No sooner had Leona joined the battlefield than Diana, the Scorn of the Moon, was summoned.
Seeing her "old rival" displaying her divine might amidst the enemy ranks, Diana's eyebrows shot up, and she immediately charged into the enemy horde with her Crescent Blade, stirring up chaos among Yogg-Saron's minions with lightning speed.
Diana's performance also spurred Leona on; she pointed her sword, emitted a beam of light, and pounced forward, her sword cleaving through shields, becoming a dazzling spectacle on the battlefield.
The two seemed to be competing to see who was more powerful, neither willing to concede to the other.
Both of them hailed from the Solari tribe and possessed a heart that dared to resist outdated customs, but this didn't make them friends; instead, because they walked opposing paths, they were constantly at odds.
They, along with Pantheon, were all born into the Solari tribe. This tribe had lived for generations on the towering Mount Targon. As the saying goes, "Rough mountains breed defiant people." Mount Targon was steep and dangerous, the land barren, and it was situated between Valoran's two most powerful nations, Demacia and Noxus, making it a strategic point of contention.
These two most powerful nations on the Valoran continent had both coveted Mount Targon and had acted on their desires multiple times.
However, centuries had passed, and the Solari tribe still stood strong atop Mount Targon. Demacia and Noxus had suffered enough to never dare to harbor any further ambitions towards this place.
Because when they had such ambitions and acted upon them, they were beaten to a pulp by this savage tribe, their faces bruised and swollen, no longer daring to conquer the Solari tribe through violent means.
If the Solari tribe's population were to increase four or fivefold, perhaps the other factions in Valoran would have to worry about being conquered.
Although the Solari tribe was small in number, every man, woman, and child was a warrior. From a young age, they underwent brutal training, and upon adulthood, almost everyone could take on ten opponents, which was why, despite their small numbers, no faction on the continent dared to underestimate them.
This warrior race was not only ruthless towards their enemies but equally harsh on their own people.
During their coming-of-age ceremony, they had to fight to the death against their peers to compete for the weapons and armor passed down from ancient times. Because the Solari tribe traditionally believed that only the strongest could receive the honor and gifts of their ancestors.
In Leona's generation, she and Pantheon became the ultimate victors, and then they had to fight to the death in the arena to compete for the ownership of the ancestral armor.
The two were childhood sweethearts, and Leona was naturally kind. How could she bear to kill Pantheon?
In the end, she refused to participate—not because she couldn't win—even if Pantheon was the strongest warrior, and they fought without holding back, he might not necessarily be able to defeat his childhood sweetheart.
Leona's refusal to participate was a disgrace to the martial-oriented Solari tribe, an unprecedented act of defiance in centuries.
Therefore, Leona was sentenced to death by the elders.
Of course, Leona didn't die—just as she was about to be executed, a blazing light shone down, knocking the executioner unconscious, but Leona was unharmed and received the inheritance from the sun.
As a tribe that revered the sun, the Solari elders understood that Leona had been recognized by the sun, so there was no question of punishment.
Subsequently, Leona, because of the divine power bestowed upon her by the sun, gained the title of "Radiant Dawn" and joined the League of Legends.
Diana was also born into the Solari tribe, a little older than Leona. She was also a combat prodigy, but her solitary personality and numerous questions made her disliked and unaccepted by the simple-minded tribesmen, so she naturally had no friends.
She felt nothing for the sun, which her tribe revered, but instead gained extraordinary abilities from the moon in the night sky.
Therefore, she began to question the tribe's beliefs, even questioning in her heart whether the sun's divine power existed—which, of course, was a great rebellion, even more serious than Leona's refusal to participate, and could be called a true act of defiance!
However, Diana was clever; she wanted to use practical actions to convince the ignorant elders and tribesmen.
Then she embarked on a difficult path of "archaeology ruins one's life."
Although she wasted her youthful years, after spending several years mastering archaeology to the grandmaster level, Diana finally successfully excavated a set of gorgeous armor and a Crescent Blade from the ruins of a temple—they became her equipment—this set of equipment condensed the power of moonlight, and Diana gained the inheritance of the moon, which undoubtedly proved her previous conjecture—worshiping the moon could obtain true divine power!
At this time, Leona had not yet come of age, and although there were many strong warriors in the Solari tribe, there was no one who had truly obtained the divine power of the sun.
Diana, who had been suppressed for a long time, declared as soon as she returned that these treasures could prove that their ancestors not only worshiped the sun but also worshiped the moon.
This was originally correct; perhaps the Solari tribe's ancestors did have such a past, but their descendants had forgotten it. Now the tribesmen only worshiped the sun.
So, not only did she not gain the recognition she craved, but she was judged by the elders to be a heretic and was to be executed!
