Lothar knew that he should avoid it.

Lothar put away the map and books: "The third one asked me to keep it temporarily, and I'll ask you for it when I come back."

"Yes." Swain said goodbye to Lothar with a smile, "Remember, even if you are desperate one day, the door of the empire will always be open for you."

"There won't be such a day." Lothar left the room.

After taking everything Swain had promised him, Lothar walked out of the gates of the Immortal Citadel.

He looked up at the sky, the crows had already dispersed, and the snow had not fallen again. It was a rare sight in the imperial capital to see the full sky.

Lothar took a deep breath. Although it was still cold, the smell in the soil told him one thing—spring was here.

"Ashe, wait for me for a while." Lothar hugged the things in his package tightly, "Wait for me for a while, and I can go back."

He walked forward and suddenly stopped.

In front of him, a red-haired girl was walking towards him. She lowered her head, and her red hair was in front of her, so she couldn't see her expression.

Lothar stretched out his hand and wanted to say hello: "Carter..."

The red-haired girl ignored Lothar, as if she hadn't seen Lothar, she passed him directly.

Lothar's hand hanging in the air slowly lowered.

"Indeed... there is no reason to meet again..." Lothar stood there for a while, and chuckled in relief, "That's fine..."

He strode forward.

From start to finish, both the boy and the girl went in opposite directions and didn't look back.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Noxus, doesn't believe in feelings.

- Anonymous

Chapter 1: The Raven and the Blade

Katerina knelt down on one knee, her head bowed deeply, her long red hair scattered on her body, as if she had covered herself with a layer of blood red clothes.

Swain stood in front of the throne with his back to Katarina: "How is your injury?"

"Thanks for your concern." Katerina said respectfully, but her words were as cold as ever, "I'm fine."

"Fate is really wonderful, isn't it?" Swain said in a relaxed tone, "You wanted to kill me a few days ago, but now you kneel down here sincerely."

"Don't dare, it is the fault of the humble girl to join your plan without authorization." Katerina said humbly.

"That's not your truth." Swain turned around and looked at the girl under the steps. "Look up."

Katarina's body froze, but she didn't move.

"This is an order."

Katerina hesitated and slowly raised her head.

She is a very beautiful girl, but there are many flaws on her face at the moment.

A deep scar runs through her left eye. Although her left eye is still agile and doesn't seem to have damaged her vision, the long scar that extends halfway across her face makes her already sharp beauty become More and more violent.

On the right side of Katarina's face, there was a red palm print, which made half of her face swell up, showing how much effort the person who hit her had used.

Swain asked: "Your father beat him"

Katarina lowered her head in silence.

"feel aggrieved"

"Don't dare..." Katerina said calmly, "It's the humble girl who made a mistake first and intervened in your cause without authorization. If the plan fails because of the humble girl, let Noxus continue to be under the rule of that stupid monarch. The daughter is to blame for her death. Father's slap was right, and if you want to punish me, I am willing to accept it."

Swain looked at Katarina quietly. When the girl said this, the fingernails hidden by her side dig deep into the flesh, and the blood oozing out was faintly visible.

"It's not surprising that you feel wronged." Swain said, "You should have sacrificed a lot for participating in this plan."

Swain's words became the last straw that broke Katarina, big teardrops fell from her eyes, she buried her head deeper, so that Swain could not see her ugliness .

Swain didn't comfort Katerina, knowing that for this self-respecting girl, comfort was nothing but humiliation.

"I won't punish you." Swain turned around and looked at the empty throne above the steps, "You can be considered a hero of the coup d'état, General Du Quecao thinks you are overreaching, but I don't think so. "

Katerina raised her head in surprise. She had already prepared for the worst. She knew that she would probably not die, but the punishment of exile might be inevitable.

But Swain let her go.

Not only that, Swain continued: "You don't have to follow your father anymore, I will tell him that you will work under me in the future."

"Why...why?" Katarina asked in a trembling voice while wiping away her tears.

