"Witch, this is not out of kindness from Shurima."
Nasus appeared beside Lissandra, holding a scepter in one hand. He gestured with his other hand toward the Celestials. Each Ascended has a different specialty, but most Ascended specialize in a single area, such as magic proficiency, physical strength, healing, or soul-attacking sorcery.
Nasus, however, was an exception, because he happened to be good at a little bit of everything.
Just like now, Nasus used magic to slow down the Celestials's movements while shaking his scepter. A magic circle appeared out of thin air, filled with black sand and spirit fire, and was pressing in and surrounding a Celestials.
Lissandra was not surprised to hear Nasus's words. Freljord and Shurima had a long-standing feud. Ancient Shurima wanted to conquer the world, but had only ever suffered a loss at the hands of Freljord. Therefore, just as deserts and snowfields, or extreme cold and extreme heat, could not coexist, the Demigod of the two regions had no connection.
But now, because of the Celestials's unauthorized descent to the mortal realm, Nasus has chosen to put aside past grievances and help Lissandra.
The armored dragon turtle also came to the front, its size reaching up to Lissandra's thigh. It was scratching its cheek with its tiny, pointed claws, and said in a goofy voice, "I say, can we win? There are just too many of them."
"At most, I can withstand two people hitting me. I can't take one more than that," Rammus said in a muffled voice. His words and actions sounded cowardly, but the meaning behind his words was not.
Rammus believed he could withstand two Celestials.
Nasus stood by, somewhat speechless. He could withstand two Celestials, so by that calculation, there could be at least four or five Witches. Nasus had no doubt about that.
Since the Witch is modeled after Setaka, Nasus knows best just how powerful Setaka, what should be done with the two or three extra Celestials?
"It's good that you stopped him." Lissandra said calmly after hearing Rammus's words.
The moment her voice faded, Jia Meng reacted instantly, leaping away alone and shouting, "Retreat!"
Joking about sharing life and death is definitely not an option for Jia Meng. Take the twelve Celestials present, for example. Many of them have a bad relationship with Jia Meng. The Celestials are no longer what they used to be. They are all acting on their own and there is constant internal strife.
Therefore, in an instant, the Celestials scattered, and many of them called for help from Celestials the stars.
They're not far from Mount Targon now; they can unleash their full power.
At the same time, Li Ke, Jax, and Janna finally arrived at the scene.
There's no need to worry about Jinx and Taliyah's safety. Janna had already Taliyah Jinx away the moment she sensed something was wrong. As for the Sand People still remaining in the Bone Lands, Janna couldn't care less, but they should be fine, right?
After all, things over there have already been resolved.
"Kill Pantheon first!"
Li Ke arrived and immediately shouted.
Although Nasus didn't recognize Li Ke, he saw Li Ke's imposing aura and the weapon he was carrying. Holy crap?!
Nasus's eyes widened as he stared at the pinkish-red greatsword. Although the color was different, he was all too familiar with it.
Isn't that Aatrox?!
He... he actually willingly became someone else's sword?
"Don't chase them all, kill as many as you can!" Jax shouted.
With Janna's help, he lunged forward and delivered a powerful blow, sending a Celestials crashing to the ground.
Li Ke drew his sword, and Aatrox roared with excitement, unleashing a crescent-shaped sword aura that slashed towards Pantheon's back.
Pantheon reacted quickly, flying to the side to dodge Li Ke's attack, but after flying a little, he realized that his speed had slowed down. He glared at Nasus fiercely, Pantheon eyes filled with anger.
Nasus extended his fingers toward Pantheon, releasing Wither magic that suppressed Pantheon's physical abilities.
He agreed with Li Ke's plan: kill as many as possible, but it was impossible to keep them all alive. This place was far too close to Mount Targon; they would definitely be able to escape.
Li Ke appeared in front of the slowed Pantheon, intercepting him and simultaneously slashing down with his sword. The Wuju Blade intent surged forth, adding a touch of green to Aatrox's pink and red skin. Li Ke shouted loudly, "Pantheon, why are you running? Didn't you say you'd kill me the next time we met?"
"Come on, I'll give you that chance!"
"Arrogant! Arrogant fool!" Pantheon's lips trembled with rage. The other Celestials scattered like birds and beasts, but a few were forced to stay.
They were careless. They never expected that after they caused trouble, Li Ke would ignore Bel'Veth's escape and instead launch a direct attack on them.
Damn it, isn't this like playing with fire?!
As for Li Ke, upon hearing Pantheon's angry voice, Li Ke also became angry.
"Screw your arrogance! You're the ones who came here to cause trouble, and now that you've messed things up, you're the ones running away! I'm telling you, do you Targonians really think Runeterra is your backyard?"
"In my opinion, you are the truly arrogant ones! Times have changed. This is no longer the era in which you Celestials are high and mighty, controlling Runeterra!"
