Blade Waltz, the ultimate profound mystery of the Laurent Family's Heart-Eye Swordsmanship.
Legend has it that when this profound mystery is used, the user will completely disappear into an endless array of sword light, striking the enemy indiscriminately as one with their sword.
Enveloped by the sword light, the enemy can only futilely defend against attacks from all directions, eventually dying in a dazzling brilliance.
However, because the members of the Laurent Family in recent generations have been somewhat subpar, this technique has not appeared in people's sight for a long time, so much so that many people believe it is merely the Laurent Family's self-aggrandizement.
Perhaps… it was just a good swordsmanship, but few people truly believed that the user could disappear into the sword light.
And now, they witnessed this swordsmanship with their own eyes.
Fiora's figure almost merged with her sword light, like an intricate, magnificent ribbon, swirling around Lux.
That trace of crimson flowing on the ribbon was Fiora's cape outside her armor!
Xin Zhao, standing behind Jarvan III, gripped the long spear in his hand.
Although it was somewhat dishonorable, he was ready at any moment to step in and end the battle—from any perspective, he could not stand by and watch those two in the dueling arena suffer any harm!
Engaged in the battle, the pressure Lux felt was even more astonishing.
Before Blade Waltz—even a very nascent Blade Waltz—Lux, who had originally been able to maintain the battle slightly in close-quarters combat, now finally fell completely into a disadvantage.
She dodged left and right in disarray, frequently blocking with her sword, and even used the thickest parts of her armor to meet Fiora's attacks from the side—thanks to Fiora using a thin and resilient rapier this time; if she had used a three-edged dueling sword, Lux would probably have died on the spot!
The former 'Outstanding Observer Student' had shocked her considerably, but compared to her current personal experience, it was not direct enough.
During simulated training, Lux had faced many types of opponents, but because Klein had 'limited computing power,' opponents of Fiora's level could not be simulated.
Amidst this dazzling sword light, Lux felt as if she had returned to her first training session, facing the Beetles.
This continuous sword light was just like the endless Beetles and the sky full of yellow sand at that time, almost suffocating her.
Relying solely on skill and reaction was not enough to face Blade Waltz.
Upon realizing this, Lux dodged another fatal lunge and, for the first time, gripped her sword hilt with both hands.
"Now?"
And facing Lux's question, Klein, who had remained silent, finally spoke for the first time.
"Now!"
Fiora's rapier struck again.
This time, Lux did not retreat or dodge.
Instead, she gripped her sword with both hands, using all her strength, and met the most dazzling sword light from below!
"Clang—"
With an incredibly piercing clang of metal, Lux's sword and Fiora's rapier finally collided head-on.
Lux's head-on strike cleanly cut onto the rapier's blade.
This time, this thin and resilient rapier did not bend and spring away from Lux's chop to continue its attack, as it had in previous collisions.
As one sword was struck, the two swords clashed, and the two individuals crossed paths, both swords broke almost simultaneously.
"Whoosh—"
"Whoosh—"
"Thud thud—"
The next moment, to the astonishment of the audience, the broken sword blades flew out rapidly and impaled themselves on the tables in the front row of the audience seats.
Then, with two gasps of "Gah" and "Uh," the two nobles behind those two tables clutched their hearts, rolled their eyes, and fainted on the spot from fright.
...
Both Lux's and Fiora's swords were broken.
And according to Demacia's rules, a broken sword means defeat—theoretically, this was an extremely terrible lose-lose outcome.
According to Demacia's law, a lose-lose duel should have a "second round witnessed by the Winged Sisters."
However, because the Winged Sisters have not been seen for a long time, there would be no witnesses for the second round—and a duel cannot proceed without witnesses, so in essence, a lose-lose is a draw.
Considering Lux's age and the Blade Waltz used by Fiora, the witnesses present clearly would not believe that anyone had lost—this was clearly a win-win!
Even though many people knew that Lux had used all her strength to barely achieve this outcome, if it were announced, this duel would ultimately be considered a draw.
Everything was developing towards a perfect outcome. Although many nobles were concerned about Lux's performance and did not want to see the rise of another Tianna, at least at this moment, their choice should have been to stand up and applaud enthusiastically.
Then, just as Jarvan III was about to deliver his witness statement, the Illuminati bishop who had officiated the engagement yesterday stood up first.
