Deep within the underground palace

Katarina wielded her twin daggers with blinding speed, leaving afterimages in her wake as their curved blades traced sinuous paths through the air. Like a viper hunting, she struck without warning, delivering a vicious bite.

"Talon! You've grown weak."

Katarina peered through the scattering sparks at the man before her. His hood was pulled so low she couldn't clearly make out his expression. This irked her, as she felt he wasn't taking their fight seriously. In fact, it seemed that way; ever since she'd attacked, Talon had only been defending passively. For two assassins of similar skill, this was almost unheard of, yet Katarina couldn't break through Talon's defense. Every time she was about to land a blow, Talon would swing his dark red, curved short blade and block her attacks in a way she found unbelievable.

"Draktharr's Shadowknife, you don't deserve it, Talon."

Katarina gritted her teeth, staring at the short blade in Talon's hand. It was once her father Du Couteau's treasure, and in her eyes, it should have belonged to her. That was until her disobedience led to her father's wrath. That legendary weapon was then bestowed upon Talon as a testament to his loyalty.

"Perhaps."

For the first time since their fight began, Talon responded to Katarina.

"It's a fine blade, but isn't it also just a bone tossed to a loyal dog by its master?"

Talon's words baffled Katarina, causing her daggers to pause. Talon immediately blurred and retreated out of Katarina's combat range, landing on an open space several meters away. He then said, somewhat out of the blue, "Aren't you going to see your father? Perhaps you still have time to see his final moments as a human."

"Heh? Nice words. Do you really think you'll just let us pass?"

Ling Ying interjected at the opportune moment, drawing Talon's gaze and eliciting an unexpected reply.

"I will."

"?"

Everyone was stunned. Only Katarina let out a sneering laugh.

"Heh, a joke. Is this how you show your loyalty, Talon?"

"I am loyal to Du Couteau and his family."

Talon's tone was utterly flat, as if he wasn't doing anything that would damage his reputation.

"But when he transforms into an indescribable monster for his mad obsession, bringing demons from another world into this reality, I think it's better to remain loyal to my own human heart."

"Enough. I've said all I'm going to say. If any of you still want to fight, I'm happy to oblige. However, if you wish to pass through here, I won't stop you. That's all."

"Alright! I'll fight you! I'll have a great battle with you... Mmph mmph mmph..."

Samira raised her greatsword, ready to leap, but Ling Ying decisively threw a shadow at her face.

"You'd best stay quiet."

"Hmph, let's go."

Katarina snorted, sheathed her twin daggers, and strode forward.

"Next time, I will definitely get back all the humiliation I suffered before. Remember that!"

"Talon! You wild dog! You betrayed me too!"

As Ling Ying and the others passed through the passage unimpeded and entered the main hall, Du Couteau's curses echoed throughout the entire underground palace. Alas, all he could do now was wag his tongue. To activate the Soulstone, he had used his physical body as the foundation. The price was that his body had already transformed into a mass of hideous, twisted flesh, with only a ferocious face staring fiercely at the approaching crowd.

"Oh, General Couteau, long time no see. How have you been recently?"

LeBlanc bowed respectfully to the monstrous Du Couteau before her, provoking him into a torrent of abuse.

"You son of a bitch! I should have killed you the moment I had the chance! Uprooted your damned organization..."

"Alright, alright, Lord General."

LeBlanc ignored his curses and unceremoniously stomped on the only remaining face he had.

"What did he promise you to make you fight so desperately? Hmm? It couldn't be the authority of Noxus, could it? Look at what you've turned yourself into for that nonexistent hope. Using the power of the underworld always comes with a price, Lord General, and that price is often far more expensive than what you gain. And you, by abandoning everything, have gained nothing but empty bubbles..."

"No! You bitch! Shut up!"

"Don't rush, I'm just finishing up. You just need to know that no matter what the guy underground promised you, it will come to nothing, because I will sever his tentacles reaching into the ground, one by one, just like I'm doing to you now. Alright, you can make your move."

After speaking, LeBlanc stepped aside, and Katarina stepped forward, her light red Eyes showing no emotion.

