Chapter 447: Zaun-Shurima Alliance
"Nasus, die!" On the other side, Renekton still had red eyes as he chased his brother and hacked him wildly.
Nasus couldn't bear to hurt his brother, so he could only defend himself passively. Soon he was beaten and bruised, and in a miserable state.
Fortunately, after Xerath meekly accepted the trial, Azir withdrew his hand.
"Wall of the Imperial Guards!" He waved his hand and summoned four teams of golden-armored warriors made of yellow sand. They held spears in their hands and formed a wall formation, besieging Renekton from all directions.
Renekton was surrounded and his movements suddenly came to a standstill.
Nasus finally escaped from his brother's ferocious pursuit and quickly chanted a spell to further delay Renekton's actions.
Levi summoned a high-pressure airflow to assist Azir and Nasus and pinned the crazy god-warrior to the ground.
In the end, as he promised, Xerath used advanced spiritual magic to soothe Renekton's crazy and twisted soul.
Finally, the anger in Renekton's eyes dissipated, and he gradually fell asleep quietly.
“Huh…” Nasus let out a long sigh and looked at his brother with mixed feelings.
Then he looked at Azir and especially Xerath in confusion.
“Grand Maester Nasus,” Azir said. “I have passed the sentence. Xerath must endure eternity of imprisonment and enslavement as atonement for his evil deeds.”
“So, you let him live.” Nasus sighed.
He could accept the emperor's judgment. For an almost immortal ascender, living in prison and sealed was not necessarily more comfortable than dying.
“But Xerath is dangerous,” Nasus said. “I do not believe he will accept punishment.”
Azir did not answer directly, but turned his gaze to Xerath.
"I am willing to accept the punishment." Zeratul sighed.
He took the initiative to disperse the powerful arcane energy, revealing his vital magical core: "Grand Maester Nasus, please seal my power."
“This…” Nasus was speechless. He and Renekton had tried their best to imprison Xerath in the Tomb of the Kings, but they were unable to seal the source of this guy’s power and fundamentally solve the problem.
He also didn't expect that Xerath would be so cooperative this time.
Based on Nasus's understanding of Xerath, he thought that this guy would fight to the death and would rather die than accept the seal.
"Then... can Renekton recover?" Nasus asked with concern.
“Not necessarily, but there is hope,” Azir said. “Xerath’s sorcery can soothe General Renekton’s spirit and atone for his sins as much as possible.”
“…Alright.” Nasus sighed, “In that case, then it will be as you wish.”
He nodded slightly to Azir, and used the ancient magic of Shurima to seal the magic core of Xerath.
Zerras suddenly lost most of his strength, and the light on his body dimmed to the extreme.
No matter how talented and intelligent he is, it is impossible for him to unlock the seal on his own with his current meager magic power that can barely sustain his body's movements.
"This... is fine." Levi silently agreed with Azir's choice.
Since there is a way to eliminate the secondary risks brought by Xerath, it is not a bad thing to let him survive and go to jail.
After all, Runeterra might face a full-scale invasion of the Void in another ten years. At this time, every high-end combat power is valuable.
At the critical moment, releasing the seal on Xerath and throwing him in front of the void swarm to attract firepower... can also be of great use.
"Grand Maester Nasus." After everything was settled, Azir finally had time to clean up the ruined empire.
He looked at the ruins of the ancient city and the mountains of void spirit corpses piled up in the desert.
Azir has already learned from Levi a general idea of how the capital became ruins, how Shurima perished, and how the Ascended ones disappeared.
"So what's the situation now?" Azir first focused on the great enemy, the Void: "Has the Void invaded completely?"
“No…” Nasus shook his head.
He briefly introduced Azir to the situation in Belvis and the latest movements of the Void forces.
After hearing that the Void had not invaded on all fronts and that the Void Queen's power was still limited to southern Shurima, Azir, although still looking solemn, was greatly relieved.
"So what human forces are there in the current Shurima continent?" Azir asked again.
“Well…” Nasus answered briefly: “The tribes of Mount Targon in the west have no intention of invading the desert, and Ixtal in the east has been closed off from the outside world for a thousand years. These are nothing to worry about.”
"In the vast desert of Shurima, oases are isolated and tribes are everywhere. So far, there is no big power."
"As for the north shore..." Nasus suddenly paused subtly.
Since Swain came to power, Noxus has no intention of maintaining the Empire's overseas colonial rule;
Coupled with the intervention of the leader more than a month ago, the compradors of the North Shore city-state, who were used to being fence-sitters, were frightened and collectively defected.
So, after an unstoppable trend of changing flags and competing for the same brand...
The northern coast of Shurima has now completely broken away from the control of Noxus and has become an overseas territory under the control of the Leader.
"The North Shore is now... under the control of the Oshla Vazuan people."
Nasus couldn't think of how to explain the special organization of the Windleaders to someone who had a 3000-year relationship with him.
He had no choice but to bring up the ancient name of Zaun and tell Azir who controlled the North Coast area now.
