Chapter Summaries

Bel'Veth led Rek'Sai and the Void burrowers to the underground laboratory and devoured the sealed World Rune, but Karya returned and destroyed her with the Eternal Flame. Karya explained the flame's limits to Nasus and Azir, then revealed that Kiyran, Icathia's greatest genius, was still alive.

• Bel'Veth subdued Rek'Sai and brought Void burrowers to dig a tunnel to the laboratory hiding the World Rune.
• Bel'Veth transformed the laboratory into the Pale Sea and devoured the World Rune along with its seal.
• Karya, Nasus, and Azir returned through a Warp Gate, and Karya warned Bel'Veth not to eat the Rune trees.
• Karya used the Eternal Flame to destroy Bel'Veth and restore the laboratory, explaining that the flame burned away Void power but could not cure the Darkin.
• Karya confirmed he had gone to Icathia and said Kiyran was still alive.

Karya explained the Eternal Flame’s Icathian origins and persuaded the group to hide the World Rune in an abandoned Zaun mine. After traveling to Zaun and exploring a mine, they encountered a group of starving mining rats.

• Karya revealed that he had borrowed the Eternal Flame from Icathia, leaving Nasus and the others uneasy about its connection to the Icathian rebellion.
• Nasus suggested hiding the World Rune in old Shurima, but Karya argued that Zaun’s abandoned mines would be safer, and Ryze suggested Demacia to persuade Azir and Xerath.
• The group traveled north to Zaun over eight days, while Shyvana carried them in a basket and arrived exhausted.
• Karya led the group into an abandoned mine, and Yin Nuo used Floating Ice to carry them down its deep shaft.
• Karya found a group of gaunt mining rats in the darkness.

Karya, Ryze, and Taliyah sealed the World Runes in an abandoned Zaun mine and buried them beneath Rune trees. Karya then questioned Azir’s plans to rebuild Shurima, ending by warning that southern clans might turn to the Void.

• Karya followed mine rats to an old garbage dump and chose it as a hiding place for the World Runes.
• Taliyah built a stone enclosure, Karya planted Rune tree seeds, and Ryze created the initial seal before all three added further layers and buried the site.
• Azir asked Karya to stay in Shurima and help unite the region, but Karya challenged his strategy and questioned Zilean’s intentions regarding World Rune Fragments.
• Azir outlined a plan to build power in southern Shurima by freeing slaves, expanding production, and developing mining, metallurgy, and textiles.
• Karya warned that Azir’s reforms could provoke the southern clans and asked whether they might turn to the Void, leaving Azir stunned.

Karya warned Azir that the Void remained a serious threat, but refused to stay in Shurima and continued toward Demacia. In Zaun, he was astonished by the Twin Cities’ technological progress and decided to visit Jayce and Viktor’s laboratory with several books on magic.

• Karya explained to Azir that the sealed Void Rift remained dangerous and that Void worshippers could help the Void grow, and Azir began to understand his concerns.
• Azir tried to persuade Karya to remain in Shurima, but Karya refused, saying he was needed more elsewhere.
• Karya shared the secrets of the Golden Wheel Stone, warned Azir again about the Void, and parted from Azir, Nasus, and Zilean.
• Karya visited Zaun and learned that Jayce and Viktor’s Hextech Rune Interface had helped unite the Twin Cities’ technologies and spur new inventions.
• Karya read about Jayce and Viktor’s difficult work on the Hextech Magic Interface and decided to visit their joint laboratory with books on magic.

Karya realized Hextech could make Magic Theory accessible to ordinary people and decided Jayce and Viktor might need help developing it. Jayce and Viktor planned dangerous explosion-based experiments to study magic, leaving Jayce facing new costs, an autobiography assignment, and a meeting with Ekko.

• Karya recognized Hextech as a practical way to translate Magic Theory for people without magical talent and considered helping Jayce and Viktor.
• Jayce and Viktor struggled to study magic because they could not observe or measure it, even after Ekko sent Zaun Mage Corps mages to assist them.
• Viktor proposed studying magical explosions indirectly by comparing their effects with gunpowder and Hextech Crystal blasts.
• Jayce and Viktor planned staged Hextech Crystal explosions to establish measurement standards and conduct further experiments.
• Mel warned Jayce that the experiments would increase short-term expenses and that his public remarks had hurt his chances of attracting investment.
• Mel told Jayce to take Jael to the Zaun Daily to tell his story and to speak with Ekko before visiting the newspaper.

Ekko introduced Jayce to Karya, a mage whose advice helped Jayce see how magic could be observed and studied through Hextech methods. Karya lent Jayce a foundational magic textbook that consumed his attention, leaving Mel to pull him away from his studies and reject his suggestion of undergoing Hextech Augmentation.

