Guarding the Rift

After a conversation, Noxus and Shurima formed an alliance. Darius wanted to drink to his heart's content, but Azir refused. ♝🐜 👌🎈

He was eager to check on the situation in Icathia and called for the Shurima, so he set off immediately.

Darius handed the army over to Kled and told him to prepare for the retreat, while he himself came with us.

Since the Void War, Icathia has been a wasteland, and even after thousands of years, nothing has survived. But seeing it in person still surprised me.

When I arrived here in the illusion, the mountain was covered with lush vegetation, but now it looks like a scorched black expanse from afar, like a scene from hell.

Even after stepping onto these ruins, the ground was still warm. We crossed the scorched mountains and saw the void rift that had been sealed by the combined efforts of the Ascended.

The rift emanated powerful energy, a spell set up by the Ascended to prevent anyone from breaking the seal. However, with Azir and Sivir, two royal Ascended, present, we were able to observe it up close.

The seal here appears to be much stronger than in the Howling Abyss, firstly because the seal has been in place for a much shorter period of time, and secondly because the power of the dozens of Ascended here is greater than that of Lissandra.

Most importantly, there are no signs of anyone else having been here. When we were in Howling Abyss, Lissandra said that an uninvited guest had invaded the place and was stronger than her. Although the seal was not broken, it still caused some damage.

Seeing the situation here, we were temporarily relieved and saw no need to stay any longer to observe. We turned to leave, but suddenly someone launched an attack on us!

Without any warning, without a sound, the attack was blocked by Azir the moment I noticed it.

The attacker was extremely ugly; he was entirely black, as if he had just crawled out of a fire, and his emaciated body resembled a skeleton.

He was holding a chain with a hook at the top, which was the hook he had just used to launch the attack.

Anyone who trespasses will be put to death!

His voice was a little hoarse as he spoke these words and launched another attack on us.

Riven engaged him in battle first, wielding a greatsword, which was a perfect counter to his weak weapon.

But soon I realized something was wrong, because Riven's Wind Force and Uniform Strength had no effect on him!

The Gale Force could not restrain him, nor could the Flame Wind Force stop his offensive. On the contrary, his grappling hook was extremely powerful; a soft chain actually suppressed the greatsword, making it difficult for him to move!

Riven is incredibly strong, a strength I myself cannot match. Now, being overpowered by the person in front of me, I have lost all chance of winning.

However, Riven was quick-witted. When she realized that she couldn't win by fighting head-on, she took the opportunity to pull out the pistol from her waist.

This person was shirtless and extremely thin; wouldn't a few shots pierce his body?

Just when I thought Riven was about to win, reality slapped me hard in the face. The bullet hit him like it hit a steel plate, and he fell to the ground with a crisp "crack"!

The grappling hook then snagged on Riven's leg, tearing a gash in her calf and drawing blood!

Darius and I joined forces; he used his giant axe to block the relentless attacks, and I saved Riven.

Her face looked terrible. I thought the hook was poisonous, but the wound looked normal. In fact, it was healing a bit because of our unique constitution.

"I'm so useless!" Riven gritted her teeth, hating her defeat.

"The enemy was too strong, don't worry about it. Is your leg alright?"

"Let me go!"

Riven yelled and shoved me away, then stood up, completely ignoring her still-bleeding wound.

I was a little taken aback. In my memory, this was the first time she had ever been angry with me. Thinking about it carefully, I hadn't done anything wrong, had I?

Riven didn't apologize to me, or even look at me; she just stared straight at the battlefield, her eyes filled with hatred.

Darius isn't much stronger than Riven. In fact, I didn't expect him to be so good, able to fight the enemy for so long.

His attacks remained wide and powerful, each swing of his massive axe leaving a trail of cold light in the air. It was a pity he missed his target; otherwise, it would have been interesting to see if he could withstand such a powerful attack.

After a while, Darius also started to feel the effects; his age no longer allowed him to fight for extended periods.

I was about to step in to help when Azir stopped me. "Let me handle this. You should retreat, Darius. Your mortal body is already declining at your age."

After hearing our commotion, Darius managed to find an opportunity to retreat. Azir remained where he was, but his staff had already projected Golden Light outwards.

The enemy retracted his hook to defend, but was still struck by the Golden Light and forced back a few steps. Unfortunately, this time it still didn't cause any damage; his skin was too tough.

"We have not come to offend you. You seem to be guarding this place. My name is Azir. May I ask your name?"

Anyone who trespasses will be put to death!

"I told you we're not here to cause destruction, we're just checking if the seal here is as strong as before. In other words, we might be friends."

Anyone who trespasses will be put to death!

No matter what Azir said, this person only said this one sentence, and seemed to be out of his mind. Perhaps he was not even human.

"What's wrong with this guy? He's excessively powerful, yet not quite lucid," Darius thought, puzzled.

"I haven't seen him either." I thought about it carefully and confirmed that I hadn't seen him in the illusion.

Perhaps sensing Azir's power, the man quieted down considerably, but still stared at us menacingly, his eyes bloodshot.

You go first, I'll follow shortly.

Seeing this person doing everything in his power to protect this place, Azir didn't want to fight him, but he was also afraid that he would suddenly attack like before, so he told us to leave first.

Sivir, however, had no intention of leaving. She cautiously walked over and suddenly threw the Khopesh into the air. Golden light shone down, instantly enveloping the gaunt man.

He reacted quickly and immediately tried to knock the Khopesh away, but the grappling hook bounced back as soon as it touched the Khopesh, almost hitting him in the process.

Then the man suddenly clutched his head, struggling in agony as the Golden Light bathed him.

I've already guessed what Sivir means. She wants to cleanse this person's heart with Golden Light because he might be a fallen Ascended like Renekton!

Sure enough, after struggling for a while, the man stood up. His charred skin slowly returned to its normal color, and he appeared to have a little more muscle, though it was probably just an illusion caused by the change in skin color.

"Ajarn, Ajarn..."

He kept repeating the word "Ajarn," but it was unclear what it meant. Then Azir suddenly said:

"You are Azanus!"