."
"What...?" Karma looked both confused and startled. For a moment, she even wondered if she had misheard him.
But Chen Ce's next move proved that she hadn't—
"Everyone, get behind the wall!" Chen Ce shouted as he leaped toward it. "Don't get bogged down in the fighting! Fall back to the wall!"
"Chen Ce...? What are you planning to do?" Karma was completely bewildered, but she followed him anyway.
"If I can't blow them back, I'll block them instead," Chen Ce explained casually. "While the 'Transcendent' state you gave me is still active, I can create the largest Wind Wall in the world—perhaps the largest in history."
Karma was still confused, but this clearly wasn't the time to ask questions.
The two quickly leaped onto the wall, then turned to face the Noxian cavalry charging toward them without regard for their lives, watching as the terrifying alchemical weapons drew closer and closer.
A familiar, acrid smell stirred painful memories in Riven, even making her physically ill for a moment. But she still stood resolutely in front of the Ionian people—the people she had once hurt.
They were getting closer.
The iron hooves of the warhorses made the earth tremble, while the smell of the alchemical weapons turned the air acrid. From start to finish, these Noxian invaders had done nothing but harm this beautiful land.
At last, they came close enough to the wall.
Hundreds of warhorses, dozens of carriages, and countless alchemical weapons were hurled forcefully by the Noxians.
Then came the fire arrows and torches used to ignite those alchemical weapons.
In an instant, hundreds of meters of wall were engulfed in chemical flames.
By then, the Black Stone Rune Greatsword in Chen Ce's hands had also gathered enough gale.
With Karma's help, his [understanding] of nature had grown several times stronger. Along with the boost to his magic and strength, every skill he used was now far more powerful than usual.
The gale could become a tornado, and Wind Wall could become a "wall" of its own.
"Face the wind!"
Chen Ce swung the greatsword in his hands with all his strength. The power of the gale within it poured out in an instant.
An enhanced [Wind Wall], more than a hundred meters long, abruptly formed. It wasn't very thick, but it was just enough to protect everyone behind the wall.
The exploding alchemical weapons went out as soon as they touched the Wind Wall. Both the chemical flames and the poison gas were completely absorbed.
Before you continue