Ato

"You..." The Furious Greatsword seemed to calm down. "Which old friend from back then are you? Xafix, Xuyuyan, or Tayanali?"

The man thought for a moment. "If I told you I was Rhaast, would you believe me?"

"Rhaast? Hahahahahaha!" The greatsword let out a strange laugh. "You could be anyone, but you'll never be that all-talk, useless fool."

The man spread his hands. "It's hard to explain how I got here. I didn't have a name here originally, but what can I say? When I woke up, I saw a Darkin Weapon with Aatrox's soul sealed inside it."

"Since that's the case, you can call me Ato."

"Whoever you are, even if you've beaten me once in a battle of wills, I'll never become your weapon. I am a holy Celestial Warrior! I am the end of the world!"

Faced with the greatsword's defiance, Ato didn't seem to care. He lowered his head and spoke softly. "Then what if I told you that I'd reveal how to kill you, as long as you became my weapon?"

His voice was so quiet that Sarah, standing nearby, strained to listen but couldn't make out what he said next.

The noisy greatsword fell silent at once.

He suddenly felt like an actor performing an Ancient Opera onstage, while this man was an audience member who had watched the entire story and knew every plot point. He had no secrets from him.

Besides, the words "kill you" held an irresistible appeal for the greatsword. He had been working toward that goal for over a thousand years.

"Look at what you've become. You have to absorb flesh and blood just to piece together a body. How is that appearance any different from a demon? It's nothing but a poor imitation of a Celestial Body."

"You lost your glory and dignity long ago in that endless struggle. A Celestial Warrior? You deserved that title when you protected Shurima's mortals from the Void, but now? No longer."

Ato didn't know whether those words would affect the greatsword. He turned to Sarah and said, "Miss Sarah, please allow me to use your name. It has a better ring to it than a cold nickname, don't you think? This fellow's finally quieted down."

"Maybe I heard something I wasn't supposed to?"

Sarah appeared calm, but inside she was in a panic. The greatsword before her was beyond her understanding, and Ato, its wielder, was certainly not someone she could take on.

Sarah put away her gun to show that she didn't want to fight.

She hadn't understood most of their conversation, but whether it had been intentional or not, Ato's sudden arrival had certainly gotten her out of a bind.

Besides, he definitely wasn't from Bilgewater, let alone connected to the Iron Hook Gang. One look at him told her that—he had no tattoos anywhere on his body, and his features were rather gentle.

"Of course not, Miss Sarah. If you want to leave, please feel free."

Ato recalled the gentlemanly gestures he'd seen in his previous life, so he imitated them.

Ever since arriving in Runeterra, he'd been in a state of constant excitement, completely immersing himself in the game character.

"I've never seen a sword that can talk. Can you make my gun talk, too?" Sarah asked, half joking.

"Sorry to disappoint you again, Miss Sarah. I don't think there are any talking guns in the world, but there are talking scythes or daggers. If you happen to come across one, it's best to keep your distance. That's my sincere advice." Ato smiled.

"I will." Sarah returned a charming smile. "Well..."

"Captain! Are you all right?" Just then, more than a dozen pirates rushed in through the door. The man at their head was burly and sported a thick beard.

The moment they saw that Sarah was unharmed, they trained their guns on Ato, their hearts tightening.

The greatsword looked terrifying, and the unfamiliar man was surely dangerous, too.

Fear gripped every pirate, but even so, they didn't back down. Their captain was only four or five meters away from that man!

The arrival of her crew made Sarah's heart clench. The fame of Bilgeport's greatest bounty hunter might have been dazzling, but she knew all too well that danger could strike at any moment.

The hunter's instincts she'd honed through a life spent at the edge of a blade were blaring a warning: Ato was dangerous. She didn't want the crew who followed her to be wiped out.

"I'm fine, Raven. Don't panic. Put your guns down first."

Facing her crew, Sarah suppressed her unease and spoke in a commanding tone.

"In fact, he just helped me."

Sarah turned and rejoined the others, but the short distance felt incredibly difficult to cross.

Ato hadn't shown any hostility so far, but she believed that if Raven and the others provoked him, her crew would have little chance of leaving the tavern alive. Their numbers meant nothing.

"We can leave, can't we, Mr. Ato?" Sarah had at least learned the man's name from their conversation. "Or do you have some conditions?"

"Remember to bring the door with you. I have some things to discuss with this fellow." Ato glanced at the greatsword, which had been silent for a long while. "Perhaps we'll meet again soon, Miss Sarah."

"Until we meet again." Sarah smiled, then waved her hand. "Let's go."

Sarah and her party left, remembering to shut the tavern door despite the gaping hole in it.

"Captain, who exactly was he...?"

Raven still felt shaken. He even thought he'd witnessed the birth of Bilgewater's fifth terrifying legend that day: a mysterious man bearing a gigantic Demon Sword.

"As First Mate, learning to stay calm is your first lesson."

Sarah felt a little guilty, but quickly concealed it. Striding forward, she headed for the Siren, moored at the Slaughter Docks.

After Sarah and the others left, Ato scratched his head and continued staring down Aatrox's greatsword.

The tavern was in ruins. Not a single sailor was alive, and overturned tables and chairs lay everywhere. This Small Outpost belonging to Gangplank had been utterly destroyed.

Ato searched out a chair that was still mostly intact and waited quietly for the greatsword's answer.

At this point, Ato could actually ignore Aatrox's will and use the Darkin's power as he pleased. That was the nature of a Darkin Weapon.

The former Celestial Warrior now had only his soul, dwelling within the Darkin Weapon. Once he lost a battle of wills against his host, he would lose control over himself.

Two days earlier, not long after Ato had arrived in Runeterra, there had been nothing around him but the ocean.

In a corner of the beach stood a Demon Sword he recognized better than any other. Without hesitation, he went up and gripped its hilt, entering the sword's mental realm.

Ato didn't want to relive the struggle for control. The pain of the Demon Sword cleaving into him was still vivid. He had been only a step away from becoming its puppet.

But Ato had still decided to respect Aatrox's wishes.

Before coming to Runeterra, he'd gone a long time without speaking to anyone.

The only company he had each day was the characters from games. They were all virtual characters created by other people, but he liked them.

"How will you prove that you know how to kill me?"

A hoarse voice came from the sword. Aatrox was the first to break the silence.

He wasn't a bloodthirsty demon king. Rather, he had been tormented by eternal solitude during his centuries of imprisonment, unable to end his own life. Even absorbing the humans who touched the Demon Sword and successfully breaking free hadn't changed his single-minded desire to die.