Chapter 513 - 513: The Last Light

The Watchers' palace trembled as though the earth itself were shaking.

Seeing this while locked in battle with Kassadin, Malzahar felt the ominous feeling in his heart grow even stronger.

Aatrox's arrival should have been good news for him, since the Darkin could keep Luke occupied.

But now, as their battle grew increasingly intense, the terrifying destructive force they were unleashing threatened to bring the entire palace down at any moment.

If they accidentally destroyed the defensive barrier laid down by the Watchers in the process, everything would go terribly wrong.

He couldn't let them keep fighting like this. He had to hold them back.

Malzahar made his decision. He immediately began chanting, and the mana pouring from his body transformed into countless tiny violet serpents that shot toward Kassadin.

Kassadin immediately used Riftwalk to evade them.

Taking advantage of the opening, Malzahar retreated inside the barrier. He cut open his arm, allowing crimson blood to drip onto the ground.

The next instant, he began whispering in an unknown language of the Void as violet light enveloped his entire body.

The blood beneath him began to boil. Its color shifted to a dark violet-black as it gradually traced out the shape of a magic circle, from which an icy, sinister presence emerged.

The moment the formation appeared, even the temperature inside the palace inexplicably dropped several degrees.

"Great Creator of the Void, sovereign of eternal nothingness, immortal master of the spirit! I am your most faithful servant! I offer my eyes to illuminate your path. I offer my body and organs to serve as your vessel! My soul has long belonged to you, returned to nothingness!"

"I offer everything I possess in exchange for even a brief taste of your mighty power!"

"Awaken! Awaken!"

Malzahar recited the words of the Void with near-fanatical fervor.

Throughout the ritual, his body twisted and deformed as though being crushed by an immense force, becoming grotesquely distorted.

Yet even then, his voice did not tremble in the slightest.

Instead, it only grew more frenzied.

Before long, the aura emanating from him became horrifyingly powerful. The surrounding air grew so bitterly cold that it seemed ready to freeze.

Everyone present suddenly felt an immense pressure descend upon them, accompanied by a powerful sense of unease.

Malzahar's body finally twisted beyond recognition, becoming a grotesque mass of flesh standing in place.

Then, with a wet explosion, it burst apart.

Thick, unnatural blood sprayed in every direction, only to abruptly stop in midair.

Both Luke and Aatrox immediately sensed something.

Without any agreement between them, they stopped fighting and turned toward Malzahar.

Naturally, Malzahar would not simply kill himself for no reason.

More importantly, Luke could still sense his presence.

He wasn't dead.

Even after becoming nothing more than a mangled mass of flesh.

Suddenly, the bloody mass moved.

As though time itself were flowing backward, the flesh began reassembling.

Then, from the vaulted ceiling nearly ten thousand meters above, a terrifying will suddenly descended.

A pair of eyes slowly opened.

They were like bottomless abysses, radiating an overwhelming pressure that inspired instinctive terror.

The instant that gaze fell upon him, Luke felt his very soul scream under the crushing pressure. Every hair on his body stood on end.

Aatrox beside him reacted much the same way.

Even he felt an instinctive shudder beneath that gaze.

Luke immediately understood.

The owner of those eyes had to be one of the Watchers.

Luke had no idea exactly how powerful the Watchers were.

All he knew was that they were currently trapped within the space between two worlds, and they were unquestionably beings he could not afford to provoke right now.

After all, they were essentially the Void's ultimate bosses, ancient monsters that had lived for who knew how long.

What Malzahar was trying to do now was release the Watchers from that space between worlds.

If he succeeded, everything was over.

The key had already traveled nearly half the required distance.

Once the remaining half was completed, Malzahar's plan would likely succeed.

There was one other key figure who could potentially break the stalemate.

Bel'Veth.

Luke was certain she had already sensed the battle taking place here, yet for some reason, she still hadn't made a move.

The most likely reason was the barrier created by the Watchers.

Which meant Luke would still have to rely on himself.

At this moment, the scattered flesh flowed backward and reconstructed itself into Malzahar's form.

But the aura surrounding him had completely changed.

A field of violet energy radiated around him, exuding a sinister and terrifying presence.

By sacrificing himself, he had obtained power from the Watchers.

Luke had no idea how powerful Malzahar had become.

But he certainly wouldn't be weak.

