Chapter 364 [0362] From Hero to Sinner
For Demacia, Taric's victory was not only a victory in a game, but also a "victory over Noxus". Therefore, even though he was defeated by Garen in the subsequent battles and stopped in the semi-finals, the title of Demacia's Shield still spread quickly.
Although Taric's background was ordinary, considering that he defeated Urgot by a big margin, physically slapped the Noxians in the face, and later "very sensibly" lost to Garen, his future after the tournament can be said to be bright.
(Of course, the actual situation is that although Taric can defeat Urgot by fighting, provoking, and defending and counterattacking, he really can't beat Garen...)
With good strength, no followers behind him, and a good relationship with the eldest son of the Crown Guard family, Taric undoubtedly became the marriage target of many nobles after the tournament.
So, after becoming famous, Taric, a country boy, quickly entered the core circle of Demacia's heroic capital.
When you are in contact with the aristocratic circle, you will naturally have to get in touch with the art circle. Under the guidance of Lux, Demacia has a considerable degree of support for various forms of art. Although Lux left Demacia under the punishment of the Stone Crown, the Artist Support Association she founded is still working.
Although he is just a country boy, after getting in touch with it, Taric quickly immersed himself in the world of art.
In Demacia, liking art is also a kind of "elegant hobby", but unlike other nobles, Taric really likes these beautiful works of art. After work, he often wanders in the ocean of art, visiting exhibitions and listening to concerts.
As for his hobby, the nobles who want to win him over simply take advantage of the situation and let him work in the city guard of Demacia's capital while remaining a member of the Fearless Vanguard.
The identity of the Fearless Vanguard represents his position and status in the military, and working in the Demacia Capital City Guard gives him an opportunity to move in the aristocratic circle. With both, Taric only needs to obtain a title that can be passed down to his descendants, and a new aristocratic family will appear in Demacia.
However, just when everything seemed to be moving in the best direction, an accident occurred.
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The successful holding of the tournament greatly enhanced Demacia's diplomatic influence, and Jarvan III even intended to institutionalize it once every three or four years.
Following the influence of the tournament, Demacia's diplomatic offensive was launched smoothly, not only consolidating its own sphere of influence, but also attracting many neutral principalities and city-states.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Jarvan III proposed to establish a [Valoran Mutual Aid Alliance] to jointly fight against the pressure of Noxus.
Many influential countries in the Valoran continent, including Nokmochi and the Principality of Silver, responded one after another, and envoys gathered for a while, all heading towards the Demacia Capital.
As a member who rose to prominence in the tournament, Taric, who was working in the Demacia City Guard at the time, naturally took on the security task of this diplomatic event.
At this time, an accident happened.
It was a seemingly ordinary night. The envoys gathered in the hall. In order to get closer to each other and to exchange some diplomatic interests, a grand cocktail party was launched.
At the cocktail party, the envoys chatted and laughed, either praising the greatness of Demacia or discussing the decline of Noxus in Ionia.
Although Taric was the head of security here, he had no interest in this kind of cocktail party. For him, this kind of occasion was not beautiful at all. Staying here was a waste of time - in comparison, it would be more interesting to attend the new concert of the Illuminati Choir.
I heard that this was the first concert of the choir after Miss Sona of the Buwell family became the first organist. After Taric arranged the specific matters of security, he sat in the front row of the auditorium early.
The concert was perfect. Miss Sona was indeed a musical genius. The complex organ seemed no different from an ordinary zither in front of her.
However, what Tariq did not expect was that when the concert ended and he stood up to applaud, a team of fearless pioneers led by Galen broke into the auditorium and pressed him down on the chair.
Something happened in the guild hall.
An unknown cruel murderer broke into the guild hall during the banquet and killed all the guards, servants and messengers present.
In the last moments of their lives, everyone looked terrified, as if they had seen something unbelievably terrible. Their muscles curled up and their blood rushed up, as if they had experienced an indescribable pain and torture.
There is no doubt that this is not only a terrible murder, but also a diplomatic incident with serious consequences. A considerable number of these envoys who died in the guild hall were the first heirs of various principalities and city-states. They were sent to Demacia to gain experience and to establish good relations with Demacia, but they died miserably overnight...
Not only did Jarvan III's high hopes for the [Valoran Mutual Aid Alliance] end, but Demacia also needed to come up with a sincere compensation.
