A ball of cosmic fire radiated as Pantheon was hurled across the plains, the earth tearing beneath his feet as he landed. His armor sizzled from the heat, but his body stood unharmed as he slowly rose.
Above Piltover hovered Orion. Or rather, something wearing Orion's form. His body glowed as a brilliant silhouette, galaxies swirling in his eyes, purple mist bleeding from his mouth with every breath.
"You, pathetic as you are, will not harness this putrid energy," the voice growled through him, not his own.
His gaze swept across the city, cold and contemptuous, before locking on three malformed figures sprinting across the bridge. Twisted limbs flung Enforcers aside like dolls, bullets bouncing uselessly off their bodies.
"A stench worse than these pitiful mortals…" Orion's lips curled in disgust. "I did not expect to find such sickness here."
He raised his hand. Three beams of cosmic light lanced out, evaporating the figures instantly and leaving smoking holes through the bridge. A fourth beam struck a warehouse along the riverfront, its crab insignia swallowed in fire.
"Now that the nuisance is dealt with…" His head tilted, eyes burning brighter as he fixed upon Pantheon, Taric, and Leona across the plains. Xerath hovered further away, his glow dimmed.
"The Aspects of Targon. What an unpleasant reunion."
In the blink of an eye, with a ray of starlight, Orion hovered above the plains as well.
"You are banished from this world, dragon!" Leona shouted, her blade erupting with sunlight. "Return to the skies and do your duty!"
"Duty? You mistake slavery for purpose, slave."
Snorting, Orion waved a hand dismissively.
Leona bristled, lifting her shield higher. "I carry the light of the Sun itself. You bring destruction with you! You will destroy Runeterra for your pride."
"Your Sun is a flickering flame before the cosmos," Orion spat. "It blinds you from the truth to keep you obedient."
Taric stepped forward, his mace glowing violently with power. "Your arrogance is impressive."
Orion's starlit eyes narrowed, amusement dripping from his tone. "Arrogance? No. Merely truth. Why don't you go back to playing with your stones?"
Pantheon planted his spear, his voice a growl. "I once trusted my fate to the stars. They betrayed me. Now, I trust in steel."
"Your fate was sealed the moment you picked up Targon's spear," Orion sneered. "You wear chains polished to look like glorious purpose, Pantheon."
Pantheon raised his shield, stepping forward with unshakable resolve. "I am not the Pantheon you knew. I am Atreus, a mortal who chose his own path… a man who will slay a dragon."
Orion tilted his head, galaxies flashing like storms in his eyes. His voice became mocking.
"Atreus. A name the heavens will not remember. Your survival is not impossible, only very, very, very unlikely."
"The cosmos knows how I have yearned for this day!"
The plains trembled as both sides braced, a cosmic storm rising from Orion's hands into the skies.
"We cannot allow you to destroy this world," Taric stepped forward, raising his mace. "There is beauty here!"
The swirling energies above twisted violently, gathering into a burning star of firelight until they were pulled downward, siphoned toward his mace.
"Damn these chains!" Orion roared, his voice echoing like a dragon's howl. "You dare steal my power further, slaves of Targon?!"
The remainder crashed toward them in a blinding wave of cosmic fire.
With a brilliant gleam in his eyes, Taric lowered his mace toward Leona. She surged forward, shield high, colliding with the attack. The blast ruptured around her leaving behind a crater, but she stood unharmed.
Pantheon seized the opening, hurling his spear at Orion's chest.
Before it struck, a small orb of cosmic energy flared from Orion's palm, colliding with the spear and sending it spiraling into the plains.
He smirked and raised his hand to summon more only for a ray of sunlight to pierce the heavens, slamming him into the ground. Leona below pointed her blade toward the sun, channeling its radiance. In return, a searing pillar of light descended, pinning Orion in place.
He roared in fury, struggling against the burning weight of the sun's judgment.
"Feeble humans," Orion roared, his cosmic voice faltering as Taric's mace continued to drain the starlight from his body. "If not for your petty tricks, I would have reduced Runeterra to ash long ago!"
"It appears your plan for revenge has failed, Aurelion," Taric replied, his tone steady as he advanced. "We will return you to the stars and embrace your freedom!"
"Freedom?" Orion spat, his voice laced with venom. "Hah! I know no freedom that comes from Targon."
Pantheon sharply spoke, his voice heavy with conviction. "Your war is lost, dragon. Crawl back to the cosmos and never return!"
A tense silence hung before Orion's cosmic eyes snapped open wider, burning with rage.
Struggling against Leona's beam, he snarled, "I will return, Targonians. This wretched world will crumble beneath my starlight!"
With a guttural roar, he drove his hand into his own chest, cupping the radiant core within himself. The energy pulsed violently as he crushed it, and in his place, a brilliant light erupted, blinding and consuming everything.
"Where did the creature go?!" Pantheon shouted, spinning as the light faded.
The plains were left in ruins. Scorched earth, smoldering craters, and Piltover smoking in the distance. But there was no sign of Orion, or Xerath.
Leona panted, lowering her blade as exhaustion overtook her. "His presence lingers. He has not left this world."
Taric's shoulders sagged as his light dimmed. "He fled. So too did the Ascended."
"Cowards!" Pantheon bellowed, slamming his shiled into the ground as his spear flew back to his grasp. "Where is their honor?!"
Taric met his fury with calmness.
"He does not care for your glory, Pantheon. Only for the destruction of this world." His gaze swept the broken horizon. "We must find him before he recovers."
Leona's voice was weary and uncertain. "But where? That power felt like he tore through the fabric of the world itself."
"Give it time," Taric murmured, his eyes dimming back to their normal shade. "Time is both our ally… and our enemy."