"Because you're very talented, you're still young, and your future is limitless." Swain looked at the flag hanging next to the throne, and he looked at it all the time, as if he couldn't get enough of it, "and you and your father don't fit in well. Staying together, you're aggressive and he's too worried. Plus..."

Swain laughed: "That guy Luoji has left the imperial capital, and I just need a right-hand man, are you willing to replace him?"

As soon as she heard the boy's name, Katerina's expression flickered with a hint of complexity.

But the hesitation was only short-lived, she almost didn't even think about it, she said directly: "I will."

"Very good." Swain never turned around.

Katerina was a little grateful, she hurriedly sorted out her tears: "Excuse me, what do I need to do in the future?"

"You don't need to be called a humble girl. I'm not an emperor, so I don't need to be so low-key. By the way, when it comes to the name, call me the commander in the future."

"Yes... Commander..." Katarina couldn't figure out what Swain was thinking. She could sit on the throne directly, but she didn't want to be the emperor. "May I ask what I need to do in the future?"

"Do what you are good at, and the good martial arts you have honed can't be wasted." Swain turned his hands behind his back, he did not show magic, only one right arm was behind his back, "Next, I want you to go Do three things."

Katarina listened carefully.

"The first thing, Darkwill has just died, the situation in the empire is still very unstable, there must be some young people who will use their brains, you have to solve them for me, it is fast, at most a month, I will let There is no voice against me in the imperial capital anymore." Swain paused, "I will even let you kill the nobles, dare you?"

Katerina laughed heartily: "Dare!"

"Very good." Swain continued, "The second thing, [Hand of Noxus] is now fighting the barbarians of the Freljord in the north, and the news of Darkwill's death should be It will reach him soon, and in a month, I want you to meet him and bring a letter for me."

"[Hand of Noxus]!" Katarina was shocked.

She knew the man, Darius, Draven's brother. Unlike Draven's flamboyant personality, Darius was a truly legendary man.

He started from a commoner and took the position of commander of Noxus' strongest legion step by step. His military exploits were unprecedented. The title of [Hand of Noxus], which was named after the Empire, was enough to show his unique status. No nobleman or soldier here dared to be presumptuous in his presence.

And this title was given to him by Darkwill himself.

"Darkwill is dead, if Darius doesn't recognize the commander..." Katarina shook her head, this is not what she should think about, she just needs to complete the task.

"The letter will be given to you in due course." Swain continued, "After you go there, you don't need to come back for the time being."

Katarina was puzzled.

"I want you to go to the west of the Freljord, a city called Rakstark, which is the holy city of a tribe called Avarossa." Swain said, "Their mother of war is Ashe. , I want you to get close to her, integrate into their tribe as much as possible, and I will keep in touch with you about what to do next."

Katerina doesn't understand Swain's intention at all. Is this to make her an undercover agent? But the Freljord doesn't have a border with Noxus to the west, so why not deal with the eastern area first.

Seemingly aware of Katarina's doubts, Swain asked, "What? Is there a problem?"

"No, Commander." Katarina still held back, asking her superior's thoughts to be disrespectful, "I just think that those savages are very xenophobic, it should be difficult for me to fit in..."

"Oh how do you say that?"

"I heard... the people over there... are all cannibals..." Katerina said cautiously.

Swain laughed twice: "You'll know when you go. It's not that scary. You might even find a Freljord lover."

Katarina didn't care, thinking that Swain was joking: "I won't let dirty savages touch me if I die."

Swain laughed even louder.

Katerina stared blankly at Swain's back, not knowing what was funny.

After laughing, Swain breathed a sigh of relief: "Do you think I'm weird?"

"Don't dare..."

"It's nothing, just amused by the ingenuity of fate." Swain turned and walked down the steps. "Come on boy, we still have a lot to do for Noxus."

"What are we going to do first?" Katarina followed closely behind Swain.

"cleaning the house."

"Huh?" Katarina was stunned.

