With no further interruptions, the remaining Noxian soldiers stood no chance.
As the blade-dragon soared, the crystal-clear water-blades left only a trail of blood-droplets in their wake.
In short order, the majority of the garrison that had marched out to meet them was dead, adding to the growing carpet of corpses.
To prevent the gruesome scene from upsetting Irelia and the others, Faen manipulated the flowing water to wash the earth clean once the fighting stopped.
Only when everything was pristine did he signal them to disembark and enter Fae'lor.
As Akali and the others stepped onto the island, they immediately saw the Kiilash, Kalan, standing beside Faen.
The beast-man looked hesitant, clearly wanting to ask something but terrified to speak.
Initially, the distance and the lingering mist from the battle obscured their view.
But as they drew closer and saw Kalan's unique features—specifically the twisted horns and the triple-tails that no other Kiilash possessed—Akali's eyes widened in shock.
"Kalan the Traitor?!"
At the word "traitor," Kalan's eyes dimmed visibly.
This caught Usan's (Zed's) attention. He looked at Akali with curiosity. "Who is this Kalan the Traitor?"
"This Kiilash right here," Akali explained, gesturing toward him since Faen didn't seem to mind.
"He's a world-renowned master hunter from the Placidium—famous across all Ionia. He was born with incredible sensory and stealth abilities. My mother told me personally that even with full preparations, Kalan's Shadow-Burst is enough to assassinate almost any target."
She paused, eyeing the empty leather sheaths at Kalan's waist with suspicion.
"As far as I know, his weapons were twin hunting daggers made from Basilisk fangs. Word reached us that he betrayed Ionia to join Noxus recently... I just don't know why he's here now."
Hearing that Kalan was a defector, the others turned their questioning gazes toward Faen.
After spending time with him, they knew Faen was a reasonable man, but he was no soft-hearted traditionalist.
While he was generous to his own and didn't mind if his allies showed mercy, he was usually ruthless with enemies—especially traitors.
He typically ended their lives with a clean stroke and zero conversation.
And yet...
Looking at Kalan's horns and tails, Usan mused to himself.
While Primordial Kiilash were rare, Faen didn't seem like the type to spare a traitor just to protect an endangered species.
Sensing their gaze, Kalan lowered his head and offered no defense.
He turned his eyes back to Faen. He wanted to know what the man knew about the Purple Prophet.
"The main reason is that he doesn't carry the resentment of the Ionian people yet... essentially, he hasn't actually helped Noxus kill any Ionians," Faen explained, sensing their confusion.
"Long ago—so long ago that the ancient wars hadn't started, the Vastayashai'rei hadn't been born, and even time itself was young—the denizens of the Celestial Realm grew worried about the burgeoning races of Runeterra."
Akali, Shen, and the others looked at each other, wondering why Faen was suddenly giving a history lesson.
But before they could ask, Irelia raised a finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet.
She silently mouthed the words: "Senior Brother is telling a story~"
The others might not understand, but Irelia knew that whenever Faen encountered something ancient, he would enter a state of "prophetic perception"—or so Master Xynia and the senior sisters called it.
It was because of these moments, where he seemed to commune with the ancient past, that the Masters of the Silk Dance and the Sages of the Temple were certain Faen possessed true prophecy—even if it was a "dangerous" kind that risked upsetting the balance.
Of course, looking at the present, his prophecies were proving correct; Noxus had declared war.
Faen caught Irelia's little gesture and smiled, but didn't stop her. It made things much easier for him.
He continued: "In the eyes of the Celestials, the mortals of the Material Realm were wild, capricious, and dangerously straying from the Great Plan the heavens had woven. Even the guidance and destinies they meticulously stitched into the night sky were ignored—or worse, misunderstood by simple mortal minds, leading to chaos, uncertainty, and suffering."
"Just like the Karma from two generations ago," Akali muttered, only to be silenced by a stern look from Shen.
The previous Karma had attempted to use a prophecy to prepare for a spiritual crisis, only to inadvertently worsen the tragedy. This was a primary reason the Temple of the Long-Standing was so wary of prophets.
As the future Eye of Twilight, Shen was well aware that while prophecies could be correct, misinterpreting them had led to many historical catastrophes.
Faen sensed their thoughts and continued, "It was then that a Celestial spirit could no longer stand by and watch. She decided to descend into the mortal realm to untangle the knots in the world's tapestry."
"To do this, this child of the stars donned a material form of flesh and blood. In the process, the powerful magic roiling within her burned through her new body from the inside out. To help and heal the broken and incomplete, this Starchild suppressed the agony of her material existence under the name Soraka, and began her journey."
Faen turned his gaze back to Kalan.
"And so, this purple-skinned woman with a pearl-lustered horn on her forehead and cloven hooves for feet has wandered through the history of Runeterra as a prophet."