Chapter Summaries

He Shenyan investigated a Void hunting mark on a Shuriman bard and went to Rek'Sai to confront what lay beneath the desert. His attack exposed a huge Void creature that survived and began adapting to his magic.

• Hornby told tavern patrons how creatures from Rek'Sai had torn off his leg, warning them to stay away from the area.
• He Shenyan spotted a purple hunting mark on Hornby and removed it, then took Wind to Rek'Sai.
• He Shenyan sent Wind back to the Mage Tower in Ionia before preparing a powerful spell over the desert.
• He Shenyan used starlight to destroy the desert's surface, leaving a vast pit filled with blue flames.
• A huge Void creature crawled out of the pit, and He Shenyan saw its purple shell turning blue as it adapted to his attack.

Nezus recalled Shurima’s wars with the Void and approached the site where a blue star had descended. He Shenyan examined a Void creature and its rapidly growing offspring, then met Nezus in the desert.

• Nezus remembered how the Void’s invasion, the Ascended civil war, and the Aspects’ actions had brought Shurima to ruin.
• Nezus left the tower and walked toward the place where the starlight had fallen.
• He Shenyan pinned down a Void monster, studied the purple egg sacs it produced, and recorded that its offspring grew quickly and were dangerous from birth.
• He Shenyan concluded the creature was a biological weapon, destroyed it, buried the site, and set purification and alarm spells.
• Nezus approached He Shenyan, who greeted him and asked why he was awake so late.

Jax listened to an eight-year-old girl explain why she wanted Sesbile killed and agreed to investigate him. He returned most of her money and told her to go home.

• The Mage refused Nezus’s request to travel with him, and Nezus left after sensing what had happened in the sand.
• Jax offered a boiled egg to a child, who asked him to kill Sesbile, a wealthy man in the market.
• The girl said Sesbile had failed to explain her father’s disappearance and had beaten her mother when she demanded answers.
• Jax took three copper coins from the girl’s pouch, returned the rest, and set out to find Sesbile.

Jax confronted Sethbyle over a girl’s claim that he had mistreated her family, but Jabu’s mother confirmed that Jabu had no wife or daughter. Sethbyle revealed that people from the City of Thebes had pressured him to deliver a pulsing purple egg, and Jax left to find out where they were.

• Jax defeated Sethbyle’s guards and stopped Sethbyle from taking his own life before tying him up.
• Jax questioned Sethbyle about Jabu’s supposed wife and daughter, but Sethbyle insisted they did not exist and said Jabu had died in a bandit attack.
• Jax took Sethbyle to Jabu’s mother, who confirmed that Jabu had never married.
• Sethbyle told Jax that people from the City of Thebes had harassed him to deliver a pulsing purple egg, which Jax recognized as an Icathian curse.
• Jax returned to Sethbyle’s house and asked where the people from the City of Thebes were.

Jax crossed Rek'Sai's Endless Plains despite the destructive magical pressure that warped the wasteland. In the Garden City, He Shenyan tasted chargrilled scarab before confronting a beautiful woman who entered the tavern.

• Jax recalled how easily Sethbyle had persuaded him and questioned whether magic had influenced him.
• Jax reached Rek'Sai's Endless Plains, sensed a powerful destructive magic, and adapted to its pressure with a shield before crossing the wasteland.
• He Shenyan tried the Garden City's chargrilled scarab and pocketed the second beetle.
• A veiled woman in a silk robe entered the tavern and approached He Shenyan.
• He Shenyan slapped the woman, silencing the tavern.

He Shenyan exposed a woman in Shurima as the host of an evil artifact that prolonged life by consuming people, then confronted the old man bound to it. After freeing the victims’ souls, he left the old man sealed away to die slowly and reflected on his own moral limits.

• He Shenyan kicked the woman out of the tavern and slapped her when she tried to curse him.
• He Shenyan revealed that the woman had eaten people to extend her life and transformed her into a mass of flesh.
• An old man emerged from the woman and threatened He Shenyan, who struck him down and erased the onlookers’ memories.
• He Shenyan concealed the old man and left him to die without a chance of resurrection.
• He Shenyan carried the evil artifact’s gold ring and endured the victims’ suffering until their souls were freed.
• He Shenyan reflected that, despite killing countless people, he had never killed an innocent person or conducted forbidden human experiments.

