Was that... the presence of magic?
"Get back, Ahri!"
"Huh...? Oh...!" Ahri had no idea what had just happened, but she obediently retreated outside.
Now she could finally see what Chen Ce had stabbed: a magic crystal ball.
The explosion had come from the crystal ball. The magic energy inside it had spilled onto the ground along with a pile of shattered crystal.
Clap, clap, clap...
"Wow, quick reflexes." Emystan had somehow slipped the ropes around her wrists. She smiled and applauded. "You've surprised me, Mr. Chen Ce."
"...Who are you?" Chen Ce watched the woman in front of him, instantly on guard. He took the Black Stone Rune Greatsword off his back.
There was no doubt about it: this woman, who was so skilled in magic, couldn't be Emystan. Emystan herself wasn't this powerful.
The magic crystal ball that had tried to ambush Ahri had held enough power to rival her Twin Gemstones.
Even though Chen Ce had spotted it and acted at once, the explosion had left his right arm streaming with blood...
"Who am I? Well, who am I?" The woman gave a sly smile and leaned back in her chair, perfectly at ease. "In theory... I should be called Emystan. That's right, I'm the Emystan you're looking for."
"Looks like you've already killed her..." Chen Ce took a deep breath and used a brief Meditation to stop the bleeding in his arm.
At the same time, he began to suspect something else about the woman before him—the worst possibility.
The Pale Lady—the Deceiver, LeBlanc.
"LeBlanc... you're as cunning as ever..."
"Oh? You guessed so quickly?" The woman's smile remained. "Was it the rose I gave you that tipped you off? Is that why you've been on your guard the whole time?"
Chen Ce didn't answer, which was half an admission.
"Then do you know why I wanted to warn you?" LeBlanc's avatar smiled again. Suddenly, countless wisps of black magic, like rose petals, flickered across her body.
A moment later, her true appearance came into view. Well, perhaps it wasn't her true appearance either, but at least she looked like the Deceiver Chen Ce remembered.
The sorceress with a stunning figure and exquisite features, but skin so pale it seemed bloodless.
"This was a little test, Mr. Chen Ce—and clearly, you passed."
"If I hadn't, you would've killed Ahri and me just now..." Chen Ce narrowed his eyes. The power of the wind slowly gathered along his blade, and the broken sword became a whole greatsword once more.
"Mm... you're right." LeBlanc's laugh was teasing, yet carried a chilling allure. "After all, the Black Rose has no use for people who can't do anything."
"Funny. I've never wanted to join your Black Rose."
"Rejecting people so bluntly isn't a good habit... By the way, is that Riven's sword you're holding? Did she give it to you?"
"That's none of your business."
"So she did. But how did her sword end up in such a state? It's a fine blade. She really doesn't know how to take care of it... just like you."
As she spoke, LeBlanc suddenly attacked. A terrifying burst of magic shot from a staff that had appeared from who knew where, moving too quickly to track.
Fortunately, Chen Ce had been ready.
The wind controlled by the Way of the Wanderer had not only reassembled the broken Black Stone Rune Greatsword, but also formed a rapidly swirling wall of wind in front of him.
[Wind Wall]
The Wind Wall stopped LeBlanc's magic without a hitch. Chen Ce immediately rushed forward and swung his sword.
He knew how terrifying LeBlanc was, but he also knew that her ability in direct combat might not be all that overwhelming. He could probably trade a few probing blows with her without too much trouble.
Now that LeBlanc had shown herself, he had to prepare for a long struggle against her.
And when dealing with a terrifying old woman like her, the most important thing was to gather as much information as possible—anything he could learn about her.
Combat data or her true appearance, it didn't matter. He would collect whatever he could, as long as it helped him understand her more fully.
"Oh? You're not running away. You're actually attacking me?" LeBlanc chuckled, and her graceful figure abruptly vanished.
When she appeared again, she was beside Ahri.
Ahri was startled. She hurriedly flung both pairs of Twin Gemstones at LeBlanc, trying to drain the life essence right out of her.
Unfortunately, before the Twin Gemstones could even reach her, LeBlanc vanished again.
This time, she appeared directly behind Chen Ce.
Not in the same spot as before.
It wasn't like Distortion on the Rift... not at all.
"Looking for me, cutie?" A teasing, alluring laugh came from behind him. Chen Ce immediately brought all his strength to bear and spun around with a slash.
His powerful strike unleashed a blast of wind that tore the fragile, makeshift house right off its foundations.
In an instant, the walls were cut apart, and everything inside was ripped to shreds by the wind.
But the teasing laughter alone continued without end.
"It's only a mirage~ You can't touch me, cutie. Just as you'll never reach the moon reflected in the water."
LeBlanc kept taunting him, but made no further move—as though that shattered magic crystal ball had been her only means of attack, and she had lost it.
Chen Ce looked in the direction of the laughter and saw the cunning woman standing on the roof, which was about to collapse. Her dark golden eyes, however, were fixed on another direction.
Karma and Irelia had arrived.
The commotion had caught their attention. Countless Resistance Army soldiers had also rushed over at the sound.
Seeing them, LeBlanc put away her staff, apparently unwilling to keep fighting.
