Chapter 507 - 507: Father and Daughter (EC)

The entire sequence, decapitating them and then immediately destroying the bodies, had been executed far too smoothly.

Even Malzahar couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

Kassadin hadn't expected this either. Luke's sudden appearance interrupted his plan to unleash all the power of the World Rune.

His gaze shifted toward the newcomer, and he was even more surprised to discover that this mysterious figure was actually human.

Realizing Luke was probably an ally, Kassadin immediately tightened his grip on the rune and released its power, keeping the output within the limits his body could withstand.

Deep blue magic danced through the air like a swarm of sea serpents before blasting toward the surrounding Void warriors.

"That sword..."

Sosu and Steelshell noticed the Void Riftblade in Luke's hand at the same time. They didn't even need Malzahar to remind them. Both immediately realized that Luke was the human they had been searching for days ago.

"Can't believe he came straight to us! Kill him!"

Sosu burst through the storm of magical energy, leaving a purple afterimage behind him. His eyes locked firmly onto Luke, as though no one else existed.

Luke, however, ignored him completely.

His figure flickered, and he instantly teleported to Kassadin's side.

"Get ready," Luke whispered.

Kassadin hadn't even had time to figure out what he was supposed to prepare for when he saw Luke raise both hands.

As a familiar power surged forth and condensed between them, Kassadin immediately understood.

More than a dozen Void warriors were charging toward them.

Luke directly released the gathered World Rune energy.

Sosu, who had been charging straight ahead, suddenly sensed danger and instinctively threw himself aside.

In an instant, violent rune energy roared forth like thunder and slammed into everything ahead.

The Void warriors were swallowed whole.

Even the vaulted expanse of the Void trembled beneath a deafening explosion.

The entire region shook violently as the exploding rune energy formed a pillar of light that pierced upward. The ground split apart, and enormous cracks spread farther and farther into the distance.

By the time the energy dissipated, Luke and Kassadin were already gone.

"Prophet, what was that power just now?"

Sosu suppressed the shock rising in his heart and couldn't stop himself from asking.

If he had dodged even a moment later and been caught inside that explosion, even he wasn't confident he could have emerged completely unharmed.

"A World Rune, Runeterra's most primordial and dangerous form of magical power. A display like that is hardly surprising."

Malzahar's tone remained indifferent.

He now realized that the human had probably managed to escape the Void before by relying on the power of World Runes.

And judging from what he'd just seen, Luke possessed more than one.

"Steelshell, you and the others protect the Prophet. Everyone else, follow me!"

Greed flashed through Sosu's eyes.

If he could obtain that kind of power, he would undoubtedly become even stronger.

The second key was also in that human's possession.

No matter what, he couldn't let Luke escape!

Sosu quickly led a large number of Void warriors away, scattering in every direction to search for the vanished Kassadin and Luke.

Their method of searching was brutally direct.

To prevent the pair from hiding somewhere nearby, the Void warriors destroyed everything in their path wherever they went.

Even the native creatures of the Void weren't spared.

Luke, naturally, had no intention of hiding right under their noses.

With Kassadin's aura already greatly weakened, Luke immediately accelerated to full speed.

At the same time, he activated Stealth Arts, concealing Kassadin's presence along with his own.

In the blink of an eye, they had already put a tremendous distance between themselves and their pursuers. Using Aura Lock, Luke could confirm that no one was following them.

He then took out a Void teleportation crystal, opened a portal, and returned to Runeterra with Kassadin.

The moment they landed on familiar desert soil, Kassadin finally coughed weakly twice.

"Who are you... and why did you save me?"

His weakness was the result of overusing the World Rune.

Long ago, Kassadin had been nothing more than a caravan guide with a modest amount of strength. It wasn't until he lost everything that he became willing to modify his own body and enhance his equipment at any cost, eventually becoming barely capable of enduring the rune's power.

After all these years traveling through the Void, however, his body had already been pushed to the edge.

Just moments ago, he hadn't actually intended to survive.

At the very end, he had been prepared to detonate the World Rune's power completely.

"I've been investigating whatever the Void is planning, so I followed them all the way there. Then I happened to see you show up."

As Luke spoke, he took out some medicine and handed it to Kassadin.

