The Taiwan Server System in the League

Is that... the scent of magic?

"Back away, Ahri!"

"Eh...? Oh...!" Ahri didn't understand what had just happened, but she obediently retreated out of the house.

Now she finally saw what Chen Ce had struck—a magic crystal orb.

The explosion from moments ago had come from that orb, and the magical energy contained within it now lay scattered on the floor along with a pile of crystal shards.

Clap, clap, clap...

"Wow, such quick reflexes." Emystan, having freed her wrists from their bindings somehow, smiled and applauded. "You truly surprise me, Mr. Chen Ce."

"...Who are you?" Chen Ce stared at the woman before him, his guard instantly raised as he unslung the Black Stone Rune Greatsword from his back.

There was no doubt; this woman, so proficient in magic, was certainly not Emystan—Emystan herself did not possess such formidable power.

The magic crystal orb that had attempted to ambush Ahri contained power that was not even a whit weaker than Ahri's Twin Gemstone.

Even though he had detected it and acted at the first possible moment, his right arm was still streaming with blood from the blast...

"Who am I? Well, who am I indeed?" The woman offered a cunning smile, leaning back against her chair with complete ease. "Theoretically speaking... I should be Emystan. Yes, I am the very Emystan you are looking for."

"It seems you have already killed her..." Chen Ce took a deep breath, using a moment of Meditation to stem the bleeding from his arm.

At the same time, a new suspicion began to form regarding the woman before him—the worst-case scenario.

The Pale Lady—The Deceiver, LeBlanc.

"LeBlanc... you are as cunning as ever..."

"Oh? You guessed it so quickly?" The woman maintained her smile. "Was it the rose I gifted you earlier that tipped you off? Is that why you have remained in such a state of high alert?"

Chen Ce did not reply, which served as a half-admission.

"Do you know why I chose to remind you?" LeBlanc's avatar smiled again, and countless black magical energies resembling rose petals suddenly flickered across her body.

A moment later, her true appearance was revealed to Chen Ce—well, perhaps this was not her true face either, but at least it was the Deceiver as Chen Ce remembered her.

The sorceress with the perfect figure and exquisite features, yet skin so pale it lacked any trace of blood.

"This was a small test, Mr. Chen Ce—and clearly, you have passed."

"If I hadn't, I suppose you would have killed me along with Ahri just now..." Chen Ce narrowed his eyes. The power of the gale slowly condensed within his blade, and the broken sword reformed into a complete greatsword.

"Hmm... you are quite right." LeBlanc's laughter was playful, yet possessed a chilling allure. "After all, the Black Rose has no need for useless people."

"What a coincidence, I never had any intention of joining your Black Rose."

"Refusing others so decisively is not a good habit... By the way, is that Riven's sword you have there? Did she give it to you?"

"That is none of your concern."

"I see, so it is. But why is her sword broken like this? It is a top-tier piece of craftsmanship; she really doesn't know how to cherish things... just like you."

As she spoke, LeBlanc suddenly struck, a terrifying mass of magical energy erupting from a staff that appeared from nowhere, moving with a speed too fast to track.

Fortunately, Chen Ce had been prepared.

The gale manipulated by the Way of the Wanderer not only reassembled the shattered Black Stone Rune Greatsword but also formed a rapidly flowing wall of wind before him.

[Wind Wall]

The wind wall blocked LeBlanc's magic without a hitch, and Chen Ce immediately lunged forward to deliver a strike.

He knew well the terror of LeBlanc, but he also understood that her direct combat ability might not be as exaggerated as rumored; testing her with a few exchanges should not be an issue.

Since LeBlanc had appeared, he had to be prepared for a long-term confrontation with her.

And when dealing with this terrifying old woman, the most important thing was to gather as much intelligence as possible—everything about her.

Combat data, her true face, whatever he could get his hands on; as long as he could understand her more comprehensively, it would suffice.

"Oh? Not only do you not run, but you take the initiative to attack me?" LeBlanc chuckled, her slender figure vanishing in an instant.

When she reappeared, she was already beside Ahri.

The latter was startled and hurriedly threw her two Twin Gemstones, attempting to drain LeBlanc's life essence directly.

Regrettably, before the Twin Gemstones could even reach her, LeBlanc vanished once more.

This time, she appeared directly behind Chen Ce.

It wasn't the same position as before.

It was different from the [Distortion] seen in the Rift.

"Are you looking for me, cute little boy?" The playful, alluring laughter came from behind him, and Chen Ce immediately channeled all his strength to turn and slash.

The immense power, accompanied by a gale, was unleashed, effectively "uprooting" the fragile, makeshift house.

In a mere moment, the walls were severed, and everything inside the house was torn into shreds by the wind.

Yet, only that playful laughter persisted.

"It is merely a reflection in the mirror, a moon in the water~ You cannot touch me, little boy. Just as you can never reach the new moon in the water."

LeBlanc continued to mock him, yet she made no further move—as if that shattered magic crystal orb had been her only means of attack, and now that it was gone, she had nothing left.

Chen Ce followed the direction of the laughter, only to see that cunning woman standing atop a crumbling roof, her dark golden eyes cast toward another direction.

Karma and Irelia were approaching.

The commotion from their earlier struggle had drawn their attention, along with countless Resistance Army soldiers following in their wake.

Seeing this, LeBlanc simply put away her staff, seemingly having no intention of continuing the skirmish.

