Chapter 272
Even though he had completely escaped, the lingering fear still made him feel very uneasy.
"How could I possibly run into someone in a place like this...?"
Chen Ce leaned against the solid rock wall to rest for a while, his eyes still fixed on the direction he had fled.
Yes... it must be that thing... it's exactly the same aura I sensed in Freljord...
This is incredibly unlucky... I could run into a monster of that level just by randomly finding a Void creature's lair to have a meal...
"Chen Ce, what did you see?" Although Kai'Sa wasn't sure what was hidden underground, she could tell from Chen Ce's terrified expression that it was definitely some kind of terrifying existence.
"Void creatures? Large ones?"
"Bigger than the big ones..." Chen Ce clicked his tongue and slid down the rock wall slowly—only this solid feeling could give him a sense of security now.
"That wasn't an ordinary Void creature... that was... the creator of Void creatures..."
"The Creator?" Kai'Sa frowned, still not quite understanding.
"The Watchers ..." Chen Ce stated the name directly, "The 'creators' of all Void creatures... They are the ones who created the monsters that destroyed Icathia ..."
"So... that guy called 'Watchers' is really strong?" Kai'Sa stroked the Void Armor on her arm, and the plasma energy contained within immediately surged forth.
She had hunted countless Void creatures and had a good understanding of them, but she had never heard of the name "Watchers" before.
But she didn't think a single Void creature could be that powerful—the real terror of those damned monsters was their sheer number, not a single individual.
"It's not just strong..." Chen Ce shook his head, his mood finally calming down a bit. "They possess the power to destroy the world; even the Ascended of Ancient Shurima are no match for them."
"Ascended?" Kai'Sa knew that name—every Shurima knew it.
These four words practically represent the world's strongest fighting force, the very foundation upon which the Shuriman Empire was able to rule the entire world—according to ancient texts and stone tablets, any Ascended possessed the super power to move mountains and fill seas.
If even the Ascended are no match for the Watchers...
"Are they really that strong?" Kai'Sa asked skeptically—not that she thought Chen Ce was lying, but she believed he was overly frightened.
"Yes, you haven't seen them, so you don't understand..." Chen Ce gave a bitter smile. "Except for the strongest few Ascended, everyone else is just food that can be devoured in one round."
"..." Kai'Sa pursed her lips, wanting to question it but holding back—she had indeed never seen any Watchers, nor did she understand them, and continuing to argue about this topic would be pointless.
After a moment of silence, she asked, "Should we go back to retrieve the supplies we left behind?"
"Between money and life, I would absolutely choose the latter," Chen Ce shook his head.
Upon hearing this, Kai'Sa said nothing more.
Just as they were about to rest for a bit, the ground beneath their feet suddenly trembled.
At first it was just a very slight thud.
Then...
It's becoming more and more obvious, more and more concentrated.
The entire earth trembled, as if a once-in-a-century earthquake had struck Shurima.
"Are they coming out so soon...? Damn it...!"
Chen Ce cursed under his breath and quickly closed his left eye, using the power of the demon to look into the distance.
He dared not hold back in the slightest, and in an instant, he used the demonic power to its fullest extent. Blood even began to seep from his scarlet eye sockets—but in return, he also gained the ultimate vision that allowed him to see thousands of miles away.
Thus, he easily "saw" the Void creature's nest that he had destroyed.
The earth trembled, the yellow sand sank... a monster as massive as a continental plate opened its jaws and devoured everything...
Sand dunes, some tens of meters high, were flattened in an instant, the surrounding rock walls began to collapse, and all the plants and animals that stood on the desert were swept away...
A wisp of dark purple energy swirled and flowed during the earthquake, like a giant hand controlling all things...
This terrifying "earthquake" lasted for more than half an hour.
Eventually, everything returned to calm.
Everything in the desert was wiped out.
Looking around, it had returned to its previous desolate state, with only yellow sand.
It seems like everything is over, yet it also seems like it never even began...
Chen Ce gently wiped away the blood from the corner of his eye, and stopped gazing into the distance amidst a sharp pain—his demonic power was already somewhat overloaded in order to see every grain of yellow sand clearly over there.
"What happened? Why is your eye bleeding?" Kai'Sa still didn't know the specifics, only that the two things in front of her were too strange.
"It seems to have appeared... but it also seems not..." Chen Ce covered his eyes, unsure for a moment.
The earthquake just now was undoubtedly caused by the Void, but... nothing actually emerged from underground.
Theoretically, even Watchers shouldn't be able to cross the world barrier to reach the material realm yet...
But their energy passed through the world barrier...?
Chen Ce pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
Left with no other option, he resorted to the most rudimentary method. "Let's stay here a little longer... hopefully it's not them coming."
"Oh..." Kai'Sa nodded, also feeling somewhat uneasy.
The two sat down on the ground, intending to stay there until they were sure nothing else would happen.
Chen Ce closed his eyes to alleviate the discomfort caused by the overload of demonic power.
In the pitch black, he recalled everything he had just experienced in the underground cave.
That terrifying aura... it felt very similar to the feeling I had when facing the Watchers in the Howling Abyss of Freljord...
But...
But it seems a little different...?
The Grand Secretary awoke in his attic.
The surrounding darkness could not block his vision; above the openwork eaves, he could see the twinkling of countless stars.
He sat up calmly, his movements quick yet stiff—as if unconscious. His hand touched the weapon beside the bed, but he didn't grip it.
