Kayle, Ophiel, and Pamyel stood on their respective pillars, forming a perfect triangle. They raised the magic swords in their hands, the tips of the three swords converging. Kayle chanted in the language of the Eternal Clan, a vast sacred power traversing countless planes, descending from her Eternal Kingdom to this world, perfectly gathering at the sword tips.
The blazing holy light formed another small sun, hanging just above Aiden's head. He followed Kayle's previous instructions, trying to relax his mind as much as possible. Kayle's chanting carried a sacred mental power, helping him quickly enter another mysterious realm—as if returning to the Emerald Dream. He felt his consciousness separate from his body, existing between dream and reality, as if awake yet also dreaming, the sensation of time and space completely disappearing.
He found himself in a bizarre and fantastical world. His consciousness stretched infinitely, seeing countless points of light converging towards a center, making it even more dazzling and immense. He tried to capture those points of light with his consciousness, but discovered that each point represented a memory fragment. Most were about him, including everything that happened on Earth before, and the events that occurred after arriving in Azeroth, but there were also some that he had no recollection of at all:
In one memory, he saw Kayle's Eternal Kingdom. It floated in a sky where there was never night, and many angels like Kayle freely flew, flapping their wings. Hymns echoed in this bright kingdom, eternally.
In another fragment, he saw Kayle and the angels fighting in a chaotic plane. Each swing of her Judgment Blade turned all enemies within sight into ashes. A casual slash cleaved the earth, creating cracks thousands of meters long. Kayle at that time was simply terrifyingly powerful. And in this memory, he also saw the pre-fallen Morgana, who was also chasing and slaying creatures they called demons.
Aiden wanted to understand more, so he actively approached the source where countless points of light converged, and opened his heart to it.
In reality, at that moment, the small sun formed by the tips of the three angels' swords seemed to melt, the light converging onto Aiden, surrounding him, making him look like a silkworm pupa in a golden cocoon.
Kayle stopped chanting. The three angels all retracted their longswords.
"We succeeded."
"Now it depends on the commander's fortune."
Kayle breathed a sigh of relief, her helmet perfectly concealing the fatigue on her face. As the host of the Sacred Transformation Ritual, she did far more than it seemed. And how much the commander could gain from it still depended on his own achievements.
"Protect the commander, now is a critical moment."
The assassin Farrad, sent by Duke Ravenholdt, watched the entire ritual. He had been looking for a suitable opportunity to strike, but before the ritual began, the security here was tight. And after the ritual started, the platform emitted a terrifying sacred power, the holy light summoned by the angels from the Eternal Kingdom completely rejecting any external force. He knew that even if he launched an attack at that time, he would be completely blocked outside the platform.
Only now did it seem like a good opportunity. The target was lying asleep in the cocoon of light. The three angels must have exhausted most of their power as well.
This was a dangerous mission. Farrad was very clear about this. After receiving the mission, he had thoroughly reviewed the target and the guards' information.
The target himself was a mage, which wasn't too difficult to deal with. As long as the target was alone, he was completely confident that he could easily kill him and then escape. But the angels around the target were a real pain: intelligence said that this angel had wreaked havoc in Scholomance, displaying power far greater than those famous heroes, such as Antonidas, Uther, and Dathrohan. And she had also shown miracles in Stratholme, repeatedly blessing the survivors, allowing them to avoid being infected by the plague.
Not to mention anything else, the angels had tens of thousands of worshippers.
Farrad had to consider, even if he succeeded in assassinating an angel's commander, wouldn't there be countless hidden dangers in the future?
He couldn't help but complain, it seemed that Jorach Ravenholdt was getting senile, completely disregarding caution and bottom lines for money. If he couldn't succeed, he was afraid that he would provoke a trouble far beyond his imagination. Moreover, even if he succeeded, it wouldn't be much better. Intelligence showed that the target's actual status was completely equivalent to a king, and he was also an important figure in the Alliance.
Farrad had been hesitant. Was it really worth assassinating such a person?
"Let's just give it a try, if it doesn't work, let Jorach abandon this deal."
Farrad forced himself to shift his attention to the mission, he secretly observed the target: the cocoon of light on the target's body was becoming lighter and lighter, seemingly being absorbed into the body. He could guess that this was a ritual to infuse power into someone else. Paladins used similar methods to recruit new members. However, the angels' ritual was obviously much more advanced. Farrad suspected that, based on the intensity of the energy he had sensed before, this could definitely directly promote an ordinary person into a powerful hero!
