Malphite

Is there anything here? Why did you suddenly decide to get down?

Walking through the dark and damp mine, Qiyana's face was full of doubt.

"It's just a guess; I can't be sure."

A flying blade floated beside Yuan Chen, infused with magic power. Under Yuan Chen's control, the temperature, which was over 100 degrees Celsius, emitted a gentle light.

There's no need to worry about a fire source causing an explosion, because Hextech Gemstone is physically very stable when it hasn't been purified. Otherwise, such a large ore mine would have already caused a large-scale regional disaster.

"This is it. There wasn't a stone wall here last night, but it appeared this morning when we went to work," said Hewitt, the tunnel foreman, somewhat uneasily.

"It's very hard. We've tried many methods, but neither alchemical drills nor Hextech explosives can leave a trace..."

As he spoke, Hewitt cautiously observed Yuan Chen and Qiyana.

As a member of the lowest rungs of Zaun, Hewitt grew up in extremely harsh conditions. Although he looks to be in his forties or fifties, he's actually only in his early thirties...

Zaun is home to many Chem-Baron who control the factories that are the lifeblood of their existence. In the harsh conditions of those factories, whoever has laborers who live to be forty is considered to have great compassion.

Under such harsh conditions, Hewitt's ability to become the tunnel foreman naturally demonstrates his keen eye for observation. At least, Hewitt can now discern that Yuan Chen and Qiyana's identities are definitely extraordinary.

Putting everything else aside, her Silk Material robe alone remained radiant and lustrous even in the dim and gloomy tunnel, reflecting elegant arcs of light, without a speck of dust on it. And upon closer inspection, one could clearly see the artistic gold patterns adorning it...

"Damn it, could that really be gold?" Hewitt thought to himself, while his eyes involuntarily glanced at the blade floating beside Yuan Chen.

Even when killing someone, one could immediately see how precious that ivory-white, flawless blade was.

Especially now, while emitting light, it also reflects dense flame patterns. It flickers and twinkles, it's incredibly gorgeous...

If I could get close to such a big shot, maybe I wouldn't have to stay in that filthy poisonous fog of Zaun for the rest of my life!

Thinking this, Hewitt's face became more obsequious—he wasn't ashamed of it, nor was Zaun.

Zaun praises shamelessness.

Upon hearing Hewitt's words, Yuan Chen simply nodded calmly, then turned his gaze to the stone wall, a hint of contemplation in his eyes.

Qiyana did the same; she also squinted her eyes after seeing the stone wall.

"This is not a stone from Ixialia... at least not from the Shurima."

Qiyana touched the stone wall with her finger, and after sensing it for a moment, she said:

"Under normal circumstances, the underground rock strata here should be compressed sedimentary limestone, with a small amount of Change Nature rocks interspersed in between, because this stratum was under high temperature and high pressure not long ago."

"And now... wait a minute, what is this?"

Qiyana noticed one side of the stone wall.

On the brownish-red stone wall, there was a rugged, charred mass. The mass's structure was similar to that of the rock, like a mineral cluster parasitizing the stone wall. And now, for some reason, this mineral cluster was constantly oozing a purple liquid.

A faint, fishy odor wafted through the air, as if something was being squeezed inside the stone wall.

Yuan Chen didn't speak, but pulled Qiyana back, then looked up and said, "Is it you? Malphite."

"..."

Upon hearing Yuan Chen's words, Qiyana blinked in confusion— Malphite? She didn't recall Yuan Chen mentioning such a friend.

In fact, the name is somewhat... not good.

Because in the language of Ixialia, there exists a name called "Malphite Rock," which means "bad rock."

While Qiyana was still thinking, suddenly, the stone wall began to tremble violently, and then it began to rub violently to one side. Then, the entire stone wall began to change, with huge rock slabs constantly shifting and changing, eventually forming two deep pits.

In the center of the deep pit was an arc that looked like tightly closed eyes. Between the two deep pits in the stone wall was a cluster of stones. From a human aesthetic point of view, that might be a nose.

A face resembling a human face... a stone face.

A stench-tinged cloud of dust billowed from the jagged, curved rock face, causing Qiyana to instinctively summon a breeze to disperse it, though fear still lingered in her eyes.

Because the stone face was so enormous, the moment its rocky eyes opened, the already stunned Hewitt stumbled and fell to the ground.

Azir's old bones! This stone wall is ten meters wide and twenty meters high. If this is the head of this stone monster, how enormous must its body be?

The yellow eyes emitted a soft light in the dim tunnel, not intense, but warm and peaceful, like flowing gems.

"... You... know... me?... No... I sensed it."

Something must be going on inside that stone-faced man's body, which makes his thoughts and speech somewhat slow, and he occasionally gets stuck.

