"No one!"
Hecarim suddenly raised his bizarre weapon, its broad blade ignited in flames. All of the Dreadknights vanished in an instant, consumed by emerald fire. The next moment, they reappeared behind Hecarim, perfectly arrayed in formation.
"You can survive this."
As if stating a simple truth, Hecarim raised his massive glaive, and an unspeakable dread spread like weeds through everyone's heart.
Without Hecarim leading the Dreadknights, the enemy could fight fearlessly, laughing in the face of death. But with him rallying the knights once more, the infamous Iron Cavalry, the terror of the battlefield, had returned.
Clang!
A sailor dropped his weapon, fell to his knees, and muttered blankly, "It's over. We're finished."
"The Shadow of War is here. We're all going to die!"
"Every last one of us! No one's getting out alive!"
Gripping his hair in despair, the sailor let out a soul-shaking wail.
"He'll crush us under his hooves, and Thresh, the Warden of Souls, will drag our spirits into his lantern… to suffer ten thousand years of torment!"
"Shut your damn mouth!"
Miss Fortune kicked the panicked sailor to the ground. Her eyes swept the battlefield, burning with unyielding defiance.
"If we retreat today, we'll lose everything tomorrow!"
"Everyone, pull yourselves together! We still have weapons! We still have time! And we still have Duke!"
"Hold your ground! As long as we endure, dawn will come!"
Her voice brimmed with courage and passion. Camille gave her a sidelong glance, this girl, surprisingly, might just be a perfect fit for House Ferros.
"Well said, young lady."
A dim gray light flickered from Camille's visor as her Hextech engine overloaded with a sharp whine.
"You truly are Ferros material."
"You foul-mouthed undead!" Camille's adaptive shield flickered to life as she lunged at Hecarim. "You must be eliminated!"
Even in such a chaotic battle, Camille's leap retained the innate elegance of nobility.
"If you lack the strength to fight, then at least have the resolve to die with dignity."
Her voice echoed in the square, laced with the poise of the Gray Lady. Everyone gripped their weapons tighter.
If someone dared to charge into death's maw, why would they cower in place?
Bilgewater, Outer Perimeter
The original sandbars around the mainland had vanished. The buildings lay in ruin. Undead rose endlessly from the Black Mist, crying out in grief as seawater poured into the massive pit created by Duke's cannon.
The Electromagnetic Photon Cannon had vaporized the Sea Leviathan's ghost, annihilating its soul permanently, and left behind a terrifying crater. Steam-crystallized ground, scorched by extreme heat, had begun to crumble.
Chains clinked, and the wailing of the dead echoed around the sinkhole.
"What can you possibly do?"
Thresh's voice whispered constantly in Duke and Lucian's ears. His thrown chain carved deep furrows in the earth like a plow.
"You can't do anything!" Thresh sneered.
"Light brings agony to darkness!"
Lucian's twin relic pistols erupted with sacred light, pelting Thresh with radiant fire like a storm of burning rain.
The darkness was driven back by holy brilliance. For the first time, Lucian felt relief. Each shot carried the pain of his loss, the memory of his wife, and his hatred for this vile spirit.
Feel it, Thresh. Feel everything.
Pure flames ravaged Thresh's body, tearing him apart. His seductive whispers twisted into screams of agony.
Lucian's Ultimate Skill: The Culling.
To Lucian, those screams were the sweetest music in the world.
But Duke remained cautious, observing from the edge.
Something was off.
Lucian had already used his ultimate three times, this was the fourth. Thresh screamed louder each time, yet once Lucian's barrage ended, Thresh would recover like nothing had happened. He swung his chain and mocked them again and again.
"Damn it!"
Duke's eyes widened. He suddenly understood: Thresh was baiting Lucian, draining his stamina and resolve. With the Black Mist as his lifeline, Thresh could endlessly regenerate.
That bastard planned to wear them down until they collapsed in despair.
"You piece of shit!"
Duke cursed, stashing his black ebony and ivory pistols and pulling out a single bullet inlaid with a wisdom tooth, his trump card. This bullet could pierce anything.
Crafted from Superman's molar, it had shattered Jayce's rune core back at the Blue Lotus Estate evaluation, and Duke had since tested it extensively.
The tooth had a hardness rivaling divine relics, not even an adamantium mantis blade could scratch it.
He toyed with the bullet between his fingers, deep in thought.
"No…"
He tucked it back into his inventory. It was better suited for armored foes, like Rammus or Braum.
For someone like Thresh, it was pointless.
With the Black Mist constantly repairing his body, Thresh wouldn't fall, unless...
Duke glanced at the Superman Experience Card in his inventory, but quickly shook his head.
Not yet. He'd save that for a true dead end.
"ROAR!!"
A pained, furious scream snapped Duke back to attention.
He looked toward Pickpocket Plaza, and gasped. "Pride!"
"You've finally figured it out," Thresh chuckled coldly.
His wounds already healed, Thresh grinned at Duke. "By now, that idiot Hecarim should've arrived at the plaza."
"Maybe he's already crushed that red-haired girl beneath his hooves."
"Shut your rotten mouth!"
Duke hurled a dozen grenades at Thresh and sprinted toward the plaza, trusting Lucian to deal with the ghost.
"I told you," Thresh's lantern began to glow. "You're mine. You can't run."
"Welcome to my prison!"
With a horrific screech, five bone towers erupted from the ground. Massive green energy walls linked them, forming a giant pentagonal cage.
Ghostly light flickered between the towers, and Duke and Lucian were instantly trapped.
The Warden's Prison.
Walls of bone and emerald light sealed off every escape route. The air grew cold with death.
Seeing the light barriers block his path, Duke's face darkened.
"A cage that big?"
"Time to begin your exquisite torment!"
Thresh's laughter echoed, eagerly awaiting Duke's fury.
But Duke just smirked.
"Don't mistake your rock bottom for my ceiling, dumbass."
He glanced at the rising seawater and calmly clapped his hands.
"Tahm."
A whirlpool spiraled up from the water. From it emerged a giant catfish demon.
"Boss, Tahm is always at your service."
"Get me out of here," Duke pointed to Lucian. "And grab him on your way."
"Later, Warden."
Duke dove into Tahm's open mouth. As the demon shut his jaws, he flashed Thresh a smug grin, as if saying, "Push me again and I'll send you straight to the Sentinels of Light."
Thresh could only watch in impotent rage as his prey vanished.
"No!!"
Just as Thresh roared, the waters churned again. Tahm swallowed Lucian whole.
Seeing both souls slip through his fingers, Thresh's lantern burst into wild green flame.
"CURSE THAT DAMNED DEMON!!"
Pickpocket Plaza
Blood soaked the ground. Countless fighters had fallen under Hecarim's brutal charge.
Pride struggled against his advance. Camille danced between Dreadknights, but her grace now looked strained and desperate.
"Embrace… death!!"
Hecarim reared and brought his hooves down. Pride met them head-on with a roar:
"Never!!"
"Father hasn't returned yet. I won't fall here!"
The engine at Pride's heart overloaded, surging with raw power. He shoved Hecarim back with a massive burst.
End of chapter...
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