Diana's inner anger, disappointment, and sadness were unimaginable. Having already obtained divine power, how could she be willing to be executed?
She summoned the power of the new moon, killed the elders and those who tried to stop her, and fled, calling herself the "Scorn of the Moon," and prepared to use the power of moonlight to forcibly reverse the tribe's beliefs.
Unfortunately, her views received almost no support from the Solari people. How could she, alone, accomplish the goal that the two powerful kingdoms and city-states of Demacia and Noxus had failed to achieve?
In addition, after Leona officially became the "Radiant Dawn," Diana's conquest plan could only be postponed indefinitely.
The two most outstanding heroes, both from the Solari tribe, and both persecuted by the elders, and both despising authority, unfortunately became natural enemies because of the opposition of faith and power.
They had fought each other many times in private. Leona had the upper hand during the day, and Diana had the advantage at night, but it was almost impossible to truly kill each other. In addition, restricted by the rules of the League of Legends, and now having joined the Valoran Federation, the past hatred and prejudice could only be put aside. Their way of fighting became comparing who could better solve problems for their commanders.
—
There are simply countless heroes in Valoran who have grievances with each other.
Kael and Morgana go without saying, Diana and Leona have already been mentioned, and the next three heroes who have undergone the Ascension ritual and possess demigod bodies and certain animal characteristics also have entanglements with each other.
Nasus, the Curator of the Sands, commonly known as "Dog Head," and Renekton, the Butcher of the Sands, commonly known as "Crocodile," are brothers and were among the first heroes to undergo the Ascension ritual. They bore the sacred duty of guarding the Shurima Empire.
Azir, the Emperor of the Sands, nicknamed "Golden Crispy Chicken," was the last emperor of the Shurima Empire. He listened to the slander of his chief mage, Xerath, and rashly initiated the Ascension ritual, wanting to become an immortal demigod, but was exploited by the cunning Xerath. The final energy of the Ascension ritual was respectively poured into Xerath and Azir's bodies. The former became a pure arcane creature, while the latter fell into a slumber lasting thousands of years due to the incomplete ritual.
Xerath, who became the "Magus Ascendant," is extremely dangerous. He can freely manipulate arcane energy and is almost impossible to kill.
More importantly, he does have a very serious desire for destruction.
He eagerly wanted to show his new form and power to mortals, and it was only the appearance of the Shurima guardians, the brothers Nasus and Renekton, that barely sealed him away—the price was that Renekton was also locked in the prison for thousands of years, and he was almost driven mad by Xerath.
They are brothers, but why should I be locked up inside to accompany a crazy arcane creature for thousands of years, while you are carefree outside?
So, after Renekton saw the light of day again, he simply regarded his brother as his greatest enemy, wanting to kill him and be done with it.
— It can only be said that Renekton should look at Malfurion and Illidan, who are also brothers.
Illidan didn't say he wanted to kill Malfurion even after being locked up for ten thousand years, so Renekton's patience is still too low.
Xerath, without a doubt, has simply become the public enemy of Shurima. Nasus, Renekton, and the betrayed Azir all hate him to the core.
At the same time, Azir's recklessness and arrogance also made the guardian brothers, Crocodile and Dog Head, feel disgusted. If it weren't for Azir, how could the powerful Shurima have perished?
Thousands of years later, Azir's last bloodline—Sivir, who was a mercenary at the time—escorted Cassiopeia, the Noxian female spy and Katarina's sister, into the ruins of Shurima for exploration, but was plotted against by Cassiopeia and stabbed to death.
Unexpectedly, this stab allowed the incomplete Ascension ritual from thousands of years ago to be completed. Sivir's blood awakened her ancestor, the last emperor Azir, allowing him to finally complete the final Ascension and become a complete demigod.
After ascending, he understood all of this and rescued Sivir.
Of course, Cassiopeia, who planned this conspiracy, didn't get any good—she was originally beautiful and charming, but she was poisoned by the venom sprayed by a tomb guardian statue in the ruins, and finally turned into her current half-human, half-snake appearance.
Now, this group of people with mutual grudges and entanglements, except for Xerath, who is still in the Twisting Nether, have all gathered here.
The Dog Head and Crocodile brothers, the Emperor of the Sands Azir and his descendant Sivir from thousands of years later, and Cassiopeia, who plotted against Sivir, have all been summoned here by Aiden.
The scene is a bit strange. Aiden has not considered the grievances between the heroes, but since everyone works in the same unit, they will inevitably see each other. Besides, they have changed the world, so what hatred or resentment can't be put down?
"I said, stop glaring at each other—come and help me barbecue these twisted monsters!" Brand, the Burning Vengeance, calmly passed through the middle of these people, raised his hand and released a flame into the enemy ranks, instantly igniting dozens of Yogg-Saron's minions.