The crowd remained motionless and silent.

"Lux, what's going on?" asked Galen.

Lux blinked vigorously, pushing away the last of the horrific images that had been imprinted in her mind, and followed Galen's gaze. At the same time, the fighters of the Dreadnought Vanguard quickly rallied to their captain.

Then, one by one, the inhabitants of Fosbello fell to the ground, as if life had suddenly disappeared from their bodies.

Lux gritted her teeth and stood up on her knees.

The sun completely disappeared under the western walls of Fosbayro, and Lux was dumbfounded. She saw black, translucent forms rising from the unconscious residents. Each black form is different, like an army of demons in Noxian armor, with giant spiders, multiple pythons, demonic warriors armed with ice axes, huge wurms with black fangs, and all sorts of other things beyond human comprehension.

"Magic. Galen muttered to himself.

The shadow creatures began to approach the platform, gliding through the air without a sound. It's a nightmarish tide of fear.

"What are these?" asked Valya.

"The darkest nightmares of the inhabitants of Fosbyro have become an entity. Lux said.

"How do you know?" Sebato continued.

"I just know. "Lux knew she couldn't stay here and fight. Her abilities are best used somewhere else, and the soldiers of the Intrepid Vanguard can hold it on their own. She pressed her thumb and forefinger to her lower lip and whistled to her mount while facing Galen.

"I have a way to stop this," she said.

"How?" Galen stared intently at the approaching demon legion.

"It doesn't matter what I do," Lux said. "As long as ...... Don't die before I get back. ”

Lux ran to the edge of the platform, and Starfire leapt past the hordes of shadow creatures. Her mount was unfazed, its dreams and nightmares no longer relevant to the force that was now ravaging Fasbyro. Lux leapt from the stage, grabbed Starfire's mane, and stepped cleanly onto the horse.

"Where are you going?" asked Galen.

The horse raised its front hooves. Lux turned to face Galen.

"I told you," she shouted. "I'm going to pay homage to my great-grandfather, Foss Ian!"

Galen watched as his sister rode alone through the dark legions, carefully avoiding the inhabitants lying on the ground. The demonic creature lunged at her with teeth and claws, but she and Starfire deftly avoided it. Lux burst out of the monster's encirclement, lingered for a moment, and raised her golden-handled staff.

"For Demacia!" she shouted.

The soldiers of the intrepid vanguard raised their swords and slammed their shields.

"For Demacia!" they replied in unison.

Lux galloped away from town. Galen flexed his shoulders, ready for a protracted hand-to-hand fight. He raised his greatsword.

"Lock step!" he ordered, and several fighters took a fighting posture in response. Valya and Rodion stood to his left, and Saibato and Diadoru stood to his right.

"We are the Fearless Vanguard," Galen said as he lowered his greatsword, his gauntlet slightly below his eyes. "Let courage and sharp eyes guide your sword. ”

The oily black and shiny demon dog rushed to the high platform first, and the bloody mouth was full of fangs. Galen and the warriors of the Intrepid Vanguard stood out with a solid wall of shields and unsheathed blades. A wall of brazen knocked them back. Although they face enemies from the shadows and evil powers, they still maintain their fierce strength and tactics. Galen stepped forward and stabbed a monster in the waist with a greatsword, which would have severed the spine if it were a normal creature. The monster's form exploded into black dust, leaving a wail of pain.

Galen twisted his sword and retracted it diagonally, blocking the bite of the other monster. He flipped his wrist and leaned forward to collide with the attacking monster. The monster was knocked to the ground by him, and he followed and stepped on the monster's chest, and the monster howled and shattered. Galen jerked his sword and parried a heavy blow, and his opponent's silhouette looked like a giant Freljord warrior. The slam put Galen at a disadvantage.

"As long as I can stand up, I can fight. Galen squeezed a few words out between his teeth, and as he steadied his feet, with a roar of rage, he slashed the horned skull of the savage warrior with the hilt of his sword. The demon spewed out black ash, and Galen quickly plunged his greatsword into the stomach of the other monster.

Sebato decapitates a salivating vicious dog, and Diadoru uses his shield to dig into the ground and split a python in two. Valya struck the fangs of a faceless demon with the hilt of her sword, and Rodion plunged her sword into the enemy's torso.

With each fatal blow, the shadow creature blasts into a cloud of ashes. Galen's greatsword shimmered with a cold silver light, and in an instant, another scorpion-like monster stabbed in.

A black claw struck Galen's head, and Sebato's shield blocked the attack. Valya slashed at the monster's legs, and the monster broke and dissipated. A vicious monster limped and leaped towards Rodion, but he impartially poked his sword in the middle of its blurred face. The monster screamed and died. But every time they destroy a shadow, more will come up.

"Back to back!" Galen roared, and the shoulders of the five warriors leaned together. They pressed against each other to form a ring of steel, like a shining beacon in the darkness.

"Show them the power of Demacia!"

Lux scurried through the forest, the trees vanishing into afterimages. The flower crown of her cane emitted light, and the blazing light illuminated the path ahead. Riding through the forest at such a fast speed is dangerous, and while her light leads the way, nightmares can strike endlessly, like the nightmares Galen and the Dauntless Pioneers are facing. The human imagination is an endless source of nightmares, fears of death, fear of weakness, or fear of losing a loved one.

She followed the path she had taken this morning, pouring her magic into Starfire's body, giving the horse extraordinary eyesight as well. Lux and her mount raced through the night until they finally came to the intersection. Starfire didn't go west or east, but didn't hesitate to embark on the northbound path that had been covered with ferns.

The road to the tomb of great-grandfather Foss Ian.

Despite her glorious guidance and steady steps, Lux had to slow down because the path beneath her feet was flanked by steep rocky valleys. As we got closer to the tomb, the terrain began to change, and it was a different kind of trick – just like the one in a story that scares children. The trees lay outwards with black oil, their branches ugly and twisted, growing into the shape of devil's claws, tearing at her hair and cloak.

(End of chapter)