In this state, Malzahar did not have long to live.

To him, however, that meant nothing.

Many years ago, he had already devoted both body and soul to the Void.

As long as he could free the Watchers from their prison, his own death would be worthwhile.

For that goal, he was willing to sacrifice everything.

"The victory of the Void cannot be stopped by any living creature, including you."

His voice had become deep and distorted, like a mixture of human speech and the language of the Void.

Perhaps he could no longer even be considered human.

Malzahar slowly stepped outside the barrier.

He raised one hand.

Three powerful waves of energy immediately shot toward Luke, Kassadin, and Aatrox.

Kassadin Riftwalked away.

But the terrifying energy wave seemed capable of pursuing him even through space itself.

Left with no other option, Kassadin released the power of his rune and used its immense energy to cancel out the attack.

Even so, the impact blasted him away.

Luke and Aatrox, however, chose not to dodge.

Both raised their weapons and met the attacks head-on.

"BOOM!"

The energy waves exploded violently.

Both men felt the tremendous impact, but it was still within what they could endure.

"I don't give a damn about your precious Void! Who gave you permission to interrupt our battle?!"

Aatrox roared as he charged toward Malzahar.

He was already in World Ender, and his sanity had reached the edge of madness.

All he wanted was to lose himself completely in battle.

Malzahar had interrupted him, and that frustration needed somewhere to go.

His enormous sword came crashing down toward Malzahar.

The strength behind the blow was enough to pulverize a Void warrior.

Yet Malzahar neither blocked nor dodged.

He simply allowed the greatsword to descend.

Then he raised one hand.

A Void barrier appeared from nowhere and stopped the blow.

With a deafening impact, Aatrox's greatsword was thrown backward.

Malzahar was also knocked away by the immense force, yet he appeared completely unharmed and immediately counterattacked.

Void energy poured over Aatrox, exploding against his body and throughout the surrounding area.

But attacks of this level barely registered to him.

Aatrox burst from the explosions and charged toward Malzahar again with a furious roar.

Strangely, however, Malzahar seemed intimately familiar with Aatrox's fighting style and was able to respond with remarkable composure.

"Ancient Ascended, Aatrox. The Void has long remembered the way you fight."

Malzahar spoke calmly.

Long ago, the Void had already invaded Runeterra once.

That invasion had ultimately been ended by the Ascended.

And among those Ascended, Aatrox had been one of their greatest champions of war.

He had slain countless powerful creatures of the Void.

Even after all these years, the Void had never forgotten him.

It had even specifically analyzed his combat abilities.

Unfortunately, it had never succeeded in reproducing a Void creation as powerful as Aatrox.

Otherwise, the chances of their current plan succeeding would have been even greater.

"Ridiculous Void! And what of it? I will destroy you again, stronger than ever before!"

Aatrox's eyes burned blood-red.

His greatsword thundered through the air with every swing.

Meanwhile, Luke was trying to find some way to break the barrier.

But no matter how he attacked, the barrier remained completely unmoved.

Even unleashing the power of his runes accomplished nothing.

"Is this thing seriously that tough?"

While Luke was thinking, Malzahar's attack was already upon him.

A massive wave of energy boiled through the air.

Luke immediately slashed.

Powerful sword intent combined with released rune energy, colliding with the incoming attack and canceling it out.

He realized his only chance was probably to break through Malzahar himself.

Luke Blinked.

In an instant, he appeared at the center of the battle and swung his sword toward the two combatants.

But the moment Aatrox saw him appear, he raised his own weapon and attacked Luke as well.

At the same time, Malzahar raised a hand and released a wave of energy in every direction.

The energy fell upon the surrounding Void warriors.

Their auras immediately strengthened, as though they had received some kind of enhancement.

With the Watchers on the verge of awakening, the Void warriors had also become increasingly excited.

One after another, they threw themselves into the battle.

A chaotic melee erupted instantly.

Everywhere Luke looked, there were enemies.

He held absolutely nothing back.

His snow-white blade had already absorbed a considerable amount of power, causing its color to change.

Luke had discovered that absorbing the power of Darkin turned it crimson like blood, while absorbing the power of the Void gave it a violet hue.

All of that absorbed strength was fed back into him.

In other words, Luke was becoming stronger every moment.

But it still wasn't enough.

If he couldn't break through that barrier, everything would be reduced to nothing.