"There is indeed a second round! The oracle is true!" The white-haired old bishop shouted in an incredibly excited tone, "The Winged Sisters have not forgotten us; they are always watching us, watching Demacia! Luxanna and Fiora, you shall engage in a second round of dueling under the glory of the Winged Sisters!"
This sudden turn of events stunned all the nobles present.
Is Bishop crazy?
You don't even look at who is dueling; it's already a joyous occasion for these two to achieve a draw. No matter how much we wish for them to both suffer, we can only honestly applaud now!
Are you tired of living, jumping out now to cause trouble?
At this moment, all the nobles finally united in a common cause, glaring at this uninvited guest—Illuminati, just stick to being a charity organization; don't cause trouble now!
No matter how close Lux is to the royal family, that's an internal matter for us nobles!
You Illuminati want to get involved now?
Dream on!
However, what was completely unexpected was that facing the nobles' murderous gazes, the old bishop remained calm and composed, as if completely unconcerned.
"This is an oracle!" He smiled, as if bathed in supreme glory, "It is the will of the Winged Sisters! The Silencers have deciphered the oracle; the Winged Sisters are watching us!"
Hearing the oracle, the nobles present finally could not sit still. They exchanged glances, their originally resentful gazes instantly turning to horror—if the Silencers had confirmed it was an oracle…
It can't really be true, can it?
How could this happen?
At this moment, the Illuminati received an oracle!
Many quick-witted nobles had already recalled that period of history, the history of the struggle between the divine power represented by the Illuminati and the royal power represented by the royal family!
If it weren't for the royal family and the nobles together, who finally gained the support of the common people through the sacrifice of blood, the Illuminati would not be as harmless as they are now!
Although they had not experienced that era, many nobles had learned many secrets from their elders—if the Silencers within the Illuminati had not interfered, and the Illuminati had not forged an oracle, then even if Jarvan I died on the battlefield and Jarvan II went into battle, winning with a demoralized army, it would have been difficult for the nobles to win decisively in that political struggle.
And now, the Illuminati confidently presented an oracle…
Could it be that the Illuminati, having kept a low profile for a century, finally couldn't help but show its fangs?
"The Illuminati will not lie about the oracle." The bishop smiled, his expression incredibly proud, "Gentlemen, the Winged Sisters have never been far from us. Now let me announce the oracle—"
"No need." Just as he was triumphantly planning to spread the glory of the Winged Sisters and make the Illuminati great again, Lux suddenly spoke, interrupting him without warning, "I lost this duel. There's no need to announce the oracle. As the loser, I am willing to accept the Stone Crown Punishment."
No one expected Lux to say this.
When her resonant words reached everyone's ears, the King was stunned, the nobles were stunned, the bishop was stunned, and the entire dueling hall became silent.
...
No one could have imagined that at this moment, Lux would voluntarily step forward and, by accepting the Stone Crown Punishment, actively interrupt the Illuminati bishop's words and prevent them from announcing the oracle!
Voluntarily accepting the Stone Crown Punishment meant that Lux would climb Targon barefoot until she reached the summit, thereby cleansing herself of her defeat and her Defile of the Winged Sisters!
When Lux said this, whatever oracle the Illuminati bishop had discovered became completely meaningless—Lux would not accept the oracle; she would rather endure the Stone Crown Punishment than accept it!
This made the bishop's breath almost catch in his throat. He never expected that a hard-won opportunity to spread the glory of faith would be forcefully destroyed by Lux in a manner almost like a martyr!
And at this moment, the nobles who had recovered their senses, without exception, sincerely paid their highest respects to Lux.
Under these circumstances, even the slowest-witted noble had realized that if they allowed the bishop to announce the oracle and then grandiosely proceed with the second round of the duel, perhaps the religious faction within the Illuminati would rise again.
After all, the Illuminati was not always so gentle from the beginning. This ancient organization, born from the Winged Sisters, like the thirteen noble families, were all "founding elders" of Demacia.
In Demacia, divine power was once an important force, and the Illuminati and the nobles used to pull each other's hair and spit at each other!
However, later, due to external Wars, the nobles gained the support of the common people through their sacrifices, eventually pushing the Illuminati out of the center of power and turning them into a harmless charity organization—but even so, they did not forget to suppress the Illuminati.
Even in Demacia, a large part of the reason for the rise of the Demon Searcher was to constantly chip away at the Illuminati and suppress their influence in the field of magic.
And just now, when the The Capital Archbishop announced the reappearance of the Silencers and the arrival of the oracle, the Illuminati, this long-dormant organization, had a reason and opportunity to become active again!
