"Is everyone ready?"
At dusk the next day, a small team gathered between the camps of the two tribes.
"Is everyone ready?" Sejuani's eyes swept over Ashe's side. Aside from the oathfather Ashe had chosen, Tryndamere, there was only the mammoth shaman from before, Leanna. Three people in all.
On Sejuani's side, there was not only Sejuani herself, but also Olaf, Zev the Wildclaw Shaman, and Udyr. Of course, there was also Caleb, who did not belong to either side and was temporarily traveling with the Winter's Claw. Naturally, there was Kai'Sa as well, along with Yuumi, who was circling around her.
Nine people, one cat, and possibly quite a few spirit beasts. And it was this tiny little strike team that was about to create a massive disturbance inside the Ice Children's camp.
"Your rope." Sejuani tossed Caleb a length of extremely thick rope.
"I hope I can find somewhere to anchor it, instead of having to pull all of you up one by one." Caleb wound the rope around himself, adjusted it, then smiled.
"I'll help you!" Yuumi proudly raised a paw pad.
"Yeah, sure you will..."
Caleb silently made up his mind. It was better to let Sejuani, the one who liked swinging a flail, do the pulling. And Ashe spent all day drawing a bow, so her arm strength should not be weak either.
Since everyone in the group was Iceborn, and Kai'Sa was also quite fast on her feet, with Yuumi speeding them along, it did not take long before the rugged mountain peak came into view.
It truly was terrain that was easy to defend and hard to attack. Every accessible route upward had Iceborn stationed in camp. After all, only among the Ice Children would the Iceborn hold such an elevated status.
And among the Iceborn, strength spoke louder than anything else. Whether someone was your relative or your friend, if they were strong, that meant they lived comfortably.
That was also why, for all these years, the Ice Children had been so difficult for the Avarosans to conquer. Even after Ashe obtained her True Ice bow, she had still never managed to wipe out this tribe.
In the western Freljord, this had also created a poisonous custom, Iceborn supremacy. Ashe's Avarosan tribe was the only real exception.
Because of that, those smaller tribes had gained a bit of shelter.
If the Ice Children could be completely eradicated, then the entire western Freljord could be changed. At that point, forget the Freljord, even across the whole world, the two united tribes would become an existence of tremendous weight.
When that time came, either Demacia or Noxus would be dragged into a war that could only be called disastrous.
"Then let's begin."
At the foot of the mountain, Caleb looked up at the jagged, twisted rocks and finally felt exactly why a tribe like the Ice Children, hated by countless enemies, could still stand securely upon the icy plains of the Freljord.
With the rope tied to him, Caleb's body turned into a mass of shadow and flowed up toward the peak.
"What a surprise. So Ionia has arts like this too?" Udyr could not help sighing in admiration.
As someone who had truly been to Ionia, he naturally knew just how wondrous that place was. Its people devoted themselves to finding ways to coexist with the Spirit Realm, and his friend, the blind monk, had already touched the key to it.
Udyr was still far from that. Though he had long been connected to the spirit beasts of the Spirit Realm, he could only make the simplest request of them, to grant him strength.
He had originally found a few clues, but under the urgent calls of the spirit beasts, he had still crossed the ocean and returned to the Freljord.
"Catch."
Caleb estimated the rope's length, and once it was about right, he stood on a protruding rock. There was limited space on the rock, so Caleb had to brace himself against the rugged stone face just to stand steady.
He threw the rope down, and Kai'Sa was naturally the first to grab it.
"Good thing we brought enough rope this time."
The rope in Caleb's hands was thick enough that it looked like it could pull Bristle up. Kai'Sa was light enough, though, and in one pull she reached Caleb's side.
Caleb drove a thick spike into the rock face. Fortunately, the stone here was tough enough that it did not split apart immediately.
After that came the endless process of climbing upward.
Kai'Sa was responsible for passing the rope over to Caleb.
Once an entire rope path had been completed across the mountain, Caleb stood on the middle section of the cliff and watched as the others worked their way up.
By the time everyone reached the summit, it was already deep night.
Only scattered campfires dotted the Ice Children's camp, and faint snores drifted from the tents.
"So this is where we start, right...?"
Caleb confirmed it one last time, and Sejuani gave him an affirmative answer.
Seeing that Kai'Sa's expression was still normal, Caleb took two steps forward without hesitation.
"Split up!"
Caleb, Kai'Sa, and Yuumi; Sejuani and Zev; Olaf and Udyr; and the three from the Avarosans.
"I am the storm!"
Caleb's roar instantly woke the people in the camp.
While they were still dazed and confused, a tremendous boom came from the sky.
But lightning was far faster than sound.
Before the Ice Children's camp could react, the huge tent in the center was torn apart in an instant.
"Enemy attack! An Ursine attack!"
The Ice Children's Iceborn had never imagined an Ursine assault would come. Fortunately, their past experience fighting the Ursine quickly pushed them into action.
The Ursine were not invincible. Reckless as they were, they would often charge straight toward the hearthbound camp.
Because they mainly sought slaughter, they would usually exhaust their strength after several lightning strikes. Once that happened, driving them off would be easy.
As for the hearthbound, they could simply raid them again when spring came. It was not a serious problem.
"Everyone arm yourselves and prepare! Wait until the Ursine have slaughtered for a while, then move out!"
Relying on their home-field advantage and on the sacrifice of their slaves, repelling the enemy would not be difficult.
The leader of the Ice Children understood that very clearly.
Yet the Iceborn waiting for orders soon began screaming too.
What came for the Ice Children as they waited were sudden ice arrows, great blades, twin axes, and claws.
"What's going on?! Wasn't this an Ursine attack?!"
That thunderclap was clearly the work of the Ursine.
Why? Why were the ones attacking them Iceborn instead?
And a shaman with excited spirit beasts too?
Caleb's long blade cut through bodies with effortless ease, leaving the screams behind him.
This was one of the few situations where he could bring all of his strength to bear.
Kai'Sa followed behind Caleb, cleansing the entire Ice Children's camp with Icathia's storm.
The smoke that burst open against their faces had yet to disperse before the raging wind had already ended their lives.
"Don't panic! Form ranks!"
They could vaguely hear the leader still shouting, trying to rally his people.
But the chaos created at the start had already spread, and it was no longer something words could extinguish.
Their resistance came only from instinct, so naturally, they could not compare with elite fighters like Caleb's group.
Though they did not have the terrain advantage, Caleb had won the team the right timing and the unity of purpose.
Amid such chaos, even the Iceborn stationed halfway down the mountain began to feel uneasy.
The three sides of the mountain all had defenses set up at key points, but the fortifications had never been aimed toward the summit.
"Quick! Kill them all!"
"Kill them all!"
With Caleb throwing everything into confusion, the second bolt of lightning, wider in range than the first, struck the sentry post closest to the camp.
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