Runes determine our path

"Is Darius making his move against us now?"

Garen fought alongside Lux, blocking every arrow, swatting every poison vial back as if he were playing tennis.

Each arrow launched by the Hextech longbows had the power to take down a freshly awakened Transcendent. While slicing through them wasn't difficult for Garen, it was putting serious strain on his Runeblade, a weapon Balyard once likened to little more than scrap.

The Zaunite mercenaries' poison vials, meanwhile, were made of a special material that chemically and magically reacted with the toxin inside. For ease of transport, these vials were usually solid and seamless, but for combat, that made them useless.

So, a new design was developed: vials made from crystallized poison. In that solid state, the poison lost most of its corrosiveness. Safe enough to sleep beside without harm.

However, once the liquid toxin inside violently collided with the crystalline shell, the suppressed corrosiveness reawakened. The vial would melt, and under environmental triggers, the entire mixture would become gaseous, spreading to harm its enemies.

To knock such vials back with a sword wasn't just a matter of brute force. It required finesse. One wrong strike and the vial would burst, splashing Garen with liquified poison.

"Prismatic Singularity!"

Lux's favorite spell. Wide area, high damage, excellent for clearing out enemy grunts.

And they had to clear these grunts first. Singed was never a frontline brawler. His tactics didn't suit mass skirmishes. These soldiers were just cannon fodder meant to wear them down. Weak individually, but dangerous thanks to their Hextech and alchemy gear, especially against a fragile mage like Lux.

Unless the grunts were cleared, Garen couldn't charge at Singed. And though he knew this was part of Singed's war of attrition, he had no choice but to play along.

"Your skills haven't dulled since leaving the Empire, Garen. Drink?"

Singed pulled a glowing vial from his back.

"Shake. Shake. Shake-shake."

He tossed the potion. Garen yanked Lux behind him and dashed down a corridor he'd carved earlier, slashing up clouds of dust with his Runeblade to block pursuit.

"Singed's concoctions, whether you know what they are or not, stay away!"

It was a saying across Runeterra. Singed was madder than any other Chem-Baron. No one ever knew what he might have cooked up next.

"Garen, Garen… After so long, you reject my specially prepared gift? So disappointing! Beasts—eat them!"

Singed wasn't upset that his potion missed. Someone like Garen wouldn't be harmed by ambient toxins unless he was in a cloud of pure poison.

His true target was his soldiers; he had just infected them.

"Werewolves? What have you done, Signed?! Didn't you learn your lesson last time?!"

Garen shouted, but words couldn't contain his rage. He leapt over the now-mutating soldiers, dozens turned into wolf-like monsters, another hundred grotesquely twisted and left as corpses.

"Decisive Strike (a.k.a. Brainless Slash!)"

He swung his blade at Singed.

But Singed blocked with his shield, then Garen bounced back; he needed to protect Lux first.

Warwick, the original. Years ago, while Garen still served Darius, Singed had created the monstrous weapon.

Warwick died in a failed experiment and was dumped into Zaun's sewers.

But he came back, revived.

The reborn Warwick was a disaster, losing all traces of humanity and attacking Zaun and Piltover at random. He came to hunt.

Neither city had the power to resist. Their reliance on tech made them easy prey for a monster who instinctively sought out and destroyed that tech.

At the time, Garen, then an elite soldier of the Empire, and another warrior were dispatched to slay Warwick. They succeeded, burning his body. Garen's Runeblade had been damaged in that battle; Warwick's teeth were that strong.

After the mission, Garen requested to leave the Empire.

"Noxus is sick and refuses to be treated."

Lux left with him.

They knew too well the suffering of the powerless under imperial rule.

So they chose to fight for those who couldn't fight.

"Heheheh, Garen…"

Singed's exoskeletal armor reshaped into a chair. He lounged on it, sipping something from another strange vial.