He Shenyan defeated the guards sent to kill him and went to confront the City Lord, while Jax entered Garden City and discovered it in chaos. After He Shenyan threw the City Lord from a tower, he met Jax and recognized the scent of The Void on him.

• He Shenyan identified the life-extending artifact as one that bound the souls of its victims and learned that the woman using her daughter's identity had eaten countless people, including her descendants.
• He Shenyan caught a guard's spear, defeated the guards without casting spells, and headed for the City Lord's manor.
• Jax reached Garden City after crossing the desert, found its gates unguarded, and saw the streets deserted and littered with fallen guards.
• Jax watched a black-robed man toy with a golden ring, throw the City Lord from a tower, and disappear inside.
• The black-robed man appeared behind Jax, took his lamppost, returned it, and told him that he carried the scent of The Void.

He Shenyan and Jax discussed the Void and the golden Evil Artifact, then investigated the mysterious girl Jax had encountered. The girl’s illusion transformed into Empress Setaka, leaving Jax stunned and unable to believe she was alive.

• He Shenyan showed Jax a golden ring, which Jax recognized as a blasphemous object and urged him to cast away.
• He Shenyan explained that he had tracked the Void to the city and admitted responsibility for the magical destruction outside it.
• Jax told He Shenyan about the girl he had met while tracking the Void.
• He Shenyan manifested Jax’s memory of the girl and transformed her illusion into an armored warrior carrying a sharp disk.
• Jax recognized the warrior as Empress Setaka, the ancient Shuriman leader he had fought during Icathia’s final stand, and rejected the possibility that she was alive.

He Shenyan and Jax set out to find merchants while Nezus confronted his long neglect of Shurima and chose to act. After rescuing a caravan from sand raiders, Nezus declared that the people of Shurima had only one object of worship.

• He Shenyan snapped Jax out of his memories of Setaka, and Jax agreed that the Void was the urgent matter before they went to find merchants.
• Nezus wandered through the ruins of Kalahartes and reflected on how Shurima and its people had changed.
• Nezus saw sand raiders attacking a caravan and recalled Setaka’s words about the Ascended’s duty to mortals.
• Nezus killed the sand raiders and realized that he had wasted centuries by doing nothing for the Empire.
• Nezus told the terrified caravan survivors to stand and declared that the people of Shurima had only one object of worship.

He Shenyan uncovered and destroyed a Void infestation beneath Garden City, then joined Jax and Nezus in planning to unite Shurima against the Void. Nezus proposed seeking Aatrox’s help, while Aatrox remained trapped in darkness, unaware that anyone was coming for him.

• He Shenyan exposed a hidden Void breeding ground beneath Garden City and burned the eggs and corrupted captives to ash.
• He Shenyan lifted Garden City into the sky, studied the Void swarm’s rapid adaptations, and erased the creatures and their tunnels before lowering the city back down.
• He Shenyan concluded that the Void grew stronger in response to powerful opponents, and Jax accepted that defending against it was Icathia’s responsibility.
• Nezus explained Shurima’s weakness and agreed to prepare for war against the Void with Jax and He Shenyan.
• Nezus proposed recruiting Aatrox, and Jax agreed to seek him out despite their blood feud.
• Aatrox suffered in darkness inside his weapon, remembering his past as an Ascended and cursing the beings who imprisoned him.

Nezus led He Shenyan and Jax to Aatrox’s hidden temple, where the Aspect of Twilight, Myisha, appeared and tried to bargain with the Mage. He Shenyan exposed her crimes, defeated her, and destroyed her manifested body, then prepared to bring Nezus back.

• Nezus told He Shenyan and Jax about Shurima’s past as they crossed the desert toward Aatrox’s prison.
• Nezus opened the hidden temple, revealing Aatrox sealed inside his greatsword, and Myisha appeared before them.
• Nezus attacked Myisha, but she evaded him and sent him through a portal when he charged again.
• He Shenyan restrained Myisha, cut her off from celestial power, and confronted her over manipulating mortals and causing Shurima’s collapse.
• He Shenyan crushed Myisha’s manifested head and told her he would pursue her and the other Aspects in the celestial realm.
• Jax praised He Shenyan, who then offered to bring Nezus back.

