Hecarim had been observing from the sidelines. He saw Karthus indeed inject mana into the heart of Sargeras, and then the soulfire in the lich's eyes suddenly went out, causing the centaur to be greatly surprised—could this guy be dead?
The soulfire in a lich's eye sockets only extinguishes upon death. This was common knowledge.
However, why could he still feel the energy within Karthus's body churning?
Hecarim guessed that the sinister heart must have absorbed Karthus's soul and was trying to seize his body.
—Sargeras!
Hecarim knew the identity of the heart's owner. It was a giant in this universe, the creator of the Burning Legion, the master of demons!
He retreated a few steps and tightened his halberd—if Karthus was controlled, he would face an unprecedented fiend!
Hecarim felt a little regretful; he seemed to have inadvertently tricked his fellow from the Shadow Isles. The centaur was secretly on guard, sensing that the fel energy previously absorbed within Karthus's body was rapidly transforming into his own energy. The bone frame's power had already left him far behind. Once the lich completed the fusion and turned into Sargeras, he would definitely be unable to withstand the demon's offensive.
"Should I run away?"
Hecarim hesitated.
On the sea surface, the captain and minotaur, who were observing the tomb through the ward, also saw this scene.
The Minotaur Chieftain Alistar said in a deep voice, "This is bad."
"Things are going south!" The captain sighed.
"Someone played too hard!" The little murloc also said sarcastically from the side.
Plank raised his signal gun and fired into the sky. The flare rose, and the green ammunition exploded in the air. This was his signal to retreat.
"Let's play it by ear! If Karthus gets taken over, we'll leave him on this isolated island to play in the mud!" Plank spat.
Before long, the Shadow of War Hecarim came riding on the waves. He heard the sound of the signal gun inside the temple and felt that this place was no longer suitable to stay; he didn't want to be controlled by a demon!
He leaped onto the Death's Hand. As soon as he landed on the deck, the three surrounded him and asked, "What happened?"
"That lich tried to absorb the power from Sargeras's heart and got tricked!" Hecarim's words completely absolved himself of any responsibility.
"What a greedy bonehead!" Plank cursed in a low voice, and then said, "Let's retreat a bit further, so it's easier to slip away!"
So the entire fleet began to retreat, regrouping in the sea three or four nautical miles away from the Broken Isles. This distance gave them a little sense of security.
The four heroes gathered in front of the ward's feedback screen, continuing to stare intently at the situation over there. Before long, the soulfire returned to Karthus's eye sockets. He came back to life!
Everyone became tense. Was this Karthus or Sargeras?
—
In the tomb, Karthus woke up and found that he was the only one left; Hecarim was gone. He saw that the ward he had placed was still working, and immediately guessed what had happened.
He made a few gestures at the ward, and then left the tomb.
The heroes in front of the screen also breathed a sigh of relief—it seemed that the bonehead had not been taken over.
When the lich returned to the Death's Hand, everyone surrounded him, asking all sorts of questions, "What happened?"
Karthus glared at Hecarim, "Don't you know, Hecarim?"
Hecarim took a few steps back with a guilty conscience.
However, Karthus didn't intend to pursue the matter. He began to tell everyone about his experience: "...Sargeras's divine power was not enough to break the power of my contract with the Summoner, so Sargeras failed to seize my body, but instead helped me fully integrate the fel energy I absorbed from his remains."
The heroes looked at each other, and Hecarim leaned in and asked, "So, our summoner is indeed a remarkable figure?"
Karthus nodded.
Alistar also said, "It seems Zilean didn't fool us?"
Plank laughed heartily, "Following such a boss is exciting enough! I, Plank, have only one word—respect!"
They almost all recalled what Zilean had said when he gathered them together during the world-ending crisis in Valoran.
That was definitely a memory that each hero would never forget—
In the Grand Hall of the Institute of War, Zilean took the lead in saying, "I believe everyone has seen or knows that Runeterra is facing an unprecedented crisis."
The heroes all nodded.
The Prince of Demacia, Jarvan IV, said, "In the past month, we have discovered seven Void Rifts within Demacia, and hundreds of Void creatures have poured out of the rifts, causing us a great deal of damage."
The Grand General Swain then spoke on behalf of Noxus, "That's right, Noxus's losses are only higher than that number."
Representatives from other places such as Bandle City, Piltover, Ionia, etc., also complained.
Kassadin, the Void Walker, had been monitoring the Void Rifts. After everyone finished speaking, he said, "These rifts will appear more frequently over time, and their width and length will also increase. According to my observations, Runeterra will be completely swallowed by the Void in at most ten years."
In the Grand Hall, the heroes caused a stir. This fact was really unacceptable to them.
