"Nine hundred and ninety-nine lives, or one thousand and one?"
If both sides were placed on the scales at the same time, there was no doubt the side with one thousand and one would weigh slightly more.
But Caleb felt that lives all carried an infinite weight. There should not be a difference between them.
Whether it was nine hundred and ninety-nine or one thousand and one, Caleb had to do everything he could to save them.
That was why everyone had changed course and headed for the troll den.
After all, if they made enemies of the trolls but failed to wipe them out, the most likely outcome was that Caleb's group and Lissandra would naturally end up on opposing sides.
At that point, they would lose the advantage of acting first.
Caleb thought in silence until Kai'Sa patted his shoulder and called out to him.
"Let's go. There should be another fight today."
Caleb had no pity in his heart for trolls.
If they treated everything around them with brutality, then they had no right to blame anyone else for treating them the same way.
To Caleb, trolls were more like animals.
Back in Stillwater Hold, that troll warden had at least followed the rules.
He had also been very easy to fool.
But Stillwater Hold had put him there to hold the place down, not to actually carry out the full duties of a warden.
And in the Freljord, that savage side was magnified again and again.
The trolls' violent nature kept expanding until they became tyrants over entire areas.
Caleb had disliked creatures like them ever since he had seen them in prison.
Now that he had the chance, he could certainly settle a personal score under a just cause.
"We'll need to speed up this time."
Caleb looked at the group, already finished with their preparations, then stepped out of the village first.
Behind them, the village was still lively. People were working hard to gather supplies for the road.
This hearthbound village was extremely rare. After losing the World Rune, its combat strength could not have fallen any lower.
To put it harshly, these people barely had the strength to resist at all.
Caleb estimated that two trolls would be enough to slaughter the entire village.
And that was even if everyone was running for their lives.
There was no helping it. The gap between the Iceborn and the hearthbound was too great. Being unable to use True Ice weapons meant they had no real power.
Trolls could run wildly through ice and snow in every season, as though they had endless stamina.
This trip was meant to deal with the troll scouts wandering aimlessly through the region.
Trolls were a race that remembered food better than pain. In their memories, this village was probably not easy to mess with.
But the moment they had an opportunity, they would definitely come closer and test it with an attack.
As long as Lind did not strike again, the trolls would understand. They would no longer merely linger outside the village.
Caleb guessed that when the glacier had spread toward the trolls, they had already started fleeing.
And if the glacier did not arrive as expected this time, they would most likely move toward the area around the village.
"Found them."
Bristle was experienced and well-traveled. Once Sejuani gave the order, he quickly found the tracks and scent of trolls beside the road.
"Right here?"
The sky had only just begun to brighten, but dark clouds still covered the village overhead, giving the feeling that they might come crashing down at any moment.
"It's not snowing today?"
Caleb was a little surprised. In the Freljord, where wind and snow were so common, it was rare for there to be no snow today.
"They're coming!"
Olaf, hidden behind a rock, shouted in a low voice.
"Get ready!"
Caleb did not need to say it. Everyone around him had already prepared for battle.
"Two of them. They probably don't have any other tricks. Make it quick!"
The troll scouts bounced and lumbered toward them from the distance while everyone hid on both sides of the road.
Only the conspicuous Bristle stood in the middle of the road, calmly looking at the trolls, who were slightly taller than him.
The trolls also noticed Bristle. They shouted something excitedly and charged straight over.
"Kill them!"
The Enchanted Crystal Arrow, a heavy blade chop, a Spirit Walker's claw strike, a boar's charge, Undertow, and Icathian Rain were unleashed almost at the same time.
After a burst of smoke spread out, one troll let go of the crude club in its hand and began crawling across the ground with both hands instead.
"Looks like they're not as tough as I imagined."
Caleb had originally thought it would take some effort to kill these two trolls.
But after that chaotic opening volley, one troll was already dead, and the other was heavily injured.
Watching the troll's blood flow across the ice while it still struggled to crawl back the way it had come, Caleb let the wind swirling around Youmuu's Ghostblade tear open the wounds that were about to heal.
"Their resistance to magic isn't as absurd as I imagined, either."
Caleb's gaze was cold. A monster like this, one that never showed the slightest bit of humanity, did not deserve his courtesy.
"Is it because they're just small fry?"
Knowing the other side would not answer him, Caleb was basically talking to himself.
"Brother, we handled this pretty well, didn't we?"
Olaf seemed to be asking for credit, but his voice sounded very distant to Caleb at that moment.
"Not bad."
Once the troll finally breathed its last, Caleb had also figured out the structure of its body.
There was nothing especially strange about it. No outrageously abnormal tissues or organs.
Compared with a human, it merely had a few extra organs and tissues.
It was not even as powerful as Mundo.
After all, Mundo was the kind of monster who, in the truest sense, had to be blasted into ashes. Ordinary damage was almost the same as nothing to him.
"What did you do to it?"
Olaf looked at the troll's corpse. It was almost no different from Lind's body after he had been killed by arcane power late last night.
Even Olaf, who had seen plenty of death, felt a little nauseated now.
"Nothing. I studied it a little."
Caleb's gaze was somewhat indifferent. The good days of those Piltover trolls were probably coming to an end.
Now that Caleb knew the limits of their abilities, he would arrange other work for them.
They would not be staying in prison bullying the weak.
"Keep going?"
If the troll scouts did not send back any information, the trolls would definitely send more of their kind to find out what had happened.
Individual trolls were not very intelligent. Caleb knew that.
But the trolls had a king, one treacherous enough, strategic enough, and strong enough.
That was also the person Caleb was focusing on guarding against this time, Trundle!
Caleb's own Pillar of Ice skill had come from him, but Caleb had no intention of showing mercy.
These trolls in the Freljord only satisfied their desires for slaughter and greed. They did not produce anything.
Caleb did not intend to judge right or wrong.
He would send them straight to the underworld, and naturally, death itself could deal with them there.
Caleb would not forgive the trolls on behalf of the people they had harmed, but he could send the trolls to those people.
"Bristle is pretty capable."
Even amid the thick smell of blood, Bristle could still smell the path the trolls had taken when they came.
"Pigs have very sharp noses. I heard that some people in Ionia tame pigs to search for precious ingredients."
Udyr also chimed in.
"Let's go. The fights after this will only get harder."
Sejuani's words were also somewhat cold. Those trolls had once caused the Winter's Claw no small amount of trouble.
"Charge!"
At Caleb's order, the entire team abruptly sped up and rushed toward the troll den.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810