As they searched for Zolani, Lan Hong and the others also learned about Zolani's past from Nasus and Varus.
It could be said that Zolani was also a tragic figure, even someone who had been utterly ruined by the Darkin.
Before the Void War broke out, Zolani had been a powerful Ascended. Not only was he personally formidable, but he also possessed incredibly potent healing powers capable of treating the wounds of other Ascended.
Because of his powerful healing abilities, he held an extremely high position in the Ascension Legion, second only to Aatrox.
Then the Darkin War erupted, and nearly the entire Ascension Legion was thrown into the Void War.
That battle was far too brutal. Many Ascended died in the Void War, while most of the survivors were corrupted by the Void.
Those people sought out Zolani, asking him to heal them.
Zolani did everything he could to treat them, but unfortunately, even his sun-derived healing power could not completely purify the Void corruption within them. At most, he could only suppress it.
Yet that suppression would steadily weaken, ultimately causing the corruption to deepen further and further.
Then came the great catastrophe caused by Xerath and Azir, when the Sun Disc collapsed.
The corrupted Ascended began fighting for power and profit, eventually falling completely and becoming Darkin.
As a healer, Zolani had never directly participated in the Void War, so he had not been corrupted by the Void. Nor had he joined the Darkin War. Like Nasus, he chose to withdraw from the world.
But unlike Nasus, who had completely concealed his whereabouts alone, Zolani sheltered a group of people and established a city called Zolan.
The Darkin did not want such a powerful Ascended as Zolani taking anyone else's side. They all wanted to win him