Lux's Farewell

For Lissandra, the unstable situation in the Dredge Fort was a contradiction that could be exploited.

But how to use this contradiction, she has no predetermined position - if the Dredge Fort itself is strong, then she can consider incorporating the Dredge Fort into the Freljord, becoming a link in the ice field, and guiding them to Rakstark; and if the Diver Fort itself is weak, she can also add insult to injury, and then sell the remains to Noxus and let them be her precursors.

Judging from the embarrassment and dilemma of the Varrocan family, they undoubtedly belong to the latter.

As a result, the Frostguard tribe used a little trick and some meaningless words to successfully instigate Varrokan's fear of Noxus, causing them to abandon their martial arts, leave their nest in Dredge Fort, and finally Disappeared in the Freljord.

After the furnace households were divided up, the remaining miners who were of little use to the Freljord became bargaining chips in her negotiations with the Noxians.

Because Lissandra's side moved too fast, and the fearful Varrokan ran a little too fast, when the sentries stationed south of the Iron Thorn Mountains saw the fire in the Dredge Fort and went to investigate, everything went wrong. It's too late.

After the fire subsided slightly, some soldiers from the Northern Chapter entered the ruins, but what they saw was only a ruined wall.

The news was immediately sent back to the Immortal Fortress and sent to Darius' desk. Faced with the news, Darius was a little confused.

For Noxus, which is restoring the glory of the empire, the Dredge Fort is undoubtedly of great significance - here is the reason why the Dredge Fort and the entire Iron Thorn Mountains are a barrier to Noxus, and also because of the black iron produced by the Dredge Fort. The cause of the Noxian Chapter.

Now the Varrokan family of the Dredger gave up their Iron Thorn Kingdom, burned the Dredge, and ran away to the Freljord with the locals, which undoubtedly caused huge trouble to Noxus.

Although the main body of the city wall of Fort Diver was reported to be "generally intact", the buildings in Fort Diver were "almost completely uninhabitable. Only the palace of the Puppet King has not suffered extensive collapse."

Moreover, the fortresses around Fort Diver were also burned to varying degrees. Even if these fortresses were built with great care and ordinary flames would not destroy the main body of the fortress, like Fort Diver, the buildings inside the fortress could not withstand it. In such a fire, almost everything has been destroyed.

As for the other place that worried Darius—the Black Iron Mine Cave—the situation was unexpectedly good.

According to the scout's report, some areas of the Black Iron Mine Cave have collapsed, but overall it should not be a big problem and it only needs simple repairs before work can start again.

After putting down the report, Darius felt quite complicated. In this case, he could only mobilize the army first and allow the Northern Army to occupy Fort Diver first.

The miners will definitely be sent there in the future, but now Noxus... really can't spare any manpower!

Just when Darius was helpless, the Frostguard Priest sent a request for a meeting.

Darius was a little confused after receiving the request.

Darius, who was once a member of the Northern Warband, had a lot of dealings with the Freljord people. He even once fell into the siege of these Freljord barbarians and almost became a prisoner - if not for Darius. Si's personal ability is strong enough and he can fight his way through the ice field. He may have become a Freljord slave now.

However, even so, he had never heard of such a thing as a messenger in Freljord.

In Darius's impression, the Freljord people always gathered their friends and went south in large numbers if they wanted to plunder. Once the plundering did not go well, they would disperse in droves. This kind of plundering war never started. There was no process of declaring war, and there was never any negotiation to end the war.

Now, a guy who calls himself a Frost Guard Priest suddenly comes and wants to talk to me...

From Darius's point of view, he should probably be worried that this is an assassination plot.

However, considering the events that just happened at Fort Diver, is it possible that this is for blackmail?

Thinking of this, Darius couldn't help but narrow his eyes - he tried to insert himself into Swain's thoughts, but in the end he could only helplessly confirm that he really had no brains in this regard.

So, after hesitating for a moment, Darius decided to follow his own judgment.

After equipping himself with several mage guards, he generously received these "messengers from the ice field" at the Immortal Fortress.

........................

