Chapter 503 - 503: Flames

Shurima.

Amid a stretch of ruins, two figures dropped from the sky and slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash, kicking up clouds of dust.

When the dust cleared, Aatrox and Naafiri were revealed.

Neither of them spoke after landing, and an eerie silence settled over the area.

Suddenly, another towering figure descended from above. His entire body resembled a massive tree, his enormous head covered with countless densely packed red eyes. In one hand, he held a black staff.

"General, I have come."

After landing, he extended his trunk-like legs and slowly dropped to one knee in salute.

"Rise, Baalkux."

Aatrox looked at him. A faint smile appeared on his usually stern face, nostalgia flashing through his eyes at the sight of a subordinate he had not seen in ages.

Baalkux rose and stood off to the side, waiting.

Before long, another gigantic figure slowly approached from the distance. His body was covered in massive muscles, his face savage and monstrous. He carried an enormous harpoon, while vines dragged up from the depths of the ocean still clung to his body.

"General."

Like Baalkux, he came before Aatrox and dropped to one knee.

Aatrox smiled. "Ibaaros. It has been far too long. Rise."

Soon, another figure came soaring through the sky, moving as swiftly as an eagle with its wings spread, an enormous ice-colored spear in hand.

Then came a gigantic creature with a tail nearly thirty feet long, its tip shaped like a massive fan.

A crawling creature carrying a huge cannon on its back followed close behind.

Another strange being suddenly emerged, its entire body wreathed in flames while an enormous harp rested across its back.

Every single one of them radiated extraordinary power.

Aatrox looked upon his former subordinates and felt as though he had returned to the glorious days of the distant past. Pride rose naturally within him.

Every one of them had once been powerful enough to influence the turmoil of Runeterra itself, and even now they stood proudly at the pinnacle of the world.

Soon, they would dominate Runeterra once again.

Aatrox spoke in a deep voice.

"Warriors, welcome back. It is time to reclaim everything that belongs to us."

The Darkin answered in unison.

"We swear to follow you unto death, General!"

Their auras surged like roaring waves, shaking heaven and earth.

Aatrox noticed that one figure was missing.

"Joraal hasn't arrived?"

"I fear he failed to break his seal. We haven't even sensed his presence."

Ibaaros's heavy voice rumbled like a ship passing across the ocean.

Before this, they had all been sealed within their respective weapons. Some had remained asleep, while others had been searching for perfect hosts.

But the moment they sensed Aatrox's summons, every one of them abandoned whatever plans they had been pursuing, found bodies as quickly as possible, and rushed here without delay.

If Joraal had failed to appear, there was only one likely explanation.

He had failed.

"No matter. Once the matter before us is settled, we will search for him."

Aatrox spoke calmly.

At that moment, he suddenly sensed something and turned his gaze in a particular direction.

At the exact same time, every Darkin present noticed it as well.

A familiar spatial fluctuation had appeared, along with a familiar presence and several powerful auras descending upon this land.

Contempt appeared in Aatrox's eyes.

"That stench... I could recognize it from this far away."

"The Void? Disgusting vermin, as always."

"They don't seem to be very far from us."

"General, should we go take a look?"

None of the Darkin present were unfamiliar with the Void's presence. They recognized it almost instantly.

Every gaze turned toward Aatrox, awaiting his decision.

They were Aatrox's most loyal subordinates. They had fought at his side since an age long forgotten.

It had been true in the past, it was true now, and it would remain true in the future.

Even if Aatrox ordered them to die, they would never question his decision.

"Crushing a few insects is hardly an inconvenience."

Aatrox raised his massive sword, his voice indifferent.

His body was already moving, racing toward the distant source of the Void's presence.

The other Darkin immediately followed him.

As familiar sunlight poured down around them and the dry desert air brushed against their skin, Luke and Kai'Sa confirmed that they had returned to Shurima.

They had emerged in the middle of a desert, with no one anywhere in sight.

The locations where Void rifts appeared were not random.

Just as the Physical Realm and the Spirit Realm were closely connected, every rift within the Void corresponded to a particular location in Runeterra.

Kai'Sa looked at Luke hesitantly.

"Are we really going to help her?"

Luke looked back at her and thought for a moment.

"She was right about one thing."

"What?"

Kai'Sa looked puzzled.

"By doing this, we aren't helping her. We're helping ourselves."

Luke's tone remained calm.

"No one understands the danger of the Void better than you do. Humanity is far too fragile against something like the Void. If the powerful beings within the Void are fighting among themselves now, isn't that good for us?"

Kai'Sa fell silent.

