Chapter 495 Hero
Demacia, on the outskirts of the capital.
After the fall of the anti-magic nobles led by Eldred, only the royal nobles remained in Demacia.
Then the royal nobles naturally split into two factions.
One faction is the progressive faction, which openly advocates maintaining the status quo and secretly assists the leaders in making a peaceful transition;
One faction is the reactionaries who insist on fighting the leaders to the end and firmly oppose rent and interest reductions and the liberation of serfs.
The power of Goddess Janna is now known to everyone.
Those who still wanted to be enemies with the leader at this time were either stubborn people who were determined to maintain the privileges of the nobility, or sinners whose hands were stained with too many sins and who had to fight to the end for fear of being held accountable.
In short, they are the most conservative, reactionary, filthy and evil group of aristocrats.
In the past, this group of people had always been shouting something like "The rise and fall of the kingdom depends on this one move", advocating to "let bygones be bygones" with the old enemy Noxus, and advocating to unite all the nobles in the world to fight a decisive battle with the leader.
These people are the biggest obstacle to the smooth transition of power from the Kingdom of Demacia to the Leader in the future.
In the past, Prince Jarvan and the Crownguard family had to work very hard to barely suppress these voices of opposition and maintain the internal stability of Demacia.
Now it's ok...
The good news is that these reactionary nobles have collectively gone to meet Mordekaiser, and they can no longer threaten the peace of Demacia.
The bad news is that Demacia is almost gone.
"Damn it, these damn insects!" Looking at the undead army spreading all over the wilderness, Prince Jarvan and the two brothers Garen couldn't help but curse out loud in anger.
They all wanted to kill Mitna Lachen and torture those reactionary nobles who were so crazy that they led Modkaiser astray and betrayed their fellow human beings.
But it's too late to say anything now.
Although Prince Jarvan and his companions received advance warning of the attack, due to the short time and limited information, the suicide attack by the underworld guides was ultimately successful.
The guides paid the price of their own lives to open a road to the underworld for their masters in Xiongdu in the center of the kingdom and Miyin City in the north of the kingdom.
On the side of Mystsilver City, the Debon Mage Corps led by Lux, the Knights of the Crownguard Family, the armed workers' militia, and the Freljord people who came to support from Frost Harbor were responsible for the defense.
Compared with the battlefield in Miyin City, the war pressure in Xiongdu seems to be much smaller on paper.
After all, Galio, the national treasure of Demacia, is now in Xiongdu;
The powerful main forces of the Demacia Kingdom's army, the Eastern Expeditionary Force directly under Prince Jarvan, the Demacia Guards led by Xin Zhao, and the Fearless Vanguard Corps commanded by the Crownguard family, have now gathered in the royal capital.
Plus Prince Jarvan’s dragon girlfriend…
They truly had thousands of skilled generals, millions of armored soldiers, strong troops and horses, and were invincible. Noxus would exclaim that they were invincible when they saw them.
However……
"Shoot! Shoot!"
Prince Jarvan had shouted out this order for so many times that his voice even sounded a little hoarse.
Demacia's most elite archers struggled to pull the bowstrings, draw the bows and put arrows on them. With sweat all over their heads that they had no time to wipe off, they gritted their teeth to steady their trembling shoulders and arms before finally firing off several rounds of arrows.
The power of the arrows shot by Debon's elite warriors is even more terrifying than the large-caliber bullets fired by Hex rifles.
The rune steel arrowheads made of forbidden magic stone are extremely deadly to the undead who have lost their physical bodies and can only maintain their existence by relying on magic power.
I saw the pure white magic-forbidden arrows whistling through the air and falling to the ground as densely as a torrential rain.
The undead suddenly fell down in groups like wheat being cut, and then powerlessly dissipated and disappeared under the penetration, tearing and absorption of the magic-forbidden arrows.
But it's meaningless.
The number of undead is endless and it is impossible to kill them all.
The raging torrent of death only paused for a moment before spreading in all directions like an unstoppable prairie fire.
"How many Forbidden Magic Arrows do we have left?" Prince Jarvan asked the people around him anxiously.
"It's almost used up." Galen replied solemnly, "It can only support eight more volleys at most."
"And not only are we running out of Forbidden Magic Arrows, we are also running out of Forbidden Magic Stones."
