The meeting dispersed.
Darkwill returned alone to his bedchamber and dismissed all the servants.
Seeing his chest rising and falling continuously, the servants all quickened their steps as they withdrew, fearing they would be caught in the Grand General's anger.
At this moment, fury was surging and burning inside Darkwill's chest.
Then he opened a desk drawer, took out a white medicine bottle, poured out the last pill inside, and swallowed it.
Looking at the empty bottle, all of Darkwill's anger erupted at this moment.
"A pack of rabble! A bunch of useless trash!"
He crushed the bottle directly with force, then slammed his palm down on the desk.
With a thunderous crash, the sturdy wooden desk instantly shattered apart.
A terrifying aura coiled around Darkwill's entire body, and even his hair trembled faintly because of it.
During his years in power, he had established countless achievements. Yet now, merely because of a little suspicion, he had been pushed into the center of the storm.
And those useless fools, after searching for so long and pouring in so many resources, they had not found a damn thing!
"With a temper that bad, be careful you don't hurt yourself."
Suddenly, an aged voice came from behind him.
Hearing that voice, Darkwill immediately calmed down and turned around. What he saw was an old man dressed in servant's clothing.
The old man stood there hunched over, his face covered in wrinkles, but his eyes possessed an unusual clarity, like a magic mirror.
Looking at him, Darkwill said coldly, "Even now, you still have the mood to stand here and mock others?"
The old man said with a calm and unbothered expression, "Since the matter has already happened, what use is anger?"
Darkwill sneered. "You certainly know how to control your emotions. But the one cleaning up your mess right now is me. What exactly happened with you? It seems even your deepest secrets have been seen through."
At this, the old man also revealed a puzzled look. "Speaking of this matter, even I find it quite strange. I am very curious how she obtained so much information about me."
"Who released this information? With your capabilities, you should have already found out, shouldn't you?"
Darkwill looked at the old man and asked.
"That's right." The old man nodded and said, "The ones making moves behind the scenes are the Assassins' Guild. The one currently in charge of the Assassins' Guild is Katarina, Du Couteau's red-haired daughter. She returned from Demacia with quite a bit of information about me, and it seems she has prepared herself to go to war with me."
"The Assassins' Guild..."
Darkwill's eyes revealed a sinister coldness. "I knew long ago that leaving such a hidden danger alone would cause trouble sooner or later. If you hadn't stopped me, I would have taken advantage of the time when they were scattered and disorganized to wipe them out in one move."
The old man said calmly, "Wiping out the Assassins' Guild would be equivalent to wiping out Noxus's intelligence network in the shadows. Rebuilding it would cost far more than a little effort."
Darkwill laughed with an ugly expression. "Heh... Now they've set your own backside on fire, and you can barely protect yourself. If they had been wiped out earlier, how would any of this be happening now? So what was the point of doing that? Isn't your Black Rose also an intelligence network?"
"You need to understand that I am not omnipotent, and the Black Rose cannot cover every single thing. If the Black Rose could solve every problem, then today's situation would never have happened."
The old man's emotions remained steady from beginning to end, and his tone was also quite calm. "Moreover, what should come will always come. Clearly, this is an obstacle the Black Rose must experience."
Darkwill calmed himself and asked, "Then tell me, how should this matter be resolved now?"
"Now that the Black Rose has been dragged into the open, the person who truly controls this information about the Black Rose seems to have done this deliberately."
"I have decided to have all members of the organization hide temporarily. Over all these years, the Black Rose has experienced far too many things like this, but every time, we endured."
The old man spoke slowly, while in his mind flashed the harmless-looking face of a certain person.
Somewhere in the unseen, he had a feeling that this person was the one making small moves behind the scenes.
"I believe this time will be the same. However, in some areas, the Black Rose will no longer be able to provide you with assistance. Now that people suspect you and the Black Rose are colluding in secret, the contact between us also needs to be severed for a while."
"So you want to wait for the storm to pass? You don't intend to counterattack at all?"
Darkwill frowned at the old man.
