CHAPTER 180 - Trust
Name: Kog'Maw
Race: Unknown Void Creature
Health Points: ???
Mana Points: 0
Combat Power: 89
Abilities: Icathian Surprise, Caustic Spittle, Bio-Arcane Barrage, Void Ooze, Living Artillery, Feasting Devour, Material Dissolution, Void Curtain, Prophet's Call...
Li Lin activated his Data Mind and quickly scanned Kog'Maw's attributes, feeling a sinking sensation in his heart.
The first five abilities were familiar to him, but with some differences.
"Icathian Surprise" would cause Kog'Maw's skin to decay and spill acidic fluids when deprived of food or attacked, turning it into a living bomb before death.
"Caustic Spittle" and "Bio-Arcane Barrage" were similar, both involving the spewing of highly corrosive acid from its mouth, capable of causing severe damage to humans and spreading rapidly.
"Void Ooze" was an acidic path expelled by Kog'Maw's mouth, carrying not only corrosiveness but also the corruption of the Void, making it even more dangerous.
"Living Artillery" allowed Kog'Maw to launch long-range attacks by spitting out living projectiles towards the sky, capable of hitting targets over a thousand meters away and covering a radius of 10 meters.
"Feasting Devour" and "Material Dissolution" were similar to those of the Void creatures Cho'Gath and Vel'Koz, allowing Kog'Maw to devour living beings or energy to strengthen itself, as well as excrete mucus to decompose matter.
As for "Void Curtain," it was Kog'Maw's lifesaving ability, allowing it to disappear into the material realm, becoming "invisible" and immune to all physical attacks.
Regarding the "Prophet's Call" ability, after encountering Malzahar, all of Kog'Maw's abilities would be significantly enhanced.
"Everyone, spread out! Don't let any of the monster's slime splash on you! And keep your distance from it!"
With a thought, Li Lin commanded six storm robots to launch a dense barrage of miniaturized energy projectiles at Kog'Maw, covering a large area to impede its advance.
Following closely, he quickly controlled the morning light, which had been hovering dozens of meters above the ground, to drop a heavy metal briefcase into Sivir's hands.
"Put this on quickly. That thing's corrosive saliva is no joke!"
Sivir, also with a serious expression, had already noticed the corrosive smoke emanating from behind Kog'Maw and didn't say anything more, swiftly putting on the collapsible powered armor.
Having experience with wearing powered armor from the Valley of Songs, she didn't need Li Lin's help anymore.
During this gap, Kassadin and Kai'sa launched ranged attacks on Kog'Maw from different directions.
Having heard Li Lin's warning and witnessing Kog'Maw's slime splattering when hit by the storm robot's energy projectiles, neither father nor daughter dared to approach it, maintaining a distance at all times.
After absorbing a large wave of energy, Kog'Maw stopped its advance, its body becoming extremely unstable, swelling up significantly.
Drooping its head like a leaking water tower, copious amounts of yellow-green corrosive slime flowed from its mouth and body, eroding the yellow sand beneath its feet into a small pond-like crater.
"I'm getting hungrier and hungrier..." Kog'Maw emitted a gurgling sound, resembling someone with a sore throat.
After a while, it suddenly raised its head, its two pairs of eyes flashing with fierceness. "Annihilation is upon us!"
A spiral-shaped throat, filled with spikes, protruded from Kog'Maw's massive mouth, continuously spraying dozens of small green liquid bombs into the sky.
Li Lin widened his eyes, recognizing this as Kog'Maw's "Living Artillery" ability, and quickly shouted, "Everyone, get away! The range of these attacks is large, at least 10 meters!"
Kassadin and Kai'sa's faces changed, tearing open the fabric of reality and wrapping themselves in a layer of void barrier to flash away into the distance.
Sivir moved swiftly and skillfully, having already run far away. Li Lin also quickly used the "Blink" function, teleporting to a position 50 meters away before the living projectiles landed.
Unfortunately, the main targets for Kog'Maw were the storm robots hovering in the air, causing significant damage to them.
Out of more than ten consecutive shots from the Living Cannon, three storm robots were unable to dodge and were hit by its corrosive acid, melting their metal shells and damaging their power engines, crashing heavily to the ground.
Another three robots activated their Adaptive Defense and Overload Charging autonomously, avoiding destruction.
Li Lin's face darkened as he stared at Kog'Maw, feeling a surge of anger in his belly.
The Data Mind panel indicated that once the reference health value exceeded 100,000, it would no longer be displayed.
After being bombarded by six storm robots and Kassadin and Kai'sa, Kog'Maw surprisingly still had over eighty thousand health points.
Due to its chitinous exoskeleton and unique body structure, most of the energy was transferred or absorbed by its body, converting into its own strength and even regenerating health.
However, Li Lin couldn't use ordinary bullets against this creature; its shell was too hard to penetrate.
Another barrage of biochemical projectiles came, and Kassadin tore open the fabric of reality to temporarily avoid them.
Kai'sa relied on her "Killer Instinct" speed and agility to dodge flexibly, while also replenishing her energy by extracting cores from the carcasses of Xer'Sai.
Li Lin quickly deployed the "Steel Barricade" on his left hand, blinking in front of Sivir to block another wave, then hurriedly removed the almost pus-like shield and threw it down.
"Why won't this thing die?" Sivir gritted her teeth. "With the firepower we just unleashed, a normal Void creature would have died hundreds of times over!"
"It's not an ordinary Void creature. Have you ever seen one that can speak and possess intelligence?"
Kog'Maw had rampaged all the way from the Icathian Void to Sai Kahleek in Shurima, devouring countless lives and greatly enhancing its strength.
It seemed that aside from Kha'Zix, who could hold his own against the lion dog, none of these named Void creatures were easy to deal with...
