Chapter 446 The Empire's Only Slave
"No...Impossible!" Azir looked at his good brother, his eyes full of shock and confusion.
He still didn't want to believe it, even though Xerath had admitted it himself.
These are his brothers!
How could he betray himself!
"Azir, it's me." Xerath sighed.
“……”Azir was silent for a while.
Then, he turned around with his body trembling, and used the magic of the ascender to summon the rolling yellow sand in the desert regardless of the consequences.
The dust formed ghostly phantoms, recreating the city's deathbed.
These are images of the past, echoes of Shurima in physical form.
The humanoid figures made of dust were all looking toward the sun disk. The sun disk was still hanging high in the sky half a mile away, showing off the glory and power of the Azir Empire.
However, the next second...
The joy on people's faces turned into fear. They were instantly wiped out by an invisible energy and turned into dust and blown away by the wind.
Soon, Azir's family appeared before him, presented in perfect detail and heartbreakingly real. His pregnant wife. Her shy daughter, clutching his wife's hand. His son, head held high, almost grown up.
But all this soon disappeared with the explosion of the solar disk.
Looking up at the altar again, the source of this disaster...
A figure formed of dust appeared. It was his most trusted servant, his wizard, Xerath.
“What happened next…” Azir’s voice trembled.
His eyes were red and he looked at Levi with a ferocious expression: "What happened next?!"
"Later, the Shurima Empire perished." Levi knew what he wanted to ask: "Without the guidance of the Sun Disc and the Ascended Order, and without the constraints of the Empire Center, the Ascended Ones whose minds were influenced by the Void quickly transformed into independent warlords and began an endless melee."
"The god warriors perished one after another in this thousand-year-long war, and the remaining Ascendants were eventually sealed by the Protoss."
"Thus, the era of Shurima was completely over."
"A new human empire rose in the northern Valoran continent, and the Shurima people, who lost their empire, eventually regressed to the primitive slave-owning tribal era."
Azir was speechless.
His family was gone, his empire was destroyed, his people were ruined. Everything he cared about was gone.
This was too much to bear, but there were no tears in Azir's eyes. His ascension form no longer had the ability to simply express sadness.
"Then..." Azir suddenly looked at Sivir not far away excitedly: "What about her?"
He could feel that Sivir was his surviving bloodline. It was the only thing he had left in this world.
"Anyone else?" he murmured.
"No more." Xiweier answered personally.
3000 years is too far for a mortal like her.
She was just watching her ancestor's performance for fun.
"My parents and relatives all died at the hands of desert bandits." Xiweier said unceremoniously, "And Your Majesty, the 'noble blood' you left me didn't help me avoid hunger while wandering."
“… …” Azir felt heartbroken.
He never expected that the only bloodline he inherited, his descendants, would live such a purgatory-like life.
"Tell me the names of those desert bandits...I will kill them and avenge you!" He looked at Sivir deeply, as if he was trying hard to make up for something.
"Haha." Xiweier didn't appreciate it at all: "I have already avenged this grudge myself a long time ago. Why would I need a dead man like you?"
Azir's heart was stabbed again.
Only then did he finally see clearly what kind of disaster that gentle push from behind by Xerath had brought to him, his family, and his empire.
"Ze! La! Si!" He turned his head and looked at his good brother with uncontrollable anger.
"Why? " Azir asked angrily, "I regard you as a brother, why do you treat me like this?!"
But Xerath remained silent.
"Speak up, Zeratul!"
"I..." Zerath was silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "I have nothing to say."
As he said this, he glanced at Levi and Cana who were guarding him closely, as well as his own bleak body which had been severely injured in the battle.
Xerath knew that he could no longer escape.
After being sealed for 3000 years, he was beaten by the Void as soon as he came out. The power he had usurped with great effort not only failed to enable him to realize any of his ambitions, but also made him passively become the main force against the Void.
All the ambitions for hegemony and hatred were instantly destroyed in this ridiculous way.