"This generation's Karma looks young... but her power is formidable, and she specializes in magic. That could be troublesome for me." She sat atop her floating staff, letting her long legs, clad in black thigh-high stockings, swing without the slightest care.
"Today's not a good day for a fight. Let's call this our first meeting."
"If I had a choice, I'd rather there not be a second." Chen Ce knew he couldn't hurt her, so he put away his weapon as well.
"There will be... Think it over carefully, Mr. Chen Ce~"
With a meaningful laugh, LeBlanc vanished again.
And this time, she left something behind—a corpse as pale as chalk tumbled from where she had stood and slammed heavily onto the ground.
This was the real Emystan.
In other words... LeBlanc had been using magic to control the corpse, not appearing there in person.
It wasn't even one of her clones—or illusions.
It was merely an incredibly lifelike apparition.
No wonder she had only attacked once, using the magic crystal ball...
"Chen Ce!" Karma and Irelia hurried over. "Are you all right? Did you run into a powerful enemy?"
"I'm fine." Chen Ce shook his head and gave them a rough account of what had happened.
But he didn't tell them everything.
He kept one thing from the two of them...
A mark of the Black Rose had appeared on his right arm, where the magic crystal ball had injured him...
Chapter 63: Samira's Apology—and What a Generous Gesture
After several hours, the Resistance Army, led by Irelia and the others, finally captured Emystan's entire military camp.
The soldiers had been fighting for a day and a night, and were exhausted in body and mind. Irelia ordered them to spend the night in the camp and return to Placidium the following morning.
Meanwhile, Irelia and Chen Ce picked out several Noxian soldiers of high rank and status from among the prisoners. They had Ahri extract their memories, hoping to find useful information about the war or the Black Rose.
Unfortunately, without exception, Ahri found nothing useful.
Clearly, LeBlanc had already silenced everyone in the know, just as she had killed Emystan.
With no other choice, they gave up.
Late that night, Chen Ce turned down invitations from the two young women, Irelia and Ahri, to "come to my room and see something nice." He locked himself alone in a remote, ramshackle wooden hut in the camp.
He still had something important to do.
He needed to take a close look at the magical mark on his arm—the one shaped like a black rose.
"Sigil of Malice. LeBlanc's Q, maybe...? Doesn't really seem like it..."
"It doesn't hurt or itch. It looks like an ordinary tattoo..."
"Given LeBlanc's cunning nature and usual methods... Could it be something that lets her spy on or listen in on me...?"
"No, that can't be it either... In theory, she shouldn't have that kind of ability. Otherwise, Swain, who really does have it, wouldn't have gotten the better of her so many times..."
"What is it, then...?"
The more Chen Ce thought about it, the stranger it seemed. In the end, he rubbed it hard with his hand.
But the result was obvious—it was as if the thing had grown into his skin. He couldn't rub it off at all.
Maybe he could try channeling magic into the skin around it...?
No, that had no effect either...
No matter what he did to the strange mark, it didn't react in the slightest. It was as though it were a birthmark that had always been part of his skin.
After thinking it over, Chen Ce decided to try one last thing—something a little extreme.
If that didn't work, he'd have to leave it alone for now.
"The area's a bit big... I'll have to eat well tomorrow to make up for it."
Muttering to himself, Chen Ce took a shard of a sword blade from his bag.
He pointed its sharp edge at his arm—the spot with the strange mark.
Then he thrust it in with a sudden burst of force.
Pfft—!
The sharp shard pierced his skin at once. He had carefully controlled how deep it went, but the area he needed to cut was so large that he still lost a lot of blood.
If he'd been injured on the battlefield, the adrenaline and other hormones his body produced would have temporarily suppressed the pain. But this wasn't the battlefield.
A wave of agony hit him, and Chen Ce couldn't help furrowing his brow.
Once the blood was flowing freely and he was sure he'd cut away enough skin, he immediately entered a meditative state. The ethereal energy of his Spirit Realm barely managed to ease his physical pain and soothe his mental unease.
Soon, the healing effect of his meditation stopped the bleeding, and his damaged flesh gradually began to mend.
Within minutes, the gruesome wound had healed completely.
But... the mark had returned along with the new skin.
Even cutting away the skin couldn't get rid of the strange mark.
It was like a mole or birthmark. No matter how badly the skin was damaged, it would appear again once the skin had healed.
"Damn it..." Chen Ce cursed under his breath. He'd just taken a blade to his arm for nothing.
Since even that hadn't worked, he'd have to leave it alone for now.
If LeBlanc used the magical mark to do something to him later... he'd just have to deal with it as it came.
He'd meet force with force and water with earth. For now, that was all he could do.
With that thought, Chen Ce got up, intending to find Irelia and discuss plans and preparations for the war against Noxus.
But just then, he caught the sound of extremely faint, cautious footsteps outside the door.
The doorknob, which should have been locked, turned ever so gently.
Chen Ce was already gripping his weapon warily.
But the instant he saw who had come, his grip on the hilt relaxed. He recognized her, and knew perfectly 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 right now.
Desert Rose, Samira.
Thud. Before Chen Ce could say a word, Samira dropped heavily to one knee and openly showed her submission.
Before you continue