Although he knew a little bit about the mysterious culture of the Freljord, Darius still endured it when he saw the Frostguard priest and confirmed from Riel behind him that the other party did not carry any metal weapons. He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

There are no metal weapons, so the opponent should be able to use Zhen Bing?

The hand under the table brushed against the short knife at his waist. Darius naturally stood up supporting the table and nodded slightly.

"Herald of the Frost Witch, right?"

"I came with the will of the witch." The other party nodded reservedly, "Bringing the possibility of cooperation with Noxus."

"Cooperating, that would be really interesting." Darius grinned and showed a ferocious smile, "As far as I know, the Freljord people will only get together and cooperate before plundering."

"This perception is incomplete."

The other party's Noxian didn't speak very well, and there was always a sudden stiffness in his words and sentences, and it was also mixed with a strong, iron-flavored Diver Fort accent. From this point of view, Delai It wasn't difficult for Urs to figure out who her language mentor was.

"There's no denying it, right?" Darius, who has been the commander-in-chief for some time, is still not used to thinking like a politician, but he has gradually become more confident about the details on this negotiation table, " Is this an invitation to plunder?”

"Maybe." The other party gave an ambiguous answer, "It depends on Noxus' choice and your answer."

"So, your sincerity is to destroy the Diver Fort?" Darius' eyes narrowed, and his whole aura suddenly changed drastically. "Do you think you can make Noxus surrender with such a small means?"

"No, that's not the case." Darius's momentum was astonishing, and even Riel behind him was a little uncomfortable with it, but the Frost Guard Priest sitting opposite remained calm, and even had a somewhat appreciative smile on his lips. "The Dredge betrayed Noxus. We destroyed the Dredge. Shouldn't this be a gift?"

"This is an internal matter within Noxus, and there is no need for the Freljordians to stretch their arms to interfere." Darius obviously heard the connotation in the other party's words, but his attitude was still tough, "I Not seeing any sincerity, priest.”

"If you think this is the Freljord stretching its arms, then the Frost Witch is very happy to see Noxus stretching its arms." The smile on the Frost Guard Priest's face grew wider, "That's okay. Evened out."

Darius was a little confused.

At this moment, he suddenly couldn't understand the other party's purpose.

"Every family and every tribe has its own troubles." The Frostguard Priest seemed to be satisfied with Darius's hesitation and silence, and continued, "It's like the Diver Fort to Noxus. "So, is this really a call for plunder?" Darius seemed to have figured out something, he let out a sigh, leaned back and leaned completely on the back of his wide chair, " What kind of frost witch has a target that she wants to achieve, but for some reason is not ready or can't do it on her own, so she goes to Noxus?"

The Frostguard Priest didn't respond, just looked at Darius quietly.

"She hopes that the athletes of Noxus will set foot on the unknown Freljord Icefield with their enthusiasm for their motherland, under the orders and promises of the Grand Commander, and then participate in a robbery with who-knows-what consequences. ?" Darius was accustomed to mixing a lot of complex rhetoric into concise language to conceal his emotions, "I have no reason to do this at this very critical time for Noxus. Stupid choice."

"..."

The Frost Guard Priest still didn't speak, her eyes were covered by silk, but at this moment, Darius seemed to feel the other person's gaze on him - she seemed to see through his own heart, which made Darius very unhappy.

"For the sake of you finally learning how to send messengers, your head will not be hung on the wall of the Immortal Fortress." Resisting the urge to curse, Darius raised his hand to see the guest off, "Now, Ms. Priest , you can get out."

"So, the Noxians don't care about their own people, right?" The Frostguard Priest did not stand up, but still looked at Darius leisurely, "If we let those who are eager to return to Noxus The miners, after hearing His Excellency the Grand Commander’s categorical words and seeing such a resolute and unyielding attitude, they will surely be proud of Noxus, right?”

Although the accent of Dredge Fort was a ridiculous "hillbilly accent" in the Immortal Fortress, at this moment, Darius couldn't laugh at all.

The other party's meaning is obvious. Listen to what they mean, these people hold a large number of Noxian miners in their hands?