Seeing this, Yuan Chen simply said, "You should recover first. We can have a normal conversation once you're done with your work."

"... good."

Stoneface nodded in agreement—though it was only a slight movement, the entire mine shaft began to tremble violently because of it.

Shale fragments, already several times loosened by mining, fell from the cracks above the tunnel, landing on both sides. The wooden pillars supporting the tunnel creaked as they endured pressure exceeding their design limits.

What worried Hewitt most was the crack above—a huge crack that nearly tore the entire mine tunnel apart.

As a veteran miner, Hewitt was certain that if the crack continued to widen, they would all be buried here.

In response, Qiyana wielded her Oretal Ring Blade, and thick vines grew continuously from beneath the wooden pillars. At the same time, huge rock protrusions pierced out from both sides of the tunnel, crisscrossing and supporting the tunnel, which was in danger of collapsing at any moment.

These overlapping rock formations are a clear Yuan Chu Axioms, exquisitely layered, resembling a long rock corridor in a magnificent palace.

Taking advantage of the fact that this guy was already busy with his own things, Qiyana asked directly, "What exactly is this thing? You seem to know it?"

To this, Yuan Chen simply said, "His name is Malphite."

"Malphite?"

"Um."

How did he get here?

"Do you know about Monolith Fortress?" Yuan Chen asked. "The one that Ne'Zuk built."

"Of course I know!" Qiyana said with some dissatisfaction. "Monolith Fortress! Ixialia ... no, it should be said that it is the greatest use of Elemental Magic in all of Runeterra!"

"Its scale rivals that of the Yishuaoken, and it's personally piloted by dozens of Ascended Celestial Warrior. Just its operation and maintenance alone require tens of thousands of elemental mages for continuous upkeep... Wait! Could it be?"

"Yes," Yuan Chen said, "That is the Monolith Fortress."

"But the Monolith Fortress is already destroyed! You know that."

Although she said that, Qiyana actually believed Yuan Chen's words.

She stared at the stone wall before her, her golden eyes filled with shock. "Ne'Zuk and his fellow Ascended poured all their energy into the Monolith Fortress and slammed it into the land of Icathia, which had long been corrupted by the Void."

"The mountains were leveled, the ley lines were severed, and even the entire continental shelf of Shurima suffered irreversible damage... Including Monolith Fortress, only Ne'Zuk survived by sheer luck."

"Hmm... And now, the fragments of the Monolith Fortress have gained their own consciousness."

Yuan Chen calmly said, "Perhaps it's the exquisite and mysterious structure of the Monolith Fortress itself, or perhaps it's due to the influence of the Void... or perhaps it's a combination of both, or maybe it's some kind of coincidence beyond our imagination."

"The fragments of the Monolith Fortress have developed their own consciousness, named Malphite."

As he said this, Yuan Chen's face also showed a mixture of strangeness and emotion.

Malphite, the Lava Giant, also known as the Stone Man, the Stone Golem, or the "Player's Beast," is a veteran champion in League of Legends. He's easy to play and uses brutal tactics, and can be played in top, mid, jungle, and support roles, except for ADC. Just be prepared to get crushed.

Because of the long waiting time, the hero's mechanics are somewhat outdated, and before level six, he lacks control and mobility skills, so before level six, he often plays the role of a punching bag, being suppressed under the tower and beaten up.

Skill 1: Yo-Yo; Skill 2: Big Fight; Skill 3: Ground Slam; Passive: Shield.

However, after level six, this hero undergoes a qualitative change—simply put, he requires more strategic thinking.

The ultimate skill combines unstoppable movement, displacement, area-of-effect damage, and crowd control. However, it has a flight animation, and players with fast enough reflexes can dodge it using movement skills or Flash.

In addition, the hero's model is quite unique, so if they miss their ultimate ability, they often can only throw a yo-yo, slam it to the ground, and walk away.

Even so, whether it's ganking or helping the jungler in lane, it's a top-tier skill.

At the same time, due to its simple and straightforward skills, it often appears in professional matches. In particular, the passive effect of the second skill, "Big Fight," increases armor by 30%, and this armor is tripled when the passive shield is active.

Against melee-heavy teams, it's easy to stack up to 700-800 armor. The W skill, a powerful attack, is also affected by armor, and the E skill reduces the attack speed of nearby enemies by 50%, making it surprisingly effective against melee-heavy teams.

The father of ADC.

Sylas's beloved.

Although in the game, Malphite is portrayed as a seemingly harmless and goofy character, in reality...

Yuan Chen glanced at Malphite, who was busy with some unknown matters, and sighed silently.

As the core of the Monolith Fortress, this guy is someone who can really go toe-to-toe with demigods!