Monsters and Men

The bird merchant had fallen from a great height, fortunate to be alive.

However, he soon realized that death might have been preferable to witnessing the horrifying scene before him.

Tentacles from another world writhed as they burrowed into the Skarloc, the docile beast screaming in agony. Its body convulsed, its thick fur rippling unpredictably, as dissolved organic matter flowed like amniotic fluid within it.

The tentacles emitted a malevolent purple glow, continuously injecting void energy into the Skarloc. As matter dissolved and reformed, tangible energy dispersed, affecting the caged birds.

The falcons transformed in an instant into skeletal beings, mutating further from there.

Their golden feathers disappeared, replaced by a vertical eye that opened in the middle of their skulls. Their beaks elongated, sprouting comb-like fangs, and their wings regrew feathers that seemed capable of swallowing light itself, turning pitch black.

Watching the metal bird cages bend and deform under the strength of the sinister avians, the merchant realized disaster was upon him. In a panic, he rushed into a tunnel.

...

When resuming the hunt, Kane took Kai'Sa's hand.

Underground, not only was there no brown sugar water available, he couldn't even find clean water. All he could offer in terms of care was his company and holding her hand.

After all, having a period wasn't akin to being incapacitated.

For someone extraordinary like Kai'Sa, the physical effects were minimal; it was more about her state of mind, which might be more lax than usual.

Feeling a resistance from her arm, Kane noticed Kai'Sa had stopped suddenly. He turned and asked, "Is your stomach troubling you again?"

"No…" Kai'Sa's voice came muffled through her helmet, "Do you smell that?"

"Smell?" Kane covered his helmet, and the carapace captured and analyzed a trace scent in the air, triggering distant memories.

It was...

The scent of fear!

"There's another living creature underground," Kai'Sa stated.

The expression hidden beneath Kane's helmet was grim. He had no desire to encounter another surface creature, especially since only a highly intelligent being could emit such a strong scent of fear.

And judging by the intensity of the fear, this creature was likely a human, as only humans had emotions rich enough to emit such a profound sense of dread.

"Let's check it out," Kai'Sa said decisively, moving forward without giving Kane a chance to argue.

Watching her rapidly receding figure, Kane had no choice but to follow closely.

The void carapace on Kai'Sa rippled, always craving to feed and hunt, yet she channeled this urge into a basic instinct to seek life. She ran through the tunnels, rapidly closing in on their target.

At the end of the tunnel where Kai'Sa was headed, the bird merchant was frantically escaping, his eyes wide with incomprehensible terror.

Behind him were several mutated falcons in pursuit.

They flapped their dark wings relentlessly, like death descending from above. The sharp gleam once seen in their three eyes was now replaced by clear malice.

"Damn it, I should never have taken the shortcut!"

These falcons should have been traded at the market for a handsome sum, but now they had turned into man-eating monsters, their sinister screeches echoing in the darkness as they sought to devour him.

"May Nasus save me, let me make it back alive!"

The threat of death nearly shattered the merchant's spirit, but the real nightmare came from ahead.

The indentations in the tunnel walls emitted an ancient purple light, outlining the monstrous silhouettes looming in the darkness.

Like the last straw breaking the camel's back, the desperate situation overwhelmed him, his consciousness fracturing as if his soul had fled.

The merchant collapsed on the rugged rocky ground.

Pain made him feel alive—the intense pain snapped his soul back into his body, his unfocused eyes clearing in the darkness.

The terrifying shadow closed in unimaginably fast, pushing the air ahead of it. The strong wind it raised made it impossible for the merchant to keep his eyes open; he thought of simply closing his eyes and waiting for death.

Unexpectedly, the figure did not harm him but instead passed by him and skidded to a stop behind him.

It bent down, the armor on its shoulders shifting and reshaping. A glowing pod on its back cracked open, emitting blinding light aimed at the approaching monsters.

In Kai'Sa's vision, the three dark falcons appeared with red patterns, easily distinguished and targeted.

With a shout, she unleashed a volley of glowing orbs that spiraled towards the creatures with scorching destruction.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The missiles precisely locked onto the three falcons, striking them down in a burst of purple light, reducing them to indescribable gory remnants, even obliterating their hearts, leaving only a few intact black feathers fluttering down.

After neutralizing the threat, Kai'Sa approached the merchant.

Seeing her easily kill the mutated birds, the merchant screamed like a cat stepped on its tail:

"Don't! Stay away!"

Kai'Sa paused, perhaps realizing her appearance was too frightening, and removed her helmet.

"Here, pleas are useless. If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't even know who did it."

She extended her hand—or rather, her claw—to help him up from the ground.

"Monster! Stay away!"

But as if not hearing her, the merchant frantically pulled out a dagger, tears of fear streaming down as he scrambled backward, desperately trying to distance himself from her, his actions full of panic.

"Don't judge by my void-touched skin. Inside, I am just like you, human." Kai'Sa frowned deeply, explaining, "The void offers a thousand ways to die but only one way to live, which is to become one of them. I had no choice…"

No matter how Kai'Sa explained, the human before her kept muttering "monster," each word piercing her heart like a steel needle.

"I am not a monster!" The unreasonable misunderstanding, which she had hoped would resolve, only fueled Kai'Sa's anger.

Perhaps feeling that her human face was not visible in the darkness, Kai'Sa intentionally let her shoulder pods emit a stronger light to illuminate her face.

But to the merchant, this seemed like Kai'Sa was about to launch a lethal orb at him, frightening him into covering his eyes with his arms.

At this moment, Kai'Sa remembered a saying from Kane—humans are always full of prejudices, only willing to believe what they see, and taking it as the truth.

The man before her only saw her monstrous exterior, ignoring her human part.

This was prejudice.

And her naive belief that people outside would understand her and communicate normally?

Also prejudice.

A beastly roar came from behind, forcing Kai'Sa to divert her attention from the merchant to what lurked beyond.