"Sorry, you're not getting through!"
Duke's twin pistols, Ebony and Ivory, lashed out like a pair of vicious daggers. As he lunged toward Pyke, the bullets, charged with his magical energy, screamed toward the assassin's face.
Pyke met Duke's attack with his usual blank, lifeless stare. At first, he intended to simply ignore it like before. But then, an unexpected jolt of fear surged through him, just like the moment long ago when his lifeline was severed and he plunged into the abyss. That same icy dread gripped his heart again, stealing the breath from his lungs and plunging the world into darkness.
Whoosh!
His body dissolved into mist, scattering like grains of salt and droplets of water. Pyke narrowly evaded the bullets. But Duke didn't look the least bit disappointed to see his strike miss.
Sliding Ebony back into its holster, Duke kept firing relentlessly with Ivory, the muzzle flashing with furious magical energy. While unleashing this barrage, he smoothly pulled out a grenade.
He yanked the pin, hurled it into the mist, then moved to block the cabin doorway with his own body.
"You just gonna keep watching?" he asked Twisted Fate coolly.
"My magic's probably useless against this guy," Twisted Fate replied, squinting into the fog while fingering a glowing red card.
Duke snorted. "Still better than standing there doing nothing!"
"I just find it strange... Why doesn't he dodge Graves' attacks, but turns to mist the moment you fire?"
That made Duke raise an eyebrow. He glanced thoughtfully at Ivory in his hand.
Before the grenade even hit the deck, it exploded. A burst of ice-blue frost rippled out in all directions, and the droplets within the mist instantly crystallized.
G-18C Freeze Grenade.
As the frost fog was still fading, Pyke reappeared, drenched in seawater now frozen into a thin layer of white frost on his skin.
"Don't get in my way, sailor!"
Duke responded with a G-35L Shock Grenade. He yanked the pin and hurled it in a clean arc at Pyke. Sparks flickered in Pyke's eyes as he prepared to react.
His bone dagger shot forward, intercepting the grenade midair and triggering it prematurely.
But the G-35L's blast radius extended five to ten meters. Even detonation in midair wasn't enough to escape the crackling surge of plasma that washed over Pyke.
Twisted Fate flinched as lightning flared just meters away. He glanced at the pitiful red card in his hand and felt a chill run down his spine.
Good thing I didn't try to fight or run...
Even he couldn't counter moves that could briefly suppress the Bloodharbor Ripper.
Duke had no time to worry about Twisted Fate's internal crisis. He reached out telepathically to Graves and Neeko.
"Graves, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, boss. That bastard still ain't gone?"
"If you wanna live, do exactly as I say."
"You got it, boss!"
Graves didn't question it. After all, Duke had already traumatized him enough to gain full obedience.
"Neeko!"
"Whoa! Why's Duke Lee in Neeko's head?!"
"Don't panic, just listen carefully..."
Duke was multitasking, directing Neeko while firing at Pyke. It didn't matter whether he hit or not. As long as Pyke feared his attacks, Duke could maintain pressure and plan their escape.
He had his suspicions about why Pyke was reacting this way.
Ebony and Ivory weren't just guns, they absorbed Duke's magic and converted it into ammunition. And because that magic bore the unique signature of his soul, the bullets weren't just deadly, they were invasive.
Even if someone survived the impact, Duke's magic would seep into their body.
Leave behind a trace. Implant a fragment of himself. A foothold for control.
As for Pyke?
Duke didn't believe he was simply some vengeful drowned spirit. That story about dying with regrets and mutating from exposure to magical essence was just a surface-level myth.
How did Pyke get here?
Through the Jaull-Fish.
And inside that fish? A cabin customized just for Pyke.
His resurrection likely wasn't accidental. He was chosen, by the will of the ocean itself.
Years of overfishing and slaughtering sea beasts had devastated Bilgewater's marine ecosystem. The sea chose Pyke as its agent of vengeance, to kill anyone connected to the blood-soaked slaughter docks.
Even his official lore hinted at it, the sea gifted him with cursed eyes.
Not a mutation, but a divine endowment.
Bilgewater thrived on the butchering of sea creatures. And Pyke only targeted those involved in that grisly business.
Think about the implications.
Pyke's consciousness had been overtaken by vengeance. And now, Duke's magic-infused bullets could infect him, give Duke a backdoor into his soul.
Pyke might not sense it, but the ocean would.
