The Last Stand

Kai'Sa ran through the tunnel, speaking as she went:

"We should stop these things from happening; we have the ability."

It wasn't about justice; since the Void aimed to destroy all life, they had no choice but to stand against it.

"Ability?" Kane looked at his eleven-year-old body and immediately denied it: "No, not yet. But you can think about what you'll do when the time comes."

"Me?" Kai'Sa pondered, but before she could answer, Kane interjected: "You plan to lure the void creatures away by yourself to prevent them from discovering the humans on the surface, right?"

"How did you know?"

After a year, Kai'Sa felt she had become familiar with the underground world. Relying on her carapace, she had escaped numerous ambushes by void creatures.

Moreover, these creatures, driven by hunger, were always easily tempted by her.

"Do I not know you?" Kane snorted.

In the original timeline, Kai'Sa had indeed done this, which is why Kane knew. But even without the omniscient view, he knew it was the most foolish approach.

"Silly girl, there are so many people on the surface to save, your method won't be enough, and it will only trap you deeper."

"You'll find yourself either saving or on your way to save, with no time for what you want to do, like exploring the world above..."

"We can't solve the Void, so let's solve those who aid the Void."

"In my opinion, only by eliminating that cult worshipping the Void can we minimize these tragedies. And it will avenge our village and our deceased family."

Recalling the tragedy of the village's fall that night, the flames of vengeance burned fiercely in her purple eyes.

"Those people won't live long. The first thing I'll do when I return to the surface is hunt them down."

"Now that's the hunter from the Void." Kane patted Kai'Sa's head in encouragement, but the carapace's tight embrace left him feeling nothing.

Kane knew that although Kai'Sa spoke boldly, she might hesitate or falter when facing her enemies.

Killing humans was different from killing monsters; she had to get past that mental barrier first.

As Kane pondered their return to the surface, a sudden alarm rang in his mind.

"Danger! Something's wrong!"

Kane immediately warned, but Kai'Sa couldn't stop in time.

A massive shadow lunged from a dark fork in the tunnel, its claws striking Kai'Sa directly.

Kai'Sa was knocked down, and Kane was thrown off.

His momentum sent him tumbling and sliding across the rocky ground, his bare upper body scraped by the rough terrain. He only stopped when he dug his claws into the ground.

"Kai'Sa!" Ignoring the pain from his injuries, Kane immediately called out to check on her safety.

Amidst the dust nearby, a heavy cough was followed by Kai'Sa's voice, processed by her mask.

"I'm fine..."

She emerged from the dust, part of her carapace shattered, revealing lifeless skin beneath, crawling with the aura of death.

Was this really okay?

Kane leaned against the wall, standing up. It was the first time he had seen Kai'Sa so severely injured. Fortunately, the carapace's resistance to damage was good, and Kai'Sa hadn't lost her combat ability.

"I thought I had lost them."

Kai'Sa flicked her hands, extending light blades from her fists, and wiped the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand, her carapace naturally absorbing the blood that had leaked.

Her expression turned fierce, like a hunter beginning her hunt.

"It seems I was terribly wrong."

The dust stirred unnaturally, suddenly revealing a massive skull-like goat head above Kai'Sa, its triangular sharp jaws aimed at her head.

"Watch out behind you!" Kane raised his hand.

Without Kane's reminder, Kai'Sa had already noticed. She dodged the sudden strike by somersaulting, leaving the predator to bite empty air.

She then dashed forward, leaping onto the beast's back from its head, crouching to press her fists against its back, plunging her gauntlet blades between its ribs, and spraying purple flames into its chest.

The flames filled the monster's chest, even spewing out through its throat, melting the rocks in front.

Kai'Sa flipped off the skull and landed, the predator's massive body exploding into a bloody mess behind her.

Her void skin stirred restlessly, absorbing the energy released by the monster's death, slowly repairing the gaps in her carapace.

"Too bad the heart exploded," Kai'Sa calmly retracted her blades.

A predator as powerful as this one would have a heart with much more void energy than a voidling, and she had just blown it up, which was a pity.

"Why do you say such things..." Kane suddenly chuckled bitterly.

It seemed as if fate couldn't stand Kai'Sa's boasting, as every time she spoke boldly, a greater threat would emerge, as if the goddess of fate was eager to put her in her place.

If they weren't underground, where lightning couldn't reach, Kane suspected Kai'Sa would be struck by lightning.

"Your big heart is coming right up," he reminded her with a headache, then told her to press tightly against the rock wall.

Sure enough, the next moment, Kai'Sa's skin issued a warning of sharp pain.

She quickly pressed against the wall like Kane, and from the darkness at twelve and six o'clock, two terrifying purple lights appeared, followed by two beams of light shooting towards each other, crossing at the intersection.

The underground tunnel lit up like daylight for a moment, the lasers directly hitting the curved part of the tunnel, causing the underground space to shake violently, and the rock walls to collapse with a loud explosion.

Kai'Sa was lucky to be in the corner, narrowly avoiding the crossfire of the two lasers, the residual energy in the air making her heart race.

If she hadn't dodged, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Damn it, how did they surround us?" The strong light revealed the massive outline of the predator, Kai'Sa clenched her fists and moved along the wall to Kane's side.

This time, she didn't choose to attack proactively. Two predators approached from two directions, and if she attacked one, Kane would inevitably be attacked by the other.

"What now? The retreat is blocked."

Kai'Sa found that the fallen rocks had blocked both escape routes, and the crossroads were occupied by two massive predators, making it difficult to break through. Her heart grew more anxious.

"We have to fight. I'll distract one. Predators are much stronger than voidlings; I can't control it for long. You must kill the other quickly and come back to help me." Kane remained calm and immediately proposed a solution to break the deadlock.

"You can control it? For how long?" Kai'Sa was pleasantly surprised; she had thought Kane could only watch, as he had been hiding his abilities for too long.

"About half a minute," Kane said, not revealing his limit.

He couldn't be too precise with the time, always leaving some margin for error to deal with unexpected situations.