Legends of Runeterra

"Om~!"

Blue arcane energy formed a portal, and then an old wizard with skin between blue and purple and wearing tattered clothes slowly walked out.

The old wizard raised his head and looked around with eyes filled with infinite magic.

He stretched out his hand and gently stroked the ruins beside him.

There was a barely perceptible trace of nostalgia on the face covered with frost, scars and rune patterns.

"Hoo~!"

As the old wizard let out a breath, the nostalgic look on his face quickly dissipated, returning to his original cold and hard look.

He took a step forward and walked forward with such familiarity as if he had done this a thousand times before.

Soon, Ryze came to a dusty, heavy stone door.

He stretched out his right hand, which was tattooed with countless intricate runes.

"Om~!"

"Click~!"

With a slight sound, even after a thousand years, the mechanism that controlled the stone door still rose up smoothly and silently.

And when the door opened, the thing inside seemed to sense the person it had been waiting for for a long time.

"Buzz~~!"

A deep green light lit up, shining on Ryze impatiently. An extreme desire that was all too familiar to him, as if it came from an instinct, emerged from the bottom of his heart.

It seems that as long as you become one with the thing behind the door, any wish can be realized and nothing in the world is impossible.

"Ha! You always do the same thing."

Ryze raised the corner of his mouth in disdain, then took a step forward and was about to walk in.

"Hoo~!"

An extremely subtle fluctuation flashed through the space behind him, and at the same time he sensed the aura of his own arcane energy.

"Huh? It's you!"

Ryze, who already knew who the person was, turned around slowly and looked.

"Hello, nice to see you again, Mr. Old Wizard."

"..."

Looking at Li En who greeted him, Ryze was silent for a few seconds.

"Hello, Li En."

"Haha~! I thought you didn't remember me."

"Buzz~~!"

After Li En appeared, the light behind the door suddenly became brighter.

"Is this... that 'thing' from last time!?"

Li En's words made Ryze turn his gaze to him, and an indescribable thought flashed in his strange eyes.

Seeing this, Li En took a step back.

"Please do as you please, Mr. Mage. I am not interested in this kind of thing at all!

But if you are not in a hurry to leave, I would like to ask you some questions later, what do you think? "

"Everyone wants to chat with me while I save the world."

"Well, even if that's the case..."

"But you took the lead in helping me solve the troubles on this island, so I just happen to have some free time today."

"Thank you, Mr. Mage."

"My name is Riz."

"Okay, Mr. Ritz."

Nodding to Li En, Ryze turned and walked behind the stone door.

"Buzz~~!"

The azure arcane energy completely obscured the dark green light.

After a while, Ryze, carrying a huge scroll, walked out from behind the door again.

"Have you sealed the 'World Rune Fragment'?"

"Hmm? Do you know what that is?"

"Yes, please understand that after meeting you, I went to look up a lot of information and finally understood roughly what was in front of me that day."

"Is that so? Then you should know my identity."

"That's right. You have never hidden your identity, so I know your identity clearly from those materials, Mr. 'Rune Guardian' Ryze."

"Haha~! Then..."

Ryze looked at Li En with his eyes that were filled with arcane energy and were completely different from those of ordinary people.

"Do you want 'them'?"

"what!?"

Faced with Ryze's sudden question, Li En couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

But knowing Ryze's firm belief in his mission and the profound power of the 'World Rune', Li En currently has no idea at all.

So Li En shook his head decisively.

"Mr. Ruiz, please stop kidding me. I don't want to have any contact with such evil things!"

"'Evil nature'? Haha~! It's a very appropriate description."

As Ryze spoke, the atmosphere between the two of them relaxed a little.

"Okay, stop talking nonsense. What do you want to ask?"

"Mr. Ryze, I have previously communicated with Maokai, the first nature spirit of this Blessed Island. According to his description, the reason why this archipelago has such a lush ecology is because it found an endless energy underground.

By harnessing that power, the archipelago gradually changed from a desolate state to a vibrant one.

I wonder if the 'energy' that the nature spirit Maokai mentioned is... "

"Yes, the energy is the 'World Rune' I just collected."

Ryze had no intention of hiding anything and nodded directly.

"It is indeed this..."

“Crack! Crack!”

Suddenly, a subtle sound attracted the attention of Li En and Ryze.

As the two of them watched, a huge figure slowly emerged from the ground.

"Maokai? Why are you here?"

"Master Li En, I sensed the breath of the 'Water of Life', so I came here to check it out!"

As the power derived from the World Rune - the Water of Life, which has been with him for countless years, Maokai rushed over excitedly the moment he sensed this breath.

Due to its large size, it did not live with Li En and others at the beginning, so it took some time to sneak over from underground.

"Master Li En, this is..."

"Oh, this is Mr. 'Rune Keeper' Ryze."

"Greetings, Maokai, the spirit of nature."

Ryze performed an ancient mage ritual to Maokai, a rare act.

His master, Tyrus, was a member of the ancient society of the Blessed Island that was destroyed by Viego.

The ancient society of the Blessed Isles was once on good terms with Maokai, and even the "Water of Life" was shared with them by Maokai.

So at this moment, even though the two had never met before, Ryze still saluted Maokai.

"You are..."

Maokai was slightly startled when he noticed Ryze passing by from the familiar etiquette, but he quickly came to his senses.

Seeing that the other party had no intention of expressing himself, Maokai did not point out the origin of Ryze's etiquette.

"Hello, Mr. Ritz."

After Mao Kai greeted him, he immediately turned around and looked at Li En excitedly.

"Lord Li En, I sensed that power before. As long as I can successfully draw out that endless energy, the archipelago will be able to regain its former vitality within three years of human time!"

"this..."

Facing Maokai's excitement, a hint of hesitation flashed across Li En's face.

"Sorry Maokai, let's not worry about that energy for now. Let's think of other ways."

"Ah!? But Master Li En..."

"Maokai, the islands will flourish again, I promise you!"

Facing Li En's sincere gaze, Maokai finally nodded.

"I understand, Master Li En."