Yet Pyke couldn't abandon his prey. Graves was still on the ship.
And now, under Duke's barrage, Pyke hesitated. The fight reached a tense stalemate.
Even Neeko, whose fogtail race was hypersensitive to spiritual presence, couldn't detect that Duke's magic had already infected her. That said everything about the terrifying nature of his power.
Neeko had god-tier potential, possibly the strongest of her kind in history.
If even she couldn't sense it, how could Pyke, a warped revenant, resist?
Duke had long suspected he'd only scratched the surface of his magical potential. But now, he realized he'd been underestimating himself all along.
Even with the ocean's blessing, this wasn't the first time someone challenged a god on Runeterra.
Ascended? Celestial warriors? All obsolete now.
Duke was Pyke's natural nemesis.
If his power grew enough, even Azir could become extra-crispy finger food.
While Pyke kept shifting between solid and mist form, Duke held his ground, standing firm at the cabin entrance and pouring suppressive fire without pause.
Twisted Fate occasionally tossed a red or yellow card, disrupting Pyke's movement.
Soon, Neeko's soft voice echoed in Duke's mind.
"Duke, Neeko's ready!"
"Then it's time for the final step."
Ebony and Ivory vanished from Duke's hands. In their place, he conjured a handful of G-18C Freeze Grenades.
He pulled all the pins and hurled them into the surrounding sea.
Each grenade burst into a foggy frost ring, rapidly freezing the ocean surface and locking the ship in place.
Then, crash!, Graves smashed through a wooden wall and shouted as he sprinted toward Duke:
"Boss! Cover me!"
He leapt onto the frozen sea and bolted away across the ice. Duke kept lobbing grenades behind him, extending the frozen path.
"You won't escape!"
Pyke vanished again, turning into a thick mist and gliding across the ice.
Whoosh!
His bone dagger shot from the fog and struck Graves squarely in the back.
Graves' eyes went wide as he screamed and collapsed, blood staining the ice.
Pyke materialized, standing over him. He stared into Graves' lifeless eyes and gave a low grunt of satisfaction.
Unfurling his parchment list, Pyke dipped his dagger in blood and crossed out Graves' name.
"Debt's paid."
Without another glance, Pyke turned back into mist and slipped into the Jaull-Fish's mouth. The beast writhed, then sank beneath the waves and vanished.
Normally, Pyke would never spare a boat full of witnesses. But Duke had suppressed him so effectively that he chose to retreat.
The Butcher had collected his due. That was enough.
"That's it?" Twisted Fate asked, his yellow card still glowing faintly with chain-like light.
"It's over."
Duke called Fizz over and handed him a rope, tying one end to his dragon shark's head and the other to the ship's prow.
The beast would tow them away.
"But he called you 'boss.' Shouldn't you at least avenge him?"
Twisted Fate tightened his grip on the yellow card. But when he looked back at Graves' body, it was gone.
"Huh?"
He rubbed his eyes and checked again. No doubt about it, Graves' corpse had vanished.
"What's going on?"
"You figure it out. If you do, I'll be impressed."
Duke placed a hand on Twisted Fate's shoulder and channeled a wave of magic into him. Twisted Fate didn't even flinch, didn't sense a thing. Not even a twinge of nausea.
"For now, we're heading back. I'll draw up a contract for you. If you try to bolt, ask Graves what happens to people who break deals."
Duke gave his shoulder a firm pat, then moved to the ship's prow. As Bilgewater's silhouette drew nearer, he made a silent vow.
He'd never go out to sea again, unless absolutely necessary.
This time, he'd managed to trick Pyke. Next time? Who knew.
Sure, Pyke feared Duke's attacks. But Duke still lacked a true finisher, something to end it once and for all.
With the ocean's wrath behind him, Pyke wouldn't be easy to kill.
That's why Duke had used Neeko's talents instead.
The Graves who "died" just now had been one of Neeko's illusions. Her clones weren't flimsy like in the games, they could convincingly mimic death and linger even after being struck down.
It was Duke's brilliant use of Neeko's passive and W abilities that fooled Pyke completely.
Sometimes, brute force wasn't the answer. A little brainwork could do wonders.
And thinking was Duke's specialty.
Standing at the prow, Duke let the sea breeze whip his coat. He began to ponder his next move.
"Time for a draw. Let's see if I can win something that can really kill Pyke next time..."
End of chapter...
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