Chapter 390: The Hand of Noxus
The next day, the imperial capital, the Immortal Fortress.
When Darius, leading his general guards, returned to the imperial capital after an absence of several years, the streets of the Immortal Fortress seemed to have become much more desolate than the last time he saw it.
The protracted and fruitless war did not bring any benefits to the empire except for the military supply industry controlled by the nobles. However, the heavy burden brought by the war was actually placed on hundreds of millions of citizens of the empire.
The terrible economic depression caused by this inevitably spread from the vast rural areas, towns, and cities to the prosperous capital of the empire.
Even the vast slums could no longer accommodate the city's growing filth.
Homeless orphans, ragged beggars, and sick vagrants began to spread throughout the city like an unstoppable flood.
Apart from the heavily guarded wealthy communities and noble estates, you can see these poor people struggling to survive in almost every corner and every roadside of this city.
This makes the work of the city's corpse collectors much more difficult.
In the past, they only had to go to the slums to collect the bodies of the poor, but now there are so many poor people that even the slums can’t accommodate them.
They had to push the cart through the streets and alleys of the Immortal Fortress, and then turn over the "corpses fallen on the road" that were seen everywhere on the roadside one by one.
Those who were completely dead were loaded onto carts and sent outside the city to be burned;
Those who were still breathing were also carried up and sent outside the city to be burned.
Anyway, the fate of these people is determined. If they don't move it to burn now, they will need to move it back later.
This was the scene Darius encountered when he returned to the Immortal Bastion.
Of course, he didn't really care.
Or perhaps he has seen so much that he has become numb to it.
The Noxian motto is that the strong will prey on the weak. The weak will die because they are weak, and they can only blame themselves.
Therefore, the economic depression caused by the war has never been a problem for the Noxian Empire.
According to "Noxian Economics":
The most direct manifestation of economic depression is the concentrated unemployment of a large number of people in a short period of time.
The large number of people unemployed is due to the current economic situation, which cannot provide so many jobs.
That problem is easily solved - since the problem is that there are not enough jobs, then as long as all the unemployed people die, there will naturally be enough jobs.
Anyway, these weaklings can do nothing but wait to die.
Therefore, the empire does not need to do anything, it just needs to "rule by inaction" and "follow nature" and wait for them to die naturally.
Of course, if the number of unemployed people is too large, the Noxian Empire will occasionally give them some small help.
For example, the youth corps and slave corps on the front line have always needed a large number of orphans and vagrants to serve as cannon fodder .
This tactic of "military relief" combined with "natural selection", where the visible hand and the invisible hand work together, has indeed helped Noxus (physically) eliminate countless poor people, thus safely passing through countless economic crises in the past.
"General." A guard noticed Darius and looked at the orphans on the roadside with complicated eyes.
Thinking of the general's humble origins, he could not help but ask carefully, "Do you need me to give them some money?"
"..." Darius finally slowly withdrew his gaze, then shook his head: "No need."
He didn't do anything extra.
Darius himself was once one of these wandering orphans.
But he was able to rely on his military achievements to grow from a war orphan to a great general, the Hand of Noxus, and the Grand Marshal of the Northern Legion.
Noxus is fair, there is no shortage of opportunities here. It's just that the Empire gives you the opportunities, and you have to make use of them.
If a person is useless, there is no need to help him.
Besides, he couldn't help.
"Let's go and see His Majesty." Darius left these wandering orphans behind and continued to lead the team forward.
This time, he rushed back to the capital from the northern Freljord front under the pretext of recruiting soldiers and replenishing troops, in order to meet with His Majesty Darkwill in person and persuade the emperor to end this meaningless war.
There are no four seasons in the Freljord, only one endless winter.
This land cannot be cultivated, there are no resources worth plundering, and the weather is so cold that it is almost unsuitable for human survival.
To put it bluntly, even if this damn place was given to Noxus for free, it would be a huge burden that would only waste administrative funds.
But in the past few years, Dakewell has been like a madman, constantly ordering Darius to lead his troops out of the border and deep into the north , striving to make those barbarian tribes submit to the empire.
The Northern Expedition against the barbarians seemed understandable at first glance.
But the barbarians of Freljord do not live on the lush prairies, but in the icy and snowy "Arctic Circle"!
Running to a place colder than the North Pole to fight the barbarians, isn't that asking for trouble?