Just as the people of the Twin Cities opened their minds under the shadow of war and discovered that cheap alchemical fuel was the best weapon to deal with the army of the undead, the Demacians also opened their minds under the huge pressure of defense and discovered the best weapon to restrain the undead -
That is the magic-forbidden stone.
Since the undead are also considered magical creatures, they can no longer maintain their spiritual existence if they lose their magic power.
Why don't they just use magic-forbidden stones to build a circle of walls around the plane passage, and use this man-made magic-forbidden barrier to trap the undead in the middle. Can they block this plane passage once and for all?
The idea is beautiful, but the actual effect is very limited.
The magic-forbidden stone can indeed absorb the power of the undead, destroy the enemy's spirits, and block the advance of the wave of death.
But the Demacians never realized that the Forbidden Magic Stone was actually a rechargeable "magic battery", and as long as it was a battery, it could always be recharged...
Ordinary wizards do not have the ability to fully charge their batteries, but the number and magical power of the undead are so huge that they are despairing.
"The reserves of forbidden magic stones in the Xiongdu treasury have now been exhausted."
"The rear is already trying to find a way to tear down the palace walls, but I'm afraid they won't have enough time to deliver those magic-forbidden bricks to the front before the barrier is breached."
"After all..." Garen looked at the battlefield ahead with a serious expression.
The white high wall that was like a Great Wall and tightly trapped the army of undead was where the leaders and the German warriors used their lives to stop the spread of the army of undead, buying time for everyone...
It was with the concerted efforts of tens of thousands of German soldiers, and even countless nearby civilians who came voluntarily to help under the organization of the leader, that a high wall was built on the ground between life and death. It is a miracle of mankind that was created with great difficulty.
But now, this magic-forbidden barrier is rapidly losing its effectiveness.
The undead surged onto the white wall like a tide, like waves constantly hitting a dam.
They used this suicidal charge to impact the stone wall made of the magic-forbidden stones again and again, and dispersed massive amounts of souls into infinite magic power, which was continuously injected into the magic-forbidden stones.
As a result, section after section of the magic-forbidden stone barriers absorbed all the magic power and lost their effect, just like a sponge that had absorbed all the water, and could no longer block the impact of the undead waves.
The warriors could only rush around to add more anti-magic stones to the failed walls, while trying their best to fire arrows, cannons and stones to stop the attack of the undead army.
But human power is limited, and the undead are endless. As time goes by, this barrier will eventually be broken.
"We don't . Even Galio..."
If ordinary magic-forbidden stones are "magic batteries", then Galio is a "magic Gundam".
Not only can he absorb magic power, he can also output energy. With the army of undead constantly charging him, he is theoretically a perpetual motion machine that can never be killed or worn out.
However……
"War Wind!"
"Colossus Smash!"
"Justice Punch!"
"..." Galio was seen rushing around on the battlefield recklessly, just like bathing in water, killing people to his heart's content.
His body was as majestic as a mountain, and every time he punched or flapped his wings, he could destroy countless undead spirits.
"Shield of Durand!" The shield magic that Galio charges up and the special taunt effect that comes with it is a sure-fire way to stop the enemy's offensive.
For a moment, countless undead were restrained by his taunting magic, stopped attacking, and gathered towards him.
But this still couldn't stop the enemy. No matter how powerful Galio was, he was only one person, while the undead were endless.
These undead just kept coming up, hacking with knives, chopping with axes, and tearing with hands. This kind of physical attack, which was extremely weak, was like ants eating, and it gradually broke through Galio's defense.
Moreover, there were many elite death knights among the undead. They all regarded Galio as their number one enemy, and rushed towards the giant like a swarm of locusts devouring the world.
"Hiss--" Then, Galio felt a pain he had never felt before.
Only then did he realize that stone men could also be injured.
The white jade body carefully carved by Master Dulang has been eaten away by the undead, leaving it full of pits and tatters, as if it had been corroded by alchemical acid.
Galio finally couldn't hold on any longer, and flew into the sky in weakness.
But the arrows shot by the undead were still held tightly behind him by the few necromancers who knew how to fly.
The loss of Galio's large-scale taunt magic allowed countless undead to break free from this biggest constraint, causing the pressure on the Debon warriors to suddenly double.
"The barrier defense line will soon be broken." Garen sighed.
Jarvan also secretly clenched the spear in his hand and accepted this terrible fact.
