Chapter 373 Swain's Life
The Empire is just a tool of the Black Rose, and the Emperor is just a puppet of Leblanc.
If these were all true, then wouldn't "for Noxus" and "for Darkwill", the creeds that she had memorized like the Bible since childhood, become a joke?
Katerina was confused.
What is she fighting for? For...
Katarina recalled what Leblanc had said to her before—it turned out that the glory of the empire was all fake, and she was just fighting for her family's privileges.
However, would she really care about such things, as she was taught from childhood that she could sacrifice her life for the empire at any time?
“…”
"Kana?" Suddenly, Garen called her name in a low voice.
"Huh?" Catalina suddenly came back to her senses.
"Are you okay?" Garen looked at her thoughtfully, as well as Swain not far away.
"It's okay..." Katerina took a deep breath, and her complexion instantly returned to normal: "I just watched the movie and was a little curious about him."
"Oh." Galen didn't ask any further questions.
At this moment, the movie screen was showing the stage where Sway followed the clues of tracking down his parents and wiped out the hidden forces of the Black Rose, and beheaded the mastermind "Pale Lady" in public.
"Was the Black Rose eliminated by Swain back then?" Katarina hoped so.
But things are obviously not that simple.
Sure enough, not long after the Pale Lady was beheaded by Swain, another Pale Lady appeared silently deep in the palace of the Immortal Bastion.
The so-called "Pale Lady" is just one of Leblanc's many avatars.
Leblanc has many such clones, secretly planning various conspiracies in countries around the world at the same time.
Swain thought he had killed the Pale Lady, but he hadn't.
In fact, the plan to eliminate LeBlanc was actually formulated by LeBlanc from the very beginning.
Black Rose helped Darkwill win the throne, but he refused to include Black Rose's hand-picked advisers in the council, so Leblanc took necessary extreme measures.
She manipulated Swain into uncovering the secret society's involvement, and then had herself and several other of the most important conspirators executed.
Finally, when Darkwill thought that the Black Rose had been completely destroyed by Swain and completely let down his guard...
LeBlanc reappeared.
She deceived Darkwill's trust, used magic to poison his mind and manipulate his spirit.
It turned out that the wise ruler Darkwill had already "died" at that time.
"This..." Catalina's three perspectives were greatly impacted.
The truth is even crueler than the rumors. Darkwill is not just a puppet, but a puppet doll in the literal sense!
In the early part of the movie, Darkwill is wise, brave, and ambitious. He is undoubtedly the wise ruler that Katarina looks forward to and is willing to be loyal to.
But the Black Rose cannot tolerate such an emperor.
"Is this true?" Katarina couldn't help but look at Swain again, looking for the answer from his face.
This time...
What was revealed on Swain's face was uncontrollable shock.
It seemed that he was just like Swain in the movie. He had been kept in the dark for decades and had no idea what had happened to Darkwill, his lord and friend.
“…” Catalina felt increasingly depressed.
Even the wise general Swain was fooled by the Black Rose.
If the Black Rose cannot accommodate a wise ruler, can it accommodate a loyal and capable minister like Swain?
Sure enough, soon...
After Darkwill was manipulated in the movie, Swain was quickly promoted and given a military position due to his merits.
Although this was a promotion, leading troops in battles outside all year round meant that he was far away from the capital, the center and the emperor.
Swei had been doing government work before, and theoretically it would be difficult for him to make contributions in the army without experience. If nothing unexpected happened, he might not be able to return to the Immortal Fortress many times in his life, and he would not see Darkwell again.
However, what was unexpected was that... Swain was actually a genius who was both civil and military. His talent and ability in military affairs were even more amazing than his performance in government affairs.
On the southern front, he repeatedly defeated local Shurima warlords in away battles and opened up a vast southern border for the empire.
On the Western Front, he defeated his arch-enemy, the Demacians, repeatedly, and even famous generals like Jarvan III and Peter Crownguard were defeated by him.
Swain's brilliant record made the Black Rose think he was an extremely useful tool and they were reluctant to get rid of him.
"Ahem..." Garen had a subtle expression.
Seeing my own father and my own king being beaten up in a movie is really a bad viewing experience.
