Since the sky was covered, the heavens began to show their holiness

In Noxus, the strong are respected, status is determined by force, and duels are a daily sight. People can be seen drawing swords on the streets at any time, and the law of the jungle permeates every corner. Under the power of the strong, iron and blood weave into a unique social order.

"If we were ordinary people, we might be safer in Demacia." Zhou Xian couldn't help but sigh as he watched the young man being dragged by soldiers on the street corner.

The constant flames of war in Noxus have never shown mercy to the weak. Even small border towns have been thrown into turmoil by conscription orders. Under the so-called glory of the empire, the lives of countless ordinary people have been crushed.

Although Demacia is not very friendly to the mage group, at least for ordinary people, it is a rare peace and stability without having to worry about being dragged onto the battlefield as cannon fodder at any time.

The nobles of Noxus reap glory through war, but ordinary people have to fill the gap with their flesh and blood. In comparison, the prejudice and oppression of Demacia has become an alternative shelter.

Just as Zhou Xian was sighing, a group of soldiers surrounded him. The leading soldier grinned and said, "Boy, do you want to leave by yourself, or do you want us to break your legs and drag you away?"

The surrounding soldiers burst into laughter, but quietly clenched their spears, with the tips of the spears glowing coldly in the sun. It was obvious that they had regarded him as a new batch of "war consumables."

Zhou Xian frowned slightly, watching the struggling child on the street corner being rudely put into inferior armor - the Noxian war machine was devouring everything, even the children became "consumables".

They knew that Ionians would not kill children, but they turned this mercy into a blade and stabbed the innocent people who were forced to pick up wooden swords. On the scorched earth trodden by iron hooves, the so-called "way of the strong" was already stained with the dirtiest blood.

"Such brutality, I wonder why there are so many of you in Noxus."

Zhou Xian shook his head and asked the question in his mind.

"People?" The leading soldier suddenly burst into shrill laughter and poked Zhou Xian's chest with the butt of his spear. "The soil of Noxus will grow warriors on its own. If ten die, there will be a hundred to replace them. As for a chattering softie like you, you're not even worthy of being a javelin target on the battlefield!" The soldiers approached with laughter.

"I see. Then let you go back to the furnace and be retrained."

Zhou Xian's fingertips trembled slightly, and a cold light flashed in his eyes. He lowered his eyes and looked down at these vicious soldiers. As his sleeves rolled up, the ground suddenly trembled like boiling molten lava.

Under the invisible force, the sand and gravel condensed into ferocious tentacles, which wrapped around the soldiers' ankles the moment they broke out of the ground. Before the leader's scream could even fall to the ground, he was dragged into the abyss by the surging mud.

Gravel mixed with sand poured into the gaps in the armor, grinding the metal with a crisp sound, and the entire team was swallowed up to the chest. They waved their weapons in vain, but only saw the sand flow condensed into sharp prisms in Zhou Xian's palm, and every grain of sand reflected a cold light.

“Noxus always regards the blade as the whole power…” He stepped on the trembling ground, and the soles of his boots shone faintly as they crushed the sand. “But they forgot that even the land that gave birth to life is disgusted with your blood-soaked roots.”

The sandstorm condensed into a vortex at the fingertips, dragging the struggling soldiers underground inch by inch. Only their terrified eyes and intermittent roars were finally completely swallowed up by the smoothed sand surface.

The sound of armor colliding suddenly arose, and dozens of soldiers surrounded him. The front row of shield guards quickly raised their iron shields, with their spears pointed at the ground like a forest, and the back row of archers had already pulled their bowstrings to their ears. A soldier who looked like a non-commissioned officer raised his hand and threw a flare. When the red tail of smoke bloomed in the sky, everyone's eyes were locked on Zhou Xian - this "child" with a faint glow of sand around him.

"It's the mage!" The sergeant's voice was laced with spit, and the joints of his iron gloves clenched the hilt of the sword, turning white. "Do you know how many capital crimes you have committed by fighting against the imperial army?" There were shouts and curses in the array, but no one dared to rush forward first. Only the pupils revealed between the seams of the shields trembled with uncertainty in the sunlight.

The mysterious group of mages is rare even in Noxus. People will inevitably feel fear towards mysterious things, even if they are battle-hardened soldiers.

"Oh? There are different levels of capital punishment? But can my head be cut into several pieces according to its weight?"

Zhou Xian raised his lips in a playful arc, and the gravel turned into tiny golden lights at his fingertips. The sergeant's Adam's apple rolled up and down as his iron boots rubbed the ground, and with the crisp sound of shields hitting each other, the square formation gritted its teeth and advanced another half a meter.

"The lives of the untouchables are worth less than grass." The sergeant pointed the tip of his sword at the boy's forehead, and the imperial emblem on the guard dazzled people in the sun. "But the head of a wizard like you can let me exchange it for three boxes of imperial gold coins - provided that you don't live to see the sunrise tomorrow."

The sand suddenly vibrated like a buzz in the silence. Zhou Xian tilted his head to look at the other person's tense eyes, and held up a diamond-shaped crystal condensed from sand in his palm: "So the courage of the warriors of Noxus is hidden behind the gold coin bags and shields?"

Before he could finish his words, spider-web-like cracks suddenly appeared on the ground beneath the soldiers' feet. The shield guards in the front row were shocked to find that the soles of their boots were rapidly turning into sand. Just as they felt a burning sensation in their palms holding the iron shields, the shields engraved with the Empire's military medals had turned into iron powder and fell to the ground.

"stop!"

The hoarse shout penetrated the dust. The soldiers parted to the sides like a tide. A middle-aged man in black scale armor strode over. He glanced at the soldiers buried up to their chests in the sand, and his eyes finally fell on Zhou Xian's floating fingertips: "I'm sorry for offending my subordinates. I hope you can forgive me."

After that, the middle-aged man waved his hand and asked all the soldiers to retreat. After all the soldiers left, the middle-aged man said, "Sir, you are not from Noxus, right?"

"Black Rose?"

Zhou Xian narrowed his eyes slightly, with a barely perceptible hint of temptation in his tone.

The middle-aged man's pupils shrank slightly, and his fingertips subconsciously pressed the wrist rune, but a confused smile appeared on his face: "Black rose? It's just a flower of lies made up by drunkards on the street." There was a harsh pause in his deliberately slowed tone, and when the heel of his boot crushed a piece of gravel, Zhou Xian clearly saw the panic flashing under his eyelashes - that was the instinctive tremor when the prey is targeted.

"Maybe I heard it wrong." Zhou Xian smiled slightly, then said: "If there is nothing else, I will leave."

"Of course." The middle-aged man stepped aside to make way, his cloak sweeping across the ground and raising fine sand, but his eyes were filled with scrutiny. When Zhou Xian turned around, the gravel gathered into a winding path at his feet, and each grain of sand precisely avoided the sentries ambushing at the corners of the street. The noise of the conscription in the distance was gradually swallowed up by the wind and sand.

The middle-aged man stared at the alley where Zhou Xian disappeared. When his Adam's apple moved slightly, the communication rune under his cloak glowed. Several hooded figures emerged from the shadows.

"The target has appeared, go and notify the members of the organization."

(End of this chapter)