However, the heroes of the Void creature faction didn't care.
Kha'Zix, the Voidreaver, sneered, "They are all my delicious food, allowing me to constantly evolve!"
The Void Terror, Cho'Gath, was noticeably larger than he had been a month ago. He opened his mouth, emitting a grinding, ear-splitting hiss: "Indeed, after being here for so long, I've only recently begun to feel somewhat full!"
"But I'm still so hungry…" This was Kog'Maw, the Mouth of the Abyss, forever dominated by hunger.
The Ancient Sorcerer, Xerath, looked mockingly at the others: "The world will collapse, and I will remain! I shall return to freedom!" After the Ascension ritual, he had sublimated into a pure arcane being, and the world-ending crisis posed no threat to him whatsoever.
The Void Prophet, Malzahar, was also muttering neurotically by the side: "The earth shall fade away, the oceans shall dry up, the skies shall fall… They are coming! The Void… Hail!"
"Enough, shut your mouths!" Ao Shin, the Dragon God, spat out a burst of angry breath, blowing those who were speaking lightly off their feet.
Even in the League of Legends, the abilities of each hero are not too different, which is for the sake of balance. But outside the League of Legends, Ao Shin is one of the five gods of Valoran, a true god! Even a yawn from him could create a hurricane.
Anivia, the Cryophoenix, another guardian god, asked: "So, Zilean, have you found a solution?"
All the heroes turned their gazes to Zilean, the Chronokeeper.
He opened his mouth and said: "I have been trying to seek help from the outside world from the river of time. I saw that more than nine hundred years later, there will be a powerful existence that can help us."
"How strong?" Morgana, the Fallen Angel, asked. She and another god, her sister Kayle, the Judicator, came from the Eternal Kingdom, but their conflicting philosophies led them down opposing paths. This conflict had extended from their kingdom to Valoran.
"Incredibly strong! I can't even describe it."
"But, Kassadin said that this world will collapse within ten years," Kayle questioned, "How can we make it last until more than nine hundred years later?"
Zilean nodded and replied: "This is precisely the reason I summoned everyone here."
"Tell us your plan," Soraka, the Starchild, said.
"I have a plan—I will use my power to stop time in Runeterra, and then Anivia, you will use your divine power to freeze all living beings into hibernation, and Soraka, you will summon the power of the stars to maintain their lives. I will use these nine hundred years to find the existence that can help us, and everything will be resolved!"
… …
"I heard that this Sargeras is the most powerful existence in this universe, uh, maybe adding 'one of' is more appropriate?" Gangplank said.
"That's basically right." Karthus, who had experienced Sargeras's mental power, deeply understood the power of this demon lord. He and Hecarim were considered top existences in Valoran, but the power contained in the remnants of the other party's death was stronger than his peak during his lifetime. Then what a terrifying existence Sargeras in his prime would be?
"But isn't our summoner even more powerful?" Fizz, the Tidecaller, sat on the deck, looking at the group with his big eyes.
"That's right, but he himself is unaware of this." Gangplank shrugged, "I wonder when he will truly awaken his strength?"
Hecarim said: "Although Zilean is cunning, he is thankfully not a liar. To be honest, when I was summoned and saw the summoner for the first time, it was really hard to equate him with that indescribably powerful existence that Zilean said would save us. I'm very curious, how did our lovely summoner get to that point?"
Karthus said: "That is the result of fate. If you don't die, you will be fortunate enough to see that day arrive."
Alistar snorted: "Hecarim, you should be more respectful to the summoner ."
"He's not here." Hecarim let out a burst of laughter, "While he hasn't become powerful yet, I'll tease him a little, there won't be such an opportunity in the future!"
"Bad taste!" Karthus sneered.
"But this suggestion is really good, you won't snitch on me if I scold him, right?" Gangplank grinned mischievously.
"I will!" Alistar, the Minotaur Chieftain, said mercilessly.
"You guys are so boring!" The little fishman complained ruthlessly.
— —
Aiden, the subject of the heroes' discussion on the Nether Number, was completely unaware of this. He didn't think he was an existence more powerful than Sargeras. Currently, the League Assembly has reached its fifth day, and most matters have been settled. The expedition to Northrend is imminent. This is the most important thing at the moment.
But now, something even more important has happened.
After capturing Ravenholdt Manor, this assassin alliance began to serve Aiden. Under his orders, the organization established by Jorach Ravenholdt no longer accepted criminal missions such as assassinations and kidnappings for money, but instead became a special agent specializing in infiltration, intelligence gathering, and assassinating enemies.
Now, a Ravenholdt assassin has brought him a precious piece of information sent at the cost of their lives by agents lurking in Gilneas—"Gilneas, the Scourge is coming!"