Legends of Runeterra

He saw my human face and cried out in fear.

What do I look like now?

Am I that far removed from who I used to be? Do I look like I belong down here?

It's been so long since I've seen my own face. I hope it's the way I remember it.

The light grew brighter, and he turned to look into the abyss.

The things swarming in the abyss were trying to reach us. His wide eyes were filled with fear, and he finally understood why I brought him here.

A thousand rustling monsters emerged from the mad sea, from the depths of the earth and beyond. I knew not what it was, nor where it came from.

All I know is that it spawned an endless stream of distorted nightmares that swarmed through the rock and crawled upwards, with an insatiable urge to kill, their sole goal being to tear the world above apart and destroy it.

Their tide is rising, and I am the only one who can hold back the huge wave.

I leaned in close to the man and said, "Do you see them? Do you understand?"

He nodded in fear, so I let him go.

I watched the chief tumble and crawl toward the sunlight below, then turned to face the sound of claws scraping against rock. Arms no force could possibly grow from nature grasped the edge of the abyss and dragged out a monstrous, horrifying body, covered in rough armor, protruding from bony protuberances, its flesh the color of a stillborn fetus. It was still glistening wet from its new arrival, but within the dark eyes that opened at the top of its shell, a gleam of malice rippled. Bladed limbs unfurled from its pale abdomen, and a bloody maw opened at its throat, revealing gleaming fangs and a stream of foul saliva.

It was soon followed by other monsters, smaller but no less ferocious. Their very presence distorted the air, and the rocks beneath their claws emitted black smoke from the dissolution of matter.

Wherever they touched, a dreadful stench filled the air, and the heat of a furnace spread throughout my body.

Instinct, in the face of a threat, gave my limbs strength.

I used to resist this impulse, but now I know that it is this impulse that gives me the strength to fight back and keeps me alive today.

The carapace mask dropped, covering my face. My vision shifted again.

This change was once unbearable for me, but now I welcome it with joy.

I saw the light. I saw life and the weakness of my prey. I became a predator once again.

The armor plates firmly fixed to my shoulders shifted and deformed, and the glowing pods cracked. A dazzling light shot out from within. With a loud shout, a wave of fiery missiles slammed into the group of creatures.

Those that were slightly smaller were immediately blown into purple pulp and strange flesh and blood.

Their blood splattered onto my body and was greedily absorbed by the clinging armor.

I felt nauseous, but I couldn't deny that I was absorbing nutrients in this way.

I lunged forward, my arms flaring out, blades of light swirling from my hands. I flipped and leaped into the air, thrusting against the rock face and unleashing a volley of blue-purple fireballs. The largest of the horrors ripped its flesh to shreds, oozing black pus.

It screamed in agony, its limbs flailing and twisting at impossible angles.

I landed among them, tumbling to avoid their blades, rising from a crouch and unleashing another barrage of missiles. Their flesh burned with blazing fury; it seemed the fire they created themselves was most effective against them.

I did a backflip and its body collapsed, but it didn't die... God knows what death means to a void creature.

Its limbs sucked the blood of the smaller monsters, devouring their essence. Webs of light and writhing matter stitched its flesh together like a weaver mending a tattered blanket. Its massive torso convulsed, its wounded flesh regrowing, new limbs sprouting from its torso, its former weaknesses strengthened. Tentacles blazing with black flame emerged from wounds that could no longer heal, crackling like whips on the ground.

Solid rock melts like wax, disintegrating even the most immutable things. A blow grazed my knee, and I stumbled away, only to find that a portion of my armor had shattered, dissolving in a puff of black smoke.

I saw my own skin beneath it, drained of its lifelike color, like the skin of a blind reptile burrowing beneath the desert gravel. The sight sickened me, but I couldn't tell if it was the stench of death or the reminder of my past self.

Complex thoughts slowed me down.

A single moment of carelessness was enough to be fatal. The Void Spirits and the Hunters had already surrounded me.

A creature twice my size burst from beneath me and snapped me down. Its claws raked across my chest, its fangs clamped down on my head. Its teeth carved deep marks into my visor. I looked down, its toothy esophagus straining, its flexible tongue searching for an entrance.

I pressed my fists against its body, pouring violet flames into it until it overflowed. It exploded into a bloody mess, my skin absorbing the energy released in its death.

Claws scratched, teeth bit. I rolled away, hands emitting more purple flames. I leaped and twisted from their attacks. In sheer numbers, they were overwhelmingly outnumbered, and more monsters were swarming over the edge of the abyss.

The seething torrent of shell, claws, and rage quickly overwhelmed me.

The pods on my shoulders erupted with increasingly powerful, deadly fire, but it wasn't enough to stop them. I don't know if the Void knows hatred, but I feel like these monsters hate me. They see me as something from their world, something that must be destroyed.

I wonder if the way they perceive me is different from the way people on the ground see me.

They surrounded me, and I remembered the scene where Krimiruo knocked down Skarosh.

But I am not prey. I can fight back.

I spun on my heels, drawing rings of purple flame around me with my burning fists.

The flames pushed them back, giving me room to breathe. I saw a path and leaped onto it. I weaved through them, leaving a trail of broken bodies in my wake. My speed was incredible. Before my eyes, the monsters flashed by, frozen in time. They couldn't keep up with my speed, and I slaughtered them with a continuous stream of flaming blades transformed from my hands, or rained down torrents of blazing fire.

Then I rushed out.

I turned around and fled from the abyss.

The speed was not fast enough to shake them off, but just enough to stay ahead of them.