Luke sped above the sea like the wind, the Blue Flame Isles already far behind him.
At first glance, the ocean was still remarkably peaceful. The waters were calm, without the slightest sign of trouble, and seabirds such as gulls occasionally flew past him.
But as time passed and Luke traveled farther from the Blue Flame Isles, it felt as though he were flying deeper and deeper into the most remote reaches of the endless sea. The scenery before him gradually began to change.
The tranquil waters from earlier gave way to an eerie silence. The distant horizon was shrouded beneath a mass of black clouds that radiated an unsettling presence. The sky gradually darkened as well, as though he had reached the end of the world, entering a realm entirely devoid of life.
Luke continued onward and finally saw the Black Mist.
It sprawled across the ocean, slowly creeping forward. It resembled an enormous black beast that had only just awakened, its massive body filling heaven and earth as it swallowed every small island and every living creature in its path.
At the center of the Black Mist, something seemed to pulse like a beating heart. Countless streams of dark energy churned within it, darting in every direction as though they possessed lives of their own. It seemed as though some kind of Windburst was brewing inside, giving off an overwhelmingly oppressive presence.
Luke's expression grew more serious.
Without hesitation, he flew straight toward the Black Mist and plunged into the overwhelming darkness in the blink of an eye.
The temperature around him instantly dropped to freezing.
It felt like stepping into a silent graveyard on a bitter winter night. The bone-chilling cold constantly tried to seep into his body and invade his very soul.
Energy surged around Luke, isolating him from the Black Mist and forcing it back several feet in every direction.
The moment he entered, countless wailing cries of the dead filled his ears, sounding like claws scraping endlessly across a sheet of steel.
At the same time, countless cold, sinister gazes fell upon him from every direction.
"Stay the hell away from me."
Luke spoke calmly as rune energy spilled from his body.
Shrill screams immediately rang out, and the weaker wraiths fled in terror.
As for those that still refused to back down, Luke had no problem sending them on their way.
His Righteous Aura had already reached its maximum level, and against undead spirits like these, it was just as effective as the relic weapons used against the Black Mist.
Luke quickly began speeding through the darkness. His first objective was to locate the Shadow Isles.
However, after searching the surrounding area, he found no trace of them.
Because of the strange magnetic field generated by the Black Mist, the Shadow Isles seemed to have been concealed within another realm entirely.
"Looks like there's still a little time before the Shadow Isles appear."
Luke reached that conclusion, though from what he had observed inside the Black Mist, they did not have much time left.
Just then, he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of energy.
"Someone's here?"
He immediately changed direction and raced toward the source.
Before long, he discovered an island that had already been consumed by the Black Mist. Sounds of battle echoed from somewhere onshore, as though someone was fighting the wraiths within the mist.
They were probably people who had failed to evacuate in time.
As Bilgewater's ruler of the seas, Sarah had warned everyone living around the nearby waters several days ago, ordering them to evacuate to Bilgewater or someplace even farther away as quickly as possible.
But there were always people who could not escape in time.
Luke moved quickly, landing on the island almost immediately.
There, in the middle of a field, he saw a thin layer of pale blue mist resembling drifting clouds. It held back the surrounding Black Mist, while a lone figure fought fiercely within it.
On the other side, a group of residents huddled tightly together, trembling in fear.
"Don't worry! I'll definitely get all of you out of here!"
A girl's clear but determined voice rang out.
The enormous scissors in her hands swept through the air with tremendous speed and force, cutting down one evil spirit after another.
Luke recognized her the moment he saw her.
Gwen, the Hallowed Seamstress.
The soul of Isolde, wife of the Ruined King, had been divided into many fragments, but three major pieces were associated with three individuals.
One was Senna.
Another was Gwen. A fragment of Isolde's soul had given her life, transforming her from a simple doll into a living person.
The third was Yorick, the Shepherd of Souls, who was most likely somewhere on the Shadow Isles right now.
The Black Mist had already completely swallowed the island, and there seemed to be no end to the wraiths. No matter how many Gwen destroyed, more evil spirits continued emerging from the darkness in groups.
Meanwhile, the Hallowed Mist she had summoned was gradually being corroded by the Black Mist. Its protective area steadily shrank, forcing the terrified residents to crowd even closer together, their faces completely drained of color.
Gwen continued fighting with everything she had. She was already panting heavily from exhaustion, and her movements gradually became more strained. Unsure of what else she could do, she simply kept swinging her scissors without stopping.