So, Xerath finally let go of his 3,000-year-old twisted obsession and calmly accepted his own fate: "Do it."
"Anyway, you saved my life, so I should return it to you now."
He didn't want to defend himself or beg for mercy.
After all, if Azir hadn't risked his life to save him, he would have died now.
"You..." Since Xerath was so determined to die, Azir couldn't bring himself to kill him.
"Why? Why on earth!" He stubbornly wanted to get an answer.
Then, Azir quickly thought of the rift that had already arisen between him and Xerath before the disaster.
After he ascended the throne, Zerath was eager to free the slaves, and he even went so far as to offend him several times and get into disputes with him.
He was reluctant to reveal the secret in order to keep it a secret. Later, in order to calm Xerath down and not make a big fuss, he even pretended to be indifferent and said to Xerath: "You are just a slave. You should remember your place."
…
It all makes sense.
After that conflict, Xerath never mentioned abolition again.
He seemed to have become the emperor's most obedient subject.
But he is no longer his friend, his good brother.
"You betrayed me because..." Azir's eyes widened in pain: "I 'betrayed' you?"
He finally realized how ridiculous the root cause of this tragedy was.
If he hadn't been so arbitrary and self-centered at the time, and had communicated more with Xerath... perhaps none of this would have happened.
"Yes." Zerath finally spoke: "Is communication so difficult?"
"Why don't you tell me the truth? Are you worried that I might leak the secret? But I am your 'brother'. Abolition is our common ideal, and you have seen my abilities. Don't you even trust me?"
This is certainly not the case.
The truth is: "Azir, you still subconsciously regard me as a slave and yourself as my master!"
"Even though we're brothers, you're the big brother who has the final say - so you think you can make all the decisions on your own, and that's why you don't bother to reveal even a little information to me!"
"I..." Azir was speechless.
Because he realized that what Zeratul said was true. It was his pride and arrogance that deepened the rift between the two.
"But, but you shouldn't..." Azir felt heartbroken .
"...Yes. I made a bigger mistake." Xerath sighed: "But what's the point of saying this now? The big mistake has been made, and nothing can be undone."
With that, he walked to Azir's golden spear with relief: "Kill me, Azir."
“……”Azir fell into a painful dilemma.
Reason told him that he should kill Xerath. This sinner deserved death.
But……
"What should I do with him?" Azir looked at Levi blankly.
Levi was not his subject, and had nothing to do with him, but this guy was the only person he could ask for advice now.
"I recommend the death penalty." Levi's answer was direct.
He had no intention of judging an ancient person who lived 3,000 years ago based on modern moral and legal concepts.
After all, if we really judge strictly according to the values of the Leader... Azir, Nasus, Renekton and the others, every one of them is a Class A war criminal who actively launched aggressive wars and is an Imperial traitor who deserves to be shot a hundred times.
It’s just that with the Void facing a powerful enemy, Levi doesn’t want to pursue their past for the sake of united front work.
But even if we put aside these conflicts of values, and do not use modern laws to conduct any extra-temporal trials, just from the perspective of practical pros and cons and the value of united front work... Zerath also deserves to die.
"He is very dangerous." Levi didn't know whether Zeratul could really let go of his ambition and hatred.
Anyway, the Xerath in the original world line is definitely a dangerous person.
He backstabbed his good brother and brainwashed Renekton. After breaking free from the seal, he still stubbornly hunted down Sivir and tried to eliminate the last bloodline of Azir.
"If you leave him here, he might seek revenge on you in the future." Levi said, "The Void is our common enemy now, and Shurima, which has been in chaos for a thousand years, urgently needs to restore order."
"Shurima is about to be rebuilt. At this time, we must quickly eliminate any possibility of civil unrest."
In the original world line, Azir was resurrected for a full ten years, but he still failed to unify the Shurima region. The northern coast of Shurima was still occupied by Noxus, and the southern part was slowly being eroded by the Prophet's Cult.
The Prophet's Order is another matter. There is no reason why the three-line garrison of the North Shore Noxus Colony can stop the footsteps of an ascender.
