LOL: The dark goddess covets me!

Chapter 122
It takes hours to travel from Haven Cliffs to Xiong.

Along the way, in the carriage of the four of them, only Ari and Josh stayed together, making love to each other.

Ruiz couldn't accept the "lively" environment, and only liked to meditate alone, so he occupied a carriage behind by himself.

Gwen is curious about the scenery outside, fields, villages, birds and beasts that have never been seen in the bushes in the sky, and even farmers working in the fields. Everything can arouse Gwen's deep interest.

And Syndra was dissatisfied that Josh and Ari had no borders and ignored the intimacy of others, and their eyes also lingered outside the car window.

But unlike Gwen, Syndra adhered to the habits she had developed since she was a child, just staring at the clouds of different shapes in the sky in a daze, without saying a word.

The fiery clouds in the sky floated leisurely, rendered golden red by the afterglow of the setting sun, pouring down the glow of the sky, which is eye-catching.

Until evening, the villages on the plain gradually became denser, and the shadow of the huge gray-white city wall finally appeared on the flat horizon.

"Miss Ari, we'll be there soon." Outside the car, the driver reminded.

Ahri, who had already talked with Josh about the future birth plan, smiled sweetly, kissed him lightly on the lips, and then sat aside, tidying up the brand-new battle-specific sentry that Gwen specially tailored for her. clothing.

Syndra finally recovered her senses, looked away from the carriage, and sighed: "Ah... this dead and silent city, I really don't want to come back here."

Because the buildings in Xiongdu are basically integrated with the magic-forbidden fossil tree, especially the city wall and Dawn Castle where the royal family is located, the proportion of forbidden-forbidden stones is higher.

The material realm and the spiritual realm are both blended together, but the magic stone can block magic, which also affects the existence and perception of the spiritual realm in the physical realm.

As a powerful psychic mage, Syndra draws all of her boundless power from another realm.

In other words, she could theoretically use the power of the entire world for her own use.

Although Syndra does not rely on the power of the spiritual realm, her own strength is not weak.

But staying in Xiongdu, not being able to bathe in the magic factor is nothing, and the most serious thing is to almost cut off the connection with the spiritual realm.

This is tantamount to cutting off her own arms, which makes Syndra very upset.

"We won't stay long."

Ari said indifferently: "It has been a long time since King Jiawen III led the army to cross the Shimmering Silver Mountains and repelled the tentative invasion of Noxus in the coastal fortress Karlstede five years ago. No longer looked west of Valoran.

"The Fearless Pioneer Legion is currently not dispatched abroad, and they are all stationed in the city. It only takes half a day to mobilize soldiers and provide logistics.

"We still need to go to the Forbidden Stone Forest to get the world runes. Once we go back and forth, the time we stay in Xiongdu will be even more limited, okay~~"

Syndra muttered: "Go to the Forbidden Stone Forest...then I might as well stay in Xiongdu."

"Stop complaining, when the black mist is dealt with, you can stay with me on Blessed Light Island."

"Don't, I'd rather just stay in Ionia. If it wasn't for helping you, I wouldn't leave Felor Island." Syndra said, "I'm used to the environment where Ionia's material and spiritual barriers are weak. , when it came out suddenly, I was still a little uncomfortable."

"Ionia... is that archipelago continent?" Gwen blinked, "I seem to have heard this name from other sentries."

"That's right, people used to call it the land of the first birth, until the regime of the land of the first birth was established, and the elders and councils of each province combined the local dialects to jointly take the homonym of "the land of the first birth" and beautify it. Ionia is such a nice name."

Ari smiled, and turned her beautiful eyes to Josh, "At the beginning, Josh mentioned the land of birth to me, and I had fantasies about that land, until I set foot on that land again with my clansmen. Only after visiting my hometown did I realize that its magic is far beyond imagination.”

It's a pity that Josh wasn't able to accompany me at the time.

Feeling a little loneliness in Ahri's words, Josh guessed what she was thinking, and held her warm hand instead.

