The Potion's Allure (Part Three)

"Lunge Tyros! In the name of the Piltover Enforcement Department, I'm arresting you! Put your hands behind your back! Don't move!"

Caitlyn aimed her rifle at Lunge's head from a distance. He stopped, but still looked utterly unconcerned, as if he didn't care that the weapon might blow his brains out at any moment.

"Young Master Tyros? Why?"

The guard captain, sprawled on the ground, stared in disbelief, his mouth hanging open.

"If the secrets here get out, the Tyros Family will be finished!"

"Yeah, I suppose. But this was one of the costs, wasn't it? When you were counting on those potions to make you rise to the top, did you never consider that they might also send you plunging into the depths with no way back? Heh heh heh. Risk and opportunity have always gone hand in hand."

"Are you insane?"

"Insane? No, no. I just think this is kind of interesting. Hahaha."

Lunge wore a brilliant smile, as if he didn't care in the least about his family's plight. The guard captain, by contrast, was utterly stunned. He couldn't understand what had gotten into the young master. The Tyros Family was something he, an outsider, had been ready to protect with his life, yet the young master had sold it out without a second thought. Nearby, Ling Ying lowered her blade for the moment and watched the scene with Caitlyn—the two sides tearing into each other.

"Do you think that's really Lunge Tyros?"

"No. Definitely not."

Caitlyn shook her head so vigorously it was like a rattle.

"I've met him a few times before. He was a frivolous guy who couldn't walk past a pretty girl without stopping to stare..."

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I nearly forgot we have two lovely ladies visiting us."

As Ling Ying and Caitlyn exchanged their thoughts, Lunge Tyros suddenly turned his gaze toward them.

"Might I ask if you'd care to move to another room and have a cup of hot tea?"

"I have no interest in sitting down for tea with someone in disguise."

Ling Ying stared at the frivolous-looking man before her and gave a cold laugh.

"Tell me, who are you really?"

"Oh?"

Lunge put on an infuriating expression.

"Does it matter?"

"Hmph."

Ling Ying gave a cold laugh and swung Purple Moon forward in a swift slash. Its sharp blade swept through him, passing straight through his body.

"A mere illusion? Tch. A coward who only dares hide behind it."

"Hahaha. It hurts to hear my spell called such a crude trick. But never mind. I'm more interested in seeing what you can do. Give me another demonstration, won't you? Let me think... With so many 'masterpieces' here, it'd be a waste to leave them to the unappreciative people of Piltover. Why not let them serve one last purpose?"

"Lunge" snapped his fingers with a grin. At his gesture, every indicator light on the Incubation Pods in the lab turned red, and alarms began blaring.

"Low pressure detected. Incubation Pods opening. Stabilizing agent has failed. Staff, evacuate to a safe distance."

The mechanical, monotonous alarm sounded like a death sentence to the researchers who hadn't yet escaped. Nobody knew better than they did how terrifying the monsters inside those pods were. Yet when they frantically pressed the switches by the door and nothing happened, despair crept across every face.

"Gaaagh."

A creature with a bloated torso and severely withered limbs tumbled out of an Incubation Pod. Its round eyes darted about before fixing on the ashen-faced researchers by the door. Its balloon-like belly suddenly contracted and expanded, spraying a great mass of viscous purple liquid over the unlucky group. The moment the phlegm-like fluid touched their skin, white smoke rose, dissolving their flesh, bones, and skin. Elsewhere, a giant with arms as thick as basins crashed into several researchers, then casually smashed two lucky ones into meat patties. In an instant, the entire lab became a massive arena for beasts. Only here, the spectators and the beasts were locked in the same cage.

Ling Ying drew a deep breath and spoke to Caitlyn.

"Get behind me."

"Huh?"

Caitlyn started to ask, but when she saw the scorching flames rising from the blade of Ling Ying's scythe, she quickly understood. She ducked behind Ling Ying. In the next instant, surging Void Flames burst from the blade and swept through the entire lab, swallowing every deformed monster rampaging about, along with those that hadn't yet crawled out. After a string of shrill screams, the flames died away. The lab was suddenly much emptier. The mutants and their Incubation Pods alike had been reduced to ashes, with only a handful of unopened pods spared. The researchers, who had been wailing for their mothers and fathers, looked at Ling Ying with nearly as much fear as before.

