Freljord

Off the eastern coast of Freljord.

"We can only go this far. We've already used half our fuel. If we don't turn back now, we won't make it to the harbor we chose earlier," Raven reported gravely to Sarah inside the Captain's Cabin.

"This is enough. We can cover the remaining hundred miles in a small boat." Ato didn't mind, though he had indeed misjudged the situation.

Noxus was expanding far faster than he had imagined. Several settlements that had once belonged to Freljord were already under Noxian control, forcing them to travel much farther north.

And without any Yordles aboard, the winds hadn't been as favorable. At times, they'd even had to sail directly into a headwind.

With their fuel more than half gone, they had no choice but to cover the remaining distance in one of the small boats aboard the Leviathan.

Sarah understood that this was their only option. Personally, she wanted to get Ato all the way to shore.

But she couldn't. She was the captain of the Leviathan and the Siren, and dozens of loyal crew members followed her. She couldn't gamble with their lives.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ato. We can't take you all the way."

"Why apologize? I should be thanking you instead. You brought me all the way from Bilgewater to the far north, and I can't even afford to pay your fare... Ryze even gave you a lot of gold."

"Please don't say that. You protected all of us during the Harrowing, and you gave us such a magnificent warship. Taking you part of the way is nothing—we still owe you a great deal."

Sarah was so considerate...

As they stepped out of the Captain's Cabin, an icy wind hit them at once. Sarah instinctively pulled her thick coat tighter around herself.

Ato wore only a black hooded cloak. He'd already asked Aatrox and confirmed that the cold wouldn't affect him.

"This time, I can't say we'll see each other again soon." Ato slowly approached the railing. Below, a small boat bobbed quietly on the water—the Leviathan's lifeboat.

"That's true. Back at the Blaze Wave Tavern, you said we'd see each other again soon. I never expected 'soon' to mean the very next day," Sarah said with a sigh.

Recalling his nearly two months in Runeterra, a faint smile appeared on Ato's lips.

He didn't know what had brought him to this world, but he liked this place of swords and magic.

What more could he ask for than to meet familiar game characters who were real?

Ato gave Sarah one last look and said as calmly as he could, "Until we meet again."

Without waiting for Sarah to reply, he leaped over the railing. The next moment, he landed neatly in the small boat and used the energy radiating from the Demon Sword to propel it forward.

"Goodbye, Mr. Ato!" Sarah held the railing and watched the figure carrying the massive sword grow more and more distant.

Ato didn't turn around. He simply raised his right hand and waved, then continued steering the boat without another gesture.

Only after the figure vanished from sight did Sarah close her eyes, take a deep breath, and call out, "Turn back!"

Freljord. Everywhere the eye could see was covered in white.

A Giant Tusker Boar charged wildly through the snow.

Even a century-old tree, which would have taken two people to encircle, couldn't withstand its hill-like, muscular body and tusks harder than steel.

After two days without finding food, its already foul temper had finally erupted.

Today, it would dig up every inch of ground if it had to—it had to find some plump prey and fill its belly!

Suddenly, it saw a somewhat slender figure up ahead.

A human?

Well, it wasn't as meaty as an Arctic Spirit Deer, but it would do to tide it over!

To the Giant Tusker Boar, humans were lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Once, a human warrior wielding a greatsword had tried to stop it and protect his people.

In a single clash, the man was sent dozens of meters into the air. The boar's tusks pierced his body, and the warrior and his people all ended up in its belly.

The Giant Tusker Boar had thick, powerful limbs, but it was surprisingly fast. It thundered forward like a rolling storm, already picturing its tusks piercing the frail human.

But its charge came to an abrupt halt! Its rear end even lifted high from the force of its momentum before crashing down, sending up a great spray of snow.

The Giant Tusker Boar was puzzled by what had just happened.

Its tusks were pressed against a broad greatsword, and it couldn't move forward another inch.

Red light flickered across the blade. The human behind it held the sword in one hand and pulled back his hood with the other, revealing a face that looked clearly different from the locals'.

"We absolutely have to go into the abyss and check on the World Rune! What's the harm in taking a look?"

"I promised Ryze I wouldn't touch that Rune. There's no way we can go to the abyss without making a scene, and it's far too close to the Void! What if things get chaotic and we lose the Rune?"

The two of them completely ignored the furious Giant Tusker Boar and argued about whether to go into the abyss!

According to Ato's memories, the World Rune, Red Domination, was hidden in a cave in the abyss beneath Freljord's ice. It was also the Rune Ato had offered Ryze in their deal.

The World Runes Ryze had originally obtained from his master numbered two: Green Resolve and Blue Sorcery.

And hidden in the Magic Nullifying Stone Forest beneath Demacia was Yellow Precision, a Rune acquired by an emperor of Demacia long ago.

If they obtained Red Domination, they would only need Cyan Inspiration to complete the set of Five Runes.

Seeing its attack so easily blocked, the Giant Tusker Boar roared. It refused to believe any human could be stronger than it, so it backed up a few steps and charged again.

BOOM!

Its tusks plunged into the ground, leaving a massive crater—but the frail human was nowhere to be seen.

"Where are you looking?"

The voice came from above. The Giant Tusker Boar strained to pull out its tusks, just as a figure dropped from the sky. There was a sharp CRACK, and the two-to-three-meter tusk on its right side snapped off.

But that wasn't the end. After severing one tusk, Ato sprang into action again.

The Giant Tusker Boar threw its head back and screamed in agony. Seizing the moment, Ato moved as swiftly as a white horse flashing past, darting to the other side. The tusk on its left side was severed from its body as well.

"GRAAH!" The tuskless boar collapsed to the ground, its limbs twitching uncontrollably. Its tusks were connected to its nerves, and the pain of having them broken nearly drove it mad, leaving it unable to move.

"Now we've got meat!" Ato found its heart and drove the Demon Sword of the Dark straight through it, ending its life.

"Such a filthy body..." Aatrox muttered under his breath.

In the end, he decided to take Ato's advice and not check on the World Rune in the abyssal cave. If it really was lost, wouldn't that only delay his death indefinitely?