It wasn't that she couldn't understand Luke's reasoning. In fact, she understood it just as clearly as he did.

She simply hated the thought of helping anything connected to the Void.

But just as Luke had said, that was precisely where humanity's weakness lay.

If humans wanted to survive the threat of the Void, then they needed to exploit the conflict between its strongest entities and buy themselves as much time as possible.

They had to survive in the narrow space between giants.

Luke was already extraordinarily powerful, but even Kai'Sa knew that he alone could never shake the Void itself.

"Don't worry. Trust me."

Luke smiled at her.

Kai'Sa raised her head and looked at his bright smile. For some reason, the unease in her heart gradually faded.

Luke then asked curiously, "Bel'Veth upgraded your armor. Did it gain any new abilities?"

"I don't know either."

Kai'Sa remembered that as well and raised a hand, carefully sensing the changes within herself.

She could tell that her strength had increased dramatically and that her body had become much more agile than before.

It wasn't merely a small improvement.

She was vastly stronger.

The living Void carapace existed in symbiosis with her, so she could naturally sense the ways in which it had changed.

Soon, she seemed to discover something.

Her helmet grew over her head almost like nanomachines assembling themselves, and the living Void carapace completely covered her body.

As she circulated the armor's energy, her figure gradually began disappearing beneath the sunlight.

It was as though she had put on an invisibility cloak.

Within moments, she became completely transparent.

Not even the faintest outline could be seen beneath the blazing sun.

Luke was slightly surprised. He could also sense that Kai'Sa's presence had dropped to almost nothing.

This was practically perfect invisibility.

"This seems to be one of the new abilities."

Kai'Sa's voice came from the empty air nearby.

She hadn't moved from her original position.

Luke asked curiously, "How many seconds can you maintain that state?"

"I don't know, but it doesn't seem to consume much energy."

As Kai'Sa answered, she deactivated the invisibility. Her graceful figure slowly reappeared beneath the sunlight.

Luke couldn't help but say, "That's incredibly useful. It even conceals your presence. As long as you don't reveal any killing intent, you'll probably be able to evade the senses of plenty of powerful opponents."

"Let me try something else."

Kai'Sa vanished once again.

This time, she began moving rapidly.

Not the slightest sound accompanied her movements.

If Luke hadn't been able to sense when someone's gaze was directed at him, even he might have struggled to detect her.

It was almost even more ridiculous than Stealth Arts.

Stealth Arts ultimately only reduced a person's presence to the absolute minimum. The physical body still remained visible, so anyone who actually looked at the user would notice them.

Kai'Sa's new ability, on the other hand, rendered her almost completely invisible.

Unless someone possessed an unusual sensory ability like Luke's awareness of gazes, detecting her would be extremely difficult.

Before long, Kai'Sa reappeared beside Luke.

"This ability really is powerful."

If she had possessed something like this earlier, surviving in the Void would have been almost effortless.

And Bel'Veth had granted her such a power with incredible ease.

That was what made the Void so terrifying.

Even more frightening was the fact that Bel'Veth herself was a hyper-intelligent life-form born from the Void.

Just as Luke had said, they really had no other choice.

Helping Bel'Veth was, in reality, helping themselves.

At that moment, Luke suddenly sensed an enormous fluctuation of power and immediately turned his gaze toward its source.

At the same time, Kai'Sa sensed something through her living Void carapace.

"It's the Void. They've appeared in Shurima."

"They've probably realized we've already escaped."

Luke hadn't expected the Void to act so quickly.

They had practically followed right behind them.

Kai'Sa frowned. "What are they trying to do? Are they trying to lure us over there?"

"Whatever they're doing, we need to take a look."

Luke knew that simply running away wouldn't accomplish anything.

If they were going to help Bel'Veth, they couldn't just pay lip service to the agreement.

More importantly, Luke also needed to obtain the second key.

Without the second key, there was no way to completely seal the Void rifts.

That was the most urgent issue at the moment.

"All right."

Kai'Sa nodded.

She had no intention of avoiding them either.

The two immediately raced toward the source of the Void's presence.

Along the way, Luke also informed Morgana that they had returned to Shurima.

She was currently waiting in a nearby town.

Neither Luke nor Kai'Sa was slow, and after the upgrade to Kai'Sa's suit, her speed had increased tremendously.

Luke no longer had to deliberately slow himself down to wait for her.

However, once they drew close to their destination, the two still reduced their speed.

Kai'Sa activated her invisibility, while Luke used Stealth Arts.

Both completely concealed their presence to avoid detection by the Voidborn.

Unless the situation demanded otherwise, observation came first.