• Ekko introduced Jayce to Karya, who explained that Jayce and Viktor's research was stalled because they lacked a way to observe magic and offered a method based on splitting magical energy flows.
• Karya described a systematic approach to studying magic, and Jayce invited him to join the joint laboratory, but Karya said he was more interested in making Magic Theory accessible through Hextech.
• Karya gave Jayce a textbook called Fundamentals of Magic, and Jayce was astonished by its rigorous theories and experimental methods.
• Jayce took the book home and became so engrossed in reading it that he missed his planned interview and autobiography preparations with Mel and Jael.
• After eight hours of reading, Mel took the book away and urged Jayce to bathe and sleep, but he continued explaining magical theory to her in the tub.
• Jayce suggested undergoing Hextech Augmentation to gain more time, and Mel firmly rejected the idea because she wanted them to grow old together.

Jayce and Viktor studied Karya’s book on magic theory and found its arguments logically convincing, so they arranged to meet its author. Zeri recognized Karya as her teacher from the test illusion, and the four stayed up all night as Karya began trying to explain magic theory to the two scientists.

• Jayce brought Viktor Fundamentals of Magic Theory, and they spent the morning reading it without finding any logical flaws.
• Jayce and Viktor learned from Skye that Karya was the Regent Prince of the Shuriman Empire and decided to meet him.
• At dinner, Karya advised Jayce to involve a mage he trusted, so Jayce invited Zeri.
• Zeri recognized Karya as her teacher from the test illusion and insisted that non-mages could not understand magic theory.
• Karya decided to try explaining magic theory to Jayce and Viktor, and the four spent the night at the joint laboratory.

Jayce and Viktor verified Karya’s basic magical theories, but Karya declined to join their laboratory and left them a book. Karya also reunited Kaisa with her father Kassadin, and the chapter ended with them embracing.

• Jayce and Viktor completed seven experiments with Zeri and confirmed Karya’s basic magical theories.
• Karya refused Jayce’s invitation to join the joint laboratory, left him a book, and departed with Zeri.
• Karya told Zeri that rumors about Lux’s loyalty to Demacia did not diminish what Lux had accomplished for Zaun.
• Karya removed Kaisa’s Void armor and asked whether she wanted to see her father, Kassadin, and Kaisa agreed.
• Karya arranged for Kaisa to meet Kassadin, who recognized her after Yin Nuo introduced her, and Kaisa ran into his arms.

Karya gathered Kassadin’s accounts of Void creatures and gave Yinzerui material about Demacia’s Golden Wheel Stone trade, then quietly left Zaun for Freljord. On the journey, he began teaching Yin Nuo advanced Magic Control Theory by telling her the story of Nezuk.

• Kaisa reunited with Kassadin, while Yin Nuo and Yinzerui chatted and discussed his travel journals.
• Kassadin spent more than five days recounting his desert journeys to Karya, who expanded a map of Void creature sightings.
• Karya told Yinzerui about the Golden Wheel Stone and Ningwu Dao, giving him information that could disrupt Demacia’s Shuriman trade.
• Karya quietly departed Zaun for Freljord, convinced that Demacia’s internal conflicts would soon intensify and test Lux.
• Karya urged Yin Nuo to study Magic Control Theory and began teaching her through the story of Nezuk, stopping at his Ascension Ritual to keep her curious.

Karya returned to Freljord as Demacia’s trade-driven prosperity concealed worsening hardship for peasants and shrinking paths to advancement. In contrast, Northern Trade had brought broad prosperity and opportunity to Freljord, while Jarvan IV focused on curbing nobles and Luxanna examined reports on southern peasants.

• Demacia’s Shuriman and Northern trade enriched nobles and the royal family while imports and inflation disrupted the old economy.
• Demacian peasants saw prices rise, work and military recruitment opportunities shrink, and their savings lose value, though Jarvan IV did not recognize the crisis.
• Freljord’s trade economy spread work, affordable goods, education, and avenues for advancement among its people.
• Shyvana returned to Freljord, Yin Nuo completed her education, and Karya came back after years of planning.
• Jarvan IV considered which nobles to target next as Luxanna studied intelligence reports on conditions among peasants in the South.

Karya returned to Freljord and reflected on the mistakes she had made while ruling Shurima as Lux prepared her Winter Speech. By the end of the fourteenth year, Noxus had broken apart, and Ionia followed into de facto division after Irelia’s attempt at unity failed.

