The Underground: What She Saw

The Underworld sounded like a place found only in myths and legends. But in Runeterra, it was actually close to the world of the living—so close that it lay beneath the Noxian capital, home to tens of thousands. An emperor of the past, who had lived for a thousand years, refused to fade with time. Instead, he had transformed his army and subjects into undead, and they had lain dormant underground for a thousand years, waiting for the day they could restore the glory of their empire.

Ling Ying warily observed her surroundings, even though all she could see was crimson. At the same time, she wondered why LeBlanc had pushed her through the Gate of the Underworld. Was she trying to kill her? That was Ling Ying's first thought, but she quickly dismissed it. If LeBlanc had simply wanted her dead, she could have done it long ago; there would have been no need to waste so much time and effort on everything that came afterward. Though they hadn't known each other long, Ling Ying knew that LeBlanc was as hard to fathom as her ever-changing face. No matter how incomprehensible her actions seemed, she always had some goal in mind. She never acted on a whim. Still, Ling Ying couldn't yet see what LeBlanc was after. The only thing she could be sure of was that LeBlanc had deep ties to this Underworld kingdom.

"Forget it. There's no point thinking about it."

Ling Ying shook her head with a wry smile. At that moment, she was being carried along by a strange current, forced to drift forward like a leaf caught in a mighty river. After traveling with the current for who knew how long, the view before her suddenly opened up, revealing a vast landscape. A great river rushed through it. On its banks stood a city—a blood-red city. Towering crimson palaces and buildings stretched beyond sight, along with a city wall that dominated the landscape. Its immense height was crowned with neat rows of battlements and towers, and she could just make out the metal armor lined up along the top. Ling Ying knew those were Soul Armors, the same ones Du Couteau had summoned into the world above. At a glance, there were thousands of them on the wall. Just a dozen or so of these things had nearly broken through the Trifarian Legion's formation. If every one of these Soul Armors were unleashed... Ling Ying shuddered at the thought. Her gaze drifted down from the top of the wall to the strange-colored land beneath it. There, countless tiny black dots moved about. Looking closer, she saw they were undead, all hard at work. Unlike the ones she'd seen before, they had no weapons or armor. Some wore nothing at all, while others had a few tattered strips of cloth hanging from them. They carried battered farming tools—hoes, shovels, and the like—and mechanically swung them without pause, as if tilling the land. As the current carried her closer to the wall, Ling Ying noticed they weren't growing ordinary crops. They were cultivating red crystals. The crystals looked somewhat like Soulstones, but differed greatly in detail. One group of undead dug deep holes and buried tiny crystals, while another dug up larger ones as if harvesting potatoes. They piled them beside the road, where they waited for tall undead horses to haul them away on carts and carry them into the city.

"Splash!"

Ling Ying plunged into the great river she'd seen earlier. It seemed the invisible current had been a tributary. She sent up a spray of rust-colored water, drawing the attention of some of the undead working nearby. They turned around and looked about with their faceless heads, but their gazes never stopped in Ling Ying's direction. She couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe the Underworld aura LeBlanc put on me hasn't worn off yet.

Suddenly, an urgent bell rang from atop the city wall. The massive iron main gate swung open, and a whole line of Undead Knights charged out of the city, radiating a murderous air. They galloped straight toward the wilderness beyond the walls. Behind them came tens of thousands of Nether Soldiers and ranks upon ranks of Soul Armors. They marched at a run, following the Undead Knights in the same direction.

"What's this? Are they going to war?"

Ling Ying curiously watched the large force of Underworld soldiers rush past her. An army of this size hadn't been brought out for a stroll. They could only be heading into battle. But this was the Underworld Army's own territory. Who were they fighting? What could be so dangerous that they were treating it as a major threat? As far as Ling Ying could tell, if this army were brought into the world above, even ten more Trifarian Legions wouldn't be enough to defeat it. And Noxus didn't have ten Trifarian Legions to begin with.

Ling Ying watched. Fortunately, the Underworld Army continued along the direction of the iron-colored river, making it easy for her to follow behind and observe their march. After they had traveled for some time, she suddenly sensed something familiar.

"What is this...?"

Ling Ying stared in confusion as the wilderness beside the river gradually darkened from crimson to a deeper shade. As they went farther, the land took on a strange reddish-purple hue. She looked into the distance. The entire horizon was steeped in an eerie purple, and a giant eye-like rift hovered in the sky, pouring down streams of purple that spread the color across the earth.

"The Void..."

Ling Ying's face was full of disbelief.

"How could it be... here?"

