"Your Majesty, our army can barely hold on!" Lieutenant Walden stumbled as he ran to Genn Greymane, frantically reporting the situation at the front, "Our defenses in the Commercial Plaza District have been completely breached, and the Royal Courtyard is about to fall! Your Majesty, we must retreat at once!"
King Genn's eyes were bloodshot. He hadn't slept in two days, and he hadn't heard a single piece of good news. The catastrophe had started the day before yesterday. The commander of the Greymane Wall sent a message, informing him that some soldiers had been infected with a strange contagious disease. When they fell ill, they foamed at the mouth, turned into terrifying figures, and attacked all living beings.
The commander had already ordered these people to be quarantined and asked the King for instructions on how to deal with them.
When Genn received this message, he immediately thought of the plague that the envoys from Lordaeron had mentioned—but he never imagined how this plague could befall Gilneas? And it directly infected the soldiers on the Greymane Line!
Genn felt a little regretful. He shouldn't have been so resolute in refusing to return to the Alliance. At this time, he could only pray in his heart that the scale of the plague would not expand, and that his army would be able to control the situation.
But his prayers were not answered, and even more terrible things happened next.
The day before yesterday was the routine sermon day at the Cathedral of Holy Light. In the morning, the believers of the Holy Light gathered in the Cathedral District to listen to the Archbishop's sermon, and after the sermon they received the Holy Water and bread blessed by the Church from the priests.
These things were all gifts from the Holy Light, and the believers drank the Holy Water and ate the bread on the spot. The faith in the Holy Light had already deeply penetrated the hearts of the people, and at least a quarter of the entire Gilneas City had gone there at this time.
But in the evening, disaster struck.
These believers who had consumed the bread and water successively turned into ghouls and began to attack the living people nearby. Then, an aerial fortress descended from the sky and occupied the Cathedral. Fully armed Scourge soldiers, necromancers, abominations, and liches poured out continuously. The newly transformed ghouls immediately joined their ranks. Overnight, a quarter of Gilneas City turned into ghouls.
Genn gathered all the soldiers and those who could wield weapons, regardless of whether they were women or the elderly, opened the armory to distribute weapons to them, and then set up defenses layer upon layer in the Commercial Plaza District, Military District, and Royal Courtyard District, dismantling buildings to block all intersections. While evacuating the survivors, they resisted the Scourge's attacks.
He couldn't bear to recall what had happened in the past two days. In the capital of Gilneas, people were dying under the claws of the Scourge every moment, and the next moment they were resurrected by evil magic to become members of the Scourge. The number of undead was increasing, while the number of survivors was decreasing.
What a terrible scene this was!
King Genn's heart was filled with self-blame and regret. If he hadn't been so stubborn in thinking that the Scourge wouldn't affect Gilneas, if he hadn't refused to join the Alliance out of selfishness, at least he would have received support from the Alliance now, and Gilneas might have been saved.
But now?
Genn could only forcibly order his son Liam to take his mother and sister, along with some survivors, to retreat, striving to preserve the spark of Gilneas. As for himself, he would atone for his mistakes—Genn believed that the only thing he could do was to do his best to buy time and attract the attention of the Scourge.
"Transmit my order, abandon the Commercial Plaza District and the Royal Courtyard, all troops retreat and hold the two bridges in the Military District! Move all the cannons to the bridgeheads! We must buy enough time for the survivors!" Genn drew his longsword, gazing at the surrounding Royal Guards, "We are now fighting only for Gilneas!"
"For Gilneas!"
"For Greymane!"
"For the hope of tomorrow!"
The soldiers shouted various slogans. Genn gripped his sword, recalling his past: he had once been a powerful warrior, and now he would let the Scourge see a true King of Gilneas who feared no death!
"Soldiers, charge with me!"
—
After the meeting, Aiden immediately began summoning.
The Might of Demacia—Garen!
The Hand of Noxus—Darius!
And the Grand General of the Triumvirate—Swain!
In addition, he summoned the Daring Bombardier—Corki! This Yordle ace pilot would definitely come in handy in the current situation.
At present, the main force was unable to enter Gilneas at all, and only the air force had the ability to provide remote support to Gilneas.
Then there were the elite troops of Demacia and Noxus. Aiden summoned ten thousand people at once, almost doubling the number of the entire Valoran Allied Forces!
Not counting those taken away by the Planke fleet, the number of troops currently remaining in Lordaeron alone was more than twenty thousand. However, this number was still slightly smaller compared to the Kingdom of Lordaeron. After he had more energy, Aiden would need to summon more conventional troops.
With the emergence of the Scourge's undead sea tactics, the Alliance needed a large number of ordinary soldiers to maintain the front line. Even if the individual strength of the heroes was strong, they could not be responsible for a thousand-man defense line alone. Aiden still understood this principle.
