Creak... creak...
With brute force, Pride tore through the vines that had bound Rengar. As they snapped, Rengar dropped onto the carpet, his blood circulation sluggish from being restrained too long. His body tingled with numbness, but he still managed a cold snort at Duke.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Find your kin. Lead them. Defend the camp. That's your mission."
"I need weapons. You smashed all my gear!"
Rengar's voice had that naturally low, grim resonance, an innate kind of growl.
"Prove your worth first."
Duke pulled out a weapon he had pre-crafted for Rengar, crafted from rune-forged steel, modeled precisely after Rengar's old blade.
He had picked up the hilt a few nights ago and instantly understood its specs. Rebuilding it had just been a matter of time.
"Wait here."
Rengar snorted, hunched his back, and stormed out of the tent.
Duke tossed the blade to Pride, along with several retractable blade-discs, a net-launcher trap, and a left-arm bracer that could eject a hidden blade.
Last was a belt designed to hold all of it.
"Watch him. If he wins, give him the gear."
Pride nodded and followed after Rengar. Once everything was in place, Duke returned to his seat.
"Fetch my rum from the fridge."
"Can't you say 'please' for once?"
Katarina reluctantly handed over the rum.
Duke shrugged. "Please open it and pour me a glass."
"I don't drink from the bottle."
"You insufferable bastard."
"You'll get used to it, assassin."
He ignored her insults. Duke had her tightly in his grasp. Katarina's mind was still echoing with his earlier warning,
"Unless you want your sister turned into a half-human, half-snake monster, stay the hell away from Shurima."
As Duke swirled the rum in his glass, he waited for good news from Janna, while mentally monitoring both Katarina and Rengar.
Then, from the camp,
A triumphant roar erupted.
Rengar had won. He'd defeated Elder Raldan and his entire kin.
He was now the commander of the camp's guard.
Pride delivered the gear Duke had prepared.
Of course, if Rengar ever dared use that equipment against Duke,
Duke would personally teach him what "death" truly meant.
No one uses Duke's own designs to fight him.
That's just suicidal.
By sundown, Janna finally returned to Duke's tent, exhausted. She tossed a few unused beacons onto the table.
"I found sixteen Vastaya villages and five human settlements. Not sure if any of them belong to Ixtal, but maybe you'll get lucky."
"You've done well."
Duke offered her a genuine smile of gratitude.
Janna rolled her eyes. "I'm going back. This jungle is too dense, trees so close together, wind can't even flow."
"I hate it here."
"Go back to breathe Zaun's smog, then."
She turned into a green bird and vanished.
Duke chuckled bitterly.
Ixtal's tropical rainforest terrain was so saturated with elemental magic that the plant life grew absurdly thick.
Even Zyra had originated from such environments.
The air was always hot, humid, and stifling,
The trees formed natural windbreaks.
Getting any airflow in this jungle was practically impossible.
"Thanks again," Duke muttered to the fading breeze in the tent, then strapped on Edith, his AI drone interface.
He launched the drones toward the beacon sites.
The Ixtali villages were hidden deep within the jungle, camouflaged and protected by living magic. You had to move trees with spells to even reveal a path.
If outsiders wandered in by accident, spellcasters in the village could manipulate the forest into a labyrinth and guide them away without ever being seen.
That's how Ixtal had remained undiscovered for thousands of years.
But Duke wasn't buying it.
Not even the best of them could hide from a storm spirit's surveillance.
The Ixtali capital might be well-hidden, sure,
But the other villages under its rule? Not nearly as formidable.
Once the drones were all deployed, Duke drained his drink and placed Edith back on the table.
Then he pulled out the Eye of the God, one of his most prized biological components.
Originally, he intended to use it for crafting a Sin.
But now that he had the Kha'Zix corpse, insect hive fragments, symbiote material, and a Tri-Phase Core capable of converting any substance into steam for power…
He already had a solid concept for the next Sin's abilities and name.
The Eye of the God had been removed from the project list.
Just by overlapping gazes, this eye could pierce Tahm Kench's disguises.
So, what if he implanted it directly into his own eye socket?
