In the early morning of the third day of the Noxian Empire's expeditionary force's rapid assault on Xiandu City, the capital of Songzan Province of the Ionian Kingdom, the soldiers of the city guards, who had taken advantage of the dark sky and the shape of the city, to resist the invaders desperately, finally fell into a desperate situation as the daylight illuminated the city inch by inch.

What made these brave soldiers disdainful the most was that after dawn they found that the enemy on the opposite side had become a private soldier of the traitor family who had gained combat effectiveness after a night of integration.

Those patriarchs who had secretly communicated with Noxus, after being personally confirmed by the Supreme Commander Svein and guaranteed more cultivation resources and territory, were already a little eager to start redividing the forces of Xiandu City.

This first step, of course, is to get rid of the city guards who were originally suppressed above the families, and by the way, also hand in a sufficient number of votes.

Urgent, help, battle situation, countless messages from the last teleportation array of the city guards, uninterrupted to the other side of the city of Presidium. But in just a few days after the loss of the city of Hor-Garrin, it was obviously not enough for the panicked kingdom to organize a strong enough reinforcement to come out.

Eventually, before the Imperial Expeditionary Corps, which had been repaired in the middle of the night, was thrown into the decisive battle, the remaining city guards received the final instructions from the council: destroy the teleportation array, disperse the remaining forces outside the city, and do everything possible to delay the invaders and buy time for the defense of Prestian.

This is a valuable lesson learned from the defense of Xiandu City, and the commanders have found that even if it is an extra day, more preparation can deal a more lethal blow to the enemy.

For example, if Xiandu City can prepare more energy source stones this time, it will be able to make the magic guide cannon attack a few more times; The more equipment you have on the walls, the more you can make the Noxian soldiers bleed more with their superiority.

And the most important thing is that more time can be used to integrate the defenses in the city of Prestian: the betrayal of the family's private soldiers must not be repeated.

"Noxus wins!!"

The cheers of the Imperial soldiers echoed once again in the cities of the ancient kingdom as the sun shone across the land.

The soldiers who cheered the victory could not have imagined that the helplessness of the Ionian Council would eventually grow into a fire.

……

On the west side of the Iron Ridge Mountains, in a small village where it meets the Freljord Icefield, the 'explorer' who has slept well is sitting on an ice rock in a daze.

It was already a safe place a few days away from the avalanche, but I don't know if it was the devastating disaster that caused the bold Ezreal to feel that his heart would be too fast at the sight of the snow-covered hillside.

"Hey, it's nice to be alive, isn't it?"

Ezreal, who was fascinated by the snowy mountains, suddenly broke free from his endless thoughts until Bron's generous voice sounded beside him.

"Huh? Ah, "the 'explorer' who claims to have seen the world is quite embarrassed by his gaffe," said Mr. Brown...... Actually......"

Bronn leaned his large shield against the side of the ice rock, and looked up at the undazzling sun of the northland morning: "Outlander, remember what I often say?" ”

"The darker the night, the brighter the stars."

The words were pronounced by the two of them at the same time, especially Bron's broad voice, which seemed to have a natural magic when it was spoken, which made Ezreal's heart unconsciously surge with strength.

"How do you understand that?"

"Is that so, Mr. Brown. The difficulties encountered are better tempering for us...... So that we can discover more beauty in this world......"

Some of the past experiences seem to have resurfaced with Ezreal's emotion.

With a hot breath, Bronn rubbed his hands that were rarely empty, "It seems that you have been through a lot, which is not quite your age." ”

Not about to get any response, the tall cloth solemnly took the huge shield in his hand and walked out of the village without looking back.

"Mr. Bronn?"

Ezreal didn't understand what Bron was going out to do early in the morning, as the villagers revered him as 'The Heart of Freeljord'.

"Why is Blom always where he is needed most? Because he won't stay in a safe place. Goodbye Outlander, uh, no, maybe you won't like to see Bronn again, hahaha......"

Leaving a dashing back, Bron did not forget to wave an iron fist as big as an 'explorer''s head, before turning over the rocks, reminding: "Remember to be kind to the people of Freljord......"

Before the generous goodbye had passed, the yodeler's signature lovely voice appeared next to the somewhat distracted Ezreal: "Hi ~ Isele, where is Uncle Bronn going?" ”

"He's going to spread the legend of the Heart of Freljord to every land in the Ice Kingdom," retracting some inexplicable envious glances, Ezreal looked down and asked the yodel scout beside him, who was stretching his neck on his feet, "Are you all resting?" ”

"Well, yes. Sir! ”

"Then let's go, there's still a lot of work to go."

Soon, the envoy team, which had received the minimum food supply, waved goodbye to the small northland village of only 100 people behind them, and followed Ezreal, who was trying to find the direction along the way, to the nearby town of Aikejavík.