The two looked at each other affectionately, but Syndra glanced at the corner of her mouth helplessly and looked away.

"Tch, boring."

【Well, I also feel this way. ] Lunicia answered.

Gwen's face was full of hope, "That's great, I want to see Ionia too."

"There will be a chance." Ari smiled lightly, "When the time comes, let Josh accompany us."

"But speaking of Ionia..." Josh thought for a moment and asked, "Ari, do you know what Noxus has done recently?"

"action?"

A little doubt appeared in Ahri's eyes, remembering that Josh once said that he killed Vladimir and Elise Kythera in the No Profit No Return Tavern.

The Kythira family is a powerful nobleman of the Immortal Fortress, but there are few records of the family head in the history of Noxus.

But after all, it is the behind-the-scenes organization that pushes the entire Runeterra into war suspicion every day. Even if Hylia has fallen, as the orthodox Sentinel of Light, he still has a considerable understanding of this association that founded Noxus.

Demacia and Noxus are hostile, and the Light Sentinel and Black Rose have collided and confronted each other in the past hundreds of years.

At least, Vladimir, the ancestor of Kamavia who can use blood magic, and Elise, the master behind the scenes of Kythira, and Ari have all heard of it, but they have never met face to face.

"Which area are you referring to? A black rose?"

The communication between the two attracted the attention of Gwen and Syndra.

"What's a black rose?" Gwen asked.

"An ancient association that existed as early as the Iron Armor Wraith, led by a pale lady who mastered tricks and magic, secretly guided the former Noxian barbarians to establish the Noxus regime."

Ari briefly introduced the black rose to Gwen.

"Iron Armor Wraith?" In Gwen's memory, there is indeed such a title. "Is he called Mordekaiser? A resurrected iron-blooded warlord? The master once told me the legend of Valoran."

[What the hell, how dare mere human beings make such a mistake when we Darkborn still exist? 】

"To be honest, that guy is really a 'ghost thing'."

While talking back to Lunicia, Josh nodded and replied: "It is he who is right, and my so-called 'action' can be regarded as the instigation of the black rose, after all, the emperor of Noxus, Brown Darkwill, is only pale. Lady's puppet."

He paused for a moment, then continued to ask questions: "Did Noxus send war masons to Ionia?"

"Why did you send war masons to Ionia?" Syndra asked back this time, "War masons can only be seen in places where wars are approaching. Could it be that you want to say that Noxus intends to provoke War in Ionia?"

Josh didn't answer this question for the time being, but just silently watched Ahri who was also silent beside him.

The air in the car fell into a moment of silence.

Not only Josh, but even Gwen and Syndra are aware of the problem.

"Are they really intending to invade Ionia?" Syndra stared at Ahri's face and lost her voice.

"Temporarily... not sure."

Ahri took a deep breath, "However, according to the information sent back by the sentry, the current situation in Noxus is not optimistic.

"The aged Brown Darkwill seems to be very interested in 'Longevity'. For so many years, he has often provoked wars regardless of domestic productivity, excessively consuming national power, and bringing the already crumbling empire to the brink of collapse.

"If it continues in its current form, according to the estimates of scholars, it will collapse completely within another 20 years of operation at most, and the entire empire will collapse overnight.

"Unless a newborn iron-fisted leader straightens up the empire and drags Noxus back from the brink.

"But in my opinion, the Emperor of Noxus is just a political puppet brought to the fore by the Black Rose.

"Either Pale Lady intends to save Noxus herself, and elects an emperor who can affect the interests of all Noxus nobles and be hostile to it, otherwise it is impossible to save this dying empire.

"unless……"

Ah Li's voice stopped abruptly.

But in the next second, Gwen subconsciously added: "Unless they can divert domestic conflicts?"

Seeing that Josh, Ari and Syndra turned their gazes to her at the same time, Gwen's little face flushed suddenly, and she hurriedly said, "I, I'm talking nonsense... don't pay attention to me."

"You are not talking nonsense, it makes sense." Josh praised.

