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

"Give me a round of applause! Give me cheers! Give me a shout, cheers!"

Draven, who was being carried along, was still restless, waving his arms wildly in the air.

"Does this guy really have Riven's skills?" Ato frowned.

Although Draven and Riven faced off in some future timeline, he looks utterly useless in his current state.

The two walked out of the dark street and onto a relatively wide path, where several carriages were parked not far away.

Just then, Ato suddenly had a premonition and raised his hand to block a powerful punch.

"Kid, where do you think you're taking me?" Draven stared at Ator with hostility, showing no trace of his drunkenness at this moment.

"Go see someone." Ator exerted a little force with his left hand, and Draven was surprised to find that he couldn't pull his fist out.

Ato was even more surprised that Draven's strength was actually about the same as Riven's!

"I'm not seeing anyone now!" Draven's hand, which was resting on Ator, reached for the greatsword behind him and pulled out the Darkin Blade.

"No!" The moment Draven drew the Demon Sword, he felt his strength rapidly draining away, and soon he didn't even have the strength to pick it up anymore.

"There's something strange about this greatsword!"

Bang!

The cursed sword fell to the ground, and Ator took the opportunity to release Draven. In that brief contact, the cursed sword had almost completely drained Draven's strength!

"Why would you take someone else's weapon for no reason?" Ato picked up the demon sword and sheathed it.

"Who sent you?" Draven felt as tired as if he had run at full speed for fifty kilometers.

"Jericho Swain, is that enough?" Ato said helplessly.

“Your sword is imbued with magic.” Draven didn’t believe him. “The Black Rose?”

“…You know more than I thought.” Ato shook his head. “But it was indeed Jericho Swain who contacted you. You’ll see for yourself.”

As he spoke, Atto pulled out a metal plate, about the size of a palm, with the Swain family crest printed on it.

This is an item that Swain gave to Atto in advance to confirm his identity.

"Is it really him?" Draven looked suspicious. "Jellicoe was fighting in Ionia, how could he suddenly come back?"

"So you know nothing? You just spend all your time going between casinos and bars?"

There was one more thing Ato didn't say: Draven is not even as good as he was in college. Back then, he lived a simple life between his dorm, the cafeteria, and the classroom.

"Those damn guys, they're all cheating! I'll just leave them alone, why would I care about what's going on outside?" Draven said confidently.

Ato really wanted to teach this good-for-nothing brother a lesson on behalf of Darius. He had all that talent but didn't use it, wasting it all on winning the cheers of the audience.

"Come with me, we're going to the Swain family mansion."

"Hey, it really is Jericho? When did he get back? Has the other side already won?"

"Victory my foot!" Ator once again helped the weakened Draven up. "A lot happened in between. Go see Jericho first, he'll tell you."

This time Draven did not refuse, and the two boarded a carriage and headed towards Swain Manor outside the city.

Immortal Fortress truly lives up to its reputation as the largest city in Valoran; the carriage didn't arrive at the manor gates until sunset.

According to Ato's assessment, the development level of the Immortal Fortress is now comparable to that of a second-tier city in the real world, and the efficiency of the carriages can no longer keep up with the city's development.

As soon as Atto and his group entered the manor, Swain's Hextech car turned in from another street.

He also concluded his study of the Immortal Fortress for the day.

"My God! Jericho, what happened to you?" Draven cried out, clutching his head as he looked at Swain's crippled state.

"Why did you choose the manor outside the city, instead of your residence in the city?" Atto asked.

Swain pointed ahead: "Let's go inside and talk."

The group entered the manor's council hall and took their seats. Swain then spoke, "We are plotting a rebellion. The city is too crowded and not a good place to discuss this."

"What? Rebellion? Jericho, tell me what's going on here?" Only Draven was clueless and felt completely overwhelmed.

Swain briefly recounted his experiences in Ionia to Draven, including falling into a trap, being isolated and helpless, and the Black Rose.

"The Emperor is a puppet of the Black Rose?" Draven gasped. He had only heard that the royal family had connections with the Black Rose, but he never expected that even the Emperor was working for the Pale Lady.

“I brought you here to cooperate with you. Once I obtain the power hidden beneath the Immortal Fortress, it will be time to overthrow Darkwell, and then we will establish a new political system.”

Draven curled his lip: "Looking for a partnership with me? Actually, it's probably to partner with my brother. If I support you, Darius at least won't be on your side."

Swain gave Draven a deep look: "That's a consideration, but you're someone we have to win over."

Draven said with amusement, "How do you know I'll definitely help you? What's in it for me?"

“You can imagine a scenario.” Ator knew what Draven wanted. “If you support Swain, he will introduce policies to support your gladiator activities.”

“That’s interesting, continue.” Draven sat up slightly.

“You have overthrown Darkwell, so you can arrest him first, and after establishing a new government, execute Darkwell in the Arena of Glory, in the eyes of the citizens. And you will be the one to carry out his execution.”

Draven closed his eyes, his lips curling up in an exaggerated smile; just thinking about that scene made him tremble with excitement.

"Oh, it's really quite nice." Draven stood up abruptly and paced around the room to calm himself down.

Swain secretly gave Artobby a thumbs-up with his only remaining right hand.

Ato felt he had a knack for being a lecturer: he won over Draven with just three sentences and got him to switch sides with Swain.

"Let's get this straight first, I don't have military power, so I definitely can't help you like Darius did!"

Swain shook his head slightly: "With your strength, you originally had the opportunity to reach Darius's level, but unfortunately your interests don't lie there."

“Nothing in the army is as carefree as being a purger,” Draven said, sitting back down. “What’s worse, nobody watches purge performances anymore!”

Swain chuckled and said, "Do you think I don't know that there are still a few officers in the army who keep in touch with you? And the gladiatorial arena, after all these years of running it, you've also cultivated some henchmen who are loyal to you."

“Looks like we both have something on each other.” Draven grinned. “Well then, Jericho, nice to work with you.”

The two held hands together.