294 -288- The true enemy

"What's going on here? How could there be Xer'Sai here? Why would creatures like this appear in Zaun?" Kassadin exclaimed loudly, his words causing Jayce and Camille beside him to furrow their brows.

But Kassadin paid no heed to their looks, as arcs of dazzling purple electricity crackled from his Nether Blade, his eyes burning with purple light.

Xer'Sai...

Kassadin used to think they were local creatures of the Shurima desert, but after personally visiting the depths of Icathia, Kassadin understood that the terrifying Xer'Sai of the Void were not native to Shurima; they were predators that emerged from Icathia, a group of man-eating monsters.

On the ground, Jayce raised his Mercury Hammer, frowning as he looked ahead.

Up until now, neither Jayce nor Camille had figured out who this man was.

"All Enforcers, fall back fifty meters, leave this to me."

"Injured personnel must quickly take Shimmer to control their injuries! Their blood is toxic, if Shimmer doesn't work, they must be taken to the hospital immediately."

The voice thundered through the night sky of Zaun as Linwin issued commands.

Soon, the Enforcers began to group up and attend to the wounded as instructed by Linwin. There weren't many injured, after all, as the Enforcers with energy shields stood at the forefront.

However, the problem was that a few monsters had broken through the frontline and attacked the Enforcers without the shields in the rear.

The sharp teeth of these monsters were no joke; one bite could take out a large chunk of flesh, even shattering bones.

And the most troublesome part was, they were poisonous!

Brian, an Enforcer, was the most seriously injured among them.

Seeing Brian's face swelling, and half of his body swelling and turning purple, Skite gritted his teeth and drew his energy sword.

"Skite, what are you doing?" Jack asked immediately.

"Get out of the way! Shimmer can treat injuries, but this poison is obviously too much for him to handle. I'm going to chop off his arm and thigh, drain his blood, and then use Shimmer to keep him alive!"

"Skite, are you crazy?" Jack immediately reached out to block Skite.

This idea could work, but the problem was, if something went wrong, then Skite would be the one who killed Brian.

But Skite pushed Jack away, and with a bright beam emitted from his energy sword, Skite gritted his teeth and chopped off Brian's entire left arm, followed by another strike to sever Brian's left leg.

"Quick, use the potion!" Skite ordered.

————

Linwin descended, raised his hands, took a deep breath, and a wave of green light burst forth behind Linwin.

Countless small wind blades shot out, turning into silver-white and green lights, piercing through the bodies of numerous monsters in an instant.

One meter, two meters, three meters, four meters—smaller monsters could only withstand several flying attacks, they screeched and fell to the ground, larger monsters couldn't resist the onslaught of wind blades either.

After repelling the first wave of monsters on a large scale, Linwin manipulated the elemental winds again. In an instant, half of his magical power was drained, and his face turned pale.

But next, to the amazement of Jarvan IV and Garen, Linwin in mid-air seemed like a deity. With his own power, he changed the landscape of the northern mine.

First, debris flew up, and the strong wind rushed to the ground, extinguishing the fire completely.

The flying debris also landed on the splashed magma, preventing its spread.

But then, more monsters emerged from the darkness, stepping on the bodies of their companions. They roared and rushed out at an astonishing speed. But faster than them was Linwin, who completed his magic incantation, raised his hands, and created several wind barriers, each tens of meters high, out of thin air.

The wind condensed into beautiful green walls, blocking the advance of the monsters. These ferocious creatures did not stop their actions; instead, they opened their huge mouths and crazily slammed into the green walls.

These low-level Void creatures had no intelligence; their behavior was purely instinctual.

"Can any of you tell me what these creatures are?"

Seeing Linwin taking control of the situation as soon as he arrived, Jayce relaxed his grip on the hammer handle and breathed a sigh of relief, then immediately asked.

These creatures in front of him weren't practically powerful; Jayce had already noticed that on the way.

Look around; the Enforcers had killed at least hundreds of these creatures. So they weren't powerful, but the problem was, there were just too many of them!

They kept pouring out, piling up like waves, which made Jayce feel palpitations.

He had no idea that such creatures existed underground in Zaun!

You know, Piltover is adjacent to Zaun, and what's in the underground of Zaun is the same as what's in the underground of Piltover, isn't it?

"It's the Void," Kai'Sa replied to Jayce's question.

