Chapter 467: From Sejuani to "Ashe 2.0"

"Sejuani Warmother, ahead is Rakstak!"

"Okay!" Sejuani raised her whip and rode her giant Juvask boar named Steelbriss to the top of the hill ahead.

Rakstak, the largest city on the Freljord glacier, the sanctuary of the three sisters Avarosa, the foundation of Ashe's ambition to become the Ice Queen, finally appeared before Sejuani's eyes.

It should have been the strongest fortress on the ice field, the most well-protected heart of the Avarosan Alliance.

But now, the city was almost defenseless and exposed to Sejuani's army.

Facing the Winter Claw army outside the city that was like a dark cloud pressing down on their heads, the city of Laxtak was in chaos. The Avarosa warriors who stayed behind were not strong enough to even organize an effective defense.

" There are ." Sejuani laughed heartily.

She had no doubt that she could easily capture the city with just one charge.

Rakstak, the foundation that Ashe had worked so hard for over the years, was now in her pocket.

If they capture this city, Ashe and her followers will be completely helpless. They will soon collapse in chaos due to lack of food and lack of retreat.

The feud between her and Ashe, and the war between Winter's Claw and Avarosa, will all end with her absolute victory today.

"I will rule the Freljord! Victory belongs to the Winter's Claw!" Thinking of this, Sejuani couldn't help but feel more and more excited.

Although she knew that her brilliant victory today was entirely due to luck.

If she hadn't chosen the right direction to march, she would have arrived at Avarosa's territory; if Ashe hadn't had a conflict with Demacia, she would have transferred all the main forces of the Alliance to the south...

It would be impossible for the Winter's Claw to occupy the territory of Avarosa so easily, or even make it all the way to Ashe's court with such an unstoppable force.

It's luck, but it's also destiny.

People always say that Ashe is the divine incarnation of Avarosa, and is destined to unify the Freljord. But now it seems that as a descendant of Serilda, she is more suitable to be the true master of this ice field.

"Go! Scatter them! Trample them! Crush them!" Sejuani raised her whip high, ready to blow the final charge.

"Wait!" Another inappropriate voice sounded in my ears.

"Udyr..." Sejuani knew who was coming without even turning around.

"You want me to restrain my men and reduce the killing as much as possible, right?" She asked impatiently without waiting for Udyr to speak, "Just like when we wiped out those small tribes before?"

"Yes." Udyr nodded seriously. He raised his head without flinching and said, "Sejuani, if you really want to be the king of Freljord, you should learn to unite more people with kindness instead of killing all the captives every time."

"This... old man, you are really crazy!" Sejuani felt a headache after hearing this.

To be honest, she had a pretty good feeling about Udyr.

Udyr treated her with concern along the way, like a real sworn father. Although she was reluctant to recognize another father at first, she still felt a trace of long-lost family affection from her mother's old lover.

And during these days, in this long and arduous journey to the west, Udyr has been using his abilities as the strongest spirit walker to fully protect her and her tribe.

So whether as a "daughter" or as a war mother, Sejuani welcomes Udyr's existence.

The only problem is that this old guy is really crazy.

Along the way, Udyr kept telling about his experiences in Ionia and the goddess Janna who saves people from suffering. Sejuani got tired of listening to him and avoided him every day.

Sejuani couldn't understand the abstruse history and theories that Udyr was talking about, which were written by a group of southerners thousands of miles away.

She also didn't believe Udyr's story, and didn't believe that there was such a kind god in the world.

After all, the gods of Freljord are either always in hiding or have strange tempers and extreme ideas like Volibear. Janna's existence does not fit the inherent impression of demigods in the Iceborne.

Sejuani also didn't believe that those leaders would be so good, and didn't believe that a group of strangers thousands of miles away could be so noble and selfless to help them.

In short, she just thought that Udyr was so crazy in his belief in God that he took the high-sounding slogans as reality.

Fortunately, Udyr just liked to tell those stories in her ears, and did not encourage her to lead the tribe to move to Ionia and join the so-called leaders as he did when they first met.

So, Sejuani just endured it.

But what she didn't expect was that after they finally crossed the vast snowfield and arrived at the territory of Avarosa, Udyr suddenly had a "saintly heart" attack and advised her to show mercy and kill less whenever there was a battle.