• Karya returned from Shurima, where her travelogues had helped spread knowledge of the Golden Wheel Stone and Ningwu Dao.
• Lux welcomed Karya and Yin Nuo back, then chose to write her Winter Speech herself so she could stay connected to the people.
• Karya reconsidered how her idealism and reliance on secret laboratories had separated her from ordinary Shurimans and contributed to her mistakes.
• After losing its elite forces and political unity, Noxus saw distant territories declare independence, and Darius acknowledged their separation before attacking the old nobility.
• Demacia praised the newly independent Noxian states, while the people of Ionia reclaimed Waili but rejected Irelia’s efforts to unite the provinces.
• Irelia left Placidium after the Navoli Brotherhood and Shadow Order rejected her, and Ionia fell into de facto division.

Karya and Setaqa left Nareumajel to seek magic and gain the strength their tribe needed, traveling through the Lakol lands and earning permission to climb Mount Targon. During the ascent, Karya collapsed from a severe purification reaction, and Setaqa carried him up the cliffs until he awoke on a ledge.

• Karya and Setaqa entrusted Nareumajel to Horok and the other reliable tribe members, then traveled west toward Mount Targon.
• As they approached the mountain, Karya saw that the Lakol people were unusually strong and had many Spellcasters, while their teachings struck him as contradictory.
• Karya acted like a devout believer to earn the Lakol people's trust, and Setaqa comforted him through the strain of the journey.
• After three days of fasting, Karya and Setaqa began their climb and reached the snowline late on the second day.
• Karya developed severe purification symptoms and collapsed, so Setaqa carried him onward because leaving the mountain would turn him into a monster.
• Karya awoke as Setaqa climbed a steep cliff with him on her shoulders, and she set him down on a narrow ledge beneath the stars.

As Karya and Setaqa climbed toward the summit, Setaqa entered Erosion and her senses and memories became dangerously confused. Karya used his new perception of magic to run her through its flow until she came back to herself, and they continued together with a new understanding of her dream.

• Karya noticed that he could sense the pressure and flow of magic as he and Setaqa climbed the mountain.
• Karya realized Setaqa had entered Erosion when she reacted slowly, mistook magic for wind, and recited a prayer she had never learned.
• Setaqa's senses began to fail, so Karya tried and failed to cast a spell before carrying her into the flow of magic and running with her.
• Setaqa regained her senses and told Karya she had dreamed of running toward the stars and catching a falling man who resembled him.
• Karya and Setaqa laughed together as a real wind swept across the ledge and carried golden grains of sand from their palms.

After Demacia’s victory over Noxus, nobles urged Jarvan IV to proclaim himself emperor, and he decided to pursue the imperial throne despite unresolved questions about how Demacia would be governed. In Freljord, Lux learned of his decision and worried that ambition had blinded him to Demacia’s economic troubles.

• Demacian nobles humiliated envoys from Noxian splinter factions at welcoming banquets while celebrating the collapse of the Noxian Empire.
• Nobles proposed that Jarvan IV become emperor and transform the Demacia Kingdom into an empire, and Jarvan IV allowed the movement to grow without clearly endorsing it.
• Jarvan IV asked Taric, Barrett, Garen, and Lanfu for their views; Garen supported the idea, Taric raised concerns about Shurima, Lanfu dismissed them, and Barrett questioned how imperial territories would be governed.
• Jarvan IV reflected on his ambitions after climbing Mount Targon, decided to become emperor, and celebrated his decision on the terrace of Dawn Castle.
• Lux and Eno verified intelligence that Jarvan IV wanted to become emperor, and Lux questioned his judgment given Demacia’s economic problems and growing public discontent.

Jarvan IV made Demacia an empire, believing imperial authority would let him centralize power, while nobles accepted the change in hopes their fiefs might eventually become kingdoms. LeBlanc and the Twilight Great God were secretly encouraging his growing desire for control, setting the stage for conflict with the north.

• Demacian nobles welcomed Jarvan IV's imperial title while hoping it would give their fiefs a legal path toward greater independence.
• Jarvan IV chose to become emperor, believing absolute authority would help him impose his will on Demacia and keep the nobles in check.
• Barret supported Jarvan IV, Taric trusted him cautiously, and Garen failed to recognize the nobles' and emperor's intentions.
• LeBlanc guided Jarvan IV by selectively supplying him with accounts of Shuriman emperors and aimed to turn his growing desire for control against the independent north.
• The Twilight Great God revealed that they had planted the seed of supremacy in Jarvan IV and welcomed LeBlanc's efforts to nurture it.

As Demacia prepared to crown Jarvan IV emperor, Lux again proposed integrating Freljord, while Poppy arrived at the northern frontier after recounting her long search for Demacia’s greatest hero. Poppy still carried Oren’s Holy Hammer and remained committed to finding the person worthy of it.

