"It's been two years since I've reappeared in the sun, but they're nothing compared to the more than 3,000 years I've been dead. Even the Ascended Martial Empress Setaka would not be able to recover the land that had been gradually divided for more than 3,000 years in just two years. ”

The sand table changed slightly with Azir's movements, and the solar disc formed by the yellow sand emitted a brilliant ray, illuminating a part of the land. The unlit gray areas of the road plate mean that they have not yet returned to Azir.

There were probably fourteen or fifteen city-states or large settlements in the Shurima Desert, and the people of Vikora were the first to submit to Azir in gratitude for the salvation given by the clear river flowing from the oasis of dawn.

The lord of Nerima admired the prestige of the Eagle Father and willingly bowed to Azir.

Zerima, Kennesser, Zurita, and Nashrami were all in the presence of the Ascended Ones, and they submitted without any decent resistance.

There are basically no regular armed forces in these cities, and the scattered mercenaries and sand bandits alone cannot resist the raids of the Ascended Ones.

And among the mortals of Shurima today, there are very few beings like Taliyah. Without the high-end power that can compete with the Ascendant, it is only a matter of time before the war is defeated.

If you can't kill the Ascendant, you've already lost most of it, so no one will fight a war that is impossible to win.

The northern port cities of Uzeris and Berguen remained under Noxus control. Due to the distance between these two cities from the Oasis of Dawn and the presence of regular troops, it was not easy for Azir, who had just regained from the ashes, to take them, and it could easily turn into a protracted tug-of-war.

The army of Noxus is still very strong, and the two ports are becoming more and more prosperous under the management of Noxus's open policy, and the large number of intermarriages has also led to a trend of ethnic integration here, if Azir wants to force the attack on these two ports, it will inevitably cause public outrage, so it cannot be used as a first choice.

The remaining cities, such as Karamanda, are too far away from Azir's strongholds, so they have not been touched much until now. There are also those that have been reduced to charred ruins by the magic of runes, such as the Garden City, the home of Azir's biological mother, which was burned down in a fierce battle between Brand and Ryze.

"Have you already reclaimed half of the area? It's faster than I expected. Jeno propped up one hand, rubbing the chin back and forth with a small section of stubble, looking at the black and white sand table and muttering.

Even though his voice was small, his height and distance were a little away, Azir could hear him say through a sandbox. The Ascended Beings gained not only nearly infinite life from the Ascension Ritual, but also the various senses of their bodies were far beyond ordinary people under the scorching sun.

"Hmph, if it weren't for the fact that the great Shurima now only had three of us Celestial Warriors left, there would only be more cities that would now be submissive to me."

Azir's pride did not allow for any unspeakable, and he slowly pulled his claws into a fist, and the sand table was pulled like a black hole, gradually shrinking into a sphere, and finally dissipated the moment Azir clenched his fist.

Yes, including himself, there are only three Ascended Ones under Azir's command. The lack of Ascended Ones was the main reason for his slow progress in regaining lost territory.

After two years of contact, he has found that the current Shurima is in decline, and the fault line of civilization has turned the Shurima people into a plate of scattered sand, without the slightest cohesion, and the slightest external force will cause them to collapse in an instant.

If he wanted to attack a city-state, even if the Ascended was a bare-bones commander with no soldiers, he could rely on unrivaled individual strength to make the enemy leader surrender in despair.

However, he had only three Ascendants, and of the three, he had to leave at least one to guard the Oasis of Dawn in the capital and keep the solar disk moving. The remaining two soldiers were divided into two lanes, and even if there was no resistance along the way, the efficiency would not be much faster.

Azir also does not have a large number of loyal and brave soldiers like Noxus, and can fight on multiple fronts, blossoming everywhere. Even if he had, he didn't have the right generals to command the soldiers, and he could only trust the two Nasus brothers at the moment.

Moreover, there are more than a dozen city-states in Shurima. If the enemy is not stupid, he will fight against the city-state without the Ascendant station, and with the scattered warriors he has gathered under his command in the past two years, it is basically impossible to resist the attack.

So, for Azrjan, the most important thing is the Ascendant. Only by increasing the number of Ascended Ascendants can his journey go further.

"Can't you put aside the siege of the city and the land? Focus on solving the problem of Calixe, if you want to recover Shurima, it will be a hurdle you can't get around after all. ”

Jeno has no interest in the birds of Azir. I don't know how long there is left before the next time the giant god looks for him, and he has to hurry up this time to force Jean Ruiz to willingly hand over the world runes to him on the pretext of solving the void, so that he can have the capital to fight against the giant god.

Azir snorted coldly and shook his hand back up the steps.

Wielding his scepter, he walked through the boundless desolation to the unseen horizon. There, a deadly heat wave fills the air, and the sand is inhabited by strange obsidian-like creatures.

"A huge race of Void monsters lurking beneath Calixe, these sand-digging man-eating bugs are called Exai. Back when I was alive, when the clay had not yet formed stones, when Shurima was still in the scorching sun, Axy was already eating there! ”

"Thousands of years have not only not worn them out, but have made their race stronger! It's that kind of existence, how do you want Shurima to fight now? ”

Azir's voice trembled slightly, and there was a rare appearance of worry.

It was the first time he had such an emotion since his body was recast by the Sun Sacrifice. Acacia, along with its surrounding area, is a forgotten place, leaving Azir reluctant to recall the existence of the Abyss.

He had already died once, and he should have been fearless of death. Indeed, he did not abandon his pride even when he was captured by Zeros. But the thought of facing them, the thought of dying in a terrible way, even the body strengthened by the fire of the sun shuddered, with a completely incomprehensible fear.

"At that time, there were hundreds of Celestial Warriors who could drive Shurima, but none of them were able to eradicate the death under this piece of yellow sand, and now there are only three left, how do you want us to help you?"