With a slash that cut through Pantheon's chest, drawing out a large amount of golden blood, Li Ke lunged forward, and with Janna's support, launched a flying knee strike that landed squarely on Pantheon's chin.
A sharp pain shot through his knee, but the next moment, Janna healed Li Ke's injury. Li Ke then chased after the knocked-back Pantheon, landing on him and thrusting Aatrox straight at his heart.
Pantheon reacted quickly, raising his spear to block the heavy sword, but was knocked to the ground by Li Ke.
With his boots slamming into Pantheon's abdomen, Li Ke, wielding his greatsword in both hands, slammed Pantheon into the ground like a meteor.
Elsewhere, Lissandra summoned several ice coffins and unleashed a massive icy claw made of dark True Ice, pulling a Celestials into one of the coffins. As the Celestials watched in terror, Lissandra's knuckles grew longer, her nails also lengthening. She clasped her hands together, squeezed them tightly, and then twisted them apart.
"No, no!"
The extreme cold emanating from the True Ice instantly froze the Celestials into a block of ice. The next second, he felt his body being torn apart, and upon seeing this, he screamed in terror.
But Lissandra ignored her, muttering, "Break!"
As the sound faded, the ice coffin shattered, along with the Celestials's body. A flash of starlight escaped, but was blocked by another ice coffin after flying only a short distance.
"You can't kill me, witch, witch! You can't! I'm Celestials! If you kill me, our God-King will avenge me!"
"You are stirring up a war between Runeterra and Celestial Realm. Hundreds or even thousands of Celestials will attack Runeterra. You won't be able to withstand it!"
Lissandra frowned upon hearing this, her fingers twitching slightly. She had only imprisoned the Celestials's soul, and after hearing what the other party said, she did hesitate.
The other party wasn't bragging; what he said before he died was true. The Targonians really could summon thousands of Demigod. No matter how united or powerful Runeterra, it was impossible to truly resist the Targonians.
But the next moment, Li Ke's voice rang out.
"Kill!"
Lissandra's pale eyes flickered, and the next moment, with a flick of her fingers, the starry sky suddenly dimmed amidst a sharp whistle of "No." Looking up at the sky from Runeterra, one could see that day had turned into night, and a huge star was twinkling and burning, and then in the next moment...
"Boom!"
The star shattered and exploded, and the voice of the Celestials killed by Lissandra also disappeared.
"Run! Once we reach Mount Targon, it will be our territory!" After escaping some distance, Jia Meng sensed the deaths of his compatriots. His heart pounded like a drum, fear spread, and he fled, burning all his star power.
"Don't listen to what they say, not a single word!" After exchanging hundreds of blows with Pantheon in a short time, Li Ke shouted loudly to all the Demigod present as he was being sent flying by Pantheon.
"The Targonians wouldn't dare to truly destroy Runeterra. If Runeterra were to actually encounter problems, they would be even more afraid and worried than we are!"
Pantheon's eyes narrowed and his expression changed as he fought Li Ke, a change that Li Ke keenly noticed.
"What, do you really think that only you yourselves know what you've done?"
Li Ke looked at Pantheon with amusement, "I know that you stole power from Him and turned the Targonians into the rulers of the stars. Does that surprise you?"
Pantheon finally revealed a look of fear, staring at Li Ke in alarm.
Li Ke knew about Aurelion Sol's existence?!
How is that possible!
This is something that many Celestials within the Targonians don't know!
Seeing Pantheon lose focus, Li Ke slashed at Pantheon's shoulder blade with his heavy sword, attempting to decapitate him in one blow. However, Pantheon regained his senses, tilted his head, and the sword slashed heavily into Pantheon's shoulder blade.
Large patches of flesh tore open, revealing golden star bones, along with a large amount of overflowing golden blood.
"How much longer are you going to stand here like this!"
"Do you really want to see us all die?!"
As death loomed, Pantheon lost all his former majesty. He rolled on the ground like a dog, desperately shouting towards the starry sky as he fled from Li Ke.
The constraints of Runeterra prevented him from using his true abilities, which frustrated him, while the threat of death filled him with fear.
If he had been even a fraction slower to react to Li Ke's attack, his head would have truly been Li Ke off!
The weapon in his hand was no weaker than his own!
That's Aatrox at his peak! Pantheon wouldn't even dare to look at him, let alone fight him!
Just as Pantheon's voice faded, another star twinkled and blazed in the night sky.
"Give me!"
"Die!"
Jax's voice echoed across the sky. Everyone turned to look and saw that Jax was covered in wounds. The most serious wound had exposed his heart in his chest. Jax's heart was purple with charred marks from lightning, but it was still beating strongly.
He was stepping on the corpse of a Celestials, who happened to be the same Celestials who had previously fought Jax and unleashed lightning.
Jax is very vengeful!
Janna quickly appeared beside Jax, placing her hands on Jax body to heal his injuries.
