Meanwhile, at the Council building.
Councilor Mel was standing high up on the top-floor terrace of the Council building, gazing at the battlefield from afar.
The audio workshop where the conflict was taking place wasn't actually close. But standing at the highest vantage point in the entire city, using high-powered binoculars enhanced with enchantments, Mel could still see the situation clearly.
"Aren't you going to watch?" Mel asked, gazing into the distance with great interest as she handed another pair of binoculars to her maid. "The battle is about to begin."
The maid took the binoculars but did not raise them to look. "There is nothing worth watching in a children's fight."
Her tone was full of arrogance. And she couldn't be blamed for it.
To Noxians who were used to grand spectacles, the conflict between the Twin Cities was indeed as "childish" as kids playing house.
"Lady Mel, why are you paying so much attention to this battle?"
"Couldn't we just send some spies like the other houses?"
The maid did not understand Mel's enthusiasm for this.
But Mel said, "Put away your Noxian arrogance."
"If Janna is truly behind the Windguides, then even Noxus would..."
She hesitated, her expression complex.
Noticing her unusual demeanor, the maid couldn't help but ask, "Lady Mel, do you really think these insignificant Windguides could make the Noxian Empire fear them in the future?"
"With all due respect... let alone Levi and the Windguides, even if the Goddess Janna descended in person, she might not be able to shake us."
Noxus would respect gods and revere gods, but they would not fear gods. Because the empire had the strength to back it up.
"Heh." Mel smiled without saying a word.
Her maid didn't understand, and those Councilors didn't understand either.
Only she vaguely realized what a terrifying storm would be stirred up in Runeterra when an immortal god of faith and a great, unceasing faith spreading like wildfire were combined.
Gods could not be killed.
Faith could not be killed.
Noxus was merely a mortal empire. How could mere mortals stop the inextinguishable wind?
"Let's keep watching." Mel sighed.
She herself couldn't clearly articulate whether she was looking forward to Janna's appearance or hoping she wouldn't appear.
The elite thugs of the Iron Fist Gang drove their armed motorcycles, tightly blockading the factory gates.
The ten Shimmer Warriors equipped with Turbo Chemtanks stood at the very front, slowly advancing with a terrifying aura.
Leading them was Iron Fist Avery.
His knotted, muscular body, which resembled a mountain of flesh, swelled once again under the stimulation of the Shimmer Potion.
The purple Chemtech Armor, gleaming with a metallic luster, covered Avery's robust and sturdy flesh, making him look like an incomparably massive, indestructible steel-shelled beetle.
Just standing there like an iron tower, looking over calmly with his purple-glowing eyes, was enough to strike terror into the hearts of ordinary people.
Yet at this moment, the atmosphere in the assembly hall had actually settled down.
Because standing in front of the ordinary people were the Windguides.
"I'll be the first." Viktor slowly fastened his faceplate, turning himself into steel.
Vi excitedly put on her gauntlets, activating the deep blue glow of the Hextech Crystals.
Caitlyn also steadily raised her Hextech Precision Rifle, her expression no longer conflicted.
"I don't know how to fight, but..." Seraphine said, looking at Levi and the others as she stepped onto her mobile stage and flew to the front of the group. "If you need me, I am willing to 'sing' for everyone."
"Seraphine..." Ivern looked at his daughter with worry. But he did not try to hold her back, only silently standing beside her.
Lina, Baku... students, workers, the Windguides all stepped forward.
"Lina," Levi said, "you all go back."
"Why?!" Lina demanded with a stunned expression, holding the grenade launcher she had built herself. "Brother, why won't you let me fight? Is it because I'm your sister?"
"No—" She stubbornly shook her head. "I am also a Windguide, I'm not leaving!"
"It's not that I won't let you fight, it's that I won't let you students fight!" Levi explained. "The struggle requires a division of labor, with everyone playing different roles."