Sejuani had barely tolerated it the last few times, but now that she had beaten Rakstak, he was still yelling.

What unity, unification, kindness... The way she speaks is just like Ashe.

"Udyr, have you been away from the Icefield for too long? Have you forgotten that we are the Winter Claw?"

"We never keep extra prisoners and learn that ridiculous kindness - looting! Killing! This is the unchanging spirit of the Winter Claw, and it is our way of survival!"

“No.” Udyr shook his head calmly, “Sejuani, there is no such thing as a spirit that lasts forever.”

"Social existence determines social consciousness." He said something strange that Sejuani couldn't quite understand.

But she could still barely understand what was said afterwards: "Winter's Claw never kept 'extra captives' in the past, not because of any spirit or tradition, but because these captives were 'extra' -"

"It's because the Winter Claw, as a hunting tribe, has too low productivity to feed so many 'redundant' mouths. Isn't it?"

Udyr's question made Sejuani choke slightly.

Indeed, when she killed people, she never thought about "tribal traditions" or "clan spirit".

The reason why she killed those prisoners was simple: she wanted to feed a few more mouths and save precious food reserves.

"But now, we have become the masters of Rakstak." Udyr added at the right time: "The most fertile southern land of the ice field, which was originally controlled by the Avarosa Alliance, is now under the rule of the Winter Claw."

"We are no longer short of food, and we can afford to feed the captives who are willing to surrender to us."

"If that's the case, then why don't you show mercy from time to time, instead of killing people wantonly like before, killing those who could have been united by you?"

"This..." Sejuani couldn't answer for a moment.

But the behavioral patterns she developed over the past years still deeply influenced her, making her instinctively reject words like "unity" and "kindness".

This is Ashe's line, not hers.

"You are being too merciful, Udyr." Sejuani frowned and said, "The ones Ashe left behind are the old, the weak, the sick, the mortal hearths, and the weak herdsmen."

"Why should I unite these people? Only the strong are qualified to join the Winter Claw, and those who are weak..."

"That was in the past." Udyr interrupted her: "Don't forget what I just said, matter determines consciousness."

"Winter's Claw used to be a nomadic tribe that lived on hunting and looting. It was a robbery gang that barely produced anything - so we had to fight, fight, and fight again."

"The weak who cannot fight are a burden. Only the strong can bring victory and food to the tribe."

"But what about now?" Udyr asked seriously, "Sesjuani, after you have conquered Rakstak, are you still going to live on hunting and looting like before?"

"This..." Of course not.

This time, she snatched all the good lands from the Avarosa Alliance.

Such a good pasture, why don’t you raise something?

Such fertile land, why don’t you plant something?

She has land but doesn't plant it, she has sheep but doesn't graze them, and she lives on robbery and hunting... Is she stupid?

"You see, you also need someone to farm for you, someone to herd for you, someone to cut wood for you, and someone to smelt iron for you." Udyr said: "Sejuani, do you still think those weaklings are useless now?"

"Without them, do you plan to let the Frostbloods be responsible for herding sheep and the Blood Warriors be responsible for farming?"

"..." Sejuani was speechless.

"It seems that you have understood that since occupying this land, the Winter Claw has entered a new era."

"Only by uniting more people and protecting those weaklings you once treated as worthless can the Winter Claw continue to grow stronger."

Sejuani nodded secretly, but she felt mixed emotions.

This is both uniting the masses and protecting the weak...

She had just kicked Ashe, whom she disliked the most, to the ground, how come in the blink of an eye, she herself became "Ashe 2.0"? ?

"Social existence determines social consciousness..." Sejuani finally understood this sentence vaguely.

"Sejuani, now you understand why I no longer stick to my original beliefs?" Udyr said at the right time.

He used to be against the unity of the Freljord people because he believed it would make it too easy for humans to survive on the ice, it would mean there would be no struggle or growth, and the spirit of the Freljord would not survive.

But later, after contact with the Wind Leader, Udyr realized: "Whether the Icefield should unite is never determined by humans, but by the objective conditions of the Icefield."

"The pastoral tribes living in Lakstak and the southern ice fields naturally need unity."

"It is natural that nomadic tribes that constantly migrate across the vast ice fields cannot unite."

