The hall was vast, yet only an elderly man of advanced age was inside. He slowly wrote on a scroll with a quill:
"Noxus History, July 13th. Swain initiated a coup. The royal family is on the verge of defeat. The future of Noxus is unknown… "
The old man was the historian of Noxus, writing down the day's events on the scroll, his face filled with sorrow.
Just then, he heard footsteps behind him, turned his head, and watched Chen and the others enter:
"Who are you? Why aren't you defending against Swain's attacking forces?"
To avoid exposure, Katarina was already preparing a Shunpo to fly behind the historian and kill him with a single strike.
But Chen, thinking quickly, put his hand in front of Katarina. He had carefully noticed that the hall was filled with bookshelves. Chen had realized as he walked in that the bookshelves were covered with history books about Noxus and Runeterra.
Chen walked forward to the elderly historian, looking down at the scroll he was compiling. Previously, it detailed the history of Noxus, and now he was writing about Swain's revolution today.
Chen guessed that this was a historian. Historians usually know a lot. Now that the soldiers had all gone to war, no one was guarding the surrounding historians anymore.
Chen feigned urgency and said to the historian:
"Mister Historian, do you know where General Du Couteau is?"
The historian frowned, looked up at Chen:
"Why are you looking for him? He disappeared a long time ago. Instead of asking about him, you should go to the battlefield and shed your blood for Noxus."
Chen gritted his teeth, his acting skills exploding, and said with furious indignation:
"Sir, we were once subordinates of Grand General Du Couteau! It's because of Grand General Du Couteau's disappearance that no one is suppressing the soldiers and nobles below! If General Du Couteau were still here, Noxus would not be in this situation today!"
"If you know where General Du Couteau is, and we find him, many people will surely switch sides. We can then regroup and definitely defeat the damned rebel Swain!"
When mentioning Swain, Chen's teeth ground together, his hatred practically written on his face; his animosity towards Swain was not faked.
The historian was an old man of advanced age who had experienced much. He looked into Chen's eyes:
"The hatred in your eyes is not false."
The historian slowly shook his head, then looked up at the ceiling, saying helplessly:
"You are right. As things stand, perhaps this is our only hope for victory. Even if Emperor Darkwill executes me later, I will die without regret."
The historian looked at Chen and told him:
"Historical records state that General Du Couteau was sentenced to life imprisonment for disobeying Emperor Darkwill's orders and was confined to the Imperial City's dungeon. No more than two living people know about this."
The historian pointed in a direction outside the window:
"Walk three hundred meters north, go around that crooked tree, and keep going forward. There's an underground prison behind it. Although most of the guards and jailers have gone to support the city defense, you still need to be careful. The future of Noxus rests on you. Go quickly."
"Let's go!"
Katarina immediately turned and left, and Chen and Powder followed.
Powder followed behind Chen, whispering to him:
"My intuition tells me that old man is not right."
Chen also had this strange feeling, but he couldn't pinpoint what was wrong. Logically, the old historian seemed fine.
But this was currently the only clue for General Du Couteau; it was better than blindly searching in the Imperial City.
Not long after Chen and the others left, a strange smile suddenly appeared on the old historian's face in the hall:
"This kid is right. Now, perhaps only Du Couteau can salvage this situation."
"Swain, oh Swain, I never expected this move from you today. I should have killed you back then!"
As the old historian spoke, his body gradually became transparent. Finally, he turned into a faint purple mist and dissipated into the air.
Meanwhile, in a side room cabinet within the hall, the body of the real historian lay. His expression was distorted, with clear ligature marks on his neck from a chain, indicating a terrible death.
...
Imperial City Prison,
The usually heavily guarded Imperial City Prison had only two guards on duty at its gate. The two guards looked nervous:
"I heard Swain led the troops in rebellion. We're probably in deep trouble this time. Even most of our jailers and guards have been transferred out; only a few of us are left."
"Captain, what if they really break in?"
"What do you mean, 'what if'? For the glory of Noxus, we must fight to the death! What are you thinking?"
"No, Captain, they are also Noxus people. It's just a change in regime. We'll still be Noxus warriors in the future. Shouldn't we consider our future…?"
At this moment, the born assassin Katarina instantly appeared behind the two guards with a Shunpo.
The dagger in her hand swiftly struck the back of the guards' heads, but she used the blunt side of her blade, knocking both guards unconscious.
Chen and Powder immediately followed. Chen glanced at the two guards lying on the ground:
"I thought no one would ever survive your hands."
Katarina did not reply. She used to be like that, but Chen's earlier conversation with the historian had shown her that a knife alone couldn't solve every problem. These Noxus soldiers didn't deserve to die.
Inside the prison, truly few jailers remained. Ordinary soldiers were nothing in Katarina's eyes; most were instantly knocked out.
Katarina led the way, and the three began searching the prison. The Imperial City's prison was more terrifying than the trio had imagined, holding all sorts of prisoners, various races.
There were Minotaurs with horns, Vastaya with animal features, and a giant colossus!
Chen saw that in the center of the prison, a massive statue was covered with chains thicker than an arm. Beneath the chains, a burly warrior was sealed. He was over three meters tall, wielded a giant axe, had a fierce appearance, and his entire skin was deathly pale, like a corpse.
But to be precise, this was a corpse; it was an undead.
Chen gasped:
"The Undead Juggernaut! Sion!"
Sion was the Noxus Hand two hundred years ago, the War God of Noxus!
In the war between Noxus and Demacia, he personally crushed King Jarvan I of Demacia, but he had been dead for two hundred years.
Now his corpse had been resurrected into a weapon, but Sion had lost his sanity and would only slaughter, whether Noxus people or others. After his resurrection, he had once been like a living battering ram, single-handedly massacring an entire city.
Fortunately, he was now sealed by the statue and chains. Sion was so terrifying that even though Swain had started a coup, King Darkwill still refused to awaken him.
Chen looked at Sion and decided to walk around him. This guy was a monster he couldn't afford to provoke.
Just then, Katarina's anxious voice suddenly came from ahead:
"Found him! Come help me unlock it!"