"Go outside and call for reinforcements from the Enforcement Department."

Ling Ying turned to Caitlyn.

"This is going to become a big deal again. The remaining facilities and surviving researchers should be enough evidence to charge the Tyros Family. Get your people here as soon as possible and secure the scene."

"Oh... Okay... What about you?"

"Me... I need to meet that strange fellow."

Following the magic in the air, Ling Ying passed through several doors and saw a Magic Gate set abruptly into the wall. Its slowly swirling magical light looked completely out of place against the alloy walls. After a moment's thought, she stepped through the rippling gate. A chill swept over her.

"Caw, caw..."

Two black ravens flew side by side over Ling Ying's head, then vanished into a starless, moonless night sky. Below it lay a dark, silent forest. Tiny blue flames, like will-o'-the-wisps, gathered among the trees, forming a crooked path that stretched deep into the woods. Ling Ying followed the trail of ghostly lights. As she walked, the trees on either side gradually thinned. Before long, she reached an open grassy clearing. A round table stood on the soft green grass, and an elegant woman sat on one side, arranging the tea things.

"Sit."

The woman didn't seem to be speaking to anyone in particular, but there was clearly no one else in the space. Ling Ying didn't hesitate. She walked over and sat across from her. Purple Moon continued floating a few dozen centimeters away, ready to defend her against the seemingly harmless woman.

"Tea?"

Before Ling Ying could answer, a teacup abruptly appeared on the table, along with steaming red tea poured into it.

Ling Ying glanced down at the cup but didn't reach for it. Instead, she looked the woman over. The woman was stunningly beautiful, with delicate brows, bright eyes, and pearly teeth. Her long hair was pure white. Unlike Ling Ying's artificially altered hair color, the woman's locks looked as natural as freshly fallen snow. Her fitted black dress, decorated with feather-like patterns and tassels, contrasted with her hair and gave her an even more mysterious air.

"What is it? Do I remind you of someone?"

"Not really."

Ling Ying shook her head.

"I just think you look a little different from what I'd expect of a mastermind."

"Ah, what a shame. I thought returning to this body, which I haven't used in nearly a century, might make someone remember something. Seems I was just imagining things."

The woman muttered something that didn't quite fit the conversation and looked troubled. But in the blink of an eye, her face settled back into its former calm.

"Never mind. Since you came, take this."

As she spoke, the woman placed a vial filled with Fluorescent Purple Liquid on the tea table.

"Shimmer, a little Zaunite invention. It can greatly enhance the body's functions for a short time. The Tyros Family's New Potion is just this stuff mixed in. In the short term, hmm, it really can work like a miracle drug. Over the long term, it's likely to cause severe addiction and complications. But sometimes, staying alive matters more. Don't you agree?"

"What?"

Ling Ying glanced at the potion on the table, her voice icy. The woman's actions were unexpected, but the horrific scenes Ling Ying had witnessed in the lab made it impossible for her to feel any goodwill toward her.

"You think handing this over will clear you of guilt? Don't be so naive."

"Clear me of guilt?"

The woman giggled as if she'd heard something hilarious.

"I only took advantage of the Tyros Family's Young Master to spread the word about Shimmer through him. Who could blame me when that old man, so eager to restore his family's fortunes, took the bait at once?"

"Don't try to twist the truth."

"No, I have no need to defend myself."

The woman swirled her teacup and narrowed her eyes.

"Do you really think the Tyros Family are victims? Heh. Use your head. What does it mean when they have an underground research facility on this scale and maintain long-term ties with mercenaries who kidnap people? The fact is, the Tyros Family had already been using Bottom City's civilians for Illegal Medical Experiments. As Piltover's pharmaceutical giant, it was far more efficient than spending money to recruit the pitifully few volunteers—and they didn't even need to worry about ethics. Tsk, I can't help admiring that old man's clever scheme. Still, I have to admit I'm a little surprised. A Void Creature came all this way to ask me why I slaughter innocents? Hahaha. That may be the funniest thing I've heard in decades."