She wasn't afraid of the Black Mist herself.
Even if her Hallowed Mist collapsed, she could still protect herself. But if that happened, she would no longer be able to protect these innocent people.
At that moment, Gwen suddenly saw a powerful spell shoot in from the distance.
It tore through the wraiths like a bolt of lightning, piercing one undead spirit after another.
In the blink of an eye, every wraith surrounding them had been wiped out.
The sheer power of the attack left Gwen staring in astonishment.
A moment later, Luke descended from the sky.
Gwen immediately looked toward him and said, "Thank you for helping us."
"No need to thank me."
Luke looked at her.
The girl before him had lustrous, silvery-blue curls, glittering golden accessories, and an elegant, exquisitely tailored dress. Her beautiful face resembled that of a delicate doll, with exceptionally refined features.
She held an enormous pair of scissors that seemed halfway between physical and ethereal. Her bright, lively eyes watched him with obvious curiosity.
Who was this man who could move through the Black Mist so freely?
This was the first time Gwen had ever seen a human act so completely at ease inside it.
"Come with me first. We'll talk after we get out of here."
Luke raised a hand and snapped his fingers.
Gwen immediately felt magical energy envelop her body. After thinking for a moment, she chose not to resist.
The next instant, she discovered that both she and all the island's residents had appeared aboard a ship.
They were still inside the Black Mist, but energy radiating from Luke protected the vessel as it rapidly began moving toward the outside.
After a brief period of panic, the residents gradually calmed down. They quickly realized that Luke was helping them escape from this terrifying, haunted darkness.
Under Luke's control, the ship moved at an absurd speed, practically flying across the surface of the ocean.
It did not take long before they escaped the Black Mist entirely. Soon afterward, the darkness had been left far behind them.
Only then did Luke gradually slow the ship, finally giving the residents a chance to catch their breath.
"I should introduce myself first. My name's Luke. I came here specifically to investigate the Black Mist."
Luke kept his introduction simple.
Gwen quickly understood and replied, "I'm Gwen. I'm investigating the Black Mist too. I found this island with people living on it, but by the time I tried to evacuate them, it was already too late."
She gazed curiously at Luke, clearly having many questions she wanted to ask.
"We've got time. If there's anything you want to ask, go ahead."
Seeing her large eyes practically shining with curiosity, Luke couldn't help smiling.
"Why are you investigating the Black Mist?" Gwen asked first.
"Runeterra has suffered from the threat of the Black Mist for long enough. I've gathered a group of people and joined forces with the Sentinels of Light. We're preparing to fight it."
Luke briefly explained the situation before asking, "What about you?"
Gwen immediately gave him a straightforward answer.
"I want to rescue my maker, so I have to confront the master of the Black Mist, a man named Viego. After that, I discovered that quite a lot of people seem to have suffered because of him, so I want to save them from their suffering too."
Her words were completely sincere. Looking into those determined eyes, there wasn't even the slightest hint of falsehood.
She genuinely wanted to save as many people as she could.
"The Ruined King?" Luke asked.
Gwen nodded. "You know him?"
"Of course. He's the guy we're planning to take down next."
Luke smiled before continuing, "Looks like we're after the same thing. Why don't you join us, Gwen?"
"Sure!"
Gwen didn't hesitate in the slightest. She immediately nodded and readily agreed.
She was already grateful to Luke for helping her, and now that she knew there was an entire group of people who shared her goal, she became even happier.
In fact, she was already eager to meet them.
As he controlled the ship, Luke casually asked, "You mentioned your maker earlier. Who exactly are you talking about?"
Gwen tilted her head.
"My maker is my maker."
"Can you be a little more specific?"
"The person who created me. Scissors, a needle, thread, those were the tools my maker used to create me. Then some kind of wonderful magic happened, and whoosh, suddenly I came alive!"
Gwen gestured animatedly as she spoke, looking like an innocent young girl who knew little about the world.
She answered absolutely everything he asked without hiding a single thing about her origins.
"I see."
Luke nodded before smiling and asking, "So how does it feel to be alive?"
"It's absolutely wonderful!"
Gwen's eyes lit up with excitement.
"I love feeling my heart beating, thump, thump, thump! And this world is so beautiful too. That's exactly why I don't want that awful Viego to destroy it!"
She had only recently gained life, yet she had already discovered how wonderful the world could be.
She wanted to visit countless places.