"Father, this is the last time I will call you that."

"I should kill you too! I shouldn't have shown mercy back then!"

Du Couteau roared like a madman.

"You ants! Do you think you can deal with me! Ah..."

Katarina swung the dagger in her hand towards that face. Du Couteau's shouting abruptly stopped. The twisted flesh that formed his body convulsed, spitting out a blood-red gem. The gem slowly rose, seemingly trying to escape, but before it could float to the height of the underground palace ceiling, a projectile of energy caught up to it, blowing it into scattered points of light.

"Is that it?"

Ling Ying spun the Hextech gunblade in her hand stylishly.

"Ah, yes."

LeBlanc narrowed her eyes slightly as she watched the points of light in the air. Suddenly, the points of light converged, then rapidly expanded into a giant sphere, swallowing everything around it.

"Whoa!"

Ling Ying was startled and immediately activated her black mist, retreating backward. The others, seeing the unfavorable situation, also retreated. The moment they retreated, the blood-colored sphere let out a deafening roar and rapidly contracted inward. In an instant, the blood sphere disappeared, leaving only a circular pit several meters wide in its place. The surrounding ground and walls had eerily vanished.

"What is this?"

As the blood sphere vanished, Ling Ying boldly walked to the edge of the deep pit and peered inside. A blood-red rift suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes, like a giant, opened eye. Yet, the only thing visible within was a sliver of scarlet.

"Gate of the Underworld. Cross here, and you'll be in the Underworld."

LeBlanc smiled at everyone, but her words made them all instinctively take a few steps back.

"Didn't you say you had it handled? How come..."

"Calm down, here, look."

LeBlanc pointed to the sky as she spoke. Ling Ying followed her gaze and saw, through her magical vision, a large number of dark red, soul-like objects surging from all directions, converging into that giant eye.

"The Soulstone has been destroyed. Visitors from the Underworld will be banished from this world."

"The Underworld... huh?"

Not far from Ling Ying and the others, Talon watched everything unfold silently. When the Gate of the Underworld appeared, he couldn't help but sigh.

"General, you once said that an assassin who disobeys orders is trash to be discarded. But what is a person if they don't even value their own humanity?"

Talon looked at the dark red Duskblade in his hand. After a long while, he suddenly chuckled dryly.

"Forget it. My master is dead, so this piece of bone should go with him."

Talon suddenly raised his hand, swung his arm in a wide arc, and forcefully hurled the Duskblade towards the Gate of the Underworld.

Talon cast one last glance at the Duskblade tumbling away from him, then turned and vanished into the depths of the passage.

"It's a good knife, a shame it's not suited for a true assassin."

"Huh?"

The sound of a sharp object cutting through the air from behind made Ling Ying instinctively dodge to the side. But when she saw the dark red short blade that had been in Talon's hand whizzing past her, her heart stirred.

"Hey!"

She instinctively reached out to grab it, but only managed to grasp the pommel of the Duskblade. Seeing the object about to fly into the Gate of the Underworld, she instantly used Shadow Step to flash in front of it.

"Gotcha!"

Ling Ying easily extended her hand and intercepted the Duskblade plummeting towards the Gate of the Underworld. The moment her hand touched the short blade, the blade suddenly vibrated strangely. This peculiar reaction stunned Ling Ying for a few seconds. When she came to her senses, she was already close to the Gate of the Underworld, directly above it.

"Damn it!"

Without hesitation, Ling Ying instantly activated Shadow Step, leaving behind a cloud of wispy black mist. The next second, she appeared at the edge of the deep pit. Looking at the Gate of the Underworld, which was only a few centimeters below her feet, cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

"That was close..."

She breathed a sigh of relief inwardly, but before she could fully catch her breath, a hand from behind pushed her forward, causing her to lose her balance and fall into the deep pit.

"?"

As she fell, Ling Ying struggled to turn her head back, looking at LeBlanc behind her with disbelief. LeBlanc stood by the edge of the deep pit, her hand still in the motion of pushing, a smile on her face whose meaning was unclear.