"You are students, engineers, the scientists of the future. A scientist's battlefield should be in the laboratory, not here."
"That's right!" Baku and his fellow workers smiled and echoed Levi. "Leave the fighting to rough folks like us."
"You are the geniuses of Zaun. It would be a shame to perish here."
"..." Lina and her classmates fell into a moved silence.
"No... President Levi, let us fight!" they insisted. "We are also Zaunites, and all Zaunites are warriors!"
Of those who could survive in Zaun and make it here, how many were truly frail scholars?
The students were also riled up, insisting on going to the battlefield.
"You guys..." Levi felt a myriad of emotions welling up inside him.
He used to just watch a few movies and read a few articles, and then start doubting whether the stories in the history books were all fake.
People were all selfish. How could they disregard their own lives and fight to go to the battlefield?
But later he understood: to those people, ideals and faith might truly be more important than life itself.
Because they were Windguides.
"Brother, just let us fight!" Lina and the students continued to plead.
"Lina, listen to me!" Levi's expression was profound, his attitude complex.
"We can fight, President!"
"Obey the organization's arrangements!" Levi sternly reprimanded them. "Even if people have to die today, it shouldn't be you!"
"That's right!" The workers all bravely stepped forward. "If anyone has to die, we should die first!"
"Then let us follow behind everyone—" the students still refused to leave. "If you all fight to the last man, then it will be our turn to fight!"
The Windguides were all fighting to die.
Those shallow believers who had just been "optimized" out of the Windguide ranks finally clearly realized the difference between themselves and the true Windguides.
For a moment, everyone was deeply moved.
After seeing this shocking scene, many people were infected by these Windguides, their faith becoming much firmer and purer.
As a result, even many Windchasers were unwilling to retreat.
They volunteered to follow behind the Windguides, taking up weapons to fight the enemy.
It was hard to believe that this was the exact same group of people who, just a few hours ago, were "cowards" whose minds were shaken and faith collapsed by a single sentence from Levi.
"Good, very good, you are all excellent!"
Seeing the enemy gradually approaching, Levi finally made a decision.
"Since everyone is not afraid of death, then—"
"Lina, Baku, none of you need to fight. Stay in the rear and focus on protecting everyone."
"Eh?" The students and workers blanked slightly.
With a formidable enemy right in front of them, how could they collectively guard the base?
If they weren't fighting, then who would?
"The few of us are enough." Levi pointed to himself, Viktor, and the others.
"How can that be?" everyone asked worriedly. "President Levi, we know you are very powerful. But you don't have to shoulder all the burdens yourself just to protect us."
"We are also Windguides, we are not afraid of death!"
"Haha." Levi smiled in satisfaction.
The solemnity on his face completely vanished, leaving only a relaxed expression. "It's enough that everyone has this will to fight."
"There will be countless battles waiting for everyone in the future. But for today's battle, we don't need everyone to take the field."
"Because..." Because this battle really wasn't that hard to fight.
Levi looked outside the venue at the approaching armed motorcycle convoy and the Chemtech Armor warriors.
Daring to come and pick a fight with so few people.
The strength of the Windguides had been severely underestimated.
"Viktor." Levi looked at his comrade.
"Hehe... cough, cough, cough!" To maintain his image as Vice President, Viktor quickly covered his amusement with a cough.
But his incredibly cool "third arm" wouldn't lose its power just because it lacked "voice control."
With a sharp sizzle—
A laser shot out the window.
Like scything wheat, the thugs of the Iron Fist Gang instantly fell in droves.
Everything the laser beam touched, whether it was brick, steel, or human flesh—was melted by the high heat and sliced in two in that very instant.
If the enemies were lucky, they would detonate along with the motorcycles beneath them.
Those who were unlucky were bisected at the waist by Viktor's death ray, cut into two pieces without dying immediately.
"Hiss—" The Windguides gasped in shock.
Now, it was the Iron Fist Gang's turn to be afraid.