So, not surprisingly...
The battle dragged on and eventually ended in a bitter, cold stalemate.
Darius has been in danger many times, experiencing assassinations, ambushes, and even being captured by the vicious Winter's Claw tribe.
Finally, he became tired of the endless war of attrition and wrote to the emperor again and again, asking him to end this meaningless war.
But Duckwell's attitude has always been so stubborn, to the point of being puzzling.
Darius felt more and more that something was wrong. At this time, a rumor began to spread in the army:
"Black Rose..." Darius looked up at the towering Immortal Fortress, his mind filled with mixed feelings.
Emperor Darkwill was controlled by a conspiracy group called the Black Rose. This rumor was said to have originated from the leader in the south of the empire.
But it spread at an incredible speed, from south to north throughout the Noxian Empire in just one month, especially in the major front-line legions of the Noxian Empire.
For a time, the morale of the army was shaken and the situation became turbulent.
Darius vaguely realized that there was something wrong with this exaggerated speed of transmission.
After all, the Leader is a foreign power with a shallow foundation, and it is impossible for it to reach so far. There must be a force from within the empire behind this, which, for some ulterior motive, cooperates with the Leader's propaganda offensive and secretly fuels the flames.
And this is why Darius decided to return to the imperial capital this time:
"Who is spreading these rumors? Moreover, they are spreading these rumors against the army?" Darius felt vaguely uneasy about this, so he led his general guards and rushed back to the Immortal Fortress in an emergency.
Firstly, he wanted to find out the source of the rumor.
Secondly, he also wanted to meet with Darkwill to discuss in detail and confirm the Emperor's mental state.
Yes, although Darius noticed the strangeness in the spread of this rumor, he still believed the rumors with half faith.
no way……
Levi's spoilers, combined with the revelations of Swain, the insider, and the various rumors about the Black Rose that were eventually spread by the Leader were so rich in content and details.
Darius knew very well that many of the things mentioned in those rumors were true, and they were secrets that only the top officials of the empire knew.
So he couldn't help but wonder if Darkwill was really controlled by a mysterious organization - that's why he went from being a wise ruler to the self-willed, irrational and crazy emperor he is now.
"General, there seems to be a riot ahead."
Darius was so preoccupied with state affairs that he didn't notice the sudden commotion on the road ahead until his personal guards reminded him.
"Murder! Murder!" First, a group of panicked citizens ran over from the front like a flock of sheep fleeing for their lives.
Darius didn't realize anything was wrong at this point and just thought it was another gang fight on the street.
But not long after, many Noxian soldiers appeared among the fleeing crowd.
And behind those Noxian soldiers, there was actually a group of "ordinary citizens" of the imperial capital who were holding military-style long swords but dressed as ordinary people, chasing closely.
"Is this... the capital's garrison?" Darius was shocked when he saw this.
The capital of Noxus was designed from the beginning to function as a military fortress.
Many gates, important departments and landmark buildings inside and outside the Immortal Fortress have special garrison troops responsible for daily guarding.
Although these patrol troops cannot be considered as the emperor's palace guards, they are also directly under the emperor's command.
But now, there is a group of "ordinary citizens" who dare to attack the imperial garrison troops directly under the emperor in the streets of the imperial capital?
And they won?
"The Garrison is one of the most elite troops in the empire." Darius reacted quickly: "If they are not afraid of the power of the Garrison, they are no longer ordinary citizens... These people are obviously rebels!"
And their behavior is undoubtedly of the following nature:
"Rebellion, this is a rebellion!" Darius immediately thought of the dangerous rumor that was confusing the army.
As expected, there were indeed rebels plotting rebellion behind this.
As the Hand of Noxus appointed by the Emperor himself and a loyal minister of the Empire, he certainly could not tolerate such a treasonous act.
"What's ahead?" Darius hurriedly caught a fleeing soldier and asked him, "What are you guarding? Why are the rebels attacking there?"
"H-Hexgate!" the soldier replied hastily, "That's the new cargo Hexgate hub in the capital."
"Oh no!" Darius' heart sank.
He immediately realized the purpose of these rebels:
The capital is heavily guarded on all sides, and only the Hexgate can bypass the layers of defenses around the imperial capital and deliver troops directly to the city center of the Immortal Fortress.