She wanted to eat all kinds of delicious food.
She wanted to attend festivals and celebrate alongside people, laughing together with everyone.
And for that to happen, she had to defeat Viego!
She was genuinely pure-hearted and straightforward, and the angelic smile on her face naturally made people want to protect it.
"Don't worry. We'll definitely defeat Viego."
Luke smiled.
"Yeah!"
Gwen nodded vigorously.
It wasn't long before Luke brought Gwen to Bilgewater.
He first introduced her to Sarah and the others, then brought her to Piltover.
Gwen was somewhat nervous the first time she traveled through a Hexgate, and when she saw Piltover for the first time, she could hardly stop exclaiming in amazement. Everything she saw seemed incredibly beautiful and impressive to her.
Ever since gaining life, she had wandered the waters around the Shadow Isles. Everything she knew about the outside world had been learned from the inhabited islands she occasionally visited.
"Now that there are Hexgates, wherever you want to go in Runeterra in the future, you'll be able to get there pretty quickly."
Luke smiled as he walked ahead.
Gwen tilted her head upward and slowly spun around as she walked, taking in the buildings surrounding her. Towering structures were reflected in her eyes as she exclaimed, "That's incredible."
Her desire to see even more of the world became stronger than ever.
Afterward, Luke introduced Gwen to everyone in Piltover, and she officially joined the forces preparing to confront the Shadow Isles.
"I can sense Viego's presence. He's getting restless. He can't wait much longer."
Gwen explained this to the others.
For reasons similar to Senna's unique circumstances, Gwen could sense the connection between the wraiths, the Black Mist, and Viego.
In other words, she could detect Viego's movements.
Her presence was undoubtedly useful to everyone. At the very least, they would have some idea of when Viego was coming.
And according to Gwen's intuition, they did not have long.
Viego would appear within the next five days.
That left everyone with very little time to prepare.
Over the next two days, Gwen gradually integrated into the group and made many new friends.
Luke also saw Ryze, who had already returned.
However, Ryze did not remain for long. He soon departed through a Hexgate, apparently heading to Demacia.
Luke had no idea what he intended to do there.
Ryze did promise that the moment the Shadow Isles emerged, he would return.
As for the fragments of Isolde's soul, another three had been discovered in Ionia. Each was located near a different stretch of coastline, exactly where the Black Mist would first arrive.
There wasn't enough time to relocate all three fragments and gather them in one place, so Karma and Irelia decided to divide their forces and defend all three areas separately.
Luke informed Syndra of the situation, and she agreed to provide assistance when the time came.
Whatever else one could say about her, having Syndra's promise made Luke feel considerably more confident about the situation.
Besides, Ionia still had Master Yi, Shen, and plenty of other powerful fighters. Luke saw little reason to worry excessively.
Not long afterward, two more soul fragments were discovered in the waters near Icathia in Shurima. Once again, there wasn't enough time to relocate them.
Luke passed the information along to the Aspects of Mount Targon.
At a time like this, there was no reason to let them sit around doing nothing.
The final two soul fragments were discovered along Noxus's northern and eastern coastlines. When the time came, Katarina would lead forces to both locations and establish defensive lines.
She was now one of the three people at the top of Noxus, so the amount of authority she wielded was considerable.
Swain also seemed to already understand the danger of the situation. With the secret demon residing within him, there were few things that could remain hidden from him.
Luke expected him to help Katarina reinforce the defenses as well.
Once all the necessary preparations had been made, the team that would travel to the Shadow Isles gathered in Bilgewater.
The group consisted of Luke, Gwen, Lux, Morgana, Poppy, Sona, Lucian, Senna, Illaoi, Sarah, Ryze, Vi, Ahri, Zed, Wukong, and six Sentinels of Light.
Twenty-one people in total.
Everyone else, including Fiora, Kai'Sa, Janna, Jarvan IV, Garen, Jinx, Jayce, and the others, had been assigned to defend the soul fragments.
To Viego, those fragments were the most important thing of all.
The Black Mist itself had been cursed by love, and because of Viego's love for Isolde, the more fragments he recovered, the stronger he would become.
That meant powerful fighters had to be assigned to protect every fragment.
Throughout these past several days, the Sentinels of Light's forges had been running without pause. With Senna providing the necessary expertise and Piltover supplying its technological support, one relic weapon after another was efficiently produced.
When it came to confronting the Shadow Isles, Luke and the others had prepared everything they possibly could.