The Void Riftblade split into more than a thousand fragments.

They filled the air, darting back and forth among the enemies.

Combined with Spatial Shift, they appeared and disappeared without warning.

Even though the Void warriors had been strengthened, they still weren't qualified to compete in a battle at this level.

Before long, one Void warrior after another fell.

Meanwhile, Luke and Aatrox's attacks seemed to develop a strange degree of coordination as they both began focusing on Malzahar.

Against either one of them alone, Malzahar could still defend himself.

But facing Luke and Aatrox at full strength simultaneously was becoming increasingly difficult.

Luke's unpredictable Spatial Slashes were particularly troublesome, gradually leaving wound after wound across Malzahar's body.

But time was running out.

The terrifying will descending from the sky became increasingly distinct.

It had even begun interfering with the minds of those below.

Beyond the first pair of open eyes, it felt as though countless others were about to awaken as well.

Only one-third of the key's journey remained.

The entire sky of the Void had become oppressively dark.

The air had long since turned bitterly cold, every breath emerging as white mist.

Void vines wound around the towering bamboo stalks nearby, growing at a frightening speed.

Every Voidborn had become violently restless.

It was as though a celebration belonging solely to the Void was about to begin.

Kassadin watched the world around him change.

He knew that if this continued, everything would end.

He also realized he could no longer contribute meaningfully to this battle.

He glanced down at the rune in his left hand.

Then he made his decision.

With a sudden movement, he hurled the rune toward Luke.

"Catch!"

The blue-violet rune flashed through the air like an arc of lightning.

Luke saw it coming and Blinked, catching the rune in his hand.

In that instant, the power of a fourth rune surged madly into his body.

Flames seemingly composed entirely of rune energy erupted around him, presenting a terrifying sight.

Kassadin, meanwhile, fell from the air and crashed to the ground.

Without the rune's protection, his body was rapidly corrupted by the Void.

Violet filament-like growths spread across him, seemingly freezing his body in place.

His consciousness was also beginning to deteriorate.

Before long, his soul would perish in unbearable agony.

He knew he did not have much time left.

Yet his eyes remained burning as they fixed on Luke.

His heart pounded like a war drum.

His blood was no longer cold.

Luke seemed to feel Kassadin's determination.

He tightened his hand around the rune and completely absorbed all of its power.

His body had long since adapted to rune energy.

This time, he would hold nothing back.

Luke raised a hand.

Astonishing magical power radiated from his entire body.

Then he released the energy of all four runes at maximum output.

In an instant, aurora-like light erupted everywhere, filling the entire palace with blinding radiance.

A colossal pillar of energy descended toward Malzahar like a massive bolt of lightning.

Several Void warriors caught in its path were crushed into dust on the spot, evaporating like steam.

They had no hope whatsoever of resisting the power of the runes.

Malzahar raised one hand.

A violet barrier appeared before him.

But in the next instant, the descending pillar of light swallowed him whole.

Cataclysmic rune energy roared like an ancient dragon.

The resulting explosion was so violent that even Aatrox was caught in it.

He had already realized how terrifying that energy was and had moved to evade it first.

But he was still a fraction too slow.

The expanding blast sent him flying.

He could clearly feel pain spreading throughout his body as though his flesh were being torn apart.

As the energy gradually dispersed, Malzahar's shattered body was revealed.

With the power granted to him by the Watchers, he had somehow survived that terrifying flood of energy.

But his life force had weakened to little more than a candle flickering in the wind.

He had no strength left to use any further techniques.

And yet the violet Void barrier remained.

It had never disappeared.

Even Luke had run out of options.

One pair of eyes after another opened in the sky.

A terrifying ancient will descended.

One primordial existence after another stood on the verge of breaking free.

Malzahar began laughing hoarsely.

"In the end, I won! The great Watchers are about to descend! Everything you've done will have been for nothing! The Void will bring an end to everything!"

"Is that so?"

Suddenly, a human voice sounded from inside the barrier.

Malzahar's ecstatic, twisted expression froze.

Disbelief flooded his eyes.

He whipped his head around in horror.

Kai'Sa's shoulder pods erupted with a burst of force, propelling her upward toward the key high above.

Beneath the endless violet night sky, her figure looked impossibly small.

And yet she streaked upward like a brilliant stream of light, dazzling beyond compare.