Levi guessed that a large part of the reason for this was definitely due to the restraint that Xerath placed on him.
Azir can't even resolve the civil strife, so naturally he has no ability to unify the continent and restore order.
so……
"We can't let the tiger go back to the mountains." Levi said. Although Janna's strength is no longer afraid of Xerath, he can still cause trouble.
"He's right." Zeratul actually echoed.
He really didn't want to live anymore: "Azir, what are you hesitating about? It was me who betrayed you and destroyed everything you had! It was me! Why are you still hesitating?!"
The more Azir hesitated, the more Xerath wanted to die.
"You idiot!"
As he spoke, he actually raised his hand and condensed a blade of light, which he stabbed at his magic core without hesitation.
"Wait!" Azir subconsciously controlled the yellow sand and subdued Xerath.
"Xerath." He clenched his fists and was silent for a long time before finally saying, "You can't die yet."
"It would be too easy to just let you die like this."
"Azir..." Xerath felt even more complicated when he saw the pain in his former friend's eyes.
Azir pondered for a moment and asked, "General Renekton, what is going on?"
The two brothers here are still chatting, but the two brothers over there have already started fighting.
The empire was once a model of brotherly love, but now even its brains are about to be beaten out.
"Zerath, what did you do?"
"I used sorcery to twist his will in revenge for him and Nasus sealing me." Zerath admitted frankly: "He is now crazy."
"You..." Azir was unfamiliar with Xerath's viciousness.
"Haha." Zeratul laughed at himself.
Azir was able to transform from the most unpopular prince to the supreme emperor thanks to his secret efforts behind the scenes.
From that time on, Xerath has become an unscrupulous schemer.
“This is the real me.”
"Azir, you think too highly of me."
"..." Azir was silent for another moment before he said, "Can you remove the spell cast on General Renekton?"
"Yes, but no." Zeratul shook his head.
Renekton didn't go crazy because he couldn't get rid of the witchcraft, but his mind was permanently affected by the witchcraft.
It is easy to drive a person crazy, but it is difficult to cure him.
"The best I can do is use my magic to soothe Renekton's spirit and calm him down. As for whether he can recover, it all depends on him."
“Do so,” Azir said. “I need you to heal General Renekton as best you can.”
"The Shurima Empire is now in ruins, and the forces of the Void have made a comeback. At this time, the power of every god warrior is valuable."
"This..." Zeratul was slightly stunned.
He could tell that Azir wanted to spare his life.
"You won't kill me?" Zelas said in a complicated tone: "Don't forget what I did to you."
"I know!" Azir clenched his fists tightly.
The tragic scenes restored by the yellow sand phantoms surrounded his eyes all the time.
Xerath and he have a blood feud. But the relationship between him and Xerath is far more than just enemies.
“It would be too easy for you to die like this!” Azir said through gritted teeth, “I will ask Grand Maester Nasus to seal your power, allowing you to linger on, and then use the rest of your life to atone for your evil deeds for eternity!”
"No matter if a hundred years, a thousand years, or ten thousand years pass... you will never be free again!"
Azir delivered his final verdict as Emperor.
He sentenced Xerath to lifelong hard labor with no upper limit, a term that would make even LeBlanc shed tears of sympathy.
"Xerath, I withdraw my pardon from you."
"You are no longer my brother, nor an Imperial citizen."
Azir paused for a moment. He looked at the unrecognizable Xerath, and the boy who had pursued his ideals with him in the past quietly emerged in his mind.
He has not forgotten that ideal.
He had promised Xerath that he would make slavery a thing of the past in Shurima.
"From now on, you will always be my slave—"
"The only slave in this new Shurima Empire."
"Azir..." Xerath was slightly stunned.
Then he almost choked up. But he obviously no longer had a physical body and could no longer shed tears.
Then, Xerath gathered all his strength. He was willing to accept the seal and put on the shackles of atonement.
He knelt on the ground and said, "Yes, my master."
