A Close Call

Rhaast realized that getting angry wouldn't help, so he calmed down and asked me how I recognized him. 🍑 ⋆ 🍭 🎀 🎀 🍭 ⋆ 🍑

I told him I had been to the Ascended Realm, and to my surprise, he burst into laughter.

"Hahaha, are you trying to make me laugh to death? Are you going to say you're Ascended next?"

"No, that's not it, but the fact that I entered the illusion is absolutely true. If you don't believe me, I can explain in more detail. For example, you once fought on the battlefield under Aatrox's command, and there's the oath you made..."

I described a few scenes I witnessed to Rhaast; if he were a real person, he would surely be filled with astonishment.

"How did an ordinary person like you get in there? I know, you're a loyal dog of those guys on Mount Targon!"

"Mount Targon? The legendary abode of the gods? No, I've never seen them."

"Liar! Kayn, let's go, hurry up, I don't want to hear him anymore."

"Wait, Rhaast, I'm very interested in your affairs! You never tell me anything, but now that someone knows, I want to hear it."

Kayn surprisingly cooperative, but I had nothing to say about it. After all, Rhaast wasn't a main character, and he only participated in a few battles in the illusion.

Since Kayn wants to know, let me just say a few more words, "Rhaast was once an Ascended, an ancient Shurima Celestial Warrior whose power surpassed that of mortals."

"You just mentioned that. I want to know how he fell into depravity, and what happened after that?"

"His downfall was related to a war he had participated in, but I don't know the details."

"Oh, how boring. I thought you'd know more!"

Kayn sighed. He hadn't gotten the information he wanted, but he wasn't there to chat either.

I'm here looking for help, especially strong ones!

"Rhaast, I have good news for you! Azir has been resurrected, and the Ascended Empress has returned! They welcome you back!"

"I'm warning you, stop talking nonsense, you damned little brat!"

"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant. I've already told you: once you return to Shurima, you'll know everything."

Rhaast was clearly flustered and urged Kayn to leave again:

"Enough, brat. Even if he entered the illusion, he couldn't possibly know what happened afterward. If you don't want to kill him, let's leave."

"No, I've changed my mind. I'll definitely kill him next time we meet, not with your help, but with my own." Then Kayn asked me, "What's your name?"

Yasuo.

"Yasuo, I'll remember this. Until we meet again!" Kayn said, shouldering his scythe, and left, disappearing into the forest like a ghost.

Just then, Wukong ran over. "You're amazing, Master! Even that monster wasn't a match for you!"

"No, we were in danger just now, it's just that the scythe wasn't released."

"What is that thing? Why can a weapon talk?"

"He used to be human, an extremely powerful human, but he was sealed away because of his corruption."

I still don't quite understand.

"If you can't figure it out, don't think about it anymore. You need to improve yourself as soon as possible, not just for revenge, but also to save yourself!"

"Oh." Wukong scratched his head, puzzled.

I originally planned to go directly to North Spring Temple, but now that this has happened, I'll just stop by Kinkou Monastery instead.

Since arriving in Ionia, I haven't seen a single familiar face. I fear this peaceful continent may be the beginning of a cataclysmic change!

If I remember correctly, the Kinkou Monastery is directly east of here. I hurried there with Wukong, hoping to see the person I wanted to see this time.

Passing through a grove of trees, I saw a low hill, and just as I had imagined, the Kinkou Monastery was nearby.

When we arrived at the foot of the mountain, several people suddenly appeared in front of us. The leader was a little girl named Akali.

She was on guard the last time we came, and now her stealth skills have clearly improved a lot. "Yasuo? What brings you here?"

"I've come to see Abbot Kennen. Is he here?"

"Yes! He just got back yesterday. I'll take you there!"

As soon as I entered the temple gate, Kennen sensed my arrival. He came out to greet me personally and even said hello to Wukong.

Hello, little monkey.

"Oh? You're... a little mouse?"

"Hahaha... I'm not an orc, I'm Yordle."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were also Vastaya."

The two started off very funny; despite being of different races, there was no barrier between them.

"Orcs rarely appear in front of other races, where did you find them?"

"His name is Wukong, and he's my newly accepted disciple. Actually, his entire clan was killed by the Shadow Stream."

"What?! You bastard!"

"Don't be angry yet. Tell me what happened here. I didn't see the Western Harbinger, nor did I find Talon, so I came here. Has something serious happened?"

"Actually, I just came back from the North Spring Temple. The situation is very serious now..." Kennen told me about the events of the past year.

Last year, on the eve of the decisive battle between the Ionia alliance and Swain, something unexpected happened at the North Spring Temple, and Syndra left without participating in the battle.

Because of the war, no one paid attention to what was happening there at the time. Later, the two sides did not fight a decisive battle, but instead fought together to resist the invasion of the Embers. The fierce battle made it even more difficult to pay attention to anything else.

After the war, the Southern Harbinger Miyue, decided to check on what had happened to her good friend Syndra, but was injured instead, causing Irelia to rush back.

That's all I know. I only learned what happened after Kennen added more information.

The incident at the North Spring Temple was caused by the invasion of Jhin. Jhin and a group of monsters appeared from the north, and the North Spring Temple naturally bore the brunt of the attack.

Syndra returned and put up a fierce fight, only to discover that the monster's target seemed to be not Northfall, but the southern region!

She was of course unable to stop the monster army from marching south. After saving the North Spring Temple, Syndra left two Shepherd to guard the temple and left in pursuit of the monsters.

Later, something happened that Syndra suddenly returned to the temple. Her personality changed drastically, and she began to kill innocent people indiscriminately, even killing a Shepherd!

The rest of the people fled, and on the way they met Miyue and the others who were on their way to visit them, so they told her what had happened.

Upon learning of Syndra's situation, Miyue rushed over, but was intercepted by Syndra before even reaching the temple.

She and several Shepherd joined forces to fight off Syndra, while others delivered the message to Prexian. When Irelia arrived with her men, she found only a severely wounded Miyue and many corpses.