High above in the bustling streets of Piltover, Progress Day had arrived.
People were merry, children played, and the world, even in the Undercity, felt just a bit brighter. That is everywhere except the darkest depths of the Sump where Dredge Prison loomed, home to the most dangerous and deranged criminals Piltover and the Undercity had to offer.
Yet regardless of the dangers below, an airship drifted into Piltover's docks. The crowd roared in celebration at Jayce Talos's latest marvel, the Hexgates, and eagerly anticipated what more the genius would unveil.
All around, inventors showcased their latest creations, though none could match the grandeur of Jayce's own.
Before Piltover's Academy, beneath tents adorned in noble shades of blue and violet, House Kiramman proudly supported House Talos, where Jayce Talos greeted patrons and guests from across the city.
His eyes, however, couldn't help but wander to the entrance where a tall, serious woman in an Enforcer's uniform stood on guard.
Smirking mischievously, Jayce, in pristine white noble attire, slipped away from the crowd and crept up behind her. With a flick of his finger, he tapped the brim of Caitlyn's Enforcer cap.
"Ow— ow! Cait!" Jayce winced as she spun, catching his wrist in a lock before he could retreat.
"Serves you right," she said with a teasing smirk, though her expression quickly hardened as her gaze landed on her mother, Cassandra Kiramman, who glared at her from across the tent.
"You still avoiding her?" Jayce asked.
"I'm working."
"I can see that," he said sarcastically, gesturing toward the peaceful crowd. "So much crime to thwart out here."
He chuckled.
"I can only imagine the strings she pulled to get me stationed here," Caitlyn sighed, exasperated.
"It's your fault, really," Jayce teased. "For not choosing a career 'more befitting of your station.'"
"She'd do anything to keep me from seeing the real world…"
"Well, at least you'll have front row seats to the speech!" Jayce said, puffing his chest proudly.
"Speech? We've really descended into anarchy."
"Have fun herding the drunkards," Jayce grinned before heading back toward the crowd.
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~Meanwhile, Below~
"Run! Get the warden, quick! We have an intru—"
The man's head was ripped clean off, impaled against the wall by a bone spear that vanished just as quickly.
"Run! It's a monster!"
"Wait, stop!" One shrieked. "I have a fami—"
Ten more bodies fell as bone spikes burst from the ground, impaling the fleeing prisoners and shattering nearby pipes causing explosions of steam before retracting back into the earth.
"I should reach level three soon…" Xander muttered, frowning as he looked around, cold and calculating. "It takes only two kills to reach level two at the beginning for Torment VI. But where is…"
Another spear shot through the air, nailing a man pretending to be dead and betrayed only by the puddle of urine beneath him. A surge of power rippled through Xander's body.
"Ah, there it is," he grinned. "So not Torment VI. Maybe V? Or IV?"
The iron door at the end of the corridor creaked open, three goggled thugs charging through. A green spectral scythe materialized above them and cleaved them in half in a single, sweeping motion.
"That's pretty damned satisfying," he chuckled as their corpses fell. One shrieked, looking down at his body as he stepped past before passing out.
Oh man, I want to see Corpse Explosion! Please don't wake up, please don't wake up!
He winced as bright red alarm lights blared through the tunnels, the noise piercing his concentration and ruining his mood, his fun.
CRACK!
A bone spear shattered one of the lights, but the siren kept screaming.
An angry voice bellowed through the intercom:
"All of you fuckin' rodents, get your asses to Level Six! We've got a monster outbreak from the Gray Zone! If I find any of you hiding like cowards, Urgot will flay the flesh from your bones!"
"Urgot?" Xander tilted his head. "Urgot…? I don't remember any Urgot mini-bosses. And none of these things look like Diablo mobs…"
Pipes hissed violently around him, steam pouring into the green-lit tunnel. The walls were a chaotic mix of stone, rusted metal panels randomly placed, and flickering lights.
He looked down at his trembling hands. His breath felt cold, his body drenched in heavy sweat.
Goddamn. I've had vivid dreams before, but nothing like this.
Then, smirking with a shaky breath to himself, I gotta remember what I ate tonight so I can have this dream again.
He pressed forward, slicing through the next wave of attackers. They came armed with jagged pipes and crude blades. Some half-naked and half-augmented, others donning heavy gear and gas masks.
Then he froze.
'Is that a gun?' Xander blinked, and reaches down to pick up what looks to be a heavy rifle except absurdly large with green pipes running in and out of it.
With a field of corpses littering the tunnel behind him, he aims it down the tunnel and fires it at the next minion rounding the corner. It flings him back into the wall, collapsing with a pained groan while others retreat around the corner.
"It's not a monster! It's a man! He's rebelling! Inform the warden, GO!"
"Huh..." Xander can't see it, but he hears footsteps fleeing.
"AAAGH!"
A half naked man with a large metal pipe lunged out and swings his pipe down as Xander nears the corner, knocking the gun down but Xander simply lifted his palm.
"GUH! W-what...?"
The minion looks down at his chest in shock, confused and in pain as he finds himself suspended against the wall with a bone spear pinning him. He emits a pained groan as he falls to the metal floor with a heavy thunk.
"Get fucked."
Xander's heavy boot stomped down and the minion's head explodes across the floor.
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"URGOT!" The warden screamed into the mic. "Deal with the problem!"
He scribbled frantically on a paper and shoved it against a subordinate's chest.
"Inform Sheriff Marcus we've got a situation! And alert him too!"
"Chembaron Voss, sir?"
"Yes, and his fuckin' boss!"