The flow of time in the Spirit Realm and the Material Realm is entirely different, and this difference is not something an individual's will can easily adjust. Taking Faen's own Spirit Realm as an example, even with full concentration, he could only maintain a time ratio of four to one: four days in the Spirit Realm equaled one day in the Material Realm. The power of the Spirit of Ionia itself was clearly far beyond the current Faen. Although he had spent over a decade in the Spirit Realm, only a few hours had passed in the Material Realm.
But just those few hours were enough to make Kalan, Irelia, and the others personally experience the crushing pressure of war.
The tide of humanity surged. Initially, Kalan thought he would be the mainstay blocking the Noxians' advance. However, after adapting to the rhythm of the battle, the Kiilash was surprised to find that the situation was quite different from what he had imagined.
In the past, Kalan had heard a saying: some people live their whole lives only to suddenly feel a strong palpitation in their dull existence, making them realize they were born for a specific moment.
Before this, Kalan believed this saying applied to him—that he was stepping onto the path of darkness for his children, just as the purple-skinned prophet named Soraka had foretold. But now, Kalan realized that something seemed off.
He might have been born for the moment he stepped into his dark destiny, but after that destiny was altered, in the events currently unfolding on Fae'lor Island, he saw that some people were simply born for war.
In Kalan's line of sight, Irelia's graceful and agile figure moved once again. The crystal-clear heirloom blades bloomed with beautiful fluorescence in the night sky. Guided by the girl's will, they whistled around her, transforming into verdant whirlwinds of death.
Was this fighting? It didn't look like it. Irelia didn't seem to be fighting, attacking, or parrying; she seemed to be dancing. It was just that every step of this dance precisely cut into the gaps of the enemy's formation.
Imbued with the Spirit Realm energy of the Divine Sword Dancer, the heirloom blades, looking like works of art, carved chilling arcs through the night sky. They pierced through the gaps in shields, slit throats, and knocked away battle-axes. She almost perfectly maximized the advantage of the narrow terrain, becoming an army of one. Her seemingly petite figure held back over sixty percent of the Noxian soldiers, halting their charge in the narrow passage leading to the Dreaming Pool.
Unfortunately, there were simply too many people here. Under the fearless, continuous assaults, the Noxians even forgot to rescue their own allies. Amidst the relentless charges, those Noxians who had only lost limbs or their combat ability still had a chance to survive. But before the Ionians could kill them, their own allies trampled them into meat paste.
Warm blood, emitting a thick, foul stench, dyed the entire passage red. Yet, it only drew more enemies, surging forward while stepping on the corpses of their comrades. Under this massive pressure, even though Irelia's eyes remained as sharp as blades, her breathing grew uncontrollably rapid, and traces of sweat appeared at her temples.
While Irelia drew the frontal fire, a roar echoed from the upper wall of the cavern behind her. The black powder mixed with blood magic detonated, producing a heart-stopping explosion. Along with falling rocks and dust, the Noxian Warmasons yielded the newly blasted entrance above the Dreaming Pool to the lightly armored soldiers and assassins behind them.
Noticing Faen and Syndra sleeping in the pool, the assassins exchanged glances and leaped down from above without hesitation. Their subconscious told them that the two people in the pool were the targets these Ionians were protecting. Although they didn't know what these two were doing, killing them would undoubtedly deal a massive blow to the enemy's morale, perhaps even destroying plans that could severely impact the Empire.
Unfortunately for them, the moment they leaped, a low shout rang out, and dense Spirit Realm energy erupted from Shen's spirit blade. Connecting with the Spirit Realm, the blade's energy formed a massive blue barrier. Like flowing aquamarine, it instantly covered the entire open space above the Dreaming Pool. Although the assassins quickly realized something was wrong and tried to bypass the barrier to attack from the sides, a dark shadow dropped right into their midst in the very next second.
Spreading his arms, the armor on Usan's (Zed's) forearms let out a cold metallic scrape. With a spin and outstretched arms, his wrist-blades released sharp white glints. To the Noxian assassins, it felt like a cold arc of light flashed by, followed immediately by the world spinning wildly in weightlessness.
One wave followed another. Seeing several more assassins preparing to attack through the hole above, before they could even fall or touch Shen's protective barrier or Usan's blades, a furious, soul-shaking roar blasted their minds with intense willpower. Their minds went blank, their vision went white. Then, they saw Riven in the distance swinging her Blackstone Greatsword—which was heavier and thicker than a tower shield—unleashing a Wind Slash that tore through the air.
BOOM!
On the periphery of the hole above, under the gazes of numerous Noxian soldiers, their comrades had just leaped out, only to be instantly cleaved into flying chunks of meat by the blade-light erupting from the opening.
"Use the explosives to blow this place down!!!" the Noxian commander roared furiously. Soon after, the soldiers and assassins stopped trying to enter the Dreaming Pool for assassinations. Instead, they began dropping massive amounts of explosives directly from above. The dense cluster of black powder bombs was enough to make anyone's scalp tingle, especially Riven, who was deeply familiar with the destructive power of Noxian combat engineering. As a former Noxian soldier, Riven knew very well that the black powder here could directly collapse the ceiling.
Without a moment's hesitation, Riven let out a cold snort. Wielding her giant sword, she stepped on the spirit shield created by Shen and leaped directly out of the pit above. Driven by her innate magic, her willpower formed a protective aura of sword-qi that smashed and shredded the incoming arrows and slashing blades. Wielding her greatsword, she charged into the surrounding Noxians who were trying to continue throwing gunpowder and other flammable explosives into the pit above the Dreaming Pool.
It looked heroic, but deep within enemy territory, more and more Noxians were constantly arriving. Having already fought a bitter battle for a long time, even Kalan—who knew nothing about dancing—could easily tell that Irelia's dance steps were becoming scattered and chaotic.