-291- A laughable word

"Malzahar is not someone who would be too difficult to find, everyone. As far as I know, he only appears in Shurima, so as long as you sense the Void's presence anywhere in Shurima, it must be Malzahar causing trouble there.

"I can confirm that the only mage currently able to communicate with and trusted by the Void is Malzahar," Linwin said seriously.

After Lissandra deceived the Void, sealing the first wave of creatures that rushed into the material world and freezing the Watchers under True Ice, the Void stopped blindly trusting humans.

It was then that the Void gained concepts such as time, heat, and pain. With that, it also gained endless coldness and numbness.

Lissandra betrayed her sisters, sealing everything under the harsh ice of Freljord. They couldn't understand what had happened. Even though communication had been established and the gates to that realm had been opened, why did things turn out this way?

Slowly, they understood. They learned the meaning of "betrayal" for the first time.

The powerful Watchers began to adapt to this change. They grew stronger, using the raw materials of the material realm to shape, corrupt, and infuse consciousness. They created a powerful initial batch of Voidborn, different from the mindless Voidlings. These beings were not only incredibly powerful but also capable of continuous learning.

And that was the most terrifying part. Vel'Koz stood out among them.

He was the oldest living Voidborn, a being even Linwin, who was well-versed in the story, couldn't fully comprehend.

Linwin had tried to find him back in Shurima and even considered killing him on sight, but Malzahar was just too elusive.

But that was to be expected. If Malzahar didn't keep a low profile, he would have been killed by Kassadin or Jax long ago.

And that was the trouble. If Vel'Koz and Malzahar were to meet, with Vel'Koz's accumulated wisdom over millennia and Malzahar's abilities, it would cause immense trouble for the entire Runeterra.

The Void had been dormant until now. No one knew what Vel'Koz was planning. At least, when Linwin arrived, riot hadn't figured it out yet.

"Our people have just withdrawn from Shurima, and now you want them to go back?" Vander looked at Linwin and asked.

"I didn't expect something like this to happen all of a sudden," Linwin rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Nasus is currently tracing a woman's trail. When he finds the last descendant of ancient Shurima, it will be the time of Azir's resurrection."

"I originally thought of calling everyone back to avoid conflict with Azir later, but now, compared to the conflict with Azir, the matter of the Void is more urgent.

And I think if Azir knew about the Void's impending revival, he wouldn't mind us intruding into his kingdom."

"Azir knows more about the dangers of the Void than anyone else. If he knew about the Void's revival, he would prioritize that," Linwin affirmed.

On this point, Linwin had no doubt.

Azir was known as a wise ruler, despite his title of "Emperor of the Sands" sounding imposing, like that of a tyrant.

But in reality, Azir was definitely a good emperor. He only used his iron-fisted rule against enemy nations.

In Linwin's understanding, Azir was a good person.

One incident could prove it.

That was when the last descendant of the royal family, Sivir, was mortally wounded by Cassiopeia in front of the Sun Tomb. Her blood awakened the last emperor.

After sleeping for thousands of years, Azir's body had already began to decay, on the verge of death. At that moment, lying before Azir was the barely alive Sivir.

In such circumstances, there was only one pool of life water left in the tomb, meant for only one person's use. Yet Azir didn't hesitate to use it to save Sivir.

He gave this chance of survival to a descendant he had just met, someone with his own bloodline—someone, essentially, he didn't know at all.

Linwin asked himself if he could do such a thing.

Unless it was Powder, or Kai'Sa, or Vi lying there before him.

Otherwise, Linwin would never consider sacrificing himself.

And Sivir hadn't gone to the Tomb to revive the emperor. Azir's revival was an accident. Despite being asleep, Azir had been informed of the events of the past years by the sands—his country's fall, his people living in hardship.

He was alive and capable of doing more than Sivir ever could. From any perspective, Azir could have let Sivir die, and no one would have said anything.

But he chose Sivir.

It was precisely because of this selfless greatness that Azir gained the approval of the Sun Disc and completed the ascension ritual he had failed to achieve thousands of years ago.

Just as Linwin was about to say that Azir could be trusted, another voice interjected.

It was Kassadin, looking at Linwin with a surprised expression, asking loudly:

"Azir? Linwin, are you talking about that Azir?"

Kassadin couldn't understand at all! Emperor Azir, that legendary figure, had been dead for thousands of years.

"Yes, Azir is about to be resurrected soon," Linwin nodded.

But this conversation left the two Demacians on the side even more bewildered.

Jarvan IV furrowed his brow, listening to these people discussing the Void and the revival of a man from thousands of years ago.

Gods and ascendants again.

Who was Azir?

If he hadn't seen those monsters with his own eyes, Jarvan IV would have thought Linwin was telling a story.

Thousands of years? Keep in mind that Demacia hasn't even existed for a thousand years yet!

And the person with the same expression as Jarvan IV and Garen is Sejuani. Only after stepping out of Freljord did Sejuani realize how vast the world really is.

"Let's send people to Shurima first, to rebuild the camp. As for Azir, when he resurrects, I'll find him first. I believe with my relationship with Nasus, this Emperor will listen to me," Linwin stated.

"Alright," Vander agreed.

"But I'll say this again, Linwin." Mel stood up, and Jayce quickly turned to look at her. This woman from a prominent Noxian family looked at Linwin and said seriously,

"Even though many people believe in the existence of the Void, as long as it doesn't threaten them directly, they won't care at all. They'll just continue living in their own worlds.

And when ordinary, impoverished people learn about this news, they'll only feel despair and helplessness. Small countries are already caught between larger nations, and the lives of those people are already incredibly difficult.

Take Shurima, for example. After the people there learn about this, do you think they'll pick up weapons to resist, or will they just lie down with bottles in hand and wait to die?"

Silco and Camille nodded in agreement, and Mel continued, "So I believe this news cannot be spread, at least not now."

"You want to unite people to fight against the Void? In the face of interests, that's just a laughable word!"

She had invaded other small countries with Noxus, so Mel understood the complexity of human nature.

Because when faced with a great enemy, would people really unite?

No. When it really came down to it, there would probably be many people like Malzahar, throwing themselves into the Void.

Just like those people in small countries who, for the sake of their interests and survival, betrayed their own countries and turned to Noxus.

"This is indeed a problem," Linwin acknowledged.