"Whoosh!"

The scythe swept in with a gust of wind. This time, Ling Ying didn't hesitate. She didn't know who the woman really was, or how she knew Ling Ying's secret. Since she couldn't figure it out, the best solution was to kill her on the spot. Ling Ying wasn't some saint. If someone threatened her, she didn't mind drawing blood. But Purple Moon never struck the woman. She continued sipping her tea at ease, while Ling Ying's scythe was stopped in midair by a black pincerlly limb, as thick as a washbasin and covered in strange patterns.

"I told you, LeBlanc. Stop using us as a shield."

As Ling Ying stared in shock at the sudden change, the air beside the white-haired woman rippled and a portal spread open. A beautiful woman in a Gorgeous Feather Cloak stepped out and stood behind the white-haired woman.

"It makes her very unhappy."

"Gaaagh!"

As if to prove her point, a huge spider head covered in brown hair crawled out of the Magic Gate the woman had just come through. It let out a threatening growl at the white-haired woman. An ordinary woman would have fainted at the sight of such a gigantic spider, but there wasn't anyone ordinary here. The white-haired woman set down her teacup and calmly replied,

"Can't you just hunt a few more unfortunate souls to make her happy again? Relax, dear Miss Elise."

"Damn it... What I mean is..."

The woman who'd just appeared began bickering with the white-haired woman. Hearing their names, Ling Ying felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her.

"Elise... LeBlanc? No way. Noxus? The Black Rose? What the hell?"

Ling Ying realized that she had a knack for turning things into a huge mess. Otherwise, how could she explain that investigating a Piltover family had led to two figures with such infamous reputations in Noxus?

"So?"

While Ling Ying was still trying to untangle the mess in her head, Elise seemed to have finished her idle chatter. She turned her gaze toward Ling Ying. The many pairs of compound eyes on the spider's head turned toward her as well. Both sets of eyes scrutinized her like prey, making Ling Ying's hand tremble around Purple Moon.

"She's stronger than me."

From a single glance, Ling Ying's instincts had already reached that conclusion. As for the woman sitting nearby, whose appearance was nothing like LeBlanc's in the game, Ling Ying couldn't even sense how strong she was.

"Is she the person you went to all this trouble to come to Piltover to find?"

"Not exactly."

LeBlanc stood from the tea table and brushed off her skirt. There was a trace of regret in her voice.

"It seems I expected too much. Reality so rarely lives up to expectations."

"Oh."

Elise replied coldly. In the next instant, the look she gave Ling Ying changed from one of scrutiny to one of intense killing intent.

"Then there's no need to keep her alive."

As soon as she finished speaking, a vast cloud of black mist billowed around Elise. Then countless dark red eyes lit up one by one within it, and a hair-raising rustling sound filled the entire space.

"Shit!"

The usually ladylike Ling Ying finally swore for the first time since arriving in this other world. She had to let it out, or she might not get another chance. She retreated to the edge of the grassy clearing, while purple cracks spread over her skin. A brilliant purple arc lit up along Purple Moon's blade. She was drawing on the Void Power in her body, hoping to match Elise's Shadow Power, which looked like nothing to mess with. Even if she couldn't, she would fight to the death.

Countless round heads emerged from the black mist around Elise. They were tiny black spiders. The surging swarm poured out of the mist and immediately rushed toward Ling Ying. The sight made Ling Ying's scalp crawl; she already had a visceral aversion to bugs. But with her life at stake, she forced down her revulsion and swung her scythe. A crescent of cutting force howled through the swarm, killing a large number of the tiny spiders in an instant. Moments later, the cutting force suddenly exploded. Surging Void Flames rose from the ground, forming walls of fire that split the massive swarm apart.

"Chitter, chitter!"