"I have an old house that is very dirty and needs to be cleaned, let me think about it." Swain squeezed his chin, as if he really thought about it again, "Let's clean it in order, first the rotten maggots, then the spiders, and Lots of bloodstains... In the end, I remember a lot of black roses growing out of there."

Red light appeared on Swain's body, huge jet-black wings spread out behind him, and the surging magic power distorted the light.

For the first time, Katarina felt Swain's power so closely, and she was so shocked that she was speechless.

"Come on, let's go and clean up the filth."

Chapter 2 Blood and Spiders

Vladimir sat on the sofa with the bodies of several beautiful girls at his feet, all of which were drained of blood.

"Huh..." He breathed a sigh of relief and calmed himself down, "Eating too much is not good, Vladimir."

He suddenly felt something, stood up, and walked to the mirror in the room.

He was not reflected in the mirror, but an extremely beautiful female mage, with golden amber eyes, almost like two gold embedded in the eye sockets.

"I didn't expect you to lose." Vladimir said to the woman in the mirror, his tone was as lazy and elegant as ever.

"Elise was seriously injured." The female mage talked about another topic. "I have already sent her to that island, and you have helped her send a few people in your hands over the past few days."

Vladimir frowned: "she is injured, why should I send someone to feed her"

"Because we are all people of black roses." The female mage said, "We are all prosperous, and we are all lost."

Vladimir narrowed his eyes.

After a while, Vladimir spread his hands: "Okay, I will choose a few people with thin skin and tender meat to feed the female spider, but why don't you find it for her yourself?"

"The imperial capital has changed hands, and Noxus will soon fall completely into Swain's hands."

Vladimir did not understand why the Pale Lady was so calm when a great empire was taken away by others.

"Could it be..." Vladimir had a lot of conjectures for a while.

"Jerike Swain has gained some kind of power, and it is very difficult to deal with." The female mage continued, "I have informed everyone who has not been exposed, and I will keep a low profile in the future, and try not to be caught by him."

"including me"

"Including you, the organization you established, temporarily stop all actions, Swain has just taken office, big moves will continue, we have to wait and see."

"What about the child named Luo Ji? Is he still alive?" Vladimir still wanted the boy who meant a lot to him.

"do not know."

Vladimir stared into the eyes of the female mage, wondering if she was lying.

Vladimir wanted to ask something else, but the person in the mirror had become himself.

"After such a big incident, she still has such an attitude of controlling everything." Vladimir chuckled, "I don't know if she is confident or arrogant."

Vladimir sat back on the sofa, Noxus had changed, the Swain who had appeared out of nowhere was unfathomable, the boy he wanted was missing, and he could no longer be in Noxus as he was before. S can do whatever he wants, and he has to give the mother spider with poor taste a few beloved children of his own.

Everything sucks.

But what surprised Vladimir himself was that not only did he not have much anxiety, but he had some vague expectations...

"Heh..." Vladimir pressed his face, "It seems that he has lived for too long, and he actually started to get excited when something happened."

Vladimir walked to the bed and let the cold wind of the night in the imperial city blow over his face.

The nights in the Noxian capital are never quiet, and tonight is even more noisy. The unpleasant crows and soldiers can be heard incessantly, even in the remote manor of Vladimir.

"Ms. Pale lost, but she may still have something to rely on, so she has no fear. Or she is just playing tricks, she is the best at this." Vladimir pondered, "The times... are they going to change..."

Vladimir knew that he might not be able to fully trust the Pale Lady anymore.

The era of the pale lady may be coming to an end.

"And my era may be coming." Vladimir smiled. "Change is not a bad thing."

...

Elise stood on the bow, looking at the coast that appeared in the distant sea.

The island was shrouded in an extremely unnatural black fog, which could be clearly seen from dozens of nautical miles away. The faint green flames were looming in it, and it looked like a distorted human face. Dare to pass this neighborhood, like a restricted area of ​​life.