"Kai'Sa, do you know them?" Camille stared ahead, raising her neck. Her eyes alternated between blue and orange, like two small light bulbs in the night, emitting a charming light.

"Yeah, I've fought them many times, but I always thought they only appeared in the underground worlds of Icathia and Shurima," Kai'Sa nodded, looking at the group of Xer'Sai corpses in front of her. She continued, "I never thought they would be here, too."

"These creatures you're talking about are called Xer'Sai, bloodthirsty Void creatures," Kassadin stayed by Kai'Sa's side, continuing, "In Sai Kahleek of southern Shurima, they're infamous as terrifying predators; many scavengers and traders from Shurima have died at their hands."

"Xer'Sai? I think I've heard that name before!" Taliyah first frowned, lowered her head as if she was thinking about something. Then she quickly clapped her hands, and looked at Kassadin loudly.

"But, but aren't Xer'Sai supposed to only appear around Kahleek Sai? Why are they here? This shouldn't be." Taliyah asked puzzledly.

"That's what I'm thinking about," Kassadin said.

Linwin recognized them at first sight. These creatures, resembling crocodiles, with protruding fangs and no eyes, were the horde of Rek'Sai—Xer'Sai.

Rek'Sai, the "Champion" of the Void faction, is officially called The Void Burrower. In the hearts of players, she also has a nickname called "Excavator," referring to her ability to dig through the ground. Coupled with her unique appearance and the title of queen, Rek'Sai is jokingly referred to as the number one beauty of the Void by players.

As for why Rek'Sai, not Kai'Sa, is considered the number one beauty of the Void, this is a matter of taste for some players.

Two large-scale magics controlled the situation, which wasn't surprising. Because for Linwin now, weak enemies, no matter how numerous, were useless.

After all, squashing an ant and squashing a group of ants were the same. In the face of powerful force, quantity didn't matter.

Linwin don't know about the old Kai'Sa, but now if Kai'Sa go all out, this bunch of Xer'Sai won't be able to threaten Kai'Sa.

But these monsters would be troublesome for Kassadin, who was also tainted by the Void.

Kai'Sa's AOE was more powerful than Kassadin's; each of her plasma shots could create a significant explosion.

Therefore, when Linwin and the Twin Cities' formidable forces arrived, the situation was already under control.

But as for what was happening in the underground of Zaun and how these Xer'Sai appeared in Zaun, Linwin had no clue.

He had no idea that Xer'Sai would appear in Zaun.

Linwin speculated that perhaps Icathia was being dug out by the Xer'Sai. After all, under the leadership of Queen Rek'Sai, these Void creatures were working tirelessly without rest. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were the number one hardworking race of the Void.

But now, Icathia and Zaun were separated by the sea, so how did they dig their way here?

Or maybe the holes dug by the Xer'Sai and similar Void creatures were different from what Linwin imagined? Otherwise, it didn't make sense!

Or did these Xer'Sai come from Kumungu?

No, that didn't make sense; these guys couldn't even get into Kumungu.

Linwin didn't know much about the eastern tropical rainforests of Shurima, but he was very clear that Kumungu was a very dangerous place.

Zyra and Malphite were not going to allow Void creatures to appear in Kumungu. Linwin didn't know much about Ixaocan, but that place was definitely a high-magic zone where everyone was proficient in powerful elemental magic.

And the most amazing thing was that there were a staggering number of dragons in Ixaocan.

"Too bad Janna is asleep, otherwise, we could ask her what's going on."

"As for now...."

Linwin landed behind Taliyah and patted her shoulder.

"Master?" Taliyah looked up at Linwin.

"I've sealed their ability to move, now, use your power to fill up that hole." Linwin said to Taliyah.

"Understood."

Taliyah nodded, dressed in pajamas and pants, she looked at the earthy ground and tiptoed. Then, the ground under Taliyah's feet began to wriggle. In just a blink of an eye, Taliyah rode on the wave of stones, climbing high into the sky.

The ground beneath her feet trembled, and Jarvan IV staggered back, his steps stumbling, but fortunately, his strong physique balanced him out.

In front of the wind barrier, Taliyah looked at the green light in front of her and the roaring Xer'Sai below.

These monsters...

Would they feel pain if she hit them with stones?

Taliyah thought excitedly.