A spider with red patterns on its shell waved its legs and mandibles at the Void Flames in front of it, then charged headlong into the blaze. Naturally, that was the end of it. Ling Ying's Void Flames weren't especially powerful, but they were more than enough to vaporize these little things. Elise merely sneered at Ling Ying's move. The black mist around her suddenly spread again, engulfing Ling Ying's ring of flames and the trapped spiders in an instant. The next second, the mist dispersed. The spider swarm was unharmed, while the Void Flames had gone out without a trace.

Ling Ying stared in disbelief. Had Elise devoured them? Assimilated them? She'd stolen Ling Ying's Void Flames through some unfathomable means. Worse, it seemed as easy as breathing for her.

"Oh? The power of the Void. No wonder LeBlanc thought you were the same person. But if that's all you can do..."

Elise spread her slender fingers and shot out several dense strands of White Silk, binding a cluster of spiders at her feet. Then she flung them at Ling Ying like a shot-put.

"Whoosh!"

A dozen round-bodied spiders traced an arc through the air before accelerating toward the ground. Ling Ying held her scythe sideways, ready to cut them down, but just before they struck, they suddenly vanished into black mist with a bang. After a few breaths, they reappeared somewhere else. As for the spot where Ling Ying had been standing...

"Boom!"

The airborne spiders exploded, and a powerful shock wave swept through the entire clearing. Dark purple poison splattered everywhere.

"Hiss!"

Ling Ying suddenly felt a sharp pain in her arm. She'd been splashed by the poison, which had a surprisingly large blast radius. As it quickly ate through her skin, she gritted her teeth, grabbed Purple Moon, and cut away the flesh, flinging it aside. Within seconds, the part that had touched the poison had been eaten away in midair, leaving no trace.

"Close one!"

Just as she felt a flicker of relief, unaware that a huge mass of black mist had silently gathered high above her back, it condensed. The enormous spider that had peeked out of the Magic Gate earlier dropped rapidly on a strand of webbing. Its tree-trunk-thick pincers plunged toward Ling Ying's body.

"Clang!"

Mother Spider's strike sent sparks flying. Ling Ying clearly hadn't been entirely unaware of what was behind her. She'd finally sensed the danger as the attack began, turned, and raised Purple Moon to block the pincers. The gigantic spider was incredibly strong. Still recovering from Elise's earlier attack, Ling Ying could only hold them back for the moment. So she decided to repeat her earlier trick and summoned black mist to teleport away.

"?"

Ling Ying stared in bewilderment as the black mist she'd summoned ignored her and rushed toward the cloud of black mist behind the giant spider. Her grip slackened. Mother Spider seized the opening and slammed down, driving its pincers past Purple Moon's guard and deep into Ling Ying's shoulder. The piercing pain twisted Ling Ying's face. Purple Moon slipped from her grasp, struck the ground, and vanished in a flash of light.

"Gaaagh!"

The giant spider raised Ling Ying high above its head, impaled on its pincers. Its terrifying mouthparts opened, sending a foul stench washing over her. Clearly, it meant to eat her. In its eyes, Ling Ying had lost her weapon and was under its control, leaving her powerless to resist. It hadn't realized, however, that Ling Ying didn't actually need a weapon other than her own body.

"You bastard! You want to eat me?!"

Just as Ling Ying seemed to give up, a savage fury suddenly blazed in her eyes. The purple cracks instantly spread across her entire body, and then they really did "split" open. Purple flesh rapidly grew from them, quickly covering her delicate skin. Amid a series of cracking sounds, Ling Ying's humanoid body began to twist and warp. In a moment, a purple beast resembling a giant Kha'Zix had replaced the lovely girl. Its wing cases vibrated with a buzzing sound as it let out a shrill cry.

For an instant, Elise froze. Mother Spider went still as well, but LeBlanc merely smiled with interest.

"Now that's interesting."

The transformed Ling Ying snarled a warning at the giant spider holding her. Her pair of razor-sharp scythe-like blades crossed and slashed at its wide-open mouth. Caught off guard, Mother Spider took the blow head-on. Foul-smelling blood burst out, and a deep cross-shaped gash opened on its glossy black head.