"Eh? Is that so...Actually, I only know this based on the master's knowledge reserve."

Gwen breathed a sigh of relief, and the embarrassment in his heart subsided a lot, "Viego had only been on the throne for a year and a half at that time, and most of the Kamavia knights did not trust him, an ignorant prince.

"So, in order to divert the disputes within Kamavia, Fiego must prove himself with victory... Although the master is very reluctant to let Fyego start a war, there is nothing he can do about it."

Just as he was talking, Gwen suddenly seemed to think of something, and his face was gloomy: "The master was also attacked by an assassin at the celebration banquet of that battle, and he was poisoned, and finally died of dying."

Syndra frowned and stared at Gwen, not expecting Isolde to have such an experience.

It can be seen that Isolde really loves Gwen, and whenever Gwen mentions her, she will have a happy smile on her face.

Although she calls her master verbally, Isolde is actually more like a mother to Gwen.

Gwen was a poor child, recalling the hostility and alienation she had shown towards her intentionally or unintentionally in the past few days, Syndra felt a little ashamed.

Am I really going to treat her like this?It's not wrong to like someone.

But what she likes is what she shouldn't like...

Uh, no, I shouldn't think so!
After all, Kamavia is a traditional kingdom, and it is normal for the king to have multiple concubines.

I can't blame Gwen for falling for Josh despite Ahri.

Syndra's pupils began to lose focus, and she was slightly stunned.

Also, mother...

If only my mom could do what Ysolde did with Gwen.

Just as Syndra was thinking wildly, Ahri left Josh and sat next to Gwen, who was on the side, held her hand and comforted her:

"Don't be sad, from Isolde's point of view, she certainly wouldn't want to see you sad, right? Besides, don't you have us now? You can treat us as family."

"Family...?"

Gwen raised her eyes and looked at Ari, seeing her smiling softly, and blinking her left eye at herself, her mood improved a lot.

"Thank you, Ali."

Syndra, who was just sitting across from the two, crossed her arms around her chest and raised her legs, with a complex expression on her face and a soft sigh in her heart.

I can also be considered Ahri's family, but what she meant to Gwen is obviously different from my relationship with their family...

Next, Ahri concluded: "In short, it is not impossible for Noxus to invade Ionia, and we have to be prepared."

"But are you going to make the Sentinels of Light confront Noxus?" Syndra asked in surprise, "Don't forget, although the Sentinels of Light are allies with Demacia, at least they have a reputation as a neutral organization."

This question was answered by Josh: "Fuguang Island is about to be rebuilt, and we will not be neutral soon."

Ah Li followed up and said: "Josh is right. After the problem of Shadow Island is solved and the mission of the Bright Sentinels for a thousand years is over, reform and reorganization is bound to be necessary."

"But those sentinels..." Syndra hesitated slightly.

"The vast majority of them suffered all kinds of damage from the black mist, and finally chose to join the Light Sentinel. When the curse of ruin is completely over, most of them will return to normal life after all."

Ahri's tone was very indifferent, as if he didn't care about it, "The reduction of personnel is inevitable, not to mention that the Bright Sentinel will basically represent Fuguang Island in the future.

"This time, I don't intend to make Hailiya just a legendary utopia like it was a thousand years ago. With the cultural heritage we have accumulated, we need to play a leading role."

……

……

The architecture of Demacia Xiongdu inherits part of the style of Fuguang Island, and at the same time extends the unique style of Valoran on this basis.

The magnificent forbidden magic stone city wall tens of meters high rises from the ground, and the fearless vanguard like a defense tower. The statue of a soldier holding a spear and a shield, combined with the city wall itself, staring at the east.

The wings of the Flying Sisters are carved on the head of the huge triumphal arch, with a strong shield and a big sword standing in the center, which is a cultural imprint exclusive to Demacia.

As it was getting late, the gate of Xiongdu was about to close. Soldiers were stationed in front of the gate to remind those farmers who had just returned from a busy day to enter the city as soon as possible and not to be crowded at the gate.

