"Pride!!"
Duke's roar echoed violently through his room. On the screen, Pride shrank back, clearly terrified.
In his memory, Duke had never been this angry.
"I know I was wrong, Father…" Pride muttered in a tiny voice.
Duke closed his eyes. He had only intended to run a small experiment—but before it was even finished, Rage and Pride had already established their own factions.
Rage forming a small tribe and acting as their totem god—Duke felt that was at least within reason.
But Pride… in such a short time, had assembled a warband, and even dragged a crocodile along with him.
That was simply horrifying.
Duke knew the Original Sins had infinite evolutionary potential, but he hadn't expected this level of development.
"No… you weren't wrong."
Duke forced himself to calm down. He crushed his cigarette and lit a new one. Pride watched Duke's frowning face through the screen, feeling uneasy.
Duke was weighing the consequences—how the actions of the Original Sins would impact him.
As their creator, no matter what they did, the responsibility ultimately fell on him.
For example, Rage's tribe. Their continued survival was already a major issue.
Rage would eventually return to Duke and follow him back to Piltover. But once Rage left—
what would happen to those people?
Would they just be abandoned in the desert to die?
If Duke didn't arrange a proper settlement, the entire group might perish in the sands.
Or worse—faith shattered, they might become an unstable force.
No one knew what despair-driven people might do.
Through Rage's memories, Duke had learned that the tribe was already fairly large and included many types of talent.
From scavengers surviving off the sand to mercenaries who roamed the desert—a diverse, highly adaptable tribe had formed.
But they were not yet self-sufficient. Many times, they still relied on Rage.
As their creator, Duke couldn't just abandon them.
He wasn't that irresponsible—and he wouldn't set such an example for the Original Sins to follow.
Rage's tribe needed proper settlement. It could even become unexpectedly useful.
But Pride… This guy not only formed a warband, he even recruited Renekton. Duke had no idea how that was even possible.
Renekton's mind was filled with Nasus alone. Being brainwashed for centuries by Xerath, he constantly yearned to kill his brother and end his torment.
In simple terms—Renekton's mental state was sick.
And Duke could cure that sickness.
But before that, he needed to understand why Renekton was following Pride in the first place.
"Why is the Butcher of the Sands, Renekton, following you?"
Pride glanced at Renekton beside him and spoke quietly:
"Before you gave me permission to move freely, I got into a fight with a dog-head because I'd been stained with that woman's scent."
"Then, because of the fight with the dog-head, I had ascended magic residue on me. Renekton found me—and fought me too!"
"And then?" Duke adjusted his massage chair and flicked his ash. "Did you win?"
"I won."
Pride nodded. "After defeating Renekton, I absorbed a sand bandit group called the 'Sand Dredgers' and had them take care of Renekton."
"Take care of him?"
Duke raised a brow. Pride glanced at Renekton again and explained:
"I felt Renekton would be excellent for sparring, so I kept him."
"And later he could serve as research material for you, Father. Two birds with one stone."
"You're so filial…" Duke rolled his eyes. "But what excuse did you give him to stay?"
"I told Renekton that his brother, Nasus, was searching for a woman—and that Nasus had gone to look for you."
"…Why would Nasus come looking for me?"
Duke was bewildered. He had never interacted with Nasus. Why would that guy seek him out?
Pride lifted the Darkin Halberd and said in a low voice:
"Tayanari said so."
"When I fought Nasus, I pierced him with Tayanari. Tayanari took the chance to communicate with him—and told him the Ascended bloodline he was searching for was by your side."
"So Nasus is looking for you."
"That's also why I kept Renekton. When I bring him to you, Nasus will also find you. Then you'll have two Ascended as test subjects!"
Pride's usual arrogance was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he patiently explained everything, including his intention to deliver Ascended beings to Duke for research.
"You really are a filial son."
Duke rolled his eyes again. He had thought about dissecting Ascended—but had abandoned the idea because of his own plans.
Now Pride was fully prepared to trick Renekton and Nasus into becoming "gifts."
"So, what do you want me to do?" Pride asked cautiously.
Duke scratched his head. "What are you doing right now?"
"I'm drilling my troops."
Pride tilted the camera to show his surroundings. Duke's eyebrows shot up.
Pride stood within ancient ruins. Behind him lay corpses everywhere, blood soaking the sand as dozens of men cleaned up the battlefield.
"I'm hunting down sand bandits roaming the desert. Eliminating them—and training my warband."
"…Fine, fine."
Duke waved his hand. "Do whatever you want."
"But next, head west. Come to Nai Rui ma jie to find me."
"I'll send you Rage's coordinates. I'll stay there for a while until you arrive."
"Yes, Father!"
Pride nodded, then asked:
"Father, can you provide weapons and equipment for my troops?"
Duke immediately noticed the crystal armor and weapons—metal blades, bone blades, crystal swords.
"We'll talk about that later. First, come to Nai Rui ma jie. I'll arrange everything then."
"Yes, Father!"
The call ended. Duke reclined the massage chair and let out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Kids really can't be kept any longer…"
"In such a short time, they've caused this much trouble!"
"But this also confirms my original hypothesis—every Original Sin evolves toward a unique path. Rage and Pride have found theirs."
"With this data, creating new Original Sins will be much easier…"
Duke rubbed his temples.
"But they've dumped a huge mess on me. A newly formed tribe. A newly formed warband."
"How do I even deal with these two groups?"
He opened his inventory, staring at Gluttony sleeping inside. Rage and Pride had both achieved things independently…
So what about Gluttony?
If he were released… what would happen?
With only one day left before reaching Nai Rui ma jie—since he was flying—he would meet up with Rage tomorrow, then wait for Pride.
Tam had said Xerath had appeared near Nai Rui ma jie. Based on lore, Xerath would likely try to claim dominion there.
And Duke had a personal grudge to settle.
He also wanted to turn Xerath into a giant battery. As a pure energy lifeform infused with Ascended power and dark sorcery—
He was the perfect battery.
Duke would never let him go.
Professionally for research.
Personally for vengeance.
That teleportation incident—Xerath launching him into Calixeh—Duke still remembered it clearly.
There was also Sivir and Kai'Sa's issues.
Sivir wanted to escape Azir's pursuit—that could wait until Duke dealt with Xerath.
Kai'Sa needed to find Kassadin—that was trickier. Duke wasn't sure where Kassadin had gone. Icathia? Or forging his equipment?
He had taken a long time preparing before waging war against the Void.
"So many problems…" Duke muttered. "And I still have World Rune fragments to study… More and more work…"
"Troublesome…"
"Boss," Idith suddenly spoke. "Camille is requesting a call. Should I connect?"
The screen shifted to an incoming call interface with Camille's icon.
"What now…?" Duke sat up. Camille contacting him at this moment was unusual.
Another problem?
He thought for a moment, then nodded.
"Connect."
The screen changed, and Camille appeared before him.
"What's wrong, Camille?"
"Ionia is in trouble, Duke!"
End of chapter....
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