Aimi Sitan is not some common name, and Dean had never heard of two battle group leaders in Noxus with the same name. Considering the limited number of deranged individuals using poison gas in Ionia, it was likely that the one who killed Chengze and destroyed Riven's battle group was the same person.
What a coincidence, old and new grudges were all tied to one person.
Due to having sealed most of his memories, Dean maintained as much restraint as possible in many situations, fearing any conflict with old friends from the past—even against the Shadow Order, who clearly wanted his life, he only defended passively and never actively counterattacked.
But now, this bitch named Aimi Sitan, for the first time, ignited Dean's killing intent.
From a public perspective, Aimi Sitan was an absolute scumbag: slaughtering civilians, betraying allies, digging up graves, and using poison gas. From a private perspective, Aimi Sitan was both Riven's enemy and Chengze's murderer.
Dean didn't have many people he was familiar with now, but Aimi Sitan had offended almost all of them. For someone like her, Dean didn't believe he would have gotten along with her before he sealed his memories!
Taking two deep breaths, he barely managed to suppress the surging anger in his heart. Dean turned and left the courtyard, returning to his room—he had changed his mind. Before going to Puboe, he should first confront this bitch, and ideally, bring her head with him to Puboe as a greeting gift when meeting the Vastaya.
Tomorrow was Chengze's seventh day for soul-summoning. If possible, he hoped to eliminate Aimi Sitan before tomorrow night!
With this thought, Dean spread out a map on the table and began to meticulously study the movements of Aimi Sitan's legion.
From the valley next to the Jianpai to Sangang Village, where Chengze sacrificed himself, Aimi Sitan's battle group was brazenly advancing into the Navori province.
Judging by her direction, the battle group's target should be... Placidium.
This conclusion made Dean frown.
Back then, Swain personally led a large army but still suffered a crushing defeat at Placidium. Aimi Sitan now didn't have as many elites under her command, so why was she still so boldly heading straight for Placidium?
The answer was obvious—alchemical poison gas.
Realizing this, Dean stared at the map before him, and a complete plan gradually formed in his mind.
Picking up a pen, he sketched on the map for a while, then Dean decisively put away the map, turned, left the room, and knocked on Riven's door.
"What's wrong?" Riven, who opened the door, looked at Dean's bloodshot eyes in surprise. "You don't look quite right."
"There's a fire in my heart." Dean somewhat roughly pushed his way into Riven's room, spreading the map on the table. "Aimi Sitan, you should remember that name."
"Of course." Hearing Aimi Sitan's name, Riven's eyes narrowed. "Why do you mention her?"
"Chengze died because of her." Dean pointed to the route and date he had marked on the map. "And according to information from the Kinkou Order, her battle group is advancing towards Placidium."
Riven's gaze fell on the map. After a careful look, her eyes immediately widened: "You mean?"
"According to Noxian marching regulations," Dean's voice was low, as if from the depths of the Nine Hells, "in enemy-occupied territory, the daily marching distance should be less than fifty miles. From Jianpai to Sangang Village, they advanced almost at full speed."
"And if the battle group maintains full speed and keeps to the main road, they should arrive nearby tonight." Riven, a veteran of many battles, calculated for a moment and quickly understood Dean's meaning. "If we descend the mountain now, it will be enough to give her a profound lesson."
"We both know Noxian passcodes, and I also know the Black Rose's internal passcode." Dean slammed his fist on the table. "Leaving now, under the cover of tonight's darkness, should be enough time—I want her head."
Hearing Dean say this, Riven immediately stood up.
When she encountered the poison gas attack, watching her battle group's brothers and sisters die in the gas, she was in a daze. By the time she came to her senses and tried to find Aimi Sitan again, the other party had already slipped away.
Now that Aimi Sitan's traces were found again, she naturally wouldn't let her go—just as Dean wanted to avenge Chengze, she also wanted to avenge her brothers and sisters who had tragically died from the poison gas!
Although Riven still resisted drawing her blade against the empire when she decided to destroy her greatsword, that bitch Aimi Sitan was an exception!
"So what do we do?" Riven looked at Dean. "I rarely act as a Sentinel. Most of the time, I participate in frontal breakthrough battles and am not familiar with this kind of decapitation mission. If you have a plan, I'll follow your lead."
"Coincidentally." Dean scoffed, "Having dealt with Noxus's Shadow Assassins so much, I'm very familiar with these stealthy methods."
...
Since Riven's Runic Blade was consumed by Dean, she now had no protection against poison gas. So, Dean planned for them to act separately.
After discovering Aimi Sitan's battle group's camp, Riven was to cause as much chaos as possible, ideally inciting a small-scale camp riot to attract everyone's attention, and then quickly withdraw.
Dean, on the other hand, was responsible for secretly infiltrating the camp and, amidst the chaos, finding and eliminating Aimi Sitan.
The plan was quite simple and brutal, but according to their shared judgment, such a simple and brutal plan was the most effective—Dean and Riven had both escaped from Noxus, and to them, even heavily guarded encampments were full of opportunities.
Riven changed back into her previous attire to conceal her identity, while Dean dressed in black and covered his face. After getting ready, the two quickly left the Equilibrium Temple and headed towards the main road leading to Placidium.
Considering that estimating the camp's location based on marching speed, while reliable, could also have a large margin of error, the two agreed on a meeting time after descending the mountain. They then set off, one to the east and one to the west, to search for traces of the battle group's passage.
Dean had initially thought it would take some effort to find Aimi Sitan's battle group, but he never expected that Aimi Sitan, emboldened by the alchemical poison gas, truly demanded the battle group advance at the maximum speed allowed by marching regulations, covering fifty miles a day, heading straight for Placidium.
Dean hadn't even walked three miles along the main road when he saw the dust stirred up by a large army in the distance.
After confirming it was Aimi Sitan's battle group, he immediately turned and headed to the rendezvous point, closing his eyes under a tree to rest while waiting for the meeting time.
In the evening, Riven, who had found nothing in the other direction, finally returned to the rendezvous point. Seeing the refreshed Dean, and comparing notes, they not only confirmed the location of Aimi Sitan's battle group but also determined that it was a lone army.
Audacious!
By the time the two, after meeting, caught up with the main force of the battle group, dusk had already fallen.
Under the cover of night, Aimi Sitan's battle group had already set up a temporary camp in a mountain hollow and settled down.
As time passed, the campfires inside the camp began to extinguish one by one, until only a few points of light remained at the camp entrance.
Riven and Dean, perched in a large tree, watched the camp, patiently waiting for the dead of night—they wanted to act when the soldiers were in their deepest sleep.
However, just as Dean and Riven were conserving their energy, a commotion broke the camp's tranquility.
In the darkness, black mist began to spread within the camp. Several figures darted and weaved through the black mist, causing severe chaos.
Dean and Riven, realizing something was wrong, exchanged glances.
Assassination... did someone beat them to it?