"Relax, these aren't the terrifying Warwick of old. They're unfinished prototypes, temporary versions with some of Warwick's powers. The price? Their lives."

"You bastard! Judgment!"

Garen spun his blade, slamming beast after beast. But for every one he knocked back, two more replaced it.

"You said Warwick couldn't be replicated! How did you make these?! Years ago"

"You burned his body? Shame. Your partner preserved a chunk of his flesh. I've spent years trying to clone Warwick, and now I've created controllable versions."

"You're insane! Courage!"

Garen chose to stop dodging. He charged into the fray, using Lux's magic shield to reduce damage.

But he wasn't just being protected…

"Final Spark!" Lux shouted from behind.

Her thrown mana wasn't only for the barrier. As the shield passed over Garen,

"Light Binding!"

BOOM, fifteen werewolves instantly frozen in place.

"As expected of a master of light magic! Able to mold spells from detached mana, maybe I'll try a stronger one."

Singed rummaged for another vial, calculating which one to use.

To have someone like Garen testing the limits of his creations is a rare opportunity.

"This might hurt… take this—FUC—!"

"Final Spark!" Lux fired her ultimate through the dust Garen had stirred up.

"You're not getting your way, you lunatic!"

Singed's chair collapsed. He raised his shield, and his alchemy gear whirred to life.

Though he dodged the beam, the vials were destroyed.

Those were his masterpieces.

"Unforgivable! Taste the sting of failure! This will be your final one!"

"Shame," Lux replied, eyes on the charging Singed.

"We never planned to fail."

She looked at Garen, still occupied with wolves, unable to shield her.

"Brilliance Burst!"

Lux, though a master of light magic, was still young. Her mana pool was smaller than that of veteran archmages.

So, to compensate, she developed a unique style:

Manipulate released mana and store it in enemies' bodies until it can be triggered.

Singed had never fought her before.

He didn't know.

And the wolves around him wouldn't tell him.

They were all full of her magic.

KA-BOOM!

A massive explosion sent Singed flying. His alchemical gear was torn apart.

Now that Lux was safe, Garen finished off the last werewolves in a blazing fury.

"Have any last words? If not… you're done. You're too dangerous to the people!"

Garen pointed his Runeblade at Singed's throat.

"Heh… Just in time," Singed sneered. "Remember the moment your sister bleeds."

"Lux, watch out!"

Garen leapt back toward his sister, ignoring Singed completely.

"Too late, Garen. Long time no see."

A woman burst from the sand beneath them, and Runeblade aimed at Lux's throat.

No time!

BANG – Headshot!

The attacker was knocked back by a mysterious force.

From the dust… emerged a bearded woman?

Nope, not a beard. Just the lighting.

"Illaoi? The resistance is here?"

The attacker, dressed in black, Hextech gauntlet on her left arm, her gear inlaid with primal energy crystals, cursed.

"Singed, it's time to retreat. Go!"

"Damn you, Lux! Next time, I'll take your life!"

Though reluctant, Singed activated a magical teleportation array.

Once the woman entered, they'd escape.

Lux hadn't taken the blade directly, but the shockwave still injured her fragile body.

Garen checked her condition; minor damage. Then he yanked his Runeblade from the sand.

"Riven! You know how important Lux is to me!"

"So what?" she replied coolly.

"You of all people, Garen Crownguard, know how the Crimson Elite operates. Next time, I won't hold back."

She stepped into the teleportation array. She and Singed vanished into the desert.

If Lux had been uninjured, Garen would've stopped them. But with her wounded and potential imperial ambushes still lurking, he couldn't risk it.

He watched helplessly as they escaped.

Once, he had been part of the Crimson Elite, directly under Darius. They answered only to the three most powerful figures in the Empire.

And none of them ever fought without a plan.

Even Darius had the other two paving his way.

Garen could sense it—he and Lux were in grave danger.

The ease with which Riven and Singed retreated… it had all been calculated.

The Empire...

still has more plans.