This group of rebels must be planning to seize control of the Hexgate, and then work together to lure outside rebels into the capital, thereby capturing the Immortal Fortress in one fell swoop!
"Follow me!" Darius rushed forward without hesitation.
Because foreign generals were not allowed to bring too many troops with them when entering the capital, he only brought a few dozen personal guards with him on this trip.
But that's enough.
Dozens of battle-hardened super warriors, plus Darius, the humanoid Gundam, are more than enough to deal with a group of rebels.
So Darius immediately led his team to attack the Hexgate hub, and suddenly appeared in front of the group of rebels who had successfully occupied the Hexgate hub with the force of a god descending from the sky.
"You rebels, stay still! I'll send you all to heaven!"
Darius shouted loudly, frightening everyone present.
"Who, who?" The rebels who thought they had the situation under complete control were suddenly shocked by this sudden change.
Darius didn't hesitate either.
He picked up the axe, shouted and rushed into the crowd, ready to kill these rebels with a combination of A, W, and then a slash of kills.
"Darius is here! Who dares to kill me?!"
"Brother!" The rebel leader greeted him with surprise: "It's me, brother!"
Darius: “…”
The axe he swung out moved half a meter to the side in the air.
Such a sudden turn and force almost strained his old waist.
When Darius finally recovered and looked up at the rebel leader, his heart was beating violently.
"D-Draven..." This is his younger brother.
The younger brother of the Hand of Noxus actually became a rebel leader and led the rebellion against Noxus?
"Brother, why are you back to the Immortal Bastion?" Draven greeted him cheerfully: "Forget it, you came just in time--"
"I have taken down the Hexgate now, and my people have cleared out the sentries leading to the Immortal Fortress. Once the reinforcements arrive, we can attack the Immortal Fortress together and bring down that mad emperor!"
Darius: “…”
There was an eerie silence.
The looks that the guards around him gave him became increasingly strange during this silence.
"General." Finally, a guard asked in a low voice, "So you suddenly brought us back to the capital just for... for..."
"This..." The guards were all very aggrieved: "You should have told us about this kind of thing in advance."
“……”Darius’ face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
He looked at Draven furiously and asked loudly, "Draven, are you crazy? Who bewitched you to do such a crazy thing?"
"This is my own choice." Draven answered seriously: "Look at what the empire has become now! Noxus can no longer be ruled by those greedy and short-sighted old nobles. If we want to restore the empire's past glory, we must eliminate these insects."
"Brother, just come and join me - we are not rebelling, we are saving this country."
"History will surely make a fair judgment on us. We..."
"Shut up!" Darius interrupted his brother angrily.
He knew that Draven was not someone who was particularly patriotic.
This "make the empire great again" rhetoric of persuading others to surrender must have been taught to him by someone else.
"Who? Who asked you to do these things?!" Darius knew that Draven must have been used.
"It's me." A voice sounded slowly.
The sound came from a suspicious red-eyed crow that was circling around Draven.
Darius had never seen this crow before, but he was very familiar with the sound it made.
"General S, General Swain..." Darius couldn't believe it.
Swain was the imperial general he respected the most, and was like a senior and a teacher in his mind.
After the humiliating defeat at Presidium, Darius even publicly voiced his opposition to the Emperor's decision to dismiss Swain.
Politically speaking, Darius's public statement is tantamount to openly forming an alliance and taking sides.
It is not a wise move to stand on the side of a defeated general who is deliberately suppressed by the emperor.
But Darius did it anyway.
Because he respected this strategist leader from the bottom of his heart, and he believed that Swain could regroup and make a comeback in the future and continue to shine for the future of the empire.
But unexpectedly... Swain did make a comeback and continued to shine for the empire.
But this time, the light and heat he emitted were so strong that it was like a second "sun" suddenly appearing in the imperial sky.
“Is it really you?” Darius still couldn’t believe that Swain would betray the Empire.
"You'll find out soon enough," said the crow.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Hextech flying gate emitted a powerful magical wave.
Swain and Amystan, leading a vanguard of elite warriors, appeared in the brilliant blue magical light.
"This..." Darius finally accepted the reality.
He couldn't help but tighten his grip on the axe in his hand and questioned the man he once regarded as a role model: "Why?"
“Why?” Swain said calmly, “Because I swore allegiance to Noxus, not Darkwill.”