“Vazuan?” Azir laughed. “After the fall of the empire, even these profiteers can rule the North Coast?”
Zaun was a prosperous commercial city in the ancient Shurima era and an important trading base of the Shurima Empire on the north coast.
But no matter how rich and powerful it is, it is just one of the city-states on the northern coast under the rule of the Shurima Empire.
For Azir, it was news that the Vazuans ruled the North Shore.
It felt as absurd as waking up and finding that the ants in the corner had taken over the entire house.
"Uh..." Nasus was about to continue explaining in detail.
"Okay!" Azir had already cheered himself up, clutching his golden spear tightly and shouting: "Then let us first integrate the tribes in the desert, then recapture the city-states on the north bank, unify the entire Shurima region, and then concentrate our forces to march north to the countries of Valoran continent, and suppress the void forces of Icathia in the south!"
Nasus failed to stop him, and Azir's map expansion had already covered half of the planet.
Seeing Levi looking at him with a subtle expression on his face, Nasus was so embarrassed that even his pair of pointed wolf ears were trembling and he didn't know where to put them.
But His Majesty the Emperor was still intoxicated with expressing his lofty ambitions:
“Grand Maester Nasus, thank you for your hard work over the past 3,000 years. I can imagine your pain and helplessness.”
"But now, the sun disk is hanging high over the desert again. My empire and I are back—"
"Give me twenty years, and I will give you a powerful Shurima!"
"The sun will shine again on Shurima, and Shurima will be great again!"
“Uh…” Nasus wanted to stop it.
But Azir was getting more and more excited. He couldn't wait to reclaim his territory and restore Shurima's glory.
To this end, he had even counted the small population of this "empire" and arranged a place for each person.
"Grand Maester Nasus, you will be the Chancellor of this great empire. The position of Grand General of the Empire must go to General Renekton. "
“Sivir…” Azir looked at his only bloodline with pity: “It was your blood that awakened me.”
“The blood of ascension should no longer be buried in the sand. You will be the princess of the Shurima Empire, my only heir.”
"Huh?" Sivir couldn't help but roll her eyes.
But Azir turned to Levi and Janna and said, "Janna, and her followers."
"Although you were once heretics of the Empire, if you are willing to surrender, I am willing to break the rules and accept you as a member of the Ascended Group, and become a true god that can be worshipped in Shurima."
Levi, Janna: "..."
"Stop!" Nasus finally stopped the emperor without regard for etiquette.
As soon as he saw Azir's old arrogance returning, he knew that the Emperor had not been able to get out of his old role and still regarded himself as the supreme Emperor of Shurima.
No wonder...
For Azir, who has slept for 3,000 years, the era when the Shurima Empire was extremely powerful might as well have been yesterday.
In his impression, Janna was just a little sparrow that could be manipulated at will.
Even though Janna had just demonstrated strength far superior to that of ordinary Ascendants, Azir still subconsciously believed that he had the qualifications to talk to her on an equal footing and that he was even superior to her.
“Azir, wake up—” Nasus sighed deeply: “Times have changed.”
"Huh?" Azir looked over in confusion.
"The Vazúans who now control the northern coast of Shurima are followers of the goddess Janna," Nasus explained.
"This..." Azir was slightly stunned, but quickly accepted it.
The belief in the goddess Janna was widely spread in the coastal city-states on the northern coast of Shurima more than 3,000 years ago.
Now it has just returned to its former glory, so what?
The Shurima Empire, which was bound to be revived, invited her to join and allowed her to sit firmly in a high position in the empire. Was that treating her unfairly?
“No, you still underestimated them.” Nasus added helplessly: “The Wind Leader… er, that is, the Cult of Janna, is now the most powerful force in Runeterra.”
"The current Shurima Empire is incapable of competing with it."
"The future..." The future is even more impossible.
Although the solar disc can create ascenders, the conditions for ascension are extremely harsh.
In the past, only the imperial heroes selected by the Ascension Cult were eligible to undergo the Ascension Ceremony .
If a person can become an imperial hero of this level, it means that he must be a powerful extraordinary person with extremely strong willpower and mental strength.
Such harsh hidden conditions, coupled with the terrifyingly high mortality rate of the ascension ceremony, meant that it was impossible for the Sun Disc to mass-produce ascenders in a short period of time.
The ancient Shurima Empire had accumulated for thousands of years, but it only managed to gather a legion of hundreds of Ascendants. This was when the Shurima Empire was strong enough and had enough powerful transcendents to be sent to the altar to undergo the Ascendant Trial.
If Azir is asked to rebuild the empire from scratch now, it will take more than ten years before he can train new god-warriors.
And the goddess Janna... Nasus could see that with the terrifyingly infectious power of Janna's theories, her beliefs would spread throughout Runeterra within a few years.
He couldn't even imagine how powerful Janna would be by then.
“The Windlord is the stronger of us all,” Nasus concluded. “You must recognize that, Azir.”
