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

Ato did not really want to harm these Tiwasser people.

He released the blood stored in the demon sword, creating a blood rain effect, successfully attracting everyone's attention, and then withdrew the blood.

He then unleashed sword energy for a deterrent effect; he didn't actually exert any force on the cracks in the building, as simple repairs would allow it to continue functioning.

“What exactly is equilibrium?” Aatrox asked.

After calming down, Atto finally understood the meaning of balance.

"I didn't know at first, but now I understand it a little bit."

"The so-called balance means that the development of things has its own laws. For example, birth, aging, illness and death are the fate that every person and every living thing should have, and people must respect the laws."

“Doesn’t this make a lot of sense?” Aatrox had heard similar ideas from wise men in ancient Shurima.

“That makes sense, but the Ionians…”

"Alright, old man, let me ask you this: there's a villain who killed many people for no reason, and eventually he was arrested. What do you think will happen to him?"

“Death, of course.” Aatrox didn’t hesitate much.

Atto continued, "During the trial, some people thought this villain deserved to die, but most Ionians did not think so."

"Although this villain killed many people, being killed is the inevitable fate and destiny of those victims."

"As for the wicked, we have caught him, but we have no right to decide his fate; we must respect the rules."

"Locking him up is the best punishment. His death should not be decided by us. This will achieve a balance between the material and spiritual realms. This is the balance in the eyes of the Ionians."

Aatrox was speechless for a moment.

When the nearby Tevasir had mostly dispersed, he spoke again: "...They are extremely paranoid, so paranoid that they have distorted the original meaning of balance."

"Therefore, I will not take sides." Ato suppressed the pity in his heart.

Ionia needs a war with no winners to break their balance.

Noxus needs a war with no winners to overthrow their empire.

……

Dukur had never fought a war so smoothly.

He arrived in Ionia a day later than Amistan's vanguard, aboard the second wave of warships.

Six days after he disembarked from the warship, one-fifth of Navori province had been incorporated into Noxus.

The war has only been going on for a week!

Are all the people here useless? Hahahaha!

Despite being the commander-in-chief, Dukur went to the front lines of the battlefield.

At this moment, in his eyes, Ionia was just a pasture, filled with livestock that would not resist.

What danger could cattle and sheep possibly pose?

He stepped out of the command room, went to the front line, and enjoyed the process of brutally killing the enemy.

"Ms. Pale was overthinking it. I didn't want to underestimate her either, but there was nothing I could do, hahaha!"

Dukur casually snapped the neck of a middle-aged man who was trying to resist and tossed him aside.

He asked his adjutant behind him, "Have you found out who owns this mansion?"

"Sir, it's clear now. This mansion belongs to the Zan family, who wield considerable influence locally; in the empire, they would be considered a high-ranking noble family."

"Pah!" Dukur spat at the corpse on the ground. "This kind of strength is enough to be a nobleman?"

"Sir, the nobles are not very capable of resisting, but we must pay attention to those religious sects," the adjutant reminded him.

"There's nothing to worry about if we really fight the sects; they'll be crushed to pieces in front of the Empire!"

After a moment of silence, Dukur ordered his adjutant, "Have them speed things up and empty out all the property here. The houses are big enough; leave them for the soldiers to use as supply depots."

"Also, find a place to bury this family's bodies; they'll start to stink if left unburied."

"As you command, sir."

The next day, the soldiers finally moved all of Zan's property onto the wagons—which they had also stolen.

Just as they were about to leave, Dukur suddenly called out to one of the soldiers.

“Wait, why isn’t this thing being moved?” Dukur asked, pointing to a large metal emblem.

"Sir, this thing isn't valuable. It's just a big iron block, and the pattern on it looks like the family crest. It's probably useless to us, isn't it?"

"Move it. It's not very useful, but the war has just begun, and we must demonstrate the power of the Empire, leaving nothing but devastation in our wake!"

"Yes, sir!" The soldier accepted the order and entered the main room of the house, attempting to remove the family crest from the wall.

Dukur watched as the soldier carrying the family crest walked toward the carriage, and took a deep drag on his cigar.

Suddenly, a little girl darted out and tackled the soldier to the ground. The girl snatched the family crest from his hand and staggered away into the distance.

"Hmph! There are still people in the Zan family who are still alive!" Duguer said as he chased after them.

The girl, carrying the heavy family crest, couldn't run fast at all.

She looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old, with soft features, long dark hair draped behind her head, and wearing a traditional red and blue outfit.

She hadn't run far when Duguer caught up with her and punched her to the ground.

Even lying on the ground, the girl still held the family crest tightly in her arms.

Dukur grabbed her long hair, made her face him, and his expression turned ferocious.

The surrounding soldiers immediately moved closer and pointed their weapons at the girl.

"A little girl? Hmph, you value this a lot, don't you?"

Dukur snatched the family crest from the girl's arms and threw it to the soldiers around him.

"Smash this family crest to pieces. And dig a new grave for this child!"

The girl immediately glared angrily at Dukur.

"You still have some guts?"

Dukur slapped the girl across the face, and a trickle of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.

The soldier took out a huge iron hammer, strained all his muscles, and slammed it heavily onto the Zan family crest.

when!

A metallic clang rang out, and the family crest shattered into countless fragments.

"Hahahaha!" Dukur laughed uncontrollably. He loved to shatter the last hope of survivors from enemy countries and watch their expressions of despair.

However, his expectations were dashed. The girl stared silently at the shattered family crest in the distance, her eyes unblinking.

"This is boring." Dukur lost interest and released his hand from the girl's hair.

"Once the grave is dug, throw her in." After giving these simple instructions, he walked toward the carriage.

"What's going on? Ah! Ah!"

The screams of soldiers came from behind. Dukur turned around and saw several flashes of white light passing over the soldiers' necks. The next moment, blood splattered everywhere, and more than a dozen soldiers had fallen in a short time.

The girl, who had been lying on the ground, slowly got up, her face splattered with the soldiers' blood.

"What the hell is this?"

The surviving soldiers looked terrified and tried to block the silver light with their weapons, but they couldn't see the trajectory of the silver light at all.

Whoosh whoosh!

The merciless silver light continued to reap the lives of the soldiers.