But as a knight, Garen sincerely admired this terrible opponent from the perspective of military and human character.
So...what was the final outcome of such a pillar of the empire and a peerless general?
The movie goes on.
And it's gradually coming to an end.
… …
The time came to a few years ago, the Immortal Fortress.
It was still the same palace, and the two parties talking were still Swain and Darkwill.
But Swain is no longer young at this moment, and Darkwill is no longer the same Darkwill as before.
“Your Majesty!” Swain urged, “Please reconsider and give up the idea of attacking Ionia.”
"What?" Darkwill just looked at him coldly: "Are you speaking for those Ionians?"
“I am speaking for the Empire, Your Majesty.” Swain did not back down. “The Empire is already at war on three fronts. If we launch a full-scale attack on the New Land, I’m afraid it will only lead the army into an endless quagmire of war.”
" Everyone will pay a heavy price for this, and the only ones who will benefit are the arms dealers, military supply merchants, and the nobles behind them..."
"Enough!" Darkwill interrupted him coldly: "Ionia doesn't even have an army, while the Empire has a million troops."
"One million to zero, the advantage is on me!"
Swain wanted to persuade him again: "But..."
Darkwill didn't even give him a chance to speak: "Swain, don't forget who gave you the position you have today ."
"What? You have so many 'students' under you now that you dare not even obey my orders?"
These are strong words.
Generally speaking, when the emperor said this to a general in person, it meant that the general was about to die.
"..." Swain shut his mouth wisely.
He stopped talking and just looked out the window in silence.
The sky outside the window is still as dark as before, and the slums are still as filthy as abscesses. It has never changed in decades.
"What are you looking at?" Darkwill frowned in dissatisfaction.
“I…” Swain’s expression darkened. “I’m looking at the sky, Your Majesty.”
…
The movie comes to the finale.
Ionia, Presidium.
When the audience sees this scene, they can basically guess what famous scene they will see next.
Veteran Swain was defeated by a 14-year-old girl after invading Presidium territory.
This humiliating defeat of Swain later became the hottest topic in Runeterra in the past two years, and ultimately turned his image from a pillar of the empire and a famous general into a living joke of the Runo.
It was like Sun Shiwan meeting Zhang Liao. No matter how glorious his past was... this defeat would make people talk about him for the rest of his life.
So in the audience's past impression, Swain has always been a clown.
But this time, they put themselves in Swain's perspective.
"Marshal Swain." Bad news kept coming: "The rebels are fiercely attacking our front line of defense. Our flanks have also been completely surrounded by their reinforcements!"
"Hold on, let everyone hold on a little longer..." In the command center, Swain sat at the table with a grim face.
The staff officers surrounded him with nervous expressions, not daring to make a sound.
It turns out that the Battle of Presidium was not a failure at the beginning.
Swain's legion lured the enemy into the so-called trap as planned, preparing to cooperate with friendly forces to carry out a beautiful "center blossom".
But the support promised by the friendly forces never showed up.
"Believe me... As long as the other chapters launch the attack as promised, everything will be fine." The shouts of killing were approaching the military tent, but Swain was still trying to boost morale.
But it didn't work at all.
"Teacher, they..." The officers swallowed nervously: "They claimed that they did not have enough power to launch an attack. The attack on Presidium did not happen."
Swain: “…”
Everyone could see the anger on his face, but he clenched his fists tightly, trying hard not to explode.
"Send a message to them again." The once proud imperial commander now revealed a humble and submissive demeanor: "Tell those war group leaders—"
"For the sake of the empire, lend a hand, brother! lend a hand, brother!"
His voice was successfully transmitted through magic.
But no one responded to him.
Those support regiments that were supposed to be here seemed to have evaporated from the face of the earth and disappeared from the Navoli battlefield.
At this time...
"Ionia, our spirits will never fade!" The Ionians' passionate shouts of killing reached Swain's ears.
“…” Swain sighed.
The wise general stood up and, with his weak arms, picked up the sword that he rarely used personally.
"The Empire cannot win this battle."
"We are doomed to fail."
As he spoke, Swain walked out of the tent and headed towards the flying knife that was breaking through the air.