"After thinking it over, I decided to help."

"Is there really any reason to help someone like me?"

Kassadin laughed bitterly at himself, but still accepted Luke's goodwill.

He removed his helmet, revealing an emaciated face that was deathly pale and utterly devoid of color. Heavy dark circles surrounded his eyes, making him look like a man who had already burned through most of his life.

"I don't have much time left anyway. All I want is to kill a few more of those Void beasts before I die."

His tone was indifferent as he tossed Luke's medicine into his mouth.

As bitterness spread across his tongue, he strangely felt a little better.

Kassadin didn't harbor much suspicion toward Luke.

Someone this powerful could have killed him effortlessly if that had been the intention.

He could also tell that Luke possessed World Runes, and more than one at that. Anyone capable of secretly following Malzahar's Void forces without being detected clearly possessed extraordinary strength.

"You should keep living. There were only two reasons I saved you."

Luke smiled gently.

"First, it would be a shame for a warrior willing to fight the Void like this to die here. You're someone worthy of my respect."

"Second, if you died like that, I'm afraid your daughter would be heartbroken."

Kassadin froze.

Then a miserable smile appeared on his face.

"I don't fight the Void because of justice. It's hatred, nothing more. And that hatred exists because my wife and daughter... both died because of the Void."

He didn't want to remember.

In truth, however, there hadn't been a single moment when he wasn't remembering.

He hated himself for not being home that day.

He hated the Void monsters that had killed his family.

For all these years, the only thing keeping him going had been that bottomless hatred.

Luke looked at him and calmly said, "Your daughter is still alive."

Kassadin looked as though he'd been struck by lightning.

Those words hit him harder than anything else possibly could have.

A faint light appeared deep within eyes that had long seemed incapable of showing emotion.

His lips trembled.

"Why would you say that? Have you met my daughter?"

"I have." Luke nodded. "She survived in the Void through sheer determination. You may have heard of her by the name Daughter of the Void."

Daughter of the Void was the title the people of Shurima had given Kai'Sa.

She had helped many people after returning from the Void, but because she wore a living Void carapace, many humans still regarded her as a monster.

That was how she had come to be known as the Daughter of the Void.

"I..."

Kassadin slowly shook his head.

Over the years, he had traveled to countless places across Runeterra, desperately searching for ways to become stronger.

When he finally returned, he went directly into Icathia.

From that point onward, he had remained within the Void, hunting Void creatures and searching relentlessly for Malzahar.

Luke's words reignited a hope buried deep within him.

Unable to restrain himself, Kassadin asked, "What's her name? And how do you know I'm her father?"

"It would probably be better if the two of you talked about this face-to-face."

Luke thought for a moment before explaining anyway.

"I met her in the Void recently. After that, I encountered an exceptionally intelligent Void creature and learned about you."

"Meet her... Where is she now?"

Kassadin's voice trembled uncontrollably.

Never once had he imagined that the daughter he had longed for day and night might still be alive.

He desperately wanted to see her again.

"Come with me."

Luke didn't want to waste any time.

He grabbed Kassadin, rode the wind into the sky, and headed toward Kahleek City.

Roughly thirty minutes later, they descended directly into the city.

Kahleek City was still in chaos after the earlier earthquake, so despite Luke and Kassadin literally dropping from the sky, nobody paid them any attention.

Kai'Sa and Morgana's auras were nearby.

They had clearly already reunited.

Apparently sensing Luke's presence, two cloaked figures soon appeared in the distance.

They hurried toward him, and as they approached, both removed their hoods.

The instant Kassadin saw Kai'Sa's grown face, his entire body went rigid.

Tears uncontrollably welled in his eyes.

"Kaisa..."

Between his haggard appearance and bizarre equipment, Kassadin looked almost like an entirely different person.

Kai'Sa didn't recognize him at first.

But the instant she heard that name, the name she had once gone by, Kai'Sa froze slightly and looked toward the man who had spoken it.

One glance was enough to leave her stunned as well.

She examined his face again and again.

Gradually, the unbelievably haggard man standing before her overlapped with the image in her memories, her father's broad, cheerful smile.

"Father?"