How much stronger would he become?
He already had expert-level mastery over biomechanical integration.
Swapping out organs and limbs, or even augmenting them, wasn't a problem.
"Should I do it?"
He stared at the blue eye floating in the test tube.
Its concentric iris patterns and rotating tri-blue arcs looked almost alive.
Complex runes spun within it like gears in a watch.
"Maybe I should just… give it a shot?"
He rubbed his left eye socket, tempted.
But implanting something this advanced required more than tools.
He'd need a sterile room, proper surgical instruments, and an assistant nurse.
No rush.
He pulled WALL-E out from his inventory, along with a pile of books that hadn't made it onto his workshop shelves yet.
"Let's go, kid."
"Time for your next lesson!"
He grabbed the chalk and blackboard.
Pride?
Yeah, not cut out for such delicate work.
Later that night…
"For a seamless fusion of machine and flesh, the key is linking nerves to mechanical parts. The nervous system is what lets humans control their bodies. Once that's integrated, you can command machinery as easily as your own limbs."
Duke explained to WALL-E while drawing detailed schematics on the board.
At that moment, Edith pinged him with a signal.
He paused the lecture.
"Alright, pause here. Review what you've learned."
"I need to check Edith's discovery."
He dusted off his hands and walked toward Edith.
WALL-E stared at the massive book in front of him, then at the chalkboard…
Who am I? Why do I exist?
Should a mechanical being even need to learn this stuff?
Weren't my orders just to support in battle?!
Duke watched the projection Edith displayed.
His expression grew excited.
He'd found it.
A hidden Ixtal village.
It was nestled deep in the jungle, much smaller than Bilgewater's Rat Town, but far more refined,
Houses encircled a central plaza, built in perfect symmetry.
Despite its size, the infrastructure was advanced:
A forge, clinic, watchtower, tailor… every facility in place.
All buildings were made of smooth, white stone,
As if grown from the earth itself.
Duke had seen similar architecture before, when Pride and Camille had used hextech crystals to grow synthetic structures.
He recorded everything meticulously.
Then, he picked up a tablet and dialed Camille.
In a few minutes, she appeared on screen in her Hanged Man armor.
Duke raised an eyebrow.
"Looks like I'm interrupting something."
"Just handling some small fry."
Camille gestured for her agents to wrap up, then stepped away with the tablet.
"What is it?"
"Take a look."
He showed her the drone footage.
Camille's brows lifted.
"A village I've never seen. The architecture doesn't match any known city-state."
"Is this the Ixtal settlement you mentioned?"
"Not the capital. Just a provincial village, though in their hierarchy, they probably call it a 'fiefdom.'"
Duke shrugged.
These hillbillies were arrogant beyond belief.
Even Qiyana, their best royal heir, barely stood five feet tall.
But her proportions were still flawless.
How the hell did that work?
"You're calling this a fiefdom?"
Camille had heard of Ixtal from Duke, but seeing it with her own eyes made it feel absurd.
"Give me one scout squad and I could wipe that 'fiefdom' off the map."
"But we're not here to conquer."
Duke warned her not to be blinded by appearances.
"I get it." Camille nodded.
"You take the lead on this."
"Good. I'll head out tomorrow, I've already prepared their 'gift.'"
Camille smirked knowingly.
"Tacky sadism, as usual."
Still, she added,
"Remember the formal wear I prepared for you?"
"It's packed."
"Don't embarrass us, Duke."
"I know."
"Then goodnight."
"Goodnight."
As Duke hung up and watched Edith replay the footage on loop, he stretched.
"Ixtal, huh… wonder how old Qiyana is now."
"Hah. Can't wait to find out."
(End of chapter)
We're still in the early chapters fam! and to everyone who's joined the Patreon, thank you so much! 🙏Your support truly means the world. You're the reason this story keeps growing, chapter by chapter, world by world. I promise to give it my all! more content, more depth, more epic moments, to make sure your support is always worth it. You're part of the foundation that keeps this universe alive.
🔹 Hexcore Initiate – 15 chapters ahead
🔸 Arc Reactor Elite – 35 chapters
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