• The Illuminators persuaded Jarvan IV to replace traditional coronation rites with a new, extravagant ceremony, sparking a dispute with the nobles over its cost.
• Demacians briefly grew hopeful and the economy prospered as news spread of Jarvan IV’s coming coronation and Demacia’s elevation to an empire.
• Lux proposed an integrated Freljord at the Spring Speech, prompting wary clerks to wonder whether another major transition was coming.
• Poppy left Bandle City during the Rune Wars and traveled west in search of the order she believed humans could create.
• Poppy found Oren’s traveling group, became his student, and journeyed with its members as they founded Demacia and crowned Oren king.
• Before Oren died, he entrusted Poppy with the Holy Hammer and charged her to find Demacia’s greatest hero, whom she continued seeking until she reached the northern frontier.

The chapter recounts Poppy’s century-long search for a peerless hero and her journey toward Freljord after hearing about the Noble Exemplar. Meanwhile, Lux judged Jarvan IV’s imperial coronation plans to be a grave mistake and prepared to exploit them as Freljord shifted its production toward military needs.

• Oren left Poppy his Warhammer, and after his death she traveled for nearly a century seeking a united people and a hero worthy of wielding it.
• Poppy returned from Camavor, heard about the Noble Exemplar, and set off for Freljord wondering whether she might be the hero she sought.
• Lux concluded that Jarvan IV’s coronation ambitions exposed his poor judgment and decided to use the opportunity to teach Demacia the meaning of progress and sound administration.
• Lux raised the goal of integrating Freljord at the Spring Speech, but Demacia City failed to understand the northern borderlands’ strength or intentions.
• As Jarvan IV spent heavily preparing his coronation and inviting Valoran’s rulers, Freljord opened its workforce to production and began expanding military manufacturing.

Lux launched Freljord’s integrated military-industrial strategy, redirecting industries and labor toward wartime production while preserving the country’s distinct focus on development rather than conquest. Six months later, Freljord’s first converted warship took to the water, prompting northern nobles to approach Lux as Jarvan IV’s coronation date was set in Demacia City.

• Lux put Freljord’s war machine in motion during the Spring Speech, defining an integrated strategy that coordinated industries for military production.
• Administrators summoned industry leaders and organized their work, and businesses accepted the plans despite modest prices and no promised subsidies.
• Shipyards began preparing mass warship construction as other industries coordinated supplies, while Freljord halted most food exports, stockpiled provisions, and lifted immigration restrictions.
• Immigration and military production transformed Freljord’s cities, port, canals, roads, and labor market over the following months.
• Six months later, Freljord launched its first warship converted from a merchant vessel, and northern nobles approached Lux while Jarvan IV’s coronation date was set.

As workers fled the North for Freljord, Lux used a gathering of northern nobles to press them to recruit labor from the South and assess which lords might cooperate with her plans. That night, Lord Nidu startled Lux by urging her to become queen if Jarvan IV became emperor.

• Northern nobles gathered in New Freljord City to complain to Lux that Freljord’s recruitment of workers was leaving their fields uncultivated.
• Guswo asked Lux whether Freljord was recruiting workers without limit, and Lux defended the policy while reminding the nobles they had refused her offer of Hextech help for their farms.
• Lux suggested that the nobles attract workers from the South and gave them travelogues describing the South’s harsh rents and declining conditions.
• Lux intended to use the nobles’ reactions to judge who might cooperate with Freljord and who would oppose her plans.
• Lord Nidu visited Lux at midnight and told her that she could become queen if Jarvan IV became emperor.

Lux rejected Nidu’s proposal that she become queen, prompting him to denounce her to Demacia’s emperor, while she and Karya used his letter to assess the northern nobles. Meanwhile, Poppy arrived in Freljord seeking Demacia’s great hero and challenged a group of students to lift her warhammer, which drained the magic from one student’s hands.

• Lux firmly rejected Nidu’s plan to make her queen and warned him that she could empower the Nidu Family’s former textile branches.
• Nidu secretly wrote and sent a letter accusing Lux of keeping mages and plotting rebellion, but Freljord’s intelligence team intercepted it.
• Lux and Karya discussed sending Nidu’s letter to Demacia City to see which northern nobles would support them.
• Poppy entered Freljord City and asked a group of students whether they knew Demacia’s great hero.
• Two students claimed they were future heroes, but the stronger one could not lift Poppy’s warhammer.
• A young mage tried to use magic to lift the hammer, but its power drained away, and he recognized it as high-purity runic steel.