Li Lin furrowed his brow in thought.
Hearing his words, Sivir fell silent.
She silently threw out Chalicar and retrieved it repeatedly, instantly killing the Xer'Sai that had escaped the storm's lock-on.
Sivir dared not attack Kog'Maw, fearing that her Crossblade would be lost if thrown out too far.
For some reason, a deep sense of frustration welled up in her heart.
Ever since being betrayed by Cassiopeia in front of Azir's tomb and then following Li Lin, she truly couldn't help at all.
For the first time in her life, Sivir began to doubt her own abilities.
As Chalicar flew out and returned time and time again, she stared at the golden crossblade swirling in the air, her mood heavy.
It recognized me, but I have abandoned my royal bloodline. I am just a mercenary, with no special virtues or abilities...
After a while, Kog'Maw's attacks became more intense, and several of the storm machines targeting Xer'Sai were damaged, their forms slightly altered by corrosion, emitting thick white smoke.
Fortunately, they only suffered significant decreases in health points and could still continue fighting.
The battle gradually became intense. Kai'sa dashed back to Li Lin, who was firing high-energy rays at Kog'Maw.
"Li Lin, I can't attack it anymore!" She opened her helmet, furrowing her brow slightly. "I've found out that the guy can absorb my energy..."
In fact, Kai'sa didn't need to say it; Li Lin had also noticed the issue.
Every time she launched energy plasma and missiles at Kog'Maw, it would always recover more health.
"It can absorb the energy I use against it, and what I use happens to be the power of the Void, which is a boon to it."
Kai'sa's expression looked somewhat melancholy.
"Since that's the case, help Sivir deal with Xer'Sai," he said.
With Kai'sa's assistance, Li Lin was able to deploy three aerial combat machines to join the siege against Kog'Maw.
As for the other storm robots flying towards various places, the nearest one would take at least two minutes to return.
"Ugh... such a hassle!"
The emitter of the high-energy laser beams overheated and entered cooldown mode. Li Lin turned to look at Nasus and Renekton fighting in the distance.
The commotion over there had diminished significantly compared to before. Renekton might not be able to hold on much longer.
As long as they could hold back Kog'Maw, the top lane, which had a powerful father like Gnar, would be able to knock its head off with just one Q!
Just as Li Lin was about to discuss this matter with Kassadin, unexpectedly, Kassadin used "Void Walk" to return here and preemptively said, "Li Lin, I've found that guy's weakness..."
Li Lin immediately became alert. "Oh? Do you have a way to kill it?"
"Every Void creature has a core, and the core of that big mouth is inside its skull," Kassadin said solemnly. "The mucus inside it corrodes itself, and I happened to notice it."
"I'll concentrate the storm's firepower..."
"No, it's impossible to hurt it with just energy," Kassadin shook his head. "You've noticed it over this long period; even if those energy shells hit its head, it won't do anything to it, and it might even recover."
"So... what do you mean?"
Li Lin couldn't see Kassadin's expression through the metal mask, but he faintly guessed Kassadin's intentions.
"Since Horok was able to pierce the vile heart of the Void with the Nether blade, then it can easily pierce the shell of a Void creature."
"No! That's too dangerous," Li Lin disagreed with Kassadin's risky idea. "That guy's corrosive acid isn't something to be trifled with. Even powered armor wouldn't be able to withstand it."
He paused for a moment. "The fight over there with Nasus is nearing its end. We just need to hold on a little longer..."
Just as they were talking, two more storm machines were knocked down by Kog'Maw's acidic saliva.
The yellow-green liquid, like raindrops, arced through the air and struck where they stood.
Li Lin and Kassadin quickly moved to another position, while Sivir and Kai'sa hastily distanced themselves from Kog'Maw.
"There's no time to hesitate, Li Lin. We can't hold that guy back anymore!" Kassadin said sternly. "Besides, it's fast, even if we run, we can't outrun it!"
Li Lin fell silent.
"My 'Adaptive Shield' of this Hextech-powered armor can hold for a while. I just need to break through space and teleport to its front, use the Nether blade to pierce its head, then immediately return. Trust me!"
Kog'Maw still had over sixty thousand health points, and there were only six storm robots left on the scene, including those dealing with Xer'Sai, with two storm machines damaged, greatly reducing their combat power.
Moreover, Kassadin had a stubborn temperament, his hatred for the Void running deep in his bones.
Since he had decided to take the risk, even calling Kai'sa back might not be enough to dissuade him.
"Do you have confidence?" Li Lin asked with a heavy tone.
Kassadin nodded firmly.
Li Lin sighed silently, reaching behind his waist as if to take something.
In reality, he had just spent a skill point to upgrade the "Steel Barricade" skill to level 8, increasing his health to 15,500 points.
Then, he spent 75 essence points from the "Essence Shop" to purchase the highest level of "Steel Barricade."
When a palm-sized item appeared out of thin air in his hand, Li Lin retracted his hand and installed it into the original groove on Kassadin's left hand.
"...What's this?"
"I just used a compressed shield, consider it insurance."
Kassadin was momentarily stunned, then his mind started working.
In less than a second, the dark shield suddenly unfolded, enough to protect most of his body.
"Thank you."
Just as Kassadin was about to swing the Nether blade to break through space, Li Lin stopped him again.
"Remember, that guy has a temporary invisibility ability and will explode before it dies, with a range of at least 100 meters. You must pierce its core with one strike and then return immediately!"
Kassadin turned back and looked deeply into Li Lin's eyes.
Although he didn't understand how Li Lin knew about this, Kassadin could now trust him unconditionally...
With a deep breath, Kassadin responded softly, "I understand."
(End of this chapter)
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