Only one in ten of the ammunition and arrows remained, and the magic-suppressing stones were completely consumed. Even Galio, the national treasure, was unable to fight any longer.
Then what else can they rely on to defend this barrier?
"Jarven." Garen slowly raised his Storm Sword.
There was no need for too many words. His fearless look said it all.
Without guns, cannons or the protection of gods, they can only rely on their flesh and blood to block this last line of defense.
They must hold on until more forbidden magic stones are transported to the front line, until Janna wins victory for them.
"This..." Prince Jarvan was a little hesitant.
It's not that he's afraid of death.
It was mainly the oracle of the goddess Janna, which, in addition to asking everyone to "hold on firmly", also emphasized that they should try their best not to die.
If a leader dies, Goddess Gana will lose some power.
And if all the leaders engage in hand-to-hand combat, the bloody close combat like a meat grinder will definitely cause massive casualties.
But even so, Prince Jarvan's hesitation only lasted for a moment.
Because he had no choice.
"Demacia..." Prince Jarvan silently recited the name of his motherland and looked back at the endless wilderness.
This vast and fertile land is the foundation for the Kingdom of Demacia to survive in troubled times.
The royal city of Xiongdu is located in the center of this huge plain, a fertile and prosperous land with the most developed economy and the most densely populated population.
And this means...
The population density here is extremely high, and countless civilians are unable to evacuate in time.
The land here is flat and there is no strategic location to defend.
So unlike Zaun and Piltover, the Twin Cities are surrounded by uninhabited sea and mountains, and only the cities need to be defended.
But what the Demacians need to defend is this entire vast land.
They must not allow the undead to break through the forbidden magic barrier. Otherwise, no matter which direction the enemy rushes, countless lives will be exterminated.
These undead spirits are like a forest fire that has spread all over the place. Once they break through the isolation zone that has been established with great difficulty, they will no longer be controlled by the firefighters.
So, the firefighters could only face the fire head on.
The leader can only face death with courage and use his flesh and blood to block the sea of the dead.
"All troops, listen to my order!" Prince Jarvan held the military flag in his hand and shouted loudly.
He took a decisive step forward and walked ahead of everyone else.
"Leaders, step out!"
Prince Jarvan directly called out the title of Leader.
Anyway, the various troops stationed in the capital had long been infiltrated and became the activity center of Demacia's leaders. Not to mention that each person was a leader, each person was also a wind-throwing master.
And all the anti-Janna war nobles had killed themselves in order to lead the way for Modkaiser.
So, Prince Jarvan simply stopped acting.
"You are the leader, follow me first!"
He and Galen walked forward side by side, about to step onto the battlefield where there would be no life or death. And just then:
"Wait!" An old general in full armor came riding hurriedly, accompanied by the imperial guards.
Prince Jarvan looked up and realized that this was not one of the old generals present, but:
"Father?" The person who came was King Jarvan.
After the "Dragon Incident", the old king handed over all military and state affairs to his son. He became the de facto emperor and lived an early retirement life.
During this undead invasion, it was Prince Jarvan who took charge of the situation.
Although the old king also changed into military uniform and rushed to the scene with the royal guards led by Zhao Xin, he only played the role of a humanoid war totem who gave the soldiers the "Imperial Leading the Army in Person" buff and cheered them on.
"Father, is there anything I can help you with?" Prince Jarvan asked in confusion.
The old king did not hesitate at all and said directly: "Let me go first, child."
"You?" Prince Jarvan's pupils shrank.
"Yes, let me take the guards first." The old king said seriously.
Although his face was old and his muscles were no longer strong, his eyes were still filled with a resolute will to fight, as if he was still the heroic king who had galloped across the battlefield.
"Goddess Janna needs you. You leaders, you cannot die yet."
"If someone must die, let me, the King of Demacia, die..." As he spoke, the old king looked at General Zhao Xin who was loyally waiting beside him, and at the resolute-looking guardsmen:
"Let our Demacia warriors take the lead!"
"Father..." Prince Jarvan had a complicated expression.
But he still refused decisively: "No, let us go first. We are the leaders, and leaders should be in the front."
"That's enough!" the old king interrupted him angrily.
He drew out his sword which he had not used for many years and shouted: "The Wind Leader is not afraid of death, so are the Demacians afraid of death?"
"Selfless dedication and heroic sacrifice are not exclusive to you leaders!"