Soon, the carriage decorated with sentries arrived. After showing the emblem of the Bright Sentinels, the guards quickly let them go, and the team leader who defended the city even called two teams to clear the way for escort.

Even if Josh and the others didn't need it.

The urban structure of Xiongdu is relatively complex, and it belongs to a settlement structure. Each big family in the royal city will have a piece of its own jurisdiction and exercise its own jurisdiction under the royal power.

The Dawn Castle, where the royal family lived, was located in the center of the city. It was built on a lone peak, with a height of hundreds of meters. The huge and magnificent square in front of the castle could easily accommodate tens of thousands of people.

Because the king alone lacked skills, the power of the kingdom was delegated to the Silver Council, which currently consists of eight people from seven major families plus the leader of the Church of the Illuminators, each occupying an important position in the city.

Although the Bright Sentinels belonged to an organization that existed at the beginning of the founding of Demacia, under the leadership of Ahri, they basically did not participate in the operation of Demacia, and they were simply allies.

In addition to the Illuminati Sect, which was derived from the Light Blessed Sect of Hailiya, it also has a lot of connections with the Light Sentinels.

The second castle located at the northern end of Dawn Castle, the Temple of the Lightbringer of the Illuminati Sect, is basically the main place for the sentries to temporarily rest in Xiongdu.

Escorted by the guards, several carriages traveled unimpeded all the way, and soon arrived at the main hall of Dawn Castle along the King's Avenue.

Jarvan III, who had already heard the news a few minutes after everyone entered the city, along with a group of officials and several shield formations of fearless vanguards who accompanied them, had been waiting in front of the gate for a long time.

As soon as Ahri got off the carriage, a group of people rushed over immediately.

The king at the head had a thick brown beard and short-to-medium hair, but there was a little gray silk in it, and his resolute face did not lose the softness of being an emperor.

He wore a crown made of pure gold, with a blue crystal inlaid in the middle, a gorgeous silver and platinum silk tunic with tan trousers, crystal clear gemstones and gold patterns inlaid on the clothes, all showing virtue The luxury of the royal family of Marcia.

Following the king, the most conspicuous thing was the Ionian man with jet-black hair tied up in a high ponytail, who was out of place with the faces around him, and held a long spear in his hand.

It's not difficult for Josh to see that this is the Debang manager in his prime - Xin Zhao.

And standing on the other side of the king, wearing rune armor composed of three colors of yellow, blue, and white, and equipped with thick shoulder pads characteristic of Demacia, a woman with shawl and long hair and a very firm face, Josh also It is not difficult to guess——

She is the sword captain currently commanding the Fearless Vanguard, Tiana of the Crown Guard family.

As the king's guards, Xin Zhao and Tiana can be said to be Jarvan III's right-hand men. They are loyal to the royal family and follow the king day and night.

It's just that she has not yet taken over the position of Grand Marshal of Demacia, and Galen has not won the title of Power of Demacia, becoming the leader of the Fearless Vanguard.

That guy is probably still a young boy in his teens now.

As soon as he walked in front of Ahri, Jarvan III, as the king of a country, immediately clenched his fists and folded his left arm in front of his chest, bowing to Ahri with Demacia etiquette.

As a king, he did such an inferior behavior, but the accompanying ministers were not surprised. They also looked respectful and followed Jarvan III to show courtesy.

This is the founder of the country far earlier than the Feiyi sisters!
Even if Ahri didn't join Demacia, her important status is no less than that of the twin sisters that Demacia believes in, or even slightly more.

At least in the recorded history of Demacia, without Ahri and the survivors of Fuguang Island led by her, there would be no Demacia today.

"Excuse me." Ahri said calmly, as if she was already used to this kind of scene.

Jiawen III straightened his waist, and immediately made another gesture of respectful invitation.

"Miss Ari, I learned the day before yesterday that you will be moving to Xiongdu today, and I have made sufficient preparations early... The dinner party and the room are all ready, please come with me."

　Thank you for the reward of 1733 dots for the late stage patients who have trouble getting up!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)