Legends of Runeterra

"Honey, you haven't answered my previous question yet."

Inside the palace, Xiweier leaned in Li En's arms, staring at him with her emerald eyes.

"Haha~! You..."

Pinching Sivir's cheek, Li En revealed a helpless smile.

"You've seen it all today, Azir, haven't you? First, Ezreal's arm guard brought up Mr. Ne'zuk's affairs, then the question of Amumu's identity, and finally he told us about what happened a thousand years ago."

"Honey, I...I don't understand..."

"As the dignified Eagle King, you also saw how he reacted to these continuous 'offenses', didn't you?"

"But...isn't his attitude just fake?"

"If that's the case, that would be even better."

"Huh? Why?!"

"If this gesture is a fake, it means he needs something from us.

So, dear, do you think Uzeris is important to the upcoming fight?"

"Uh...this..."

The capital of Shurima is in the center of the desert, while Nerima-Jez is in western Shurima, near the Targonian mountain range.

Uzeris, located in the northern part of the desert, is not at all on the path of the two countries' attack.

Not to mention that Sivir had personally witnessed the battles of the 'Ascended Gods', and mortals were meaningless to these beings.

Therefore, Uzeris, which is only providing a certain degree of material support now, is indeed insignificant in the upcoming war.

In fact, Sivir herself knew that the reason why Azir formed an alliance with Uzeris was mostly for Li En and... herself who possessed the "ascended bloodline".

"Do you understand?"

"...Um."

"Very well, then don't worry too much. It doesn't matter what Azir was like in the past, at least not now."

"Li En, then we..."

"After the matter of Xerath is over, let's see what choice he makes."

"Um..."

"Okay, halftime is over, now..."

"Wait, wait a minute... Ugh~!"

...

Narimaj, a city located in western Shurima, once had a sun disk and was one of the important cities in the ancient Shurima Empire.

Now, after thousands of years of silence and desolation, this place has prospered again because of the great Lord of the Witch Spirits.

The great 'Lord of the Witch Spirits' made the disc rise again, allowing the glory that had been lost for more than a thousand years to spread to Shurima again.

Everyone in the city saw that during the great 'Ascension Ceremony', ordinary creatures shed their soulless bodies and transformed into more powerful beings.

Even the soldiers who walked out of the high-walled inner city every day were stronger and more ferocious than before.

The Eagle King did indeed restore the Shurima capital to the center of the desert, but apart from the flowing clear water, no other amazing things were reported.

But it's different in Uzeris. Anyone who is willing to swear allegiance to the 'Lord of Witch Spirits' can get a 'gift'.

The greater the merits you make, the more people you will attract, and you can even become the protagonist of the "Ascension Ceremony".

This is a fatal temptation to those who are ambitious and desperate.

As for the authenticity of this 'Ascension Ceremony' and the true identity of the 'Witch Spirit Lord', these people don't care at all.

The Shurima Empire has been gone for more than a thousand years, and the glory of the past no longer shines on them. Instead, the ruins containing treasures have attracted a large number of outsiders to spy on them.

For them, restoring the glory of Shurima is not of any interest at all. The power to make themselves stronger is what they are pursuing.

"Om~!"

An arcane force with a hint of strange black in the bluish purple rose up and illuminated everyone in the hall.

"Ugh...Aaaaaah!"

"Ho ho ho..."

“Crack! Crack! Crack!”

Along with the painful howls, the men, who were dressed in the simplest linen shirts and trousers, gradually grew taller under the influence of arcane power.

The muscles are getting more knotty, the skeleton is constantly breaking and reorganizing...

“Bang~bang~bang~!”

Before they could even utter a final scream, some figures in the crowd exploded and scattered.

Fortunately, the magic circle under their feet restrained them, which prevented the flying flesh and broken bones from affecting the strengthening of the people around them.

As time passed, the light of the arcane power gradually dimmed.

Of the team of more than 500 people, less than three-fifths remained in the end.

Those who successfully survived were all over two meters tall, and their dark skin from living under the scorching sun for many years had faint, deeper lines emerging.

"Huhuhu~!"

The survivors were gasping for breath, feeling unprecedented strength coming from their bodies. Most of them had ferocious and joyful smiles on their faces, while the rest had different expressions, but none of them were afraid of the piles of rotten flesh around them.

"Praise the Lord of Witch Spirits!"

As the first man knelt on one knee and saluted to the illusory figure in a robe sitting on the main seat of the hall, everyone immediately followed suit.

"Praise the Lord of Wuling!!"

"Well, congratulations, my warriors. Now, follow your chapter leader and leave!"

"Yes!!"

The survivors saluted and stood up. Below the main seat, an inhumanly tall figure over three meters tall bowed slightly towards the illusory figure.

"Go ahead, Alpha."

"Yes, my lord!"

Alpha saluted respectfully and stood up, then looked at everyone with his cold brown eyes.

"Come with me!"

"Yes, Chapter Master!!"

The survivors followed Alpha and quickly left the hall, leaving only pools of blood, flesh and broken bones on the ground.

"It is time to dine, my dear ally."

“Da da~da~!”

Accompanied by the faint roar of beasts, messy footsteps sounded from the dark passage leading to deeper depths.

“Woof woof~!”

An excited dog barked, and a hound covered in bright red, as if it had crawled out of a pool of blood, quickly jumped out from the darkness, plunged into a pool of flesh and blood, and began to feast on it.

Following closely behind this hound were more similar hounds, which pounced into the pools of blood and flesh, enjoying the delicacy.

This group of bright red hounds have sharp black blade-like iron pieces growing on their heads and bodies, looking hideous, weird, evil and brutal.

“Da~da~da~!”

A hound king, which was bigger than all the other hounds, with its shoulder height exceeding that of an ordinary person, and a neck made up of short blades like a lion's mane, walked out slowly with an elegant yet brutal step.

Seeing the real owner appear, the person sitting in the main seat stood up and bowed slightly to the strange and terrifying hound.

"Good day, Ms. Nayafili."

"Heh! Xerath..."

The hounds stopped eating, raised their heads, and stared at the illusory figure on the main seat with their strange dim yellow eyes flashing.