When this heavy weight was placed on the balance, Darius' breath stopped.

Yes, the bastards of Varrokan took away the people from Dredge Fort and burned them to the ground - in this case, those people who were taken away must have fallen into the hands of the Freljordians. .

Now that they have so many hostages, they have found themselves to make conditions!

Damn it, this is a blackmail!

Moreover, unlike what Darius initially thought was a blackmail by the other party threatening war, this blackmail was closer to kidnapping. The bastards of the Varrocan family sent those precious blacksmiths and miners to Freljor. In German hands!

At this moment, Darius could hardly resist the urge to curse. He gritted his teeth several times and tried to speak, but in the end he could only endure it with his sense of responsibility as a commander.

As a general, Darius can vent his dissatisfaction and anger unscrupulously after accepting orders, but as a commander, Darius cannot, because anger will destroy his reason and make him lose the right direction. judge.

What, you said that many of Darius's judgments come from intuition?

Similarly, anger can also lead intuition to make wrong decisions - Darius knew very well that this may be the goal of the cunning priest in front of him.

Therefore, after suppressing his anger, Darius decided to listen more to see what the other party was planning.

"Noxus will not give up any of its people, but this does not mean that Noxus will lose its bottom line because of this!"

Using nonsense to delay time and wait for the other party to reveal more information is a technique Swain once taught, and it is also a method that Darius is now familiar with.

"The witch is sincere." The Frostguard Priest's smile remained unchanged. He seemed to have completely seen through Darius's thoughts, but he still took the initiative to reveal some information that he cared about very much. "Looting always has rewards, but if Noxus If you are willing to participate, half of the miners will be rewarded in advance.”

Darius did not speak immediately.

"They are all skilled workers, good at working in the mines." The other party seemed to mean something, "For Noxus, this is a sure profit."

........................

Darius finally reached a secret agreement with the other party.

The specifics of the agreement will not be made public, and the relationship between the two parties is unusually loose.

Considering that Noxus needs to send a large team deep into the Freljord in order to fulfill the contract, even if the Freljord is not as dangerous in the summer as it is in the winter, it is still a dangerous march - so , as for the Frost Witches, they will release half of the miners when the Noxian army sets off.

When the army returns, they will release the other half.

During this period, the Freljordians will share the living needs of these people with Noxus according to certain standards.

And this agreement has only one goal.

Lark Stark.

As for Noxus, although Darius was always at a disadvantage in the negotiations, the commander-in-chief, who had gradually gained some political skills, still used his little political wisdom to carry out this expedition. It became an action that killed two birds with one stone.

According to Darius's plan, Noxus will send troops in two directions - the main force will send troops through the Iron Thorn Pass, helping the local garrison to gain a foothold in the Diver Fort along the way; the other partial division will be sent by Tukugu composed of your militia.

Those traitors who once formed the Turkgul Federation will receive an amnesty and will be allowed to take the Turkgul people with them to participate in this military operation.

And during the operation, these people will know that they left their hometowns in exchange for the miners of Fort Nuvo - this will completely tear both sides apart when Turkgul and the people of Fort Nuvo can't deal with them in the first place. Relationship.

Once Tukulgul and Diver Fort are no longer able to compete with each other, the old events of the Black Forest Federation and the Iron Thorn Kingdom will naturally not be able to take place in the north of Noxus.

Sending troops in exchange for miners, while ensuring peace in the north. The two factors combined at least made Noxus look like it was not so much at a loss.

Is not it?

Kalya’s Little Classroom Riel:

As a wanted criminal in Noxus, Riel's wanted order was revoked after the Black Rose's treason.

Originally, she and the students she sheltered were unwilling to believe in New Noxus, but after the split of Noxus, compared to Noxus itself in the Immortal Fortress, the other splintered alliances and kingdoms were even less trustworthy. As a human being, she eventually returned to the Immortal Fortress at Darius's sincere invitation and became a seat on the Trifali Council.

Of course, considering that she has little political experience, she is now more like a mage protection tool.