"Is this reason enough?"
Darius was stunned. Swain looked over with a calm expression.
He knew Darius well.
Darius is rigid, conservative, and too rule-abiding.
If he had been told of the plan before the uprising, he would have definitely chosen to refuse, or even report their treason to Darkwill.
But if they act first and ask for permission later, drag Darius into the water through Draven first, help Darius break the invisible constraints of the rules, and then tell him what they are going to do - then Darius will definitely choose to follow his heart and join them reluctantly.
Sure enough... not long after, Darius showed a wavering expression on his face.
“Did you know?” Swain pulled out his trump card at this time: “The Empire’s hundreds of thousands of troops in Ionia were almost wiped out yesterday.”
"What?!" Darius' heart sank: "This was done by... the Wind Leader?"
"You can say that. However, Windleader didn't kill them directly." Swain repeated his old trick and made the crow on his shoulder spit out a beam of light, which played real footage of the entire Battle of Balue.
Then, as expected...
Darius was immediately shaken after seeing the "outstanding performance" of Vladimir and Elise in the video.
"These, are they made of black roses?"
"yes."
"Does the Black Rose really exist?"
“Yes.” Swain said in a serious tone: “Everything you heard about the Black Rose is true.”
"How can you guarantee that this scene is not an illusion fabricated by you to deceive people?" Darius pressed.
"The news of the disastrous defeat on the Balue front was immediately reported back to the Immortal Fortress yesterday, and was 'accidentally leaked' out and reached the ears of the general public in the Immortal Fortress."
This is naturally also the work of Swain.
"Why do you think the Empire's elite garrison was defeated by a small group of people led by Draven?"
"Because they all know what happened in Barue and the truth about the existence of the Black Rose. Now, no one is willing to work for the puppet on the throne."
This is the general trend.
The disastrous defeat in the Battle of Balue not only dealt a heavy blow to Emperor Darkwill's prestige, but also revealed the existence of the Black Rose to the world in a bloody and cruel way.
The long-accumulated contradictions within the empire finally broke out at this moment.
Without morale, the team could no longer be led. Even the garrison troops in the imperial capital had no intention of defending the Immortal Fortress.
If I could fire two shots into the air, it would be worthy of the salary Darkwill gave me.
"This..." Darius was speechless.
He had just returned to the imperial capital today, but he did not expect that the situation in the Immortal Fortress had changed so drastically.
Seeing Swain's determined look and recalling the bizarre scene of the soldiers of the garrison legion who had lost all fighting spirit and fled in a panic, Darius actually began to believe his words.
But he still instinctively questioned: "This doesn't prove anything. Who knows, maybe this is another rumor you spread!"
“Rumor?” Swain said slowly. “When you come with me to the Immortal Bastion and see the military report on the Emperor’s desk, you’ll know if this is a rumor or not.”
"Ridiculous!" Darius frowned. "When I go to the Immortal Bastion with you, even if it's fake, it will become real!"
“Yeah.” Swain smiled.
He did not continue to explain, but instead asked the other party: "Is it true or false? Does it matter?"
"Does the Empire not need to change if the Black Rose doesn't exist?"
Darius: “…”
He fell into deep silence again.
He thought of the bleak scene he saw on the street, the endless ice and snow of Freljord, and the brothers who fell one after another in the ice and snow because of the emperor's almost crazy orders.
Many people died, and their deaths were meaningless.
This war has really lasted too long.
If Noxus does not change, it will inevitably be doomed.
“Darius,” Swain told him, “The nobles of the Empire are eating away at this great country bit by bit. They manipulate the Emperor and launch war after war that only benefits them…”
Noxus believes in the survival of the fittest. The nobles, being powerful, deserve to enjoy wealth and splendor.
But the problem is that there is another part behind this set of "survival of the fittest" rules that has been forgotten by the imperial nobles:
Since the strong prey on the weak, the strong who eat the meat should do more work and play a more important role than the weak.
People who enjoy the privileges of the empire but can only play a counter-effect on the development of the empire...
"Shouldn't he die?"
“…” Darius’ expression was moved, as if he could no longer conceal his thoughts.
“So, what is your choice?” Swain gave him a final invitation.
"I... am the Hand of Noxus." Finally, Darius gave his answer: "My loyalty is to Noxus."