He Shenyan freed Aatrox from the greatsword, and Aatrox recovered enough to learn that the Shuriman Empire had fallen. The group continued across the desert as He Shenyan planned to destroy the Void and the Aspects and find a way to bring the people of Lordran to Runeterra.

• He Shenyan freed Aatrox from the greatsword, and Aatrox emerged into sunlight in a state of confusion and madness.
• Aatrox attacked Jax, then asked him to strike again; Jax hit him, and Aatrox laughed as he realized he had truly escaped.
• Aatrox thanked He Shenyan and spoke nostalgically about Shurima before Nezus told him the Empire had fallen and Azir had been betrayed.
• Aatrox accepted the news of Shurima’s collapse, while Jax remembered his Icathian name and his resolve to destroy the Void.
• He Shenyan considered his plans to destroy the Void and the Aspects and to bring the people of Lordran to Runeterra, concluding he needed to search for the World Runes.

Aatrox and Nezus reclaimed Shurima’s twelve cities and began rebuilding the weakened empire while He Shenyan investigated ancient records and witnessed Setaka’s final meeting with Kindred. The empire faced severe food shortages and a fragile army, while Nezus expected the Icathian to return with reinforcements before the coming war against The Void.

• Aatrox and Nezus reclaimed twelve Shuriman cities, and Nezus spent nearly half a month pacifying their people and creating roads between them.
• He Shenyan questioned Setaka about the Evil Artifacts and learned that ancient Shurima had sent corrupted warriors carrying them into remote lands.
• Kindred killed Setaka after she chose to face death, and He Shenyan tried unsuccessfully to draw Wolf Spirit into hunting him.
• Nezus found that Shurima had only seventy thousand poorly equipped soldiers and widespread food shortages, while corrupt City Lords hoarded wealth and resources.
• Aatrox offered to kill the corrupt rulers or invade for food, but Nezus argued that the people could not withstand further upheaval.
• Nezus told Aatrox that the Icathian had gone to seek allies and was expected to return before next autumn, when the campaign against The Void would begin.

Aatrox and Nezus discussed the nations beyond Shurima, then received Setaka’s farewell message from He Shenyan, who suggested funding Shurima through archaeology and artifact sales. After leaving Shurima, He Shenyan traveled by ship toward the Freljord and exposed Olivia Maistroloi as a would-be hijacker, incapacitating her and her accomplices.

• Aatrox asked Nezus about Noxus, Demacia, Ionia, Freljord, Piltover and Zaun, and Bilgewater, deciding not to target Ionia until Shurima had rebuilt its strength.
• He Shenyan showed Aatrox Setaka’s farewell message and told Aatrox and Nezus that next autumn would bring the decisive battle against The Void.
• He Shenyan proposed that Shurima sell unimportant archaeological artifacts to fund land improvements and acquire food, and Nezus agreed to set aside tradition for the plan.
• He Shenyan left Shurima, cast detection and warning spells around Icathia, and boarded a luxury ship powered by a magical crystal engine.
• Olivia Maistroloi posed as a reporter and tried to interrogate He Shenyan with two armed accomplices, but he trapped her in a mental illusion until she collapsed.
• He Shenyan made Olivia’s two accomplices dance uncontrollably while the passengers ignored the incident, then returned to enjoying the sea breeze.

He Shenyan reached the abandoned Frost-Condensing Port and sensed that the Void was invading Valoran, while Kedar returned to Freljord and fought his way down the mountain against his former Winter’s Claw kin. After killing his brothers Skir and Lindel, Kedar continued onward wearing Lindel’s helmet, with more challengers still ahead.

• He Shenyan killed the bandits who attacked the ship, then learned it would reach Frost-Condensing Port within three days.
• He Shenyan arrived at the deserted Frost-Condensing Port and sensed the Void’s presence and the power of Freljord’s demigods.
• Kedar traveled toward the Ornn-Kar Rocky Lands, where Skir confronted him on behalf of Winter’s Claw.
• Kedar killed Skir in their fight, then prayed for his younger brother and took his axe.
• A helmeted warrior confronted Kedar, and Kedar killed Lindel before putting on his horned helmet.