"What?" This was far beyond Azir's expectations.
“And that’s not all…” Nasus gave him another heavy blow: “Your heir, Sivir, is also a member of the Wind Leader.”
"This..." Azir looked at Sivir in disbelief.
"Azir." Sivir called the ancestor by his name without any politeness. "The plan to revive you and the Shurima Empire was originally formulated by our President Levi. Without him, you would not be standing here at all."
"You should show some respect to my goddess."
"..." Azir became more and more stunned.
He captured a key message.
"I...was resurrected by these leaders?"
“Yes.” Nasus nodded in confirmation.
Azir was silent. After all, he had been an emperor, and he knew what this meant.
Since Vazuan is now also a great power, why would they want to revive the Shurima Empire?
Isn't this adding more competitors to yourself?
There is only one answer.
That is, in the eyes of the leader, the Shurima Empire is not an opponent at all, but...
"Vassal?!" Azir was so angry that his body was shaking.
"We are allies." Li Wei corrected him in time: "We are not seeking hegemony, nor do we engage in vassalage."
"You?!" In Azir's opinion, there was nothing special about it.
The emperor's pride was instantly shattered. Then, he looked at Nasus excitedly and said, "Grand Maester Nasus, did these leaders agree on any terms with you in advance?"
Azir knew that no force would help others restore their country without asking for anything in return .
The other party must have additional conditions.
He had signed such treaties often before, except that he brought the Shuriman Empire's army and forced others to sign.
"Um... this." Nether was suddenly a little embarrassed.
From the perspective of the Shurima Empire, he did play the role of Lord Prime Minister and agreed to some rather unequal conditions.
"First, the Shurima Empire must form a defensive alliance with the Wind Leader to jointly deal with the encroachment and invasion of the Void Queen in the south."
The Void is the common enemy of mankind, and Shurima is also facing the threat of Icathia, so it has the greatest need for cooperation.
So this condition is mutually beneficial and win-win, and there is no inequality.
but……
"Second, the Shurima Empire needs to respect the choices of the people of the North Shore and not unilaterally change the status quo."
"Bastard!" How could Azir not hear that the Leader had occupied the North Bank and didn't want to leave, and wanted him to cede land in exchange for peace.
"Cease land?" Levi glared back rudely.
He did not back down. For whatever his original plan might have been, the northern coast of Shurima was now liberated.
The leader can't just abandon the slaves and the poor who have just been liberated and throw them back under the rule of a backward feudal empire just to please his allies, right?
So, Levi looked directly into Azir's eyes and asked a soul-searching question:
“Azir, you think I’m trying to steal your territory. But the problem is…”
"The Shurima Empire has been gone for three thousand years. Is this still your territory?"
"..." Azir couldn't answer.
Not only did Shurima lose its country, but its civilization was also completely cut off.
It has been 3,000 years since the destruction, and even the local language and writing have changed. How can you still say that this is your territory? On what basis?
Moreover: "For the past three thousand years, the Shurima people have been suffering from hunger, war, slavery, colonial invasion, and despair all the time. This land has always been shrouded in despair."
"Where are you and your so-called empire at this time?"
"I..." Azir was even more speechless.
He glanced at Sivir guiltily.
Suddenly, he understood the disrespect and even contempt of this "unfilial descendant" towards him.
Yes... the direct descendants of the once noble imperial family now live such a miserable life. Not to mention the other Shurimans.
The empire was dead long ago. It failed to protect the Shurimans, so why would the Shurimans recognize this empire that suddenly appeared?
"So, why do you ask me for land?"
It doesn't make sense legally and public opinion doesn't support it.
Then we can only rely on...
"Because your fist is big?" Levi looked straight at Azir without giving in: "But your fist is big, and our leader's fist is not small either!"
Although there are four Ascended ones on the Shurima side: Azir, Nasus, Renekton, and Xerath.
But the Leader also has the support of the Goddess Janna, as well as the four great demons: the Demon of Desire, the Demon of Secrecy, the Demon of Fire, and the Demon of Shadow.
Not to mention, with the successful transformation of Ionia by the Leader and the continued infiltration of Demacia and Noxus, Janna's power is now growing exponentially every day.
I estimate that within a month or two, she will be able to defeat these "remnants of the empire."
"..." Azir was speechless.
Sivir added silently: "Old man, if you really care about Shurima, you should take the initiative to convert to Janna, and join us in fighting the void and transforming the world!"
"You?!" Azir looked angrily .
How could he, the dignified Emperor of Shurima, convert to a heretical minor god!
Even if he died, even if he was killed by the sun disk again, it would be impossible...
“Azir.” Nasus stopped him. “Be reasonable.”
"Don't forget, the Void Queen is still lurking in the north from Icathia. What we need now is an ally, not an insurmountable enemy."
"This..." Azir was speechless again.
He was silent for a long time, and finally accepted the reality helplessly.
"Okay..." Azir sighed deeply: "Leader, I will cooperate with you."
