Legends of Runeterra

"..."

Deathly silence lingered in this underground space.

Xerath, who reshaped his body with "blood magic", just watched Li En and Azir quietly.

After a long time.

"Ah!"

With an indifferent smile at Azir, Xerath let his hands hang naturally by his side and looked calmly at the young man with black hair and black eyes opposite him.

"You win, Li En."

"Of course, the moment I decided to intervene, victory was already upon me!"

“Hehehahaha~!”

"What arrogant self-confidence!"

As Xerath spoke, his scarlet eyes glanced at Azir, who had been silent beside Li En.

"If you were the one in that position, perhaps a greater era would have been created at that time..."

"hehe!"

Li En chuckled and didn't respond to Zeratul's words.

He turned to look at Azir beside him, and handed the 'Charikar' in his hand to Azir.

"How to deal with Xerath is up to you, Your Majesty Azir."

"..."

Staring at 'Charikar' in front of him, Azir was distracted for a moment.

Li En did not warn him, but just loosened his hand and let 'Charikar' hover in front of Azir.

He turned and left, walking towards the only exit of the underground space.

Li En acted too quickly before, and Azir has not yet recovered emotionally.

Now that 'Charikar' was in front of him, he truly felt the difficulty of making this choice.

Yes, Xerath did betray himself, and this led to the destruction of the Shurima capital and the end of the entire empire.

However, if it weren't for him, then he, the unfavored prince, might have died at the hands of the assassins who tried to kill the king.

Even if not, he would die in obscurity from some unknown disease.

The palm of his left hand gently stroked his right arm. When Xerath on the opposite side saw Azir's action, the surging memories immediately brought back a long-lost scene in his mind.

When the assassin attacked the royal carriage that was touring Shurima at night, the two secretly ran out to draw a star map. On the way back, they met an assassin. In the fight, Azir's arm was injured, and Xerath had seven broken ribs and three stab wounds before they killed the unknown assassin.

That was the first time the two ignorant teenagers fought to the death, and also the first time they trusted each other without reservation.

"Why, you don't even have the courage to do it?"

"..."

Azir raised his head but did not answer Xerath's question.

"You are always like this, ambitious but indecisive..."

Staring at Azir with manic and cold eyes, Xerath took the initiative to walk towards him.

"Success makes you a king, take it or leave it. I have made my choice, but you... are still stuck in the past!"

"Xerath..."

"Oh! Azir, you are too weak..."

"Om~!"

Scarlet magic suddenly emerged, and as Xerath walked in front of Azir, his arm suddenly swelled and turned into scarlet spikes that stabbed at the opponent.

"Ring~!"

Azir instinctively controlled 'Charikar', and the luxurious and elegant cross blade split the spikes in an instant without any delay.

"Pfft~!"

When the bright red and hot blood splashed on the golden armor, Azir finally realized what had happened.

Looking at Xerath, whose chest was stabbed by 'Charikar' and whose body was ruthlessly purified and disintegrated by the sacred 'Power of Ascension', Azir was about to put away 'Charikar', but saw Xerath grabbing the blade with both hands, and ignoring the blood flowing from his palms, he pressed the cross blade hard towards his chest.

“Puff~~!!”

The cross blade stained with bright red blood pierced through the chest and came out from the back of Zeratul.

"Zerath!!"

"Hahahahaha~!"

"The last choice was made by me!"

"Zerath you..."

Azir looked at Xerath who was heading towards death, his golden eyes revealing an extremely complicated look.

"Ahem! My name is not...Zeras..."

"Om~!"

In the pure golden light, the domineering "power of ascension" completely annihilated Xerath's body shaped by blood magic, leaving not even a handful of ashes.

"..."

Azir stared at the place where Xerath disappeared for a long time, in a daze.

For some reason, Azir wanted to cry, but the sacred and great 'Ascended Body' had abandoned this defect that exposed weakness.

The golden eyes that appeared from the broken gap in the helmet slowly closed.

After a long time.

"Hoo~!"

With a long sigh, Azir slowly opened his eyes.

At some point, Li En came to his side again, and was now putting the 'Charikar' back on his wrist, transformed into an antique bracelet.

"It is over, Your Majesty Azir."

"Well, it's over. Thank you, Li En!"

"You're welcome."

Feeling the things existing in 'Charikar', Li En showed a smile.

"Shiver and the others have been waiting for a while, let's go back."

"Ok."

"Om~!"

Li En and Azir disappeared in this underground space, and the torn space cracks did not close and disappear as usual, but instead spread further, like a whirlpool, tearing and crushing the entire underground space without leaving any trace.

"Quack!"

Indistinctly, a blurry figure was fleeing in panic from this chaotic space.

...

"Om~!"

"Leen!!"

"Bang~!"

Hugging Li En tightly, Xiweier buried his head in Anxin's arms and took a deep breath, then looked up at the other party.

Seeing this, Azir, who was one step behind Li En, had a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

In his opinion, even if Li En did not have the "ascending bloodline", the fact that Sivir, who was destined to sit on the throne, was so close to him, would ensure the future of Shurima.

Although Li En did not attack many times, Azir would not think that his strength had not improved over the years.

Based on Xerath's character and methods, if Nayafili can become his ally, then the strength of this Darkin must not be weak.

However, Li En was able to end the battle faster, and even his aura did not change much. Azir had already realized that Li En's strength definitely surpassed his.

"He is already this strong even before he ascended. If he ascends..."

When Azir thought of this, he couldn't help but have the idea of ​​making Shurima's sun disc appear on other continents.

"Li En, are you okay? Why did you leave suddenly just now?"

"Go after Xerath, he has more than just those few tricks."

"Oh, then you guys..."

"It's solved. Let's go. It's time to go back."

"Uzeris?"

"Of course!"

Li En nodded, and Azil immediately raised his hand to keep him.

"Li En, how about you come with me to the capital? The key to this battle is you and Sivir. You can't be absent from the celebration!"

"How about we come back on the day of the celebration?"

"That...Okay, no problem. I'll let you know in advance."