According to him, it seemed the oracle mentioned a second round of the duel!
Considering the outcome of Lux and Fiora's duel, this was a truly prophetic oracle; if word got out, countless people would once again embrace the Illuminati!
Moreover, unlike the previous situation, even the Silencers loyal to the Winged Sisters would join in the struggle—at that time, every single noble would have a hard time!
However, at this critical moment, Lux admitted defeat, rejected the oracle, and straightforwardly accepted the Stone Crown Punishment, blocking all subsequent paths for the Illuminati with a single sentence.
No more talk, I accept the punishment myself!
Amidst the silence, Lux held up her broken sword high.
"In the name of Luxanna Crownguard, I accept the Stone Crown Punishment, to climb the summit of Targon to atone for the shame of defeat!"
"I will not return to Demacia until I ascend the summit, forge a new blade, and avenge this defeat!"
As Lux made her vow, all the nobles simultaneously removed their hats and placed their hands over their chests, expressing their respect for her.
On the surface, this was for Lux's honesty in admitting defeat and her forthrightness in accepting punishment.
In reality, it was because she truly achieved self-sacrifice—sacrificing herself for the benefit of all nobles.
Regardless of their relationship with the Crownguard Family or Lux, at this moment, all the nobles—even including the King—were willing to offer their respect for her sacrifice.
Although, in accordance with the nobles' usual custom, no one who suffered the Stone Crown Punishment would truly climb Targon, it was practically equivalent to exile, but in this situation, that was no longer important.
Lux took a huge blow for the nobles and chose self-exile, so the nobles were naturally happy to turn her into a harmless idol, and no praise was too much!
Moreover, Lux handled this matter beautifully; she blocked the expansion of the Illuminati's influence for the nobles, yet the reason she gave was that she lost the duel, which was well-reasoned and could be widely publicized, leaving no one able to find fault—look, that old Bishop, after hearing Lux's vow, his old face almost turned green from holding it in.
There was nothing he could do!
Amidst a sea of people removing their hats and placing their hands over their chests in salute, many nobles suddenly realized that sometimes having an "Exemplary Noble" by their side was actually a good thing?
… … … … … … … …
Ultimately, a duel concluded in a way no one could have imagined, cleanly yet unexpectedly.
For the commoners, the version they heard was: "The noble and righteous Miss Luxanna drew in the duel, but willingly admitted defeat because she was at a disadvantage, and accepted the Stone Crown Punishment."
For the nobles, they successfully curbed the Illuminati's expansion and caused the Crownguard Family, which had been rising in prominence recently, to lose a future star, creating a slight rift in the intimate relationship between the Crownguard and Lightshield.
For the Crownguard Family, Lux probably wouldn't be able to return to Demacia for a short time, but the family's status officially changed from "loyal dogs following the King" to "freemen courted by the King and nobles"—additionally, although the marriage alliance failed, Fiora was willing to fight for the Crownguard.
In the end, everyone benefited, and all the suffering was borne by Lux alone.
As for the latter half of the night of the duel, the walls of The Forbidden Magic Prison had a minor issue due to "years of disrepair," a trivial matter that no one in the entire Demacia Capital paid any attention to.
So, what exactly was all of this about?
Let's rewind time a bit and retrace Klein's entire plan.
First, Sona's part.
In the entire plan, Sona's task was to introduce a new force—the Illuminati.
Under Klein's guidance, Lux left some "oracles," which attracted the attention of the Illuminati; because the matter was significant, the Illuminati ultimately invited the Silencers, who usually only served as tradition, to verify the authenticity of these oracles.
The Silencers confirmed that the oracles were real, though the content was somewhat vague; Klein, in a very mystical way, left behind a line: "God is watching here, waiting for the destined one to appear before God."
The Illuminati clearly wouldn't know that Klein, an old man who had witnessed the establishment of Demacia, existed, so even the creed-abiding Silencers thought it was time to spread the glory of the Winged Sisters again, and thus, the Illuminati began to act.
The Silencers prepared to receive the oracle, while the secular faction planned to take the opportunity to target noble power—just as a duel ended in a draw, and thinking of a lose-lose second round, the Bishop naturally couldn't hold back and stepped forward.
Then, Lux's part.
Political problems are solved with political means; throughout the duel, Lux always positioned herself on the absolute moral high ground. She first stood up for her family and accepted the duel; then, after the duel ended in a draw, she admitted defeat, maintaining fairness and curbing the Illuminati's exploitation of the situation—these were the most open and honest parts.