As a highly respected scholar in the Shuriman Empire, he preferred books to weapons... and this has been true for thousands of years.
Even though he was hailed as "Shurima's greatest warrior".
A scholar skilled in both literature and martial arts? Perhaps... a learned scholar who also possesses the strength to rival any powerful enemy.
Such a combination would surely bring glory and worldwide acclaim to anyone, wouldn't it?
But this scholar... he thought it was not necessarily true.
He got out of bed. The large but not spacious room was filled with books, making it difficult for him to find his way. It took him a while to find a path through the pile of books—well, this wasn't the "path" he had taken yesterday.
He was slightly hunched over, not because of any physical defect, nor because the room was abnormally low.
It's not because he's too tall. He's just too tall.
He was two or three heads taller than the strongest warrior in Shurima, and he had to bend over to pass through doorways that ordinary people could easily walk through.
He walked slowly to a gleaming bronze mirror and gazed at his face once more.
As a Grand Scholar... Shuriman Empire...
He was as ugly as a monster...
His body was covered in wild, beast-like fur, and his stature was so large it was almost inhuman... He walked on two legs and carried objects with both hands like a normal person, yet his head was a...
A jackal's head.
His name is Nasus.
The desert inhabitants now also call him Nasus, the Lost Son.
Because he has not set foot in the human world for hundreds of years... and his hiding place has never been discovered by humans.
He spent centuries in this secret chamber filled with books from the Ancient Shurima Library.
He guards some secrets here... and waits for something... In ancient times, his former Ascended companions came searching for him, but he turned away most of them—because he found they had changed.
The bloodline of the Ascended within them lost its sanctity... their golden blood became stained with indelible impurities. They became irritable, volatile, evil, and bloodthirsty.
As it turned out, his guess was correct—for a long time afterward, these former comrades each became kings, slaughtered each other, and even launched one horrific and bloody war after another... They destroyed everything.
They ruined themselves too.
The Aspects on Mount Targon sealed them away, but Nasus felt no sorrow.
He felt that it was all predestined.
For centuries, he had been making astrological predictions, and each time the same result filled him with both joy and worry—he saw hope and a future for Shurima's resurgence among the glittering stars, but also glimpsed the most painful thing in the gray clouds...
He wasn't sure what the latter was, but it would definitely cause him unbearable pain—the prophecy, though lacking details, was destined to happen.
Nasus looked at himself in the mirror, and painful memories flooded back. He even felt disgusted with himself.
He doesn't like looking in the mirror—and usually doesn't. But today is different; he has to.
Because his awakening tonight was not a natural awakening.
Rather, something awakened him.
In the endless darkness, he sensed a terrifying aura... not exactly evil, but incredibly greedy. He wasn't sure what it was, but he caught a whiff of someone "familiar."
The Disaster of Icathia
Those terrifying beings that led to the complete annihilation of Icathia... those otherworldly beings that tainted the bloodline of the Ascended...
Nasus recognized them.
He sensed that something was about to happen.
Then he awoke from his dream, and he looked at himself in the mirror.
He began studying astrology and picked up his weapon again, which had been dormant for hundreds of years.
"The time for Shurima has not yet come..."
Under the crimson glow of the blood moon, Sivir walked along the abandoned deer trail, her hand gripping the golden cross blade tightly, every slight sound causing her muscles to twitch.
Behind her followed her employer and a whole squad of guards—the Noxus always liked to walk in groups, as if doing things alone would kill them.
To be honest, her employer—a young woman Cassiopeia du Couteau —was indeed a noble lady who clearly needed protection—she was too beautiful and too elegant. There could be no one like her in Shurima.
I really don't understand how a noble lady like her could be interested in adventure... and even come all this way in person? I really hope she won't walk more than a few steps before she starts whining and asking to rest.
Hmm... okay, even if she has decent physical strength, what about once she enters the tomb? The stench of decay and the acrid smell of dust and wood chips are not something most people can tolerate. She'll probably be holding her nose and crying, right?
Oh, a noble lady crying... I've never seen that before, I'm kind of looking forward to it.
It's a bit of a hassle, though...
But no matter what, as long as you have money, that's all that matters.
As long as enough gold coins are provided, it's no problem to take care of not only a noble lady, but also her entire family.
"Hey, we're about to enter the tomb."
Sivir tilted her head slightly and spoke to the people behind her.
"This is a lost ancient tomb; we dug for a long time before we found it."
"Don't worry, I will give you a generous reward." The dignified and beautiful young woman bowed slightly, a gentle smile on her lips—she always did this.
Cassiopeia, a somewhat tongue-twisting name.
But it sounds pretty good, doesn't it?
"I don't mean to raise the price," Sivir chuckled, "But if you're willing to pay more gold coins, I'd be happy to accept."
"Enough talk, let's go in." Cassiopeia smiled and nodded, carefully walking across the fragile, dilapidated stone steps with the help of her guards.
This sight only fueled Sivir's disdain—she needed help even to go down the stairs; she was truly a noble lady through and through.
"No problem, but we need to be more careful," Sivir laughed. "We don't know what caused this morning's 'earthquake,' but it's very likely that it has affected the structure of this catacombs."
"Mmm." Cassiopeia nodded in agreement.
"I'm not sure what the air quality is like in this catacombs. Let's not bring the torches down yet; let me check the situation first."