First, take down the Sword Demon, then save Runeterra.

"How wonderful. I made such a grand welcome for you, and instead of coming in, you're here exchanging pleasantries?" Lissandra mocked without any attempt to hide her sarcasm.

"Huh? Who are you, old woman?" Interrupted from scratching her head, Stellatu retorted with an annoyance, "Look at your deathly pale face, you should come out and get some sun more often. Oh no, there's no sun in this godforsaken place!"

Anaka, who had worked for Lissandra for several years, was also unhappy and seemed to be siding with her rival. However, the two could still cooperate on this matter.

“Old woman…” Lissandra’s lips twitched, and deep blue light seeped from her arms.

Outsiders say she has many secrets, is ruthless, and says one thing to your face and another behind your back, but she has no way to refute the point about being "old".

In terms of age, Lissandra is only tens of thousands of years younger than the three demigods.

Although he looks only middle-aged, he has actually lived for over 10,000 years and is the ancestor of all Freljord people for NNNNN generations, thousands of years before the first rise of the sun disk.

"What, you old woman, you want to fight again?" Stellatu persisted. "Do you know who's beside me? The invincible General of the Empire! Compared to him, you're just an ant on the ground. Come on, if you dare..."

Before he could finish speaking, Aatrox cut him off, saying, "We were rude and failed to manage our subordinates properly. I apologize to you."

"You two, go back to where you were supposed to go. I'll make it up to you later. Right now, we have more important business to attend to."

Upon hearing this, the two female Darkin, who had been disappointed by the short reward period, regained their anticipation and stopped being aggressive. One continued to stand guard by the bridge, while the other returned to her sword sheath.

"It seems there are still reasonable people among us." Lissandra didn't pursue the matter further, dispelling the prepared True Ice magic. Compared to minor details, the potential dangers posed by the Void and Zoranny were more important.

She glanced at a bald mage who was dozing off and asked in surprise, "Lord Ryze, are you tired right now?"

"Hmm? The flirting is over?" Ryze became a little more awake. "Oh, I'm really tired. It wasn't easy bringing them here... I've teleported countless times, and my mana is almost gone... Could you prepare a quiet room for me? I need to meditate and recover."

"Please do as you wish." Lissandra waved her hand, and several Iceborn stepped forward to invite Ryze to rest.

Before leaving, Ryze remembered something and turned around to warn, "Although I'm going to meditate, it doesn't mean I've completely lost my fighting ability. If the situation is really urgent, you can force me to wake up."

"I can't guarantee anything, but I can still send it back and bring back a few of my most treasured items."

Before Lissandra could ask what her "secret weapon" was, Ato asked worriedly, "Is it alright? You're not at your peak yet. If you activate 'that thing,' and there's more than one..."

"Heh, the worst price I'll pay is my life." Ryze smiled calmly. "Sometimes I'm also confused. What have I been striving for over a thousand years? But you and your companions have given me an answer."

"Don't misunderstand, I don't have to choose death. If this world isn't worth saving, if I never find a reason to continue living, your answers might help me."

Ryze waved his hand and followed the Iceborn servant who was leading the way into Frostguard Fortress, preparing to meditate and recover in the quiet room.

Atto stood there, stunned. For Ryze, had death become an option?

He once again refreshed our understanding of heroes; mere words are insufficient to encompass their entire lives.

Ryze's figure disappeared into the fortress, and Lissandra couldn't help but ask, "What is this 'secret weapon' he mentioned...?"

Ato shook his head: "It's best not to ask; it's his biggest secret. I can know, but if I tell you, the partnership ends here."

"Then give me a hint: is Lord Ryze's trump card stronger than that of the Darkin?"

"You can understand that."

Lissandra nodded silently and did not ask any further questions.

Because of this Ato, a hybrid of human and Darkin, she gained a powerful ally, Anaka.

Ryze is willing to share secrets with this hybrid, so he must completely trust him, right?

Over the years, the casualty rate among the Iceborn in the fortress has decreased dramatically. Anaka has taken on all the tasks of monitoring the Abyss Seal by herself, and she has returned unscathed every time, which has given Lissandra a new understanding of the power of the Darkborn.

If it weren't for the suspicion that Anaka was controlled by the Void and was helping it transmit false information—

So Lissandra regularly organized her trusted Iceborn to enter the Abyss, but the results were exactly the same as Anaka's report.

Otherwise, even Lissandra wouldn't know what to do with her, because her master was a demonic sword that Lissandra considered invincible.

The Demon Sword chose to trust itself and help itself stay by its side to fight against the Void's powerful subordinates.

It's clear that Ato has close ties with Ryze, so Lissandra can only maintain the status quo. She doesn't dare offend either side, so she doesn't dare to ask any further questions.

"Come on in. Even the Iceborn don't have an easy time in the Freljord winter."

Lissandra casually waved her hand, and the Iceborn on both sides of the stone bridge above the Howling Abyss simultaneously struck their left chests with their right fists, displaying the highest level of courtesy.

Frostguard Fortress was built against the mountain. As the double stone gates closed, the internal temperature rose instantly, finally reaching above zero degrees Celsius—a temperature that the natives could only dream of.

Upon entering the gate, Yun Ana, who had been silent until now, said, "The feeling is even more obvious now... This frozen land is connected to the spiritual realm."

"Connecting to the spiritual realm?" Ato thought for a moment, it seemed that the rabbit had a good relationship with a certain god of forging. "You mean those beast spirits and nature spirits?"

“Your description is quite apt,” Yunana didn’t deny it. “It’s strange; it seems to share the same origin as the Soul of Ionia, but this land cannot support me…”

Are the spiritual realms of Ionia and Freljord of the same origin?

Ato had questions, but no one could answer them.

Lulu, where are you? I've already resolved the major crisis of Balkux going out of control and assimilating with the Sacred Tree of Bandle City.

Lulu practically dragged me there!

She promised to invite me to Bandle City sometime, but now I have a question I want to ask her and I can't find her!

"Lord of the Darkin Staff, are you still able to contact Bandle City?"

Barkux seemed to have expected this, and said in a deep voice, "There's nothing I can do. The coordinates of Bandle City are changing every moment. Even if I briefly occupied the Sacred Tree, I couldn't lock onto it unless a Yordle actively approached you."

The spiritual dialogue within the scabbard was tantamount to silence for Lissandra; she could neither see nor hear it.

She only noticed that once Ato entered the fortress, he exchanged a few words with the purple-haired woman beside him and then fell silent, his expression quite varied.

"When this lady mentioned the spiritual realm, did something come to mind, Lord Demon Sword?"