"Li Ke, I've already killed a Celestials. What about you?!"
"What the hell are you dawdling for?!" Jax shouted arrogantly, his mouth bleeding and his chest gaping open, his voice filled with pride and excitement.
He risked his life to save another, and actually killed a Celestials!
"What's the rush? Take a rest, just wait there, and watch me kill Pantheon!" Li Ke laughed loudly as well.
With two Celestials killed in quick succession, Li Ke's morale soared.
Li Ke lunged forward, using Aatrox as a weapon. He mustered his strength, his lungs swelled, and his arm grew in size, unleashing a powerful "Splitting Mount Hua" strike aimed at Pantheon's head.
"Buzz!"
Beyond the starry sky, a massive beam of light struck Aatrox, shielding Pantheon from the attack.
Li Ke felt as if his knife had struck into the mud, making it difficult to exert force, but then an idea suddenly came to him.
After the battle between Freljord and the Ursine, Li Ke had gained considerable combat experience. He was no longer the greenhorn who rigidly followed every move. Therefore, he abandoned his physical strength and instead used the Way of Wuju and the Lotus Rule.
Aatrox's color changed from pink to purplish-white, and the beam of light that had blocked it was instantly sliced through as easily as cutting tofu. Li Ke's slash fell smoothly down to his chest.
"Puff--"
Golden blood splattered onto Li Ke's face. In the night sky, the star belonging to the Aspect of War burned, but strangely, unlike the previous stars that dimmed and shattered after burning, the War Star only dimmed in color and lost its light after burning.
Li Ke looked up and saw a pair of enormous eyes staring at him from above the pillar of light.
Li Ke was speechless for a moment.
Damn it, I beat up the kid, and now the old guy's showing up?
This force was even stronger than Lissandra's, and Lissandra's expression turned serious.
"Xinios," Lissandra said in a low voice.
Xinios, one of the Targonians' god-kings, is also the main adversary of the Serylda.
"Back then, I should have forcibly descended to the Runeterra."
"Your presence will only bring trouble to Runeterra."
An ancient voice resounded deep within everyone's minds, striking their souls like a heavy hammer.
Li Ke grunted. His Soul Strength was already quite powerful. Demigod who didn't specialize in the Spirit Realm couldn't compare to Li Ke in terms of Soul Strength, but even so, Li Ke was still impacted.
Jax, already severely injured, fainted from the shock of that sound.
"With your death as atonement, I will not vent my anger on this planet," the voice said again. At the same time, a hand appeared, a hand that blotted out the sky, falling from beyond the stars as if to seize the entire planet Runeterra.
Lissandra instantly appeared beside Li Ke. Even a fool could tell that Xinios intended to kill Li Ke.
"You're violating the treaty! Ornn won't stand idly by!" Lissandra shouted.
"He didn't have time," Xinios said indifferently.
The giant hand gradually pressed down from the outside of the planet, covering the entire Shurima.
It was as if they wanted to wipe out every living being in Shurima.
In fact, that was exactly what Xinios intended to do.
Humans reproduce easily; even if they are all killed, a new generation will be born here in a few hundred years. As long as the believers on Mount Targon are not affected, Xinios will not care about the lives of others. Moreover, he doesn't care about Mount Targon itself.
Just as the palm broke through the atmosphere and pressed down with firelight, a clear sigh rang out.
"Well"
The voice was gentle, sacred, and tinged with a faint sadness.
The massive hand that was about to destroy Shurima paused, then vanished, and the night sky reappeared.
"You, Soraka!" The usually calm Xinios's voice suddenly became trembling.
"You're actually helping outsiders against us! Have you forgotten that you're also a member of the Targonians?!"
"Xinios said angrily."
His voice responded calmly and gently:
"I have broken away from the Targonians; I am now a part of Runeterra."
"That's enough, Xinios. You were the first to break your promise to Ornn and the Three Sisters, descending to the mortal realm without authorization and disrupting Li Ke's plans. I could turn a blind eye when Myisha descended to the Darkin, because the existence of the Darkin had harmed far too many innocent people. But this time, I can't, because you've actually helped the Void."
"Moreover, with Ornn's arrival, who will quell his anger? The Mount Targon will be thwarted and cease to exist."
"Are they really not important to you?"
On the mountainside of Mount Targon, in a small tribe, outside a tent, a woman with a single horn on her head sat on a rock, holding a small goat in her arms. She raised her head, gazing into those enormous eyes, revealing a beautiful and sacred profile.
Then, her lips moved, and she said again:
"Or do you insist that I step in and stop you?"
"."
"Snort!"
The Big Eyes in the night sky disappeared.
Meanwhile, the pillars of light that stretched across the starry sky atop Mount Targon gradually converged.
Soraka gazed wistfully at Shurima, reached out and stroked the lamb in her arms, then sighed.
Her figure then disappeared.