Anaakca

"Anaakca... Anaakca... Anaakca..."

Aatrox's call rang across the entire mountain range. Lissandra and her Iceborn followers stayed on their guard, watching for any sign of change.

The sound gradually faded, and the mountains fell silent as always.

"What's going on?" Lissandra sensed carefully, but detected no unusual energy. "Could she be gone?"

"No, she's here." Aatrox was in an unusually good mood.

As soon as he finished speaking, a dazzling blue light rose from the distant horizon. It shot into the sky, arced through the air, then changed direction and hurtled toward the foot of the mountain where they stood.

"Watch out, RPG!"

Lissandra certainly wasn't going to trust the Darkin completely. She changed her hand signs and raised a protective barrier of True Ice around everyone. She didn't dare bet on who that blue light might hit!

A few seconds later, it landed fifty meters away, splitting the ground and sending up clouds of white smoke.

Aatrox scoffed at Lissandra's defensive move. "Even after becoming Darkin, my loyal subordinate would never threaten my safety."

"Hmph. We've both been corrupted by the Void. I don't know what will happen if the Watchers influence me through the seal."

"But I can say for certain that, to my subordinates, my orders come above all else—even the influence of the Void! That's the pride of the Ascended, the pride of Shurima!"

The white smoke dissipated, revealing a massive crater where the blue light had landed. Lissandra lowered the barrier and led everyone closer with care. Only then could they make out what lay in the crater.

Shattered ice was scattered everywhere. It seemed the object had been encased in ice before.

It was a gigantic weapon, about five meters long, with a strange appearance. It looked like a spear, but had only a spearhead. Deep blue and blood red interwove across its surface, radiating menace.

"The Darkin War Spear, Anaakca." In his Demon Sword form, Aatrox floated in midair, looking over his loyal subordinate. Ato could sense how elated he was.

"I've only seen her in Card Game..." Ato watched the new Darkin, who had existed only in the lore, with curiosity.

"She hasn't awakened yet. She's still a weapon." Lissandra had finished her inspection and marveled inwardly. As expected of a former Ascended.

Her hidden power, the Trolls altered by magic—if they faced a Darkin, they'd only be slaughtered. This deal really was a bargain...

"Next, I'll give Anaakca a body. Little one, it's time to put the flesh you absorbed on the big ship to use."

"I've been ready for a while."

Ato was glad Gangplank had given him such a generous gift.

When he'd fought the Leviathan alone, he had used the Demon Sword's power to absorb everyone still aboard except Andrew and the sailors who'd escaped by jumping into the sea—about a hundred people in all.

Ato hadn't been injured since then, so the flesh inside the Demon Sword remained untouched. His reserves were more than sufficient, and creating a body for Anaakca would take only a small portion.

Under Ato's control, dense Blood Qi poured out of the Demon Sword and flowed into the War Spear. Loraka and the others found it hard to breathe, and Lissandra had to cast another spell to fend off the Blood Qi.

The Darkin War Spear began to change before their eyes.

Its rear half gradually closed together, becoming a long shaft like a handle. The end embedded in the ground split into three blades, and a vaguely humanoid figure took shape beside the spear.

She had long limbs and an inverted triangular head. Her left hand gripped the weapon formed from the War Spear, and her joints bore wings resembling those of a bat.

Purple blood flowed through her translucent body. Her face had only a pair of eyes that glimmered with a faint blue light, and patches of ice covered her skin.

"Two thousand years have passed. It's been so long, Anaakca," Aatrox said with a sigh.

"Ge...neral..." Anaakca spoke in a hoarse female voice. Her body hadn't fully formed, yet she struggled to call out the name of the one she had sworn to serve.

Seeing this, Ato instantly imagined all sorts of melodramatic scenarios.

For instance, a Celestial warrior from Ancient Shurima who, after countless battles, had come to admire and love her mighty general—only to fall into darkness as a Darkin before she could confess her feelings...

Two minutes later, the flow of Blood Qi stopped, and Anaakca's body was finally complete.

She yanked the War Spear out of the ground and went before the floating Demon Sword. Dropping to one knee, she spoke in a hoarse female voice. "General, I've returned..."

"You haven't changed at all, Anaakca." With his subordinate returned, Aatrox was overjoyed.

"I will obey your orders... What are your orders, General..." Anaakca's mind seemed barely functional. She had only an instinctive loyalty to Aatrox, and spoke in halting phrases.

"Have you been in the ice all this time, for the past two thousand years? After the Celestials sealed us away, did no one else find you?" Aatrox wanted to catch up with Anaakca.

"I will obey your orders... What are your orders, General..." Anaakca repeated what she had just said.

"How could this happen..." Aatrox wanted to frown, but he was only a sword. "It seems the seal damaged her mind. She can't communicate normally."

"Why not give her an order and see what happens? Maybe she'll understand," Ato suggested.

"We have no choice." Aatrox carefully chose his words. "Anaakca, I need you to stay in Freljord, at Frost Guard Fortress."

"You're to help this lady and watch the seal beneath the abyss. It holds the monsters we once fought. If things become urgent, you may follow her orders. This is extremely important. Can you do it?"

"Understood... General..." Anaakca bowed her head deeply.

"It worked! She understood!" Ato breathed a sigh of relief. If Anaakca's mind had been too damaged to understand Aatrox's orders, they'd have been in trouble. The deal with Lissandra would have fallen through.

"Rise, my subordinate. We'll return to the fortress together."

"Understood... General..." Anaakca silently rose and stood beside the Demon Sword, leaning on her War Spear like the most loyal of guards.

"There shouldn't be any more problems." Ato looked at Lissandra.

"As you can see, Aatrox's orders still work. There's only one thing left to worry about: what influence the Watchers might have on the Darkin. We should return to the fortress at once."

Lissandra finished observing Anaakca, but she didn't let down her guard completely. She understood the corruption of the Void all too well, which made her even more aware of the hidden dangers lurking in those it had corrupted.

"Let's go back."

Lissandra began casting Teleportation Magic. A layer of True Ice spread beneath everyone's feet, enveloping the Iceborn, the five-meter-tall Anaakca, and the Demon Sword, before finally enclosing Ato.

Throughout the process, Anaakca barely reacted. She seemed oblivious to the magic's presence.