This town in the eastern foothills of the Iron Ridge Mountains, inhabited by nearly a thousand people, was the key to their replenishment and quick departure from Freljord - the snow-capped Desolate Northlands were not like the rest of Valoran, where food was readily available from the generous Mother Nature.

The group walked for most of the day on the snowy trail that was almost deserted because few villagers walked on it, and finally arrived near the town of Ekjavik, until they stepped on the tundra dirt road that was obviously trampled by pedestrians, and the 'explorer' who was questioned by Ahri all the way took a long breath in a very covert way.

Cloaked in the twilight of the Northlands, Ezreal and his friends hurried into the town of Ekjavík, which was surrounded only by a simple animal fence.

The harsh environment and years of peace had forged the townspeople's strong physique and hospitable character, and Ezreal simply wanted to inquire about the location of the inn, but was enthusiastically led by the stout man into the Golden Antlers, which was both an inn and a tavern.

"Traveler, come, sit here!"

The short man whose face was flushed with the heat of the stove patted the bar counter where half of the guests were seated, and raised his voice to attract a few people who had just walked into the noisy environment on the first floor of the Golden Antler Hotel and were still looking around.

"Rare guest! Friends from afar, what do you need? If you're of drinking age, try the ice pine nut wine, which is a specialty here, at a good price! It's a good thing that can't be drunk outside the mountain! ”

Noticing that the business was coming to the door, the owner of Golden Antlers stopped bragging to his regular customers and turned around to greet new customers warmly.

And Ezreal had too much to do, so he had to temporarily reject his boss's offer: "We want to find a place to live first." Boss, do you have a triple room here? ”

"Of course! My Golden Antlers is the only licensed inn in town," the proprietor glanced at the guest in front of him with his red beard, and then said, "Two silver coins a night without meals in a triple room, and six silver dollars a night with meals." ”

After a little consideration, Ezreal opted for the price of the meal.

Their schedule is a bit tight, and they need to hurry up and complete the supplies before it gets dark, and when they turn around, there should be no better dinner options except for the hotel.

Then the 'Explorer' put 20 silver coins on the table, because he noticed that the eyes of the two yodelers and the demon fox kept not coming out of the other guests' tables: "Two three-person rooms, please prepare six more glasses of ice pine nut for us at dinner... Well, it's superfluous to thank this gentleman. ”

It wasn't until he heard the traveler's words that the short man who led the way enthusiastically showed a satisfied expression, these strangers were still on the road.

After choosing a room, the six people who did not have a moment to rest hurried to the nearest grocery store and clothing store according to the boss's instructions.

Due to the unprecedented cold weather on the ice sheet this year, the summer temperature in Freljord was much better than the usual winter, so the clothes that Ezreal had prepared for everyone outside the mountains were a little thinner.

After dinner, after throwing some of his high-drinking, noisy companions to the silent warrior monk, Ezreal sat down at the bar with a large wine glass, seemingly without a match, and chatted with the boss about the surroundings.

It's just that how could his little tricks fool the boss of Golden Antlers who made a living from it, the middle-aged man with a red beard said with disdain: "Young man, this is not the hospitality of a Northland man. ”

After glancing at the blonde traveler on the opposite side again, the boss of the golden antlers turned his head and called Ezreal to the less crowded side of the bar, and said in a low voice: "If you want to inquire about anything, old Chuck has always made it clear here - provided you don't do bad things!" ”

"Of course, we're just passing through here, and there's no malice," Ezreal said calmly, facing the boss's questioning gaze, "Hmm, what's the fastest way to get to the Serpentine River?" ”

"To the south? All right. Small Business ...... Here! ”

Knowing that these strange travelers had no dangerous intentions, Uncle Chuck turned around and took a deerskin roll from a cabinet and placed it on the bar.

"It's ......"

Looking at the traveler's somewhat incredulous eyes, Chuck was confused: "Map, what else could it be?" ”

"Oh no, no, I mean... It's ......"

"The price? The map to the south is just a normal cargo, so I'll give you 20 silver. ”

"Hmm......"

The reason why Ezreal was a little out of shape was of course not as misunderstood by the boss of the Golden Antlers, but in fact, he sighed in his heart that he, the ancestor who sold maps, actually had times when he was sold maps by others.

Having never ventured deep into the Freljord Ice Field, and lacking the time to explore the south, he had to grit his nose and accept the fact.

Walking back to his companion in a somewhat sullen manner, Li Qing's reminder came coldly: "Your words have been eavesdropped." ”

"What?"

Following the gaze of the warrior monk, a raunchy man hurriedly pushed the door and left the tavern, and Ezreal, who was just about to get up to chase after him, suddenly flashed in his mind Li Qing's calm look when he reminded him, and slowly sat back on the wide stool.

That's right, isn't it a good thing for them to come to the door with a few little thieves who don't open their eyes?

'If only these guys could send some animal power along the way, hmm, hmm......

Ezreal raised his glass and joined the group in a happy mood.