Ryze's Help

Varus recognized the Void Creatures on the ground at a glance. He held the package he had brought back in his mouth, drew his golden War Bow, and fired at the burrowing beast. 💙☹ ☯🐺

The arrows, carrying powerful Light Element Strength, pierced their bodies. The immobilized burrowing beasts were immediately devoured by their own kind, until only one remained!

This earth-burrowing beast had grown to an enormous size, almost the same as Varus's Ascended Body. It wildly flailed its limbs, raising clouds of dust, and its howls produced exceptionally piercing sound waves!

Varus's arrows couldn't penetrate its armor, and my gale was starting to give way. I lured it away again, preparing to join forces with Varus to take it down!

Unable to attack Varus in the sky, the burrowing beast could only keep pouncing on me. I bombarded it with Wind Form attacks while gathering my power, hoping to cleave it open again.

However, even after a long time of gathering power, I was unable to reach the same state as before. On the one hand, my power was not as abundant as before, and on the other hand, this earth-burrowing beast was too powerful, and I could not concentrate on accumulating power.

Varus noticed that I hadn't been attacking at full strength and guessed that I had other tricks up my sleeve. He stopped shooting, threw the food on the ground, and pounced on the burrowing beast.

"I'll hold it off, Yasuo, you focus on building up your power!"

Having just witnessed the fierce battle between Lee Sin and Udyr, we are now witnessing Varus's eagle-wolf duel with the burrowing beast.

Claws against Claws, beak against steel teeth, they engaged in a primal, frenzied battle!

I also took advantage of this precious opportunity to withdraw from the battlefield, feeling the scorching heat of the desert, and once again focused the Wind Force on the Gale Sword!

"You can leave now, I'll take care of the rest!"

Upon hearing the sound, Varus returned to the sky. I rushed to the burrowing beast with lightning speed, raised my sword, and chopped off its head!

Purple blood rained down, and I quickly used my Wind Force to dodge it; I didn't want to be infected by the void energy.

The Void Creatures is very resilient and won't die instantly from a fatal blow. Now that no one of its kind is devouring its corpse, it's crawling around aimlessly like a headless fly. I finished it off with a few more sword strikes until I severed its limbs.

"Damn beasts, I didn't expect to see them here!" Varus said angrily as he transformed back into human form.

"This is the Sand Shark Beast that Tazan mentioned. It appeared after the Void War, no wonder you didn't know it."

"Alas, I wonder how many more remnants of war remain, their descendants suffering alongside them."

"Your arm!" I saw several black spots on Varus's right arm, which must have been infected by void energy.

"It's nothing, he probably just got splashed with its blood by accident."

"Don't joke around, you're not going to turn into Vastaya again, are you?"

"Don't worry, even after I was stained with the blood of so many monsters, it took me hundreds of years to lose control. This little bit of blood is nothing to worry about, although the burning sensation might be a bit uncomfortable."

The few survivors of the caravan, seeing the monster slain, quickly knelt down to thank us. I helped them up, and at the same time, I noticed that several of them were infected by the blood of the burrowing beast!

These people have more blood on their hands Varus; they are merely mortals, how could they withstand the corrosive power of the void!

How are you all? Are you feeling unwell?

People shook their heads when they heard me say that, "We don't feel anything at all."

"That's strange. Even Ascended feel a burning sensation, yet you're all unharmed!"

Just then, a voice came from behind. "There's nothing strange about this. Light and darkness are opposites, which is why they erode each other. Mortals are nothing special and not worth being infected."

Two people, a man and a woman, walked over from a distance. They were both wearing long white robes to protect themselves from the scorching sun. It was Ryze and the woman who had been with him the last time they met!

"We meet again, Archmage!"

"Hehe, you've grown quite a bit, Yasuo. You can already slay Void Creatures."

"You've been here for a while?"

"Just happened to be passing by."

"Then why didn't you protect the caravan members?"

"I've already helped. Otherwise, do you think that little girl could have condensed such a thick stone slab?"

It turns out that Ryze helped Taliyah conjure the large stone slab just now; I thought she had suddenly unleashed her power!

"Haha, I'm so sorry, Archmage, I misunderstood you. Actually, I was just about to come find you!"

"Oh? What do you need me for?"

"The matter of World Rune!"

Ryze's expression tightened upon hearing this. "You found the World Rune?"

"No, just some fragmented information."

Where?

"The Light Rune Fragment is in our hands, and the Dark Rune Fragment is in the possession of a Vastaya in Ionia. If you don't mind going to war with him, you can definitely take it!"

"It seems I'll have to go with you."

"Wait, Archmage, before that, I'd like to make a trip to Mount Targon. Do you have any information about that place?"

"Mount Targon, what are you doing there? The gods aren't so easily appeased."

There really are gods living there, and judging from Ryze's words, he seems to know the way!

"It seems the Archmage knows the location. I'd like to inquire with the gods about some matters, including how to eradicate the Vastaya. Perhaps the Light Rune you've been searching for still exists there—not just fragments, but the true World Rune!"

I thought Ryze would be excited to hear what I said, but he didn't care at all. "Hahaha, I knew they controlled the Light Rune all along, but what can I do about it?"

"Aren't you collecting World Rune?"

"I only collect runes that I can obtain; I wouldn't dare covet those in the hands of the gods. But you always surprise me; perhaps you really can help me."

"So you're willing to give me directions?"

"Hehe, if you don't agree, you'll probably keep pestering me."

I was so happy to hear what Ryze said; it would be great to have his help!

Taliyah was very reluctant to see me leave, and she followed behind me with small steps. I knew she wanted to learn Elemental Power from me, but I couldn't take her with me at the moment.

"Go back to Naremajet first, and I'll take you to Ionia when I return."

"Real?"

It's a deal!

"Okay, it's a deal!" The little guy finally stopped.

Varus spread his wings, and we jumped onto his broad back and left, heading west under Ryze's guidance until we reached the desolate west coast, where he told us to stop.

I asked him where Mount Targon was, and he pointed towards the sea. "That's it!"

"Huh? Isn't that the vast ocean?"

"The places where gods reside are not places one can enter at will; one must pass through the barriers they have set up."

"How do we get in?"

"I don't have enough strength right now. How about this, you guys come with me to find a friend first. With his help, things will be much easier."