In the League, But It's the Taiwan Server System

For a moment, those Noxians who had been hurling alchemical weapons were left dumbfounded.

This, how could this be different from what the intelligence reports said...?

Wasn't it said that there was no one left in Placidium capable of countering alchemical weapons...?

It was one thing for Sion to be butchered, but why were the alchemical weapons failing too...?

They had been played!

Seeing that the alchemical weapons were ineffective, those cavalrymen who had intended to be the first to charge into the city to slaughter and claim the glory instantly turned their horses around, attempting to wait for the main force to catch up before trying to siege again—without even a battering ram in their hands, charging headlong was just asking for death.

[Necessary sacrifices] were only valid if they were actually necessary.

Throwing their lives away was entirely uncalled for.

"Retreat!!" the Noxian cavalry captain ordered loudly: "All cavalry, first—"

Halfway through his sentence, the rest of his words suddenly stuck in his throat.

He widened his eyes in terror.

Because...

He discovered... that the terrifying toxic mist...

Was sweeping toward them!

Yes, while Chen Ce could not use the power of the gale to forcibly blow the mist back, he could use the absorption effect of his Wind Wall to draw it in and then release it again—there was no "thrust" from blowing, but it was enough to alter the direction of the mist's spread.

Although the mist spread very slowly on its own, changing its direction was more than enough.

"Run! Run! Don't look back!!" the Noxian cavalry captain roared as he began to flee.

But unfortunately, Chen Ce did not want to waste his hard-won "Musou Time."

Karma's empowerment was not something he received every day.

If he didn't take this opportunity to kill more enemies, wouldn't that be a massive loss?

Without the slightest hesitation, he hoisted his greatsword and leaped down from the city wall.

With the help of the gale, his sprinting speed far exceeded the human record, and was not even slower than horses running for their lives.

Although the [Sweeping Blade] skill did not perfectly suit a greatsword, it made little difference when dealing with ordinary people.

The cavalrymen didn't even dare to fight back because of the toxic mist chasing them from behind—they might not die from a single strike of the greatsword, but if they slowed down and were touched by the mist... that would truly be worse than death.

They had completely collapsed.

Like a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

This surprise attack, which had been considered a sure victory, had ultimately devolved into a one-sided massacre...

A full half-hour later, Chen Ce's figure, dragging his greatsword, appeared on the horizon once more.

Behind him, there were no more Noxian soldiers.

There were only piles and swathes of corpses beneath his feet.

The toxic mist beneath the city walls had yet to dissipate, so no one dared to leave the city, but upon seeing their companion return, everyone felt a heartfelt sense of relief.

Soon, all sorts of praises and cheers rang through the sky, and every surviving Resistance Army soldier celebrated this hard-won victory—in war, no one knew when they would die; it could be the next battle, or it could be tomorrow.

While one is still alive, one should enjoy life to the fullest.

"It really wasn't easy..." Karma, as the spiritual representative of Ionia, appeared no different from an ordinary person—slightly weary, yet unable to hide her smile.

She sang along with the others, chanting the most simple and melodious ballads of this land, the joyful atmosphere temporarily drowning out the pain of war.

Strangely, however, they waited for quite a while but Chen Ce never joined their "choir."

The crowd looked down to see that Chen Ce had reached the base of the city wall, but he was lingering there, refusing to come up.

He had stopped in front of Sion's shattered corpse.

"What's wrong? Is our great hero too tired to climb up?" a soldier from the Second Legion joked, "Do you want me to carry you up? Or should we ask our great leader to come down and hold you?"

"Hey, hey, hey, are you trying to get yourself killed, kid?" the others immediately burst into laughter—by now, who didn't know about the relationship between Chen Ce and their leader?

The atmosphere grew increasingly harmonious.

But Chen Ce was in no mood to joke with them.

He was currently staring cautiously at Sion's corpse.

It wasn't that he feared the latter would suddenly come back to life, but rather...

He had spotted something strange inside the magical reactor on the creature's chest...

If he wasn't mistaken, it appeared to be...

A perfectly intact Black Rose?

Sion had been dead for quite some time, and having suffered such violent attacks in the storm earlier, how could a perfectly intact rose still be on his body?

Moreover, this wasn't a fake flower, but a genuine, living one.

An enchanting, black rose.

Chen Ce instantly thought of a terrifying name—LeBlanc.

The Deceiver, LeBlanc.

The notorious Pale Lady within the borders of Noxus.

If it truly were her, the situation was far from optimistic...

That old woman, who had lived for who knows how many centuries, possessed a vast array of methods...

Troublesome, truly troublesome...

The horn of counterattack had sounded, and Chen Ce would not let such a golden opportunity slip by.

The Noxian battle group that had landed on Fae'lor Island was essentially wiped out; the few remaining deserters were of no consequence and required no extra effort to mop up. The primary target now should be the remaining Noxian legions led by Emystan.

That vicious woman would stop at nothing to win the war, devoid of all humanity. Today she dared to purchase large quantities of alchemical weapons from Zaun to conduct chemical attacks, and tomorrow she would dare to capture innocent Ionian people for live experiments.

She was truly a pervert of the highest order.

Although the ancients said that all is fair in war, "deception" and "inhumanity" were absolutely not the same thing.

War is indeed cruel, yes, but one must distinguish between "cruelty" and "madness"—when someone like Emystan would even use her own people to test the power of new weapons for the sake of victory, who could claim she fought for her country or her people?