"And looking at the entire Freljord: this barren and backward land actually lacks the material foundation for complete unity."

If we can’t even solve the problem of food, it is certainly impossible to establish a long-term stable social order.

But Udyr's eyes are still full of hope: "But I believe that the Wind Leader will come to this land sooner or later in the future. They will bring advanced productivity and help us build our home, so that Freljord can usher in true harmony and peace."

“So, I gave up my original idea.”

"Because no matter how old-fashioned I may be, change is here."

"The laws of development of objective things are not subject to human will."

Udyr began to recite scriptures again.

But this time, after the discussion and thinking just now, Sejuani was able to listen to a few words patiently.

She asked doubtfully, "Udyr, do you really believe that those Wind Leaders can bring good things to the Freljord people?"

"Why would they be so selfless to help us, a group of barbarians we don't even know?"

The selfless love of the Leader that transcends all identities is truly beyond the understanding of the people of the Icefield.

There are only survivors on the ice field, but few selfless good people.

After all, they usually can’t even fill their own stomachs, so how can they have the energy to selflessly help others?

Even though Ashe is known for her kindness, she often helps others with a purpose and a request. The development and interests of the tribe are what she must prioritize.

A ranger like Braum, who helps others without asking for anything in return, is an outlier among outliers in the Freljord. He is a good man that is hard to find even with a lantern - that is why he is called the "Heart of the Freljord".

But now, Udyr said that there is a place in the world where there is “a Braum per capita”... How can Sejuani believe it?

At this time, Udyr replied: "Sejuani, perhaps you can understand it this way:"

"As I just said, social existence determines social consciousness. You cannot understand the existence of the Wind Leader because the harsh conditions in the Freljord make it difficult for such selfless good people to emerge."

"But you can try to imagine that if we were in a warm and wealthy place..."

"You mean the South?" Sejuani interrupted him rudely. "You mean in warm and affluent places, people's moral quality will improve? So it's natural for a saint like the Wind Leader to be born in the South?"

She understood what Udyr meant.

"But it's not like I haven't seen southerners before." Sejuani patted the giant Juvask boar under her crotch: "I stole this steel bristle from a Noxian warship."

"With all due respect... those Noxians may be wealthier than we are, but their moral standards are not much higher than ours."

"We are all robbers. They just dress more 'civilized' than us."

“Of course.” Facing Sejuani’s strong doubts, Udyr remained calm: “Even in the warm and wealthy south, in those civilized countries, selfless people like Wind Leader are a minority, not the majority.”

“This is also determined by the current social existence.”

The civilized world outside the ice sheet has only developed into a feudal society and a dictatorship society under private ownership.

Since private property and inequality in economic status still exist, ordinary people will naturally prioritize their own interests rather than those of others.

In the large human group, leaders are definitely a minority, not the majority.

"But the faith test of Goddess Janna can select such minorities from the crowd, allowing them to become the pioneers leading the masses and lead the world step by step towards great harmony."

"With the leader taking the lead, the unity of Runeterra is no longer a fantasy."

"Although people today are not generally so selfless, with the development of society, the progress of civilization, and the liberation of thought... there will definitely be more and more leaders and more and more selfless people among them."

“Can you imagine this, Sejuani?”

"I..." Sejuani couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Because the South is warmer and wealthier, and people have higher moral standards, the conditions are right for the birth of a small number of selfless people like Leader.

The faith test of Goddess Gana can just screen out these selfless people.

She was originally skeptical about the Leader mentioned by Udyr, but now following their discussion just now - it seems that the Leader, this fairy-tale-like pure and beautiful organization, may actually exist in reality.

“Of course they exist,” Udyr said. “I can contact .”

"By then, no more children in our tribe will starve to death ..."

"Stop!" Sejuani quickly came to her senses.

She realized that Udyr was once again encouraging her to join those leaders far away.

Well, maybe those leaders are really good.

But her ambition is to become the queen of Freljord, and it is not enough to just eat and drink well.

As for the children in the tribe...

"..." Sejuani hesitated.

"When I conquer Lakstak and become the master of this land, they won't starve."

Thinking of this, Sejuani quickly drove away the ripples that unconsciously emerged in her heart.

What do you want to be a leader?

She is about to become the king of the ice field now, so how could she possibly run off to be someone else's little brother?