Kai'Sa's voice trembled with disbelief.

"It's me, Kaisa. It's me!"

Kassadin stumbled forward.

He wanted to reach out and stroke his daughter's hair, but the moment he raised his hand, he hesitated.

Kai'Sa threw herself into his arms instead.

Father and daughter embraced in silence.

No words were needed.

That single embrace expressed all the longing they had carried for ten years.

They held each other and wept, overwhelmed by the joy of their reunion.

Soon afterward, Morgana led everyone to a quiet room.

There, father and daughter began telling each other everything that had happened over the years.

"When I fell into the Void, this carapace was the only reason I survived. But afterward, no matter how hard I searched, I couldn't find any trace of you or Mother. Even when I returned to Shurima and asked people who knew you, all I ever heard was that you had died."

Kai'Sa's eyes were still red, as though she'd just finished crying.

No matter how strong she had become, in front of her father, she couldn't force herself to pretend she was unaffected.

Kassadin listened, his eyes filled with guilt.

"I'm sorry. I failed you and Nali. If only back then I..."

After losing his wife and daughter, Kassadin had spent every last bit of his wealth searching for them while desperately pursuing any method that might make him stronger.

Eventually, he disappeared from Shurima.

Everyone who had known him assumed he was dead.

In reality, he had survived.

Now he was grateful that he'd stubbornly clung to life, because otherwise he never would have lived to see this day.

"The Void is the one responsible for everything. The thing I'm most grateful for is learning that you're still alive."

Kai'Sa raised her eyes toward Kassadin.

"Father... you've suffered so much all these years."

Seeing the exhaustion etched across his face, she could easily imagine what kind of life he must have endured.

Her heart ached.

In her memories, her father had been tall, muscular, and strong, with a hearty smile and a booming voice.

Now he looked completely different.

Ten years had reduced such a powerful man to this state.

"It was only a little hardship."

Kassadin truly felt that none of the suffering he had endured over the years had been wasted.

The moment he saw his daughter again, everything became worth it.

Outside the room, Luke and Morgana waited quietly.

Kai'Sa had already explained the situation surrounding the Void to Morgana in greater detail.

After thinking for a moment, Morgana spoke first.

"What are you planning to do next?"

"Looking at the situation, we're already at a serious disadvantage."

Luke was also considering their options.

"That thing the Void stole was called the planetary core, right?"

"Yes." Morgana nodded slightly. "Under normal circumstances, the planetary core should be useless to them."

"But that's under normal circumstances."

The door opened.

Kassadin stepped outside and joined the conversation.

"The Void can't be judged according to Runeterra's normal rules. It is itself a world beyond our understanding."

Luke looked toward him.

"Then what do you think they want the planetary core for?"

"Once, while traveling through the Void, I accidentally entered an expanse of absolute nothingness. There was nothing there at all. Nothing existed."

Kassadin slowly recalled one of his experiences within the Void.

"Then, suddenly, I felt several gazes fall upon me. They seemed to come from the depths of an abyss, staring directly into my soul as though they wanted to possess it. I felt an uncontrollable fear and coldness at the time. But that was all they could do. I realized they seemed to be trapped by some kind of restriction. They wanted to corrupt my mind and make me help free them, just like Malzahar."

Kai'Sa suddenly thought of something and glanced at Luke.

"Could they have been the Watchers?"

"The Watchers?" Kassadin asked, puzzled.

"That's what the extraordinarily intelligent Void creature we encountered called them," Luke explained.

He fell into thought for a moment.

"So what Malzahar is trying to do is most likely... free the Watchers?"

Luke had considered that possibility before.

Now, it seemed increasingly likely.

Whether Malzahar could actually succeed was another matter.

But if he did succeed, then they were basically screwed.

The Watchers were essentially the ultimate powers of the Void.

If creatures like that were truly released, it would be catastrophic.

Even with Luke's current strength, he had absolutely no desire to test himself against something on that level.

Kai'Sa remembered the consequences Bel'Veth had described.

"If that's really what they're trying to do, then we have to stop them."

"But how?" Kassadin asked. "Malzahar is exceptionally skilled at hiding his movements. After all these years, this was the first time I ever managed to find him. And he's protected by