Kedar fought his way through his kin, killing his brother and father before continuing onward. Meanwhile, the starving Ibratar tribe endured a blizzard until a mysterious outsider arrived, surrounded by a light that held back the storm.

• Kedar defeated Dalix Winterclaw, who died admiring him.
• Kedar fought and killed his father, Duloris Lo-Darwell Winterclaw, then covered his body with snow and left his sword beside him.
• Vyrt and Warmother Variana worried over the Ibratar tribe’s dwindling food and the deaths suffered during migration.
• As a blizzard struck, Vyrt and Variana kept watch and spotted a white light approaching through the storm.
• Variana saw an outsider reading a book as the wind and snow stopped around him, and he greeted her.

Vyrt’s Ibratar tribe met He Shenyan, who stopped the blizzard and gave them a feast in exchange for directions to the Ornn-Kar Rocky Lands. Meanwhile, Kedar reached the rocky lands and summoned Ornn, who recognized him as the child he had once been.

• Vyrt gathered the Ibratar warriors at the rear of the column after Variana spotted someone approaching through the blizzard.
• He Shenyan halted the storm and conjured a feast for the tribe, asking Variana for directions to the Ornn-Kar Rocky Lands.
• Variana tried to swear an oath of gratitude to He Shenyan, but he stopped her and left, intrigued by the ancient force he sensed.
• Kedar reached the rocky lands, cut his hands, and invoked Ornn in the name of his father, brother, and himself.
• Ornn emerged amid fire and collapsing mountains, told Kedar to stand, and said he remembered him as a child.

Kedar returned to Ornn to report that Volibear had come back, and Ornn reforged Kedar’s axe before leaving him to recover. In Ionia, Kennen told Shen and Zed that the Order of the Kinkou was in danger, and Shen found renewed understanding of the path of balance.

• Kedar told Ornn that Volibear had returned, then collapsed from exhaustion.
• Ornn remembered how Kedar had sworn to watch Volibear and reforged his axe while Kedar slept.
• Kedar woke to find his axe transformed by Ornn and tested its new power.
• He Shenyan read knowledge gathered by his spell and flew toward the presence he had sensed in the mountains.
• Kennen told Shen and Zed that Kusho had strayed from balance and that the Order of the Kinkou was in danger.
• Zed urged Shen to learn from the order’s mistakes, and Shen declared that he finally understood the path of balance.

He Shenyan met Ornn in the Ornn-Kar Rocky Lands and proposed attacking the Void before it escaped its seal. Elsewhere, Kedar Lo Darwell encountered the Ibratar tribe, whose members recognized his Winter’s Claw past and let him go.

• He Shenyan introduced himself to Ornn, asked about the Void, and proposed striking it before Lissandra’s seal broke.
• He Shenyan revealed enough of his power to convince Ornn that he could fight the Void, but gave no reason beyond his own will.
• Kedar hunted an elk, ate and prepared some of its meat, then wondered where to go after fulfilling his oath to the Winter’s Claw.
• Kedar met Velt Ken Ibratar and Variana Loxa Ibratar, admitted he had been cast out of the Winter’s Claw, and was allowed to leave.
• Velt told Variana that Kedar had once been known as the Winter’s Claw’s scarless warrior, while Variana angrily ordered Velt to join her in her tent.

Udyr met He Shenyan, who began training him to control his empathic powers and took him toward Frostguard Citadel. He Shenyan entered the fortress and confronted Lissandra over her dealings with The Void, leaving her frightened and pleading.

• Udyr recalled how the Frostguard slaughtered the Winter's Claw tribe, how his uncontrolled power triggered an avalanche, and how the surviving clanspeople abandoned him.
• He Shenyan appeared at Udyr's camp, overwhelmed him with his power, and later offered to help him control his passive reception of others' emotions.
• He Shenyan trained Udyr to walk blindfolded while sensing his surroundings without crushing a stone, then told him to wait while he went to Frostguard Citadel.
• He Shenyan crossed the guarded bridge and entered the fortress, where he confronted Lissandra on her throne.
• He Shenyan identified The Void beneath the citadel and accused Lissandra of making a deal with it, then removed the crown covering her scarred, empty eyes.
• Lissandra trembled under He Shenyan's power and pleaded with him, insisting that he did not understand.