"When I led my warriors to fight the Noxians to the death, your President Levi was probably not even born yet!"
The old king is still not the leader.
But as he said, the spirit of sacrifice is not the exclusive invention of leaders.
Demacia has never lacked warriors who defended their country, nor soldiers who sacrificed their lives for their country. It is because of them that this ancient kingdom has been able to survive to this day.
"You leaders are not the only ones who are qualified to be heroes." The old king looked at Prince Jarvan firmly: "We in Demacia have never lacked heroes!"
"so……"
"Let me go first, kid."
"I am the king of Demacia, and I have sworn to protect this land."
"And." His eyes softened quietly: "Don't forget..."
“I’m still a father.”
Prince Jarvan: “…”
Looking at his father's weathered face, he, who was usually honest and reckless, suddenly had tears in his eyes.
"Zhao Xin." The old king stepped past his son and stood in front.
"Here!" Zhao Xin followed silently. Behind him stood thousands of guardsmen, ready for battle.
They were about to head to the battlefield and rush towards the surging undead.
"Wait!" This time, it was Prince Jarvan who stopped them.
The old king came back to his senses with a complicated look on his face, and saw Prince Jarvan looking at him firmly: "Father, let us leaders go first."
"Shut up!" The old king refused arrogantly: "I've already told you, this is Demacia!"
" Demacia has no shortage of heroes! We don't need you leaders here!"
"Father," Prince Jarvan said unmoved, "Demacia is not short of heroes, but there has never been a hero who can achieve great things alone without being apart from the people."
"You say you are a hero of Demacia, but can you go to the battlefield alone?"
"No... these guardsmen behind you. They also have their own thoughts and beliefs."
"You think the Demacians should go first and let the Wind Leaders hide behind, but what about them?"
"Of course they follow me voluntarily!" said the old king unhappily.
"There are no cowards among my soldiers. Behind them is their motherland, their homes and their loved ones. With so many lives to be saved, how can the warriors of Demacia retreat?"
"No, father." Prince Jarvan shook his head: "I am not saying that your soldiers are cowardly."
"I mean, they don't necessarily agree with your decision to let the leader hide in the back."
"Aren't you still questioning whether they are afraid of death or whether they dare not go up first?" the old king retorted.
"No, what I mean is..." Prince Jarvan said, "They will not support your idea of letting the Wind Leader hide behind, because:"
"They themselves are the leaders!"
As he spoke, Prince Jarvan summoned out his thread of faith.
The guards also showed their faith and summoned countless sparkling threads.
"Father, look," Prince Jarvan said solemnly, "most of them are also leaders."
The old king's idea of letting the Debon people go first, reducing the number of leaders who died, and contributing a bit of strength to Kanado, is totally untrue.
Unless he can go to the battlefield alone and be a general without soldiers.
Otherwise, both sides are leaders and it doesn't matter who comes first.
“……” The old king was silent.
As a retired old man who was indifferent to worldly affairs, he had not noticed that the proportion of leaders in the Royal Guard Corps was already so high.
Prince Jarvan was right. There was no need for him to go. His sacrifice would not reduce the casualties of the Leader.
Even if he becomes a hero, he is a hero supported by the leaders with their lives.
"But is this a question of being a hero or not?!" The old king was very annoyed looking at his silly and honest son.
Did he rush out to grab the opportunity to be the first to enter the battle just to be a hero and to go down in history?
No. He just knew that if he didn't go, his stupid son would definitely be the first to go.
"Asshole!" The old king could not help cursing, "Those guards were willing to die with me, why did you have to point it out--"
"Wouldn't it be better if I died as a hero and you could continue to live as the child of a human hero instead of the last prince of a corrupt royal family?"
Prince Jarvan's answer was concise and powerful: "Because I am the leader."
"Leader ! Leader! You have really gone insane from chanting sutras. You have even abandoned your humanity for the sake of your faith!" The old king became more and more impatient.
But Prince Jarvan said, "I am not only the leader."
"Father, don't forget..."
"I am still a son."
The old king: “…”
There was a brief silence.
The magic-forbidden stones used to repair the barrier were finally running out, and the undead army was finally about to break through the crumbling fortress.
"Father, see you after victory." Prince Jarvan left his father with a tall back view.
Then, under the gaze of all the leaders and Debon warriors, he leaped into the Sea of the Dead:
"For Janna—"
“For my family!”
