Van felt as if his body were being torn apart. The pain was so intense that he could no longer hear the sounds around him.
His vision had been completely replaced by light, as if only pain and emptiness remained between heaven and earth.
At some point, the pain vanished in an instant, and his body suddenly felt light. Or rather, it felt as if he had been stripped away from his body entirely.
Even so, his consciousness could still sense a faint feeling of rising.
"What… is this?"
When Van came back to himself, the sight before him left him completely stunned.
An endless expanse stretched out around him. Stars glittered in the black universe, scattered like a painting drawn by a god.
The mysterious scene seemed to go on forever, and Van's mind went blank for a moment.
"Where is this? Heaven?"
Van lowered his head to look at his own body, only to discover that he had turned into a translucent blue energy form, floating in the air with nothing to support him.
Woooo—
An indescribable low sound rang out. It seemed to contain unimaginable power, and Van's strange body rippled violently under it. Even his consciousness almost scattered.
Van forced himself to endure the pressure and slowly turned his head.
"Interesting…"
But what appeared in Van's field of vision was only a colossal… claw? A claw that seemed to be forged from stars and nebulae.
A violent feeling of weightlessness hit him. Van's consciousness plummeted, and in the blink of an eye, his vision returned to the Last Drop.
Clang!
Blitzcrank's mechanical hand was far too large. The small Hex crystal could not be held properly in its grip, so it slipped through its fingers, fell onto the table, and rolled toward the edge.
"Careful!"
Jayce had no time to care about the gun pressed to his head. He caught the Hex crystal just before it fell to the floor.
As Van's consciousness returned, his legs went weak. He could barely stand, but he braced both hands against the bar and managed not to collapse.
Looking at the Hex crystal in his hand, Jayce let out a breath of relief. It was still fluctuating a little, but there were no signs of an explosion.
Before he could get up, a sharp pain and numbness shot through his body, like being struck by a short-circuiting current during an experiment. The next moment, he was pinned to the floor.
"Stay still!"
Even with his face suddenly pressed against the floor, Jayce kept a tight grip on the Hex crystal to keep it from falling.
"Let him go, Zeri…"
At that moment, Van, still panting heavily after taking a moment to recover, slowly raised his head. A faint light seemed to flicker in his eyes.
"Don't just stand there staring. I'm fine. Everyone get back to what you were doing… Thanks, Blitzcrank."
Seeing the whole tavern and the Firelights gathered around them, Van tapped the table with his finger and spoke in a low voice.
Once Van gave the order, the fierce crowd surrounding them slowly backed away one by one. Even so, Jayce could still feel their hostile stares on him.
Blitzcrank, the great contributor, obeyed Van's command without hesitation and crouched back down by the door. Its lamp-like eyes flickered, and every so often it turned its huge face toward the tavern.
"Hmph."
Zeri snorted coldly and yanked Jayce up from the floor. His body was still numb from the shock, so he stumbled and had to lean against the bar.
Smack!
A large-caliber pistol covered in graffiti slammed onto the counter in front of Jayce. Under the blue-haired girl's angry glare, Jayce gave a helpless, bitter smile.
"I really am… sorry. I honestly didn't know there was anything wrong with this crystal."
"No. It wasn't the crystal, Jayce."
Van pushed back his messy hair. Quite a bit of it had stuck to his cheeks with sweat.
"The problem is probably with me… Do you mind talking somewhere else, alone?"
"Alone?!"
Before Jayce could say anything, Jinx could not hold back.
"With him? He almost got you killed just now!"
"I said I'm fine."
"Oh? Really? Say that again when your hands stop shaking!"
Van froze just as he was raising a cup to drink. He looked down at his hand and found that it was, in fact, still trembling without him realizing it.
"Don't worry. This really was an accident… I'm willing to speak with Van alone. I swear I have no ill intentions."
Jayce raised both hands above his head. He felt terribly wronged. He had clearly done nothing, yet he could feel the stares behind him almost ready to tear him apart.
"I'll go with you."
Ekko walked over and patted Van on the shoulder, but Van shook his head and refused at once.
"I'm fine. That's enough. Jayce and I will go up to the third floor. The rest of you get back to work."
"No! Seriously, why are you always so polite to these topsiders? You know they never mean well!"
"Enough, Powder… Zeri, keep an eye on her."
Van frowned and rubbed his still-aching head. He was starting to have no idea what to do with this sister of his, who was sinking deeper and deeper into her rebellious phase.
Was this how Vander had once felt watching Vi?
"Huh? Me?"
Zeri pointed at her own nose, then gave Jinx an awkward smile.
"Forget it. No need to make it hard for you, greenie. I can't be bothered with him anymore."
Jinx snorted, shot Van a fierce glare, then turned and walked out of the tavern.
"Come on, big guy!"
Blitzcrank looked at Van, then looked at Jinx. It thought for a moment in an oddly human way, then stood up and clumsily followed after her.
"Ahem…"
Ekko was still standing there in a daze when he saw Van give him a look. He understood at once and reluctantly chased after them.
Every time those two siblings argued, he was somehow the one who had to smooth things over.
"Sorry about that, Mr. Jayce. That's my sister. She wasn't targeting you on purpose. It's just… after seeing me like that, she was probably frightened."
"No, no. It's nothing."
Jayce laughed awkwardly. Right now, he only wanted to get out of this place as quickly as possible. The sharp stares on his back were making his spine go cold.
…
…
"Would you like something to drink, Jayce?"
"No, thank you."
Jayce sat on the sofa in the third-floor office and looked around the room.
The decorations here were simple. Even an ordinary topside home would probably look much more luxurious than this.
"Do you mind if I smoke?"
"Go ahead."
Van lit the tobacco and took a deep drag, letting the smoke clear his still-dizzy head a little.
He kept rubbing his eyes. That energy from earlier had left them painfully dry.
"How much do you know about Hextech… about the arcane?"
"What part do you mean?"
"For example, have you ever observed anything strange through Hextech energy?"
Jayce looked confused at first, then seemed to understand.
Had Van seen something while he was in that state?
"Such as?"
"An endless, vast space… a starry sky. Countless stars."
Van rubbed his temples. His eyes were distant. The scene he had seen only moments ago already felt unreal, like a dream fading after waking.
"And… a dragon?"
[End of chapter]