At the same time, she also stood from the nobles' perspective, following the nobles' rules, and protected the collective interests of the nobles—plus, the Stone Crown Punishment almost completely stripped her of her political rights. For such a person who would not contend for noble power, all nobles owed her this favor.
Here, Dili and Gaokan, those two fence-sitters, are specifically named.
They gained no actual benefits this time but had no choice but to become loyal to the Crownguard Family. As long as they showed the slightest disloyalty, they would be ostracized by the entire noble class.
Wavering back and forth?
Climbing to higher branches again?
Don't even think about it.
And Fiora, who became acquainted with Lux through the duel, fully recognized Lux and was willing to join the Crownguard Family—after Lux made the Vow of the Broken Sword, she simply made a vow of celibacy and resolutely joined the Ranger Legion.
It was precisely because of Lux's self-sacrifice that the Crownguard Family improved its relationship with other nobles. She truly achieved what Tianna had always strived for but couldn't—don't look at the price Lux paid with the Stone Crown Punishment, but this Stone Crown Punishment exchanged for many favors at once!
Considering that Lux would no longer block anyone's path, these favors were as heavy as Mount Tai!
Finally, Ino's part.
This part was the simplest: in the interlayer of the book's flyleaf, Lux drew a magic circle for positioning.
After the book reached Ino's hands, Lux directly damaged part of The Forbidden Magic Prison's wall that night, allowing Ino to be charged with "escaping from prison," thus increasing her sentence.
What's interesting is that after this duel, Tianna's attitude towards Lux and Ino's relationship did a complete 180-degree turn.
Before Lux even suggested letting Ino out and having her go to Targon with her, Tianna proactively changed Ino's punishment to the Stone Crown Punishment as well, to be served concurrently with Lux.
Tianna's meaning was very clear: the Stone Crown Punishment does not allow escorts, so Ino was the escort and maid Tianna prepared for Lux.
Through this operation, Lux now had no political future. In this situation, being kind and considerate to commoners was no longer an issue.
In fact, for Lux's safety, Tianna was happy to have Ino by Lux's side.
After all… Tianna had always loved her niece.
Ultimately, the time for Lux to leave Demacia was set for one month later.
It was during this month that Lux spent every day with the grieving Augatha, soothing her mother—she repeatedly promised that she would definitely return to Demacia and would never rashly climb Targon.
"Trust me, Mom, I'll be back, with endless glory."
"Silly child, I just hope you're safe and sound, even if you live a lifetime anonymously at the foot of Kalamanda!"
During Lux's time with her mother, Klein consciously stayed with Sona for a month, doing his best to tutor his student and even leaving behind a set of "advanced self-study materials."
… … … … … … … …
Thus, under Klein's dazzling calculations and operations, the Demacia Capital experienced a period of great upheaval.
The entire event finally concluded with Lux swearing an oath with a broken sword, accepting the Stone Crown Punishment, and climbing Targon.
As the incident gradually subsided, Lux was surprised to find that the once-hypocritical nobles, when facing her, would occasionally show a rare sincerity.
She never expected that after shedding her identity as a noble lady, she could instead see a more authentic side of those people.
After all, for them, Lux was no longer a competitor, but more like a pure outsider.
It was at this moment that Lux clearly realized what Klein often referred to as the "alienation of people by power."
What Lux once hated most was the infighting among Demacia's nobles, especially the vibrant young people—they could have openly enjoyed all happiness, yet they always put on stern faces, ruining all beautiful times.
Now, Lux finally understood that it was the struggle for noble power, the very existence of nobility, that made them abandon their innate innocence, forcing them to follow the rules, put on stern faces, wear masks, and ruin all beautiful times!
In this way, Klein gave Lux her last lesson in Demacia.
Finally, on a summer morning a month later, Lux boarded the ship bound for Kalamanda.
Standing on the deck, she watched the nobles at the port, some sincere, some hypocritical, watching them wave their arms and handkerchiefs.
Leaning against the ship's railing, she waved her arms back to her reluctant relatives and friends, and to her past confusion and doubts.
Her golden hair shimmered in the morning light.
Her blue eyes were as clean as if washed by the reflection of the ocean.
Goodbye, Demacia!
Goodbye, my homeland!
From today onwards, Lux will embark on a new journey!
Although she was only thirteen years old.
But the young Luxanna was no longer troubled!
[Volume One · The Troubles of Young Luxanna · End]