However, being knowledgeable, he also understood that this kind of ritual would definitely come at a great price. For example, the combat power of the three angels guarding the target now must have dropped to its lowest point.
Seeing that the color of the light cocoon had faded to almost transparency, Farad felt that the cocoon could no longer protect the person inside.
"The time has come!"
...
While Aiden was conducting the ceremony, the personnel he sent to eliminate Ravenholdt Manor had quietly arrived at the periphery of the manor. Neither the guards on duty nor the hidden sentries of the manor noticed these hundreds of intruders, because among these intruders was a genius light-Tie mage, who was most skilled at twisting light. She used magic to successfully hide hundreds of people in broad daylight, approaching the heart of the manor without the enemy noticing.
Everything went smoothly. Singed poured a large amount of super adhesive on the only exit of the manor. In Valoran's Summoner's Rift, his magical image had such a skill. In the real world, this was a byproduct of his alchemy. Its effect was even more terrifying than in the game: once anyone or anything stepped on it, the only way to remove it, besides using the volatilizer he concocted, was to cut off the contact surface. So if someone unfortunately stepped on it, they would have to take off their shoes, or if they stepped on it barefoot, they would have to be prepared to tear off that layer of skin.
Then all the soldiers put on gas masks. Some Noxian soldiers quickly assembled the parts they brought, which turned into four catapults. After assembly, they took out the shells in the boxes: sealed clay pots, filled with "gift boxes" specially prepared by Singed for these assassins.
Now they no longer needed to hide themselves. Lux canceled her magic. Then the sentries of the manor were horrified to find such a group of people in front of them. They were all wearing strange masks, and they had wound up the catapults, ready to attack this secret assassin base that had been hidden for many years.
At the same time, a buzzing roar sounded in the sky. The yordle pilots of the Screaming Serpent appeared in the assassins' sight with twelve helicopters. Valkyrie Captain piloted the plane, circling over the manor. He turned on the loudspeaker and shouted to the almost stunned assassins below: "We are the messengers of justice from Valoran! You sent assassins to assassinate our commander. Now it's our time to repay! You have three minutes to decide whether to surrender or resist. Friendly reminder, those who resist will die miserably!"
Jorach Ravenholdt stumbled out of his secret room, looking at the scene in front of him, he was almost stunned. Then he roared with unprecedented rage: "They...they dare to betray me, and sell out our base! Unforgivable, unforgivable!"
His secretary, Winston Wolfe, asked nervously: "What should we do, Duke!"
"What to do! Of course, kill the intruders!" Jorach loudly summoned the assassins, "Prepare for battle immediately! Lads, smear your daggers with the most poisonous poison, prepare to show your best skills, we will let these intruders know that we assassins are not to be trifled with! Karlru, my brother, it's your time to shine! Find their important figures, and then cut their throats!"
"As you wish, my Duke." A bald thief beside Jorach agreed. He carefully fed his dagger team with green poison, and then calmly entered stealth, disappearing from sight. This was Jorach's most proud subordinate, the Hand of Ravenholdt, Karl Aurelius, whose mission had never failed. Jorach believed that this time his most loyal subordinate would not let him down either.
Jorach shouted as he walked out: "Don't go out and crowd together, they are regular troops, we are assassins! We will definitely suffer in a head-on confrontation! Let them in, and fight them in the way we are best at! Don't rush up to die like fools! That's worthless!"
However, this Duke obviously did not know enough about the details of the army that came to crusade against him this time, as well as their battle plan.
Noxian Battalion Commander Bill Nevins and all the members of his Northern Legion Marine Corps participated in the Noxian invasion of Ionia that year. They also operated catapults to throw plagues and viruses manufactured by Singed at the enemy. So they knew exactly how to fight in this situation. Moreover, they had air support, and the helicopter unit would provide them with the most detailed coordinates.
Three minutes passed quickly, and Ravenholdt refused to surrender.
Lux, the commander-in-chief of this operation, raised her staff high and shouted: "Let us uphold justice for Valoran and eliminate them! Attack!"
As the order was issued, the catapults launched, firing the clay pots on top into the manor. The clay pots were naturally broken, and then released the Singed's trademark green poisonous fog loaded inside.
The assassins lurking in every corner of the manor were dumbfounded until someone shouted: "Run! It's poison gas!"