She merely sought to satisfy her own selfish desires—perhaps the greed to amass wealth and elevate her status through war, or perhaps simply a lust for slaughter.

For such scum, one must show no mercy.

Her death would be the greatest contribution to this world.

But before hunting her down, Chen Ce had two more things to do.

The first was to warn all Resistance Army soldiers: if they discovered an unfamiliar ally by their side or encountered a comrade they hadn't seen in a long time—or one who had already passed away—they must flee immediately and report it to their superiors.

Because such was the ability of the "Pale Lady."

She—LeBlanc—was as elusive as the rumors surrounding her, as fleeting as the illusions that gave her form. Perhaps even she did not know her own identity, having spent centuries mimicking and deceiving.

She possessed the ability to change her appearance at will, even using eerie magic to summon countless identical or different clones, appearing in multiple places at the same time—sometimes separated by thousands of miles.

Even within the secret society of the Black Rose, she remained a mystery; even the name "LeBlanc" was merely one of many aliases. This pale-skinned woman had been manipulating figures great and small, driving the course of events since the early days of the Noxian empire.

It had been hundreds of years.

This deceptive old woman had spent centuries using her illusions to disrupt order and sow chaos.

There were even rumors that a new woman ascended to the position of leader in every generation, but such an answer only invited more questions—which one was the "true" original? When she spoke, was it truly her own voice?

No one knew the truth of the matter.

Even Chen Ce, who knew the history of Runeterra and even some future events, could not fathom this wicked woman.

Thus, he could only issue this seemingly absurd warning to the Ionian Resistance Army—after all, who would believe a deceased comrade could reappear by their side? Even if they did appear, who would believe it?

Hmm... yes, not everyone could grasp the terror of LeBlanc—her ability went far beyond her powerful magic and mana; what should truly inspire fear were her methods of playing with the human heart.

Truth, at times, could also be tampered with.

For this deceiver who could appear at any time in any place, Chen Ce found himself hard-pressed to defend against her.

Therefore, he decided to attend to the second task first—visiting Irelia.

"How are you feeling?"

As soon as Chen Ce entered the room, he saw Irelia just sitting up from her bed—her complexion was somewhat pale, and her shoulder and right arm were wrapped in bandages.

Fortunately, Ahri had given her a Corrupting Potion earlier, so her external wounds had healed significantly, though she remained generally exhausted.

After all, she had physically withstood Sion's brutal charge.

No matter how exquisite her Blade Mastery or how strong her physical constitution, she was still just a normal human girl, appearing somewhat fragile compared to a monster like Sion, who had been modified by the Black Rose.

From another perspective, the fact that she could successfully withstand supernatural power with a mortal body was enough to prove her excellence and strength.

If it had been anyone else, they likely would have been flattened by that terrifying force before Sion even touched them.

At the very least, Chen Ce admitted he could not have successfully blocked a full-strength Sion without Karma's enhancement.

The reason he had succeeded earlier was at least seventy percent due to the damage Irelia and Karma had already inflicted on Sion—they had severed one of his arms and half a leg, significantly reducing both his speed and the force of his charge.

The courage Irelia showed by standing before Sion without hesitation had already surpassed the vast majority of people in this world.

"I'm fine... how is the situation on the front lines?" Even with her injuries, her primary concern remained the war.

"We have achieved a complete victory; the invading Noxian legions have been essentially wiped out," Chen Ce reassured her. "It's over now. The most important thing is, how are you feeling?"

Hearing that the front lines were stable, Irelia finally set her anxious heart at ease.

But the physical pain began to follow.

"I... well... honestly, I'm a bit dizzy, and the wounds still ache a little... but thanks to your medicine, I'm much better than before—there's nothing seriously wrong."

"That's good." Chen Ce nodded, relieved. "In any case, make sure to get plenty of rest. I won't be leaving for the next few days, so just leave anything you need done to me."

"Mm..." Irelia wore a rare, girlish expression, making a move to lean against him.

But just then, another figure appeared at the doorway.

A figure with a tail.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk..." A voice filled with mockery followed immediately after.

Irelia straightened her back instantly, as if the exhaustion from a moment ago had been an act.

"What's wrong? Perhaps This Concubine has come at a bad time?" Ahri's tone sounded anything but normal.

"Ahem... um... no... Miss Ahri, you've come at just the right time..." Irelia forced a look of composure, though the slight beads of cold sweat on her forehead betrayed her.

In truth, she wasn't afraid of being caught by Ahri—on the contrary, she actually wished Ahri would face reality and understand her place. It was just that she didn't want to start any conflict with her right now.

After all, the woman had just helped her earlier.

As for that mocking tone... Heh, she wouldn't lower herself to bicker with a little fox.

"My, my, Boss really does enjoy playing with such exciting things~" Ahri remained full of mockery.

Fortunately, two more people walked in shortly after, breaking the near-"bizarre" atmosphere.

It was Karma and Riven, who had also come to check on Irelia's injuries.

"It is truly a relief to see that you are unharmed..." Karma, unaware of what the three of them were doing, simply walked straight up and gave Irelia a warm hug—even pushing Chen Ce aside in the process.

"My, my, looks like someone isn't getting a hug~" Ahri continued to stir the pot.

Irelia felt a sudden wave of embarrassment.

Riven, equally straightforward, didn't notice anything unusual either.