She had once feared these monsters, after all, the Xer'Sai in the legends were fierce beasts that devoured people without leaving a trace. But after seeing even more terrifying beings in Bilgewater, Taliyah felt that she had nothing to fear anymore.

Compared to those hundred-meter sea creatures, these monsters, which were at most a few meters tall, could they really be called monsters?

My stones can definitely hurt them!

Definitely!

Taliyah thought so.

"Tap!"

Leaping up and standing with her legs apart, she clasped her hands together and forcefully collided them. Under the crisp sound, accompanied by Taliyah's shout: "Hahh!!!"

As Linwin's apprentice, she made a similar gesture to her master, but the difference was—

With Taliyah's movement, the valley above Zaun buzzed, as if an earthquake had occurred.

Countless dust and stones cracked from the edge of the abyss, and the stones gathered with the dust, converging into one.

Taliyah closed her eyes, gently pushed forward, and she summoned the stones from all directions. In just a moment, a sky-covering, terrifying oval-shaped boulder appeared above everyone's heads.

"My goodness!"

Kassadin exclaimed with the same sense of fear as Jarvan IV.

Kassadin never expected that this petite, seemingly shy girl he met a few hours ago would possess such power! Is she even more powerful than Kai'Sa?

Surging elemental power poured out, and at this moment, Taliyah did something similar to creating the new Zaun a while ago.

And it was undoubtedly awe-inspiring.

Even Linwin looked up, marveling at the magic displayed by Taliyah.

Among the human of the Runeterra, when it comes to playing with stones, there was no one more powerful than Taliyah.

In Shurima, Taliyah had limitless potential!

Everyone was shocked by this scene.

The huge oval boulder pressed down, perfectly fitting within the barrier range created by Linwin's wind magic.

Several barriers continued to compress, squeezing the space for the Xer'Sai smaller and smaller, and the stones created by Taliyah fell inside.

"Crackle, crackle, crackle!"

Purple blood splattered, and the green barrier was also stained with blood.

As the stones pressed down, countless Xer'Sai were crushed to death.

Taliyah's magic was not only grand, but also had terrifying lethality.

The earth was gentle yet temperamental, and when she got angry, everyone would witness the power of stones!

Whether it's the ocean floor, icebergs, or deserts, underneath, it's all stone!

"Linwin, what exactly is happening?" 

The enforcer team had already begun to retreat, and Jayce and Camille quickly approached.

As scientists, Singed and Viktor naturally wouldn't come, after all. Jayce and Camille were the combat units of the Twin Cities.

Jarvan IV also came up, and Camille glanced at him but didn't stop him.

But coming right after was a cold woman.

Sejuani witnessed the scene.

She arrived shortly after Jarvan IV and Garen, and she saw what Linwin and Taliyah had done, seeing this master and apprentice annihilate thousands of terrifying monsters in an instant.

"I initially thought those creatures were demons, but they're not demons," Jarvan IV approached.

"You know what they are, don't you? You and Kai'Sa both know."

"Boom!"

As the giant stone finally pressed down, the wind barrier dissipated, but many Xer'Sai survived. However, Taliyah was using her volly ofstones to pierce through their bodies, and Vi was punching them one by one.

These scattered surviving Xer'Sai were nothing to fear.

"It's time to let you know, Jayce, Camille, the reason why we don't invade other countries even though we have the power to do so."

Linwin looked at Jayce and Camille, continuing seriously:

"Prepare for a late-night meeting, I will tell all the people of the Twin Cities everything I know, using this incident."

"And starting today, our enemy will no longer be Noxus and the Buhru. I am also going to provide some intelligence to Noxus."

Linwin's solemn expression made Jayce also serious, and Councilor Talis tightened the hammer in his hand.

"Our enemy will be creatures from another plane, a creature that came to this land thousands of years ago and still has its eyes on this world."

It is—

"The Void."

This matter, which should have been revealed by Jax, will now be spoken by Linwin.

The Xer'Sai. They are not terrifying, and neither are Kha'Zix's kind.

They are all just minions of the Void, remnants brought forth by the Void's corruption of Runeterra's land in Shurima. The real crisis is Vel'Koz, the Eye of the Void.

It is the Void itself.

Linwin thought with a headache.

Starting tomorrow, the world will be in chaos.

—