"What should we do? Waste enormous amounts of effort fighting the Assassins' Guild? You should know that right now, they are using all civilians as their shield. If we want to oppose them, we need to be prepared to oppose everyone."
The old man's gaze passed through the window and looked at Noxus outside. Buildings stretched from high to low, extending beyond sight.
Over all these years, he had personally witnessed this place grow into its current prosperity.
"Or do you think repeating the old trick of faking our deaths like back then can deceive those people's eyes once again?"
He had buried and concealed the Black Rose within history, erasing its traces.
Yet now, it had been found directly and plainly.
From the very beginning, the situation was extremely unfavorable for the Black Rose.
Darkwill frowned and sank into thought. He said, "This matter cannot simply be left like this. What the Assassins' Guild provoked is not only your Black Rose, but me as well. They are nothing but a swarm of annoying flies. I will send people to deal with them."
"They have probably already prepared for that, but indeed, they cannot be allowed to act so freely and casually."
The old man spoke slowly. "I will have the Black Rose avoid the current storm for now. During this period, it will be up to you."
Darkwill nodded slightly. Indeed, there was no suitable way at the moment to resolve this problem, aside from patiently waiting for the storm to pass.
"But this storm probably won't pass in a short time."
Darkwill raised his head from thought and spoke.
Dealing with the Assassins' Guild was already a minor matter now.
Because they had already done what they wanted to do. Now, everyone in Noxus knew about the Black Rose.
That was the real problem.
"So we need something bigger to speed things up and overshadow this storm."
The old man smiled faintly. "For example... the next Grand General, the successor."
As his words fell, Darkwill's eyes immediately showed coldness. "What do you mean?"
Naturally, he did not doubt the truth behind what this old man had just said.
He was absolutely the type who, once he thought of something, would certainly do it.
Because the person before him was none other than the one currently at the center of the storm in Noxus, the one in charge of the Black Rose, the pale woman, LeBlanc.
It was precisely because back then, he had relied on LeBlanc's help to sit upon his current throne.
So at this moment, he had no doubt that LeBlanc had already formed such an idea.
"Don't be impatient." The old man slowly walked toward the window and said, "Even if you are unwilling to admit it now, in these people's eyes, you and I have already been tied together. This is a stain, a stain that will not be erased even with the passage of time."
Darkwill remained silent.
This point was indeed true. Now, all of Noxus suspected that he and the pale woman had colluded in secret for the sake of his own selfish desires.
"At a time like this, stepping down and moving behind the scenes is actually the most correct choice, and also the best opportunity."
The old man looked toward Darkwill. "You are only moving behind the scenes, just like me. Establish a new ruler, and what you will see will be a new Noxus."
Now Darkwill understood his meaning and lowered his head in thought.
Training a puppet did seem like a decent choice.
If he abdicated at this time, not only could he wash away the suspicion that he had colluded with the Black Rose, he could also leave behind a better reputation.
In reality, he would still control Noxus through the puppet.
"There is another reason as well, the failure of this attack on Ionia."
The old man said, "Swain was defeated. According to the plan between you and me, there is a high chance he has already died at the Placidium. He was the person most likely to compete for your position as Grand General. In truth, for him to die now actually makes me feel somewhat regretful."
"If he's dead, then he's dead. He always gave me a very dangerous feeling." Darkwill snorted coldly. "I know what you mean. You wanted him to become this puppet, but did you ever think about the fact that this man is not so easy to control?"
"Indeed." The old man nodded in agreement and said regretfully, "He is one of the rare existences capable of making me feel threatened. But that is not what I wanted to say. It seems you have finished the medicine I gave you last time. The speed at which your body demands it is growing faster and faster. If this continues, it will not be long before the supply can no longer keep up with the demand."
This problem made Darkwill's gaze grow solemn. He asked in a low voice, "Eight years, and not even a single trace of immortality has been found. Is what you said really true?"
"Ionia truly does possess a peerless treasure capable of granting immortality. I believe eight years should have been enough for you to see the potential of that land."
The old man smiled faintly. "However, the fact that you failed to find it is not my problem. You cannot bear to give up your current throne, yet you also greedily desire immortality on another continent far away. Wanting both means you are destined to lose both. Matters like these have always required slow and careful planning."