As soon as Garen came out, he looked around. Aiden asked strangely, "What are you looking for, Garen?"
"Find my sister!" Garen glanced around, noticing Lux was nowhere to be seen, and was rather surprised. "Commander, where did she run off to? She didn't even come to pick me up!"
"She's currently in Dalaran, serving as an ambassador for Valoran," Aiden replied. He recalled Lux's request when he had just summoned her: to not summon her brother Garen so quickly.
Now it seemed, Garen really was a bit too overbearing?
"You can't stand her antics either?" Garen assumed Aiden was so annoyed by Lux that he had "exiled" her to another country. In his eyes, his sister was indeed a bit too "free-spirited."
Aiden found it odd. Although he hadn't spent much time with Lux, the noble lady wasn't the type to be disliked, was she? Why would Garen think that way?
So, he asked.
Garen replied somewhat sheepishly, "Lux has always loved playing pranks since she was little, with no respect for seniority, offending quite a few people. She didn't offend you, did she?"
Aiden chuckled, "No, she performs excellently on the battlefield, and she's generally faultless. I think being lively is a good thing; harmless pranks are nothing to worry about—alright, let's not talk about this. I've summoned your Dauntless Vanguard legion; we're about to set out on an expedition, so go familiarize yourself with the current situation. Vayne and Quinn will help you!"
"Understood, Summoner!" At the mention of serious matters, Garen immediately became serious. He saluted and left to carry out his orders.
Then, Aiden turned his gaze to Darius and Swain—both hailing from Noxus, they cooperated well, one with brawn and the other with brains, complementing each other and practically holding the reins of power in Noxus.
Darius was no different from how he remembered him, clad in heavy armor, wielding a giant axe, with a stern face and predatory eyes, burly and domineering.
The most captivating thing about Swain was his gaze. Even when looking at Aiden, he remained calm and composed, without any fluctuations. Aiden saw an almost emotionless rationality in those eyes. Moreover, the raven on his shoulder always vigilantly watched the surroundings. Whether it was just his imagination or not, Aiden always felt that the raven's gaze was like Swain himself watching. It made people feel a bit strange.
But this was precisely the type of strategic talent he needed, an unparalleled brilliant strategist.
"Your tasks are the same. Darius, the elite of Noxus is entrusted to your command."
Darius nodded and grunted an "Mm" to indicate his agreement.
"Swain, I need you to establish a general staff department—not your Noxian High Command, but a department specifically responsible for analyzing the war situation, formulating detailed battle plans, and coordinating and directing frontline combat. You can freely select personnel for the general staff. I will give you sufficient authority to accomplish this. I know this will take time. For now, you will be responsible for the military deployment of the Valoran Federation while preparing for the establishment of the general staff. We will test it out in this war to see if it can provide any benefits. If it works, we will continue to promote it; if not, we can improve it or cancel it."
"Very well, Summoner." Upon hearing the instructions, Swain began to contemplate the concept of the general staff. His intuition told him that this institution should be effective. At least, unified command would be better at addressing oversights than individual efforts.
"Alright, you may proceed with your tasks!"
He dismissed the two Noxian heroes. As for Corki, he had run off to find his flying squadron as soon as he arrived. He was currently catching up with Valkyrie, the captain of the Screaming Serpents.
Once again, only Aiden and Kayle remained in the room.
Aiden turned his gaze to the hero he had initially summoned. He thought of the conversation between the three angels when he first had his soul leave his body—it seemed Kayle could increase her strength by absorbing the faith of believers. However, she refused to do so. More importantly, her contract was about to expire.
Aiden looked at the Judicator with his most sincere gaze: "Kayle, can we talk?"
Kayle looked at him strangely and asked, "Summoner?"
Aiden waved his hand and said, "Let's put aside our respective positions for now. There's no Commander and hero, just you and me, having an equal conversation."
"And then?" Kayle was even more puzzled.
"Putting aside the superior-subordinate relationship, would you say we're friends?" Aiden asked.
Kayle replied without any sentimentality, "I have no friends." Indeed, she had been the queen of the Eternal Kingdom for countless years. The angels were all her subjects, not qualified to be her friends. Her sister, Morgana, had betrayed her, almost becoming an enemy. And in the countless planes she had conquered in the past, no intelligent being dared to stand on equal footing with her.
Aiden felt as if his throat was being squeezed. He was somewhat frustrated and waved his hand, saying, "Alright, regardless of whether you think so or not, I do consider you a friend—when my soul left my body before, it happened to be when you woke up from your slumber. I unintentionally overheard your conversation with Ophiel and Pamyel. They said that your contract with the League of Legends will expire in seven years."
He looked at Kayle with some trepidation and hope, this first hero he had summoned, and also the "friend" who had protected him many times, and asked, "Will you be leaving then?"