Li Ke's Self-Doubt

"As expected."

Li Ke shook his head slightly.

The Kinkou Order was just like this; no matter what happened in the mortal realm, no matter how horrifying the incident, or even if a monster slaughtered countless people, the Kinkou Order would not kill them.

The infamous Golden Demon, a man who treated murder as art, who used torture and abuse as his creative process, who would peel the skin off his victims and dismantle their bones and flesh while they were still alive, piece by piece.

He was so cruel that everyone who witnessed his crime scenes regarded him as a demon born of Ionia, for only a demon could commit such atrocities.

However.

He was human.

At the beginning, Kusho had pursued him, but after capturing him, he discovered that this Golden Demon was human.

And so...

He did not kill the Golden Demon, even though this monster had used various methods to slaughter countless people, leaving many to spend the rest of their lives as cripples.

Even when his own son and disciple witnessed the scene of the man's murders, they could not maintain their composure and suffered a complete mental breakdown.

And when he was captured, this Golden Demon even threatened Shen and Zed, vowing to kill Shen's fiancée.

But even so, even with the Golden Demon speaking these words right in front of him.

Kusho...

Still prevented Zed from killing the Golden Demon, from killing...

Jhin.

Moreover, in the aftermath, countless Ionian elites and commoners praised this action, because Kusho had upheld his tenets and did not interfere in mortal affairs.

Jhin was human, so as a member of the Kinkou Order, Kusho could not kill him; this was the code that the Kinkou Order was bound to follow.

Even if he was a heinous criminal who had no right to exist in this world.

Li Ke had also seen one of Jhin's crime scenes with his own eyes, and how should he put it?

It was unforgettable.

The human body bloomed like a flower, with internal organs and white bones serving as stems and leaves, skin and fascia becoming petals, and the look of terror on the victim's face serving as the very center of the blossom.

Of course, it wasn't just terror; there was also bewilderment, joy, hatred...

Clusters of flowers were gathered together, which the man had named 'Life'.

Li Ke had only seen it once, and that was the only time.

But Kusho, Zed, and Shen had seen it countless times...

For such a group of people, it was truly impossible to make them break their inner tenets just for the sake of a war.

"But what about passing a message for me?"

Shen's expression grew even more helpless.

"That won't work either. What is the difference between passing a message and direct interference? You know that the Kinkou Order is powerful, far surpassing everyone else on this land. If we fail to uphold our tenets, the consequences will be dire."

How dire?

Li Ke gave a disdainful chuckle; it would be nothing more than progressing from a tribal society to a unified one.

Does an Ionia currently mixed with villages, tribes, city-states, and warlords truly deserve the word 'balance'?

It might seem that the Kinkou Order directly intervening in mortal affairs would bring countless disasters, but Ionia maintaining its current state was the greatest disaster of all.

As the most powerful military force, while ostensibly protecting the peace, they had been sidelined, unable to do anything more useful for Ionia.

And they had become a shackle on Ionia's progress...

Li Ke hadn't thought this much at first. He had never intended to stay in Ionia since he was a child, because this place didn't remind him of his homeland at all; it just felt like a mix of Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and India.

It was filled with the stench of trying to imitate something and failing, and some of the specious rules and ideas made him feel like he was going to vomit.

On the contrary, the typical bandit mentality found in other places didn't make him feel so awkward.

After all, it was just the law of the jungle.

It was only recently, knowing that he couldn't avoid this war due to his own abilities, that he began to think about it.

And then, he reached this conclusion.

The Kinkou Order had not shouldered its historical responsibility. Admittedly, its initial mission was only to balance the mortal and spirit realms, but once an organization reached this point, it would naturally take on more responsibilities.

However, the Kinkou Order did not.

"Fine, then let's not talk about state affairs, let's just talk about the wind and the moon."

Li Ke waved his hand, giving up on the idea of having Shen help him. Regardless of anything else, Shen could never help him openly, and if the man were to act alone, despite his great strength, it would not actually help the situation.

In fact, when Li Ke arrived, he had analyzed why he was able to finish the war in Ionia a full year early, and he finally reached a conclusion.

He had absolutely integrated the power of Ionia.

Most likely, he had made the farmers engage in collective production, the militia train in magic and other incantations, and then formed Ionian special forces to specifically utilize the geographical advantages of Ionia for surprise attacks and decapitation strikes.

Commanders, supply lines, killing messengers, deliberately creating casualties—he must have used the power of magic to play a game of modern warfare against the Noxians, and then used the achievements gained from these surprise tactics to further force the integration of all of Ionia. Otherwise, there was absolutely no way he could have ended the battle a year early!

Ionia is effectively a giant; though it has been bullied by Noxus, that is only because it has yet to clench its strength into a fist, leaving it vulnerable to being struck.

Yet, should this giant stand tall and raise a fist forged from magic and logistics, the defeat of the Noxians would be inevitable.

In such a scenario, the presence of one or two experts becomes utterly meaningless. Once Li Ke sets this strategy into motion, even his own life or death ceases to matter, for if the full strength of Ionia can be consolidated, the competence of a commander or the temporary outcome of a battlefield engagement becomes inconsequential.

For a militaristic nation like Noxus, which relies on predatory expansion, there is no hope of victory if they fail to strike Ionia down in one fell swoop and instead allow the Ionians to stabilize and mobilize.

As long as those who follow do not blunder and manage to master his methods of logistics, the rest is truly nothing more than a steamroll.

Li Ke even simulated the scenario in his mind: if he truly had the ability to control the entire situation, he would never be in a rush to drive the Noxians out completely. Instead, he would leave behind some small fry to serve as training fodder, while simultaneously flushing out the black sheep within the collective and identifying the flaws and errors of this hastily assembled organization.

Wait...

Is that exactly what I thought in the simulation, which is why I ended up dragging Irelia off into seclusion? After all, I left with my own troops. Given my personality, it would be impossible for me not to have them help the farmers cultivate the land and strengthen themselves, further purifying the ranks in the process...

Li Ke stroked his chin, finding this highly probable. Given his nature, he would likely have focused on quietly building up his resources, only to crush the power-hungry fools with an unstoppable momentum once they mistakenly believed they had the upper hand.

It was just that he hadn't executed it well, and he'd been backstabbed halfway through.

But upon further reflection, Li Ke uncovered even more.

If that's the case, then my intentions when I sought out Xayah back then might not have been so pure, either...

Could I really be this devious?