At the same time, Void warriors of wildly different forms had already begun devastating the surrounding land.

Purple spheres of energy exploded one after another, and amid the deafening blasts, the earth shook violently.

The warriors had divided their responsibilities among themselves.

Some were searching for the planetary core, some were responsible for destruction, while others focused on defense.

The planetary core could, in another sense, be understood as the source of energy sustaining a region of land.

Shurima's desert was not truly dead.

It only appeared barren on the surface.

But if its source of energy were stolen, then true desolation would not be far behind.

At that moment, two figures suddenly descended from high above.

Angel-like wings spread behind them, radiating an aura of sacred and inviolable majesty.

"Filthy vermin. Who gave you permission to defile Runeterra?"

They were Mihira and Kayle.

Both had sensed the Void's presence and immediately rushed to this location.

From what the Voidborn were doing, they instantly realized that they were attempting to extract the planetary core.

As filthy purple Void energy was injected into the earth, corruption rapidly spread throughout the surroundings, and the planetary core gradually began to reveal itself.

Fury surged within both women.

Yet upon seeing the two figures descend from the sky, the Void warriors showed no fear.

Instead, they became excited.

"They're finally here? Aspects!"

"Excellent! Let me see what they're made of!"

"So those are Aspects? I'd love to tear those wings off!"

Every Void warrior became restless, their auras surging rapidly beneath Mihira and Kayle's gazes.

The two women's expressions sharpened.

They immediately realized that these Voidborn were different from the creatures they knew.

"Kayle, prepare for battle."

Mihira did not hesitate for even an instant.

Her wings spread wide as golden radiance erupted around her, sacred and dazzling.

A flaming longsword appeared in her hand.

With a beat of her wings, she charged straight toward the Voidborn.

Kayle unleashed the divine power within her and followed immediately behind.

It was as though two blazing suns were descending from the sky.

The oppressive majesty of the divine-winged warriors was displayed in full, while the temperature of the surrounding air continued to soar.

"Let me be the first to test these so-called Aspects."

A Void creature with the savage head of a tiger and a mouth filled with fangs stepped forward.

He had been itching for a fight for quite some time.

Now he bent his legs, tremendous power erupting throughout his body before he launched himself toward the incoming Kayle.

Kayle gave a cold snort.

She swung her sword.

Divine power erupted in an instant, like a blazing tidal wave exploding outward, and slammed directly into the tiger-headed warrior.

Boom!

The warrior had barely launched himself from the ground before he was smashed straight back down, creating a crater several yards across.

"Pathetic."

Kayle looked down at him indifferently.

She immediately turned and flew toward the other Voidborn.

Just then, a terrifying wave of purple energy erupted from the crater with a deep hum.

A gigantic figure shot out and crashed back onto the ground.

It was the tiger-headed warrior, but his body had expanded dramatically.

The claws on all four limbs resembled gleaming blades, while explosive muscles bulged across his enlarged frame. His fangs had lengthened and curved around both sides of his temples.

His appearance had changed completely.

More importantly, his aura was nothing like before.

"As expected of an Aspect. I underestimated you. Let's try that again."

He roared and launched himself forward once more.

Like a cannonball fired from a siege weapon, he shattered wave after wave of compressed air as he charged toward Mihira.

Kayle calmly swung her sword.

A brilliant beam of light flashed past.

Her figure appeared on the other side.

At the same moment, the tiger-headed warrior's excited voice rang out.

"I felt it! I hit her! I hit that Aspect!"

He raised one of his claws, seemingly intending to admire the blood upon it.

But in the next second, a deep slash appeared across his raised arm.

Half of the limb fell to the ground.

Another cut opened across his chest at the same time, and with a sharp hiss, a torrent of purple blood sprayed outward.

Disbelief instantly filled his face.

Then searing agony erupted from the wounds, as though his flesh were being roasted directly in an inferno.

A low growl escaped his throat.

Kayle raised her blazing sword.

In an instant, flames erupted like a volcanic surge and completely engulfed the tiger-headed warrior.

His screams rang out continuously.

He had believed he could rely on his extraordinary regenerative abilities to endure the attack, but Kayle gave him absolutely no opportunity to recover.

The flames burned and purified everything they touched.

In mere moments, the tiger-headed warrior was reduced to a pile of charred remains.

"I told you. Pathetic."

Kayle turned without the slightest change in expression.

Her wings spread wide as she stood proudly in the sky, like a deity gazing down upon mortals from far above, contempt still filling her eyes.

"I don't know what stories the Void tells about Aspects."

She looked coldly at the now-stunned Voidborn.

"But haven't you been underestimating us a little too much?"