"So why not go there personally this time? According to my estimate, your body can support you for at most five more years. If you still cannot find any related clues within those five years, then you will not be far from stepping into death."
This time, the old man put away his smile and looked at Darkwill seriously. "I told you before. This is the price you pay for overdrawing your body to obtain power, and it was also the necessary path for you to obtain the throne."
"I know. This was my own choice."
Darkwill's tone was somewhat impatient. At this moment, his mood was inexplicably irritable. He sat down in a chair, but after only a short while, he stood up again.
He paced left and right a few steps, the old man's words constantly replaying in his mind.
Unable to give up the throne, yet wanting immortality as well.
Both could be obtained, but only if there was an order of priority.
For the sake of the throne, he had chosen to obtain power first.
Now, he had sat upon the throne for many years, but his body was gradually being overdrawn, requiring immortality to sustain him.
It seemed he had to personally make a trip to Ionia. Counting on those useless fools had been a wrong choice from the very beginning.
"Fine. We'll do as you said. Prepare to screen the candidates for the next Grand General."
Darkwill made his decision and looked at the old man. "What do you say?"
"The correct choice." The old man smiled and said, "Push a new ruler onto the throne. His unrivaled glory for a time will overshadow all rumors. He cannot be one of your trusted aides, so he must be selected from the warlords in the west or the south. That young junior from House Demir is quite good. His military achievements are distinguished, and he already has considerable prestige in the south. As a newly risen star, he is the most suitable choice."
"Demir Alaus, is it?" Darkwill thought for a moment. "He does indeed have the qualifications to be a candidate."
The old man said, "Recently, I will approach him. You can begin preparing to set out. This matter must be completely settled within half a year."
"Mm."
Darkwill answered.
"Next, the Black Rose will vanish from sight for a while. So, farewell."
As the old man's words fell, with a bang, his body suddenly scattered and vanished like a burst of smoke.
Looking at that mysterious and unpredictable method, Darkwill snorted coldly and slowly sat down on the chair, sinking into thought.
Of course, he would not believe only the old man's side of the story. After another new ruler was established, what use would there still be for him, the old ruler?
A puppet... heh.
In the end, did that pale woman not also see him as a puppet?
Thinking about it another way, this nationwide campaign against the Black Rose was actually a good opportunity for him.
In reality, he did not know much about the Black Rose either.
In fact, after reading through the information that had now stirred up the entire city, even he had been shocked.
Now, he naturally knew that the Black Rose and the pale woman were far less simple than he had imagined.
Back then, for the sake of an eternal and undying throne, Darkwill had accepted the pale woman's conditions, and at the same time, he learned the secret of immortality.
It was in Ionia.
Now he knew that this so-called immortality was probably also just a method that the pale woman used to control him.
However, at this point, Darkwill could no longer turn back.
He could only keep making the wrong move and force it to become right. He simply was not willing to only watch that person's expression and act accordingly.
Why should he not use this opportunity to obtain immortality, obtain the throne, and at the same time get rid of the Black Rose, this thorn in his eye?
At this moment, an excellent opportunity to accomplish three things at once lay before Darkwill. He felt that if he did not make use of it, he would simply be wasting a perfect chance.
Naturally, he would deal with the Assassins' Guild, but at most, he would only put on a show.
Now that the pale woman had no time to protect herself, he could also activate the chess pieces he had cultivated in secret and snatch a few pieces of meat from that fox's mouth.
And the most urgent matter remained immortality.
According to what the pale woman had said, he had at most six years left to live. He needed to promote a new ruler to take over his position, while he himself needed to go to Ionia at once.
As for the candidate for the new ruler...
She had chosen Demir Alaus. He was indeed a decent candidate.
Unfortunately, however, from the moment he was chosen by the pale woman, he was destined to never sit upon the throne.
An unusual light flickered in Darkwill's eyes. He felt that this would be his perfect chance to overthrow the Black Rose.
Taking advantage of the moment when the old and new rulers changed places, he could launch a fatal blow against the Black Rose.
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