"This generation's Karma looks quite young... but her power is not weak, and she specializes in magic, which is a bit troublesome for me." She sat upon her floating staff, her long legs wrapped in black over-the-knee socks swinging without a care.

"Today is not a good day for a fight; let us consider this our first meeting."

"If possible, I truly hope there won't be a second." Knowing full well he couldn't harm her, Chen Ce sheathed his weapon as well.

"There will be... do think it over carefully, Mr. Chen Ce~"

Accompanied by a meaningful laugh, LeBlanc's body vanished once more.

Yet this time, she did not leave empty-handed—a pale, lifeless corpse tumbled from where she had stood, crashing heavily onto the ground.

This was the real Emystan.

In other words... the LeBlanc from moments ago had merely been using magic to manipulate this corpse, rather than appearing in her true form.

It wasn't even a clone or a mirror image.

It was nothing more than an incredibly lifelike illusion.

No wonder she had only attacked once using the magic crystal ball...

"Chen Ce!" Karma and Irelia arrived on the scene. "Are you alright? Did you encounter a powerful enemy?"

"I'm fine." Chen Ce shook his head and gave a rough summary of what had just transpired.

However, he did not tell them everything.

He kept one detail hidden from them...

On his right arm, where he had been grazed by the magic crystal ball, a mark of a black rose had appeared...

Chapter 63: Samira's Apology, Such Great Sincerity

After several hours, the Resistance Army led by Irelia and the others finally fully captured Emystan's battle camp.

The soldiers were exhausted after a day and night of fighting, so Irelia ordered them to rest in the camp for the night and return to the Placidium the following morning.

During this time, Irelia and Chen Ce specifically picked out several Noxian soldiers of higher status and rank from the prisoners, handing them over to Ahri to extract their memories in hopes of gaining useful intelligence regarding the war or the Black Rose.

Unfortunately, without exception, Ahri only obtained useless information.

Clearly, the well-prepared LeBlanc had already silenced everyone who knew anything—just as she had killed Emystan.

With no other choice, they had to give up.

Late at night, Chen Ce politely declined the invitation from Irelia and Ahri to "come to our room for some fun tonight," locking himself inside a dilapidated wooden shack in a remote corner of the camp.

He had one very important thing left to do.

He needed to carefully examine the magic mark on his arm—the one shaped like a black rose.

"Sigil of Malice, LeBlanc's Q skill... it doesn't quite look like it..."

"It doesn't itch or hurt; it looks just like an ordinary tattoo..."

"Given LeBlanc's cunning nature and modus operandi... could it be something for surveillance or eavesdropping...?"

"No, that shouldn't be it... theoretically, she shouldn't have that capability, otherwise she wouldn't have been repeatedly thwarted by Swain, who actually possesses such powers..."

"What on earth is it..."

The more Chen Ce thought about it, the stranger it seemed, so he simply reached out and rubbed it hard a few times.

But the result was obvious—the thing was as if it had grown into his flesh; it wouldn't rub off at all.

What if he tried injecting mana into the skin around it...?

No, there was no reaction whatsoever...

No matter what he did to the strange mark, there was not the slightest response, as if it were truly a birthmark grown into his skin.

After some deliberation, Chen Ce decided to try one last thing—a somewhat extreme method.

If this didn't work, he would just have to ignore it for the time being.

"It covers quite a large area... I'll have to eat something good tomorrow to compensate myself."

Chen Ce muttered to himself as he pulled a blade fragment from his pack.

He aimed the sharp edge of the fragment at his arm—specifically at the spot bearing the strange mark.

Then, he exerted force.

Pfft—!

The sharp blade fragment pierced into his flesh instantly. Although he precisely controlled the depth of the cut, the large surface area required for the incision still resulted in heavy bleeding.

If he were injured on the battlefield, the adrenaline and other hormones surging through his body would temporarily suppress the pain, but that was not the case now.

A sharp, intense pain struck him, and Chen Ce couldn't help but frown.

As the blood gushed out and he confirmed the incision was sufficient, he immediately entered a state of Meditation. The ethereal energy of the Spirit Realm barely suppressed the physical pain and smoothed over his mental unrest.

Soon, the bleeding ceased under the healing effects of his Meditation, and the damaged flesh began to mend.

Within minutes, the shocking wound had recovered as if it had never been there.

But... that mark had also reappeared along with the newly grown skin.

Even cutting away the flesh had failed to erase that bizarre mark.

It was like a mole or a birthmark; even if the skin was damaged, it would simply manifest again once the tissue regenerated.

"Damn it all..." Chen Ce, having suffered a knife wound for nothing, couldn't help but curse under his breath.

Since he couldn't get rid of it, he would just have to leave it be for now.

If LeBlanc really intended to use this magic mark to do something to him later... he would just have to deal with it when the time came.

When soldiers come, block them; when water comes, earth covers it. That was all he could do for the moment.

With this thought, Chen Ce stood up, preparing to find Irelia to discuss plans and preparations for the future war against Noxus.

But just then, he caught the sound of extremely light, cautious footsteps outside the door.

Immediately after, the doorknob, which should have been locked, was gently turned.

Chen Ce had already gripped his weapon in vigilance.

Yet, the moment he saw who it was, his hand loosened its grip on the hilt—he recognized the visitor and knew full well that she posed no threat to him.

A one-eyed woman with skin the color of Amazonian chocolate.

A double agent who should have been in Noxus at this very moment.

Desert Rose, Samira.

Thud. Before Chen Ce could speak, Samira forcefully dropped to one knee, proactively displaying a gesture of submission.