"Rooar!"

Mother Spider let out a strange cry. Its pincers released Ling Ying at once, flailing wildly in the air. Ling Ying, now fired up for battle by her transformation, didn't let the opportunity go to waste. She opened her saw-toothed jaws, bit down on half of Mother Spider's head, then jerked back and tore away a huge chunk of flesh.

Mother Spider's body shuddered as it let out a shrill screech. It ran backward on all eight legs. Elise, standing not far away, knew that Mother Spider was furious—and because she was so closely connected to it, Elise was furious too. The black mist around her gathered into a Black Tide and surged toward Ling Ying.

Ling Ying either didn't care about the disturbance behind her or hadn't noticed it at all. In any case, she showed no intention of dodging. She pressed Mother Spider as it retreated, her arm blades swinging wildly and swiftly, adding several bloody gashes to its carapace, though she failed to do any further damage. Mother Spider was clearly more than just a fearsome appearance. After its initial panic, it quickly found its footing against Ling Ying's fierce but erratic assault. Its eight limbs were no less formidable than her blades, and each clash sent sparks flying. Suddenly, Mother Spider's lower body contracted, and a dense mass of webbing burst from its abdomen, engulfing Ling Ying from the front. As expected, Ling Ying cut through the webbing with a few quick swings. But the moment she emerged from the tangled mass, Mother Spider's enormous body leaped into the air and crashed down with crushing force. Ling Ying desperately beat her wings to retreat, forgetting in her panic that the Black Tide was behind her.

"It hurts..."

Elise's Black Tide swept over her, vast and all-consuming. Countless humanoid shadows took shape in the surging tide. Who knew how many people—or how many hands—reached out to seize Ling Ying, their voices whispering in a way that sent chills down the spine, trying to drag her into the shadows with them. Ling Ying dodged left and right. Blades flashed, shattering countless shadowy figures that tried to trap her, but she was hopelessly outnumbered. In an instant, she lost all mobility. Mother Spider, which had been waiting for its chance, quickly advanced on the trapped Ling Ying and swung down all eight razor-sharp limbs. Purple blood, a different color from its own, sprayed everywhere. Ling Ying's forelimbs were severed at the roots, then sank silently among the shadows and disappeared.

"Elise! Don't let her get away! I'm going to devour her body and torment her soul!"

Mother Spider's vicious voice rang out in Elise's mind. It circled Ling Ying once, then suddenly sprayed her with a mass of black webbing. Elise had seen this strangely colored webbing many times. It was formed from Mother Spider's Shadow Power and used to capture the prey it fancied. The webbing could rapidly turn its victims into part of the shadows, after which Mother Spider could devour and absorb them. In Elise's memory, not a single creature Mother Spider had taken a liking to had ever escaped its grasp. That included Void Creatures, a race born for battle. After all, the prey were simply too weak to resist the Shadow Power Mother Spider had accumulated over countless years.

The vivid purple hue of Ling Ying's carapace quickly faded beneath the dark webbing, and wisps of black mist began to rise from her. She convulsed with a shrill cry, twisting left and right in an effort to escape the webbing. But it seemed to drain her life, weakening her struggles more and more. At last, she lowered her long head and stopped moving, as if she'd accepted her fate and could no longer move.

Mother Spider prodded Ling Ying with one of its forelimbs. When she didn't react, it gave a satisfied cry and prepared to enjoy its prey. It eagerly opened its huge mouthparts, and then...

"That's enough."

LeBlanc, who had been watching calmly for a long time, suddenly looked at Mother Spider and spoke two words. But Mother Spider had already brought its prey to its mouth. It didn't listen. Its enormous jaws were about to close, when suddenly it froze in place. The massive Mother Spider had become a fearsome statue, mouth agape, unable to bite down on the prey right in front of it.

Elise gave LeBlanc a wary look. She knew LeBlanc must have done something. LeBlanc still wore the same expressionless face. The only difference was that she had finally set down her teacup. Its rippling surface reflected not the bright moon over the forest, but a shadowy, bizarre world.