While she was still reeling, the Underworld Army had reached the Void Rift. The Void on the other side responded in turn. A skin-crawling rustle sounded as countless Void Bugs burrowed out of the ground, gathering into a purple tide that surged toward the Underworld Army. The Undead Knights were the first to meet the swarm. In unison, they leveled their lances and accelerated. A massive surge of astonishing energy gathered around them, swelling until it enveloped every knight. Like a spearhead piercing through enemy lines, they slammed straight into the swarm, crushing every Void Bug beneath their hooves.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

The air filled with the sound of arrows. The Nether Soldiers in the rear drew their bows and loosed a sky-darkening volley. Countless Void Bugs were riddled with arrows before they could reach the front lines. After several volleys, the archers fell back, and the Soul Armors advanced to the front. They swung their spiked hammers and studded clubs, smashing the bugs into heaps of pulp. The Underworld Army steadily pressed forward. Just as Ling Ying began to think it had the upper hand, a chorus of beastly roars came from the rear of the Void swarm. A mass of bizarre Void Creatures burst from the ground. The Void Behemoths, over ten meters tall and bearing four pairs of massive bone scythes, charged once and shattered the Undead Knights' formation. Then came numerous Void Creatures with enormous wings, gliding low over the ground like giant manta rays. They spat gobs of slime at the Nether Soldiers below, turning many of the archers to ash in an instant. Most terrifying of all were the enormous, tentacled eyeballs floating behind the Void Creatures. They suddenly fired several thick particle beams, which shot straight through the battle lines and into the Underworld Army. The purple beams swept through the ranks with world-shattering force. Even the tough Soul Armors were torn to pieces by the attack. The Underworld Army had lost. The battle seemed to have been decided in an instant.

"So this is... the power of the Void..."

Ling Ying stared, somewhat dazed, at the Void Behemoths pursuing the Underworld Army. She wondered whether she would survive if she ran into creatures like these. So absorbed was she that she failed to notice the iron-colored river ahead had dried up beneath the piled-up remains of Void Creatures. Only when the last ripples of its iron-gray waters swept her onto a damp purple riverbank, then could no longer carry her onward, did she realize.

"Hm?"

Ling Ying lowered her head and ran her hand over the ground beneath her feet. It felt soft—not like soil, but more like organic matter. The sensation passed into her palm as if the earth beneath her were alive. Strangely, that didn't make her uncomfortable. It gave her a sense of familiarity instead.

"No, no."

Ling Ying vigorously shook her head, trying to dispel the strange feeling. Then she stood and looked around. She was in a vast expanse of purple. The only things that broke up the view were the distant Void Rift and the twisted, bizarre growths that stood on the ground around it. She glanced behind her and confirmed the iron river couldn't take her back. Then she began to study the rift ahead.

"Maybe that's a way out."

That was what she thought, because she was sure she couldn't turn back. Even if she did, she wouldn't be able to escape this Underworld. And the Void... seemed far more familiar than this blood-red land. What was more, she could vaguely feel something deep within her body being drawn toward something inside the Void Rift, like a bee drawn to a flower. She couldn't help wanting to go to the rift.

"Whatever. If I fail, I'll die either way."

After hesitating for a while, Ling Ying finally steeled herself and headed toward the Void Rift.

"Gah!"

She hadn't taken two steps when a Void Bug suddenly sprang out of the ground. The half-human-sized creature sniffed as it circled her, then suddenly spread its clawed blades and lunged. In the heat of the moment, Ling Ying raised the Duskblade she had just acquired and slashed at the Void Bug's head.

"Crack!"

The Duskblade's brilliant crimson edge cut through the Void Bug's skull without resistance, severing its head from its body. The Void Creature's tenacious vitality still had it thrashing around, but Ling Ying knew it was bound to die. She looked at the Duskblade, now stained with blood. The curved blade quivered, then released an invisible pulse. The next moment, Ling Ying was startled to find that her body had vanished from her sight.

"What is this?"

Ling Ying raised her hands and clenched them into fists. Though she couldn't see them, the sensation told her she hadn't vanished from the world. She had merely disappeared from view.

"I can't see myself... invisibility?"

Ling Ying finally remembered something. She looked toward the Duskblade in her hand, recalled how Talon had mysteriously vanished during their several clashes, and then remembered the Duskblade's ability from the League of Legends game she'd played long ago.

"So it really is... invisibility. The Duskblade's passive!"

She had thought it was nothing more than a slightly sharper dagger. She hadn't expected it to work much like it did in the game. The discovery left Ling Ying slightly exhilarated and gave her a little more confidence as she looked toward the Void Rift.