As the person in charge of security, Taric, who was not at the scene that day, was naturally pushed out.
Each principality and city-state needs an explanation.
Then Demacia can only use Taric's life as an explanation for this accident - this is the best way to show Demacia's sincerity. The Valoran Mutual Aid Alliance was born because of the tournament, and Taric also rose in this tournament. Taking down this shining Demacia shield is the only way for Jarvan III to appease these allies.
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The Stone Crown Punishment is the last respect that Demacia has shown to Taric.
Unlike Lux's "default exile" at the beginning, this time in order to appease the countries, Taric's Stone Crown Punishment is a serious Stone Crown Punishment - even the Principality of Nokmochi, which lost its heir in the murder, specially sent observers to see Taric barefoot from Kalamanda and start climbing along the Targon until his death.
Taric is not a professional climber.
His strength has not really reached the level of transcendence, so on the seventh day after the start of the climb, he suffered severe frostbite.
As his right leg gradually lost sensation, Tariq still insisted on limping forward until he completely lost his balance and fell headfirst into the snow beside the road.
Seeing this, the Nokmochi observers who followed him finally chose to return the same way - in their opinion, Tariq was dead. With just a linen shirt and falling on the snow line, it wouldn't take long for Tariq to freeze to death.
Let's follow this far, it's enough.
In this way, the two Nokmochi observers left the same way, leaving Tariq alone in the snow, almost stopping breathing.
The wind and snow came, and after the two observers went down the mountain and left, Tariq was finally covered by the heavy snow and there was no sound.
This heavy snow almost swallowed Tariq, and the extreme pain made him reach the limit of his will. Under the snow, he seemed to hear a voice calling him, urging him to stand up, urging himself to keep moving forward. In a trance, he seemed to see the greatest truth of the world.
Encouraged by this voice, when the wind and snow stopped, Taric really stood up miraculously!
However, Taric who stood up again was completely different from before.
In his eyes, the mountains of Mount Targon were no longer desolate and cold, and the undulating mountains were no longer monotonous and repetitive - there was a layer of light that ordinary people could not see clearly covering this sacred snow mountain and the entire Runeland.
Taric heard the call, and there was a smile on the corner of his mouth. After slightly shaking off the floating snow on his body, he took a step and ran to the south, towards the direction of Mount Targon.
Climbing Mount Targon from the north foothills is destined to be a long journey.
At the beginning, Taric would drink snow and swallow ice to relieve the pain of an empty stomach, but when he set out again, he no longer needed to eat - the light of heaven shone on him, which was enough to make him full of energy.
In this way, Tariq set out from Kalamanda and marched along the continuous mountains of the Giant God Peak. He traveled thousands of miles without eating or drinking, going up and down the mountain, and finally arrived at the main peak of the Giant God Peak after a long journey.
Here, Tariq could clearly feel that the voice calling him had become clearer.
In his vision, in addition to the brilliance that ordinary people could not see, there were many more contents.
These contents seemed to have traveled through time and space, showing countless wonders in front of him. Although Tariq could not understand all this at this time, he could only take a quick peek at the unknown scenes like an ignorant child flipping through a book and looking at illustrations, but this still made him extremely happy.
Walking on the road to climbing the Giant God Peak, Tariq felt as if he was running towards the end of the world and embracing the absolute truth!
So he quickened his pace, braving the wind and snow, using his hands and feet, and easily crossed the thousand-foot cliffs and came to the snow line of the main peak, where he met Lux and Ino.
When Lux and Ino found Taric, Taric also found them.
Taric, who had met the two once, did not recognize their identities, but when he saw their long hair flowing with the glory of heaven, Taric still instinctively felt a sense of closeness.
Just when Taric was about to say hello, his eyes fell on the sword in Lux's hand.
The purple-black hilt was so dazzling in Taric's vision. It appeared on this sacred Giant God Peak, just like a large ball of black ink stained on white paper, making people want to frown.
"The sword in your hand is very dangerous." Taric came to Lux and said in an unquestionable tone, "Throw it away immediately!"
Karliya's Little Classroom·Catching the Murderer:
Although Taric has been responsible for the whole thing, Demacia has not relaxed its pursuit of the murderer of this vicious case.
However, what is puzzling is that the murderer did not seem to leave any clues. No matter what means the Demacians took, there was not even a single meaningful clue.