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

"continue!"

Riven gripped her swords with both hands and launched an attack. The runic greatsword came down from below, but Ator saw the trajectory of her attack and deflected the greatsword with his magic sword.

Riven persisted, immediately following up after being knocked back, launching a series of attacks.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

Both sides engaged in wide-ranging, aggressive battles, the clash of weapons kicking up dust that distracted the soldiers watching from their training.

"This new recruit is too fierce. I couldn't even last one round against the Swordsman Chief... Her sword is very heavy. I thought no one could fight the Swordsman Chief to this extent..."

"Who said that? General Darius is definitely stronger than the swordsman. General Darius can beat her as easily as she beats you!"

"After his duel with the swordsman captain, he'll probably become a captain as soon as he joins the army."

Atto completely abandoned attacking and simply blocked. After the first attack, he roughly grasped Riven's strength and controlled his power to be slightly weaker than hers.

A cloud of dust obscured Atto's vision, and he feigned panic, loosening his grip on the sword slightly.

"when!"

Riven executed an uppercut, sending the sword flying from Atto's hand and landing on the ground.

Old man, I'll have to put up with this for now... With Riven's sword pointed at him, Ato smiled helplessly and raised his hands to show that he was admitting defeat.

"Not bad, to be able to fight the swordsman for so long, this guy is stronger than all of us," a soldier commented.

Riven frowned, sheathed her rune greatsword, walked to stand next to Atto, and whispered, "Your sword tells me you don't want to stand out too much. I won't ask why; since that's what you think, I'll respect your wishes."

Atto breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, instructor."

Riven bypassed Ator, opened the door, and went to the front yard of the recruitment office to tell the middle-aged man registering the results of the trial.

Of course, this is the result of Riven's modifications.

“She’s quite understanding…” Ato picked up the Darkin Demon Sword, dusted it off, and sheathed it.

Based on his understanding of Riven, he incorporated his own intentions into the previous battle.

Fortunately, Riven understood what he meant and didn't ask him why.

“Little one, there’s something strange about her sword. I sense the aura of dark magic,” Aatrox warned.

"Dark magic? It should be related to LeBlanc's conspiracy. But Riven probably doesn't know that; she only knows that the sword is enchanted and will have unexpected effects when used in battle."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ator suddenly remembered the fate of that runic greatsword.

Desperate and disillusioned with the empire, Riven loathed the greatsword in her hand. So she sought out Yasuo's master, the highly respected elder of Ionia, Elder Souma, and asked him to shatter the greatsword.

The runic greatsword was indeed shattered, but the dark magic hidden within was activated, and the fragments of the greatsword were used to kill Elder Soma.

Elder Soma bears traces of the Gale Sword Technique, leading Yasuo to be mistakenly identified as the traitor who killed his master and to be wanted by Ionia.

LeBlanc was truly cunning; she gradually pressured Riven, leading her to make the decision to shatter the greatsword, come into contact with Elder Souma, and ultimately kill him with her dark magic.

Did she intend to plunge Ionia into civil war through Elder Souma's death?

Just as Atto was pondering LeBlanc's purpose, Riven returned and patted Atto on the shoulder.

She was half a head shorter than Atto, but her presence was in no way inferior to anyone else's.

“You can come with me for now, Harris. You don’t need to train like them. I know you’re more than that. That kind of training is meaningless for you.”

Riven's right arm was still throbbing.

"Yes, sir. When do we depart?"

“Call me Captain Swordsman.” Riven looked at the soldiers training in the distance. “The Empire hasn’t given any clear orders yet. But from what I’ve heard, it should be within a month. You’ve come at the right time; the army is about to stop recruiting.”

"Swordsman, your sword seems to have special abilities. Why didn't you use it just now?"

Riven glanced at Atto and said calmly, "You're not the enemy. Those abilities are for killing enemies. Using them on you could be life-threatening."

Ato chuckled, agreeing with Riven's assessment.

"Come with me." Riven walked towards a house next to the training ground.

Ato quickly followed, while Riven stood at the doorway and did not go inside.

"Always wearing a black robe, you don't look like an Imperial soldier. Go inside and find a suit of armor that suits you. This is made of iron spike ore, a perk the Empire provides to its soldiers for war."

Ato looked down at his black robe. Was he finally going to have to change out of the clothes he'd worn since arriving in Runeterra...?

He opened the door and went inside.

Not long after, Ator appeared before Riven with a completely changed appearance. His chest and shoulders were covered by gray armor plates, and his helmet covered most of his face. Only the hemp rope wrapped around his chest with his greatsword remained unchanged.

“That’s more like it,” Riven affirmed, turning to walk towards the soldiers who were training.

"Laza, come here!" Riven called out to the soldiers.

A scantily clad female soldier with heavy makeup and two short swords strapped to her arms walked over.

"Swordsman Captain." She bowed slightly.

“This is Harris,” Riven introduced. “Take off your knife and fight Harris without weapons.”

"Yes, sir." Laza shrugged, activated the mechanism on her arm, and removed the dagger, placing it aside.

“Didn’t we already try it…” Ato muttered to himself, but still untied the rope from the Darkin Demon Sword and leaned against the weapon rack.

"I am coming!"

Laza roared and threw a punch at Ato.

To Athos, who had experience fighting Aatrox, Laza's speed seemed like slow motion.

Atto tilted his head to dodge Laza's fist, pressed down with one hand to block Laza's leg that she was trying to sneak up on, grabbed her arm with the other hand, lifted her up, and punched her in the stomach—a punch he controlled with his strength.

"cough!"

Atto released her grip, and Laza collapsed to the ground, clutching her stomach, her face contorted in pain.

"Is that all?" the soldiers watching exclaimed.

Laza was among the most skilled of these people, and Harris took her down in just a few seconds!

“Sigh…” Riven shook her head. “What have you guys been training for? Harris is a new recruit who just arrived today. You’ve been training for so long, how can you be worse than him? Come here, one by one, and fight him. Then think about why you lost!”

"This... are you using me as a sparring partner?" Ato wanted to refuse, but Riven was his superior now, and he couldn't disobey his superior.

"You bastard, you really don't know how to respect ladies. If I get hurt because of this, you'll be responsible!" After recovering, Laza stood up, glanced at him, lightly stroked the armor on his chest with her fingers, picked up the twin swords beside her, and reattached them to her arms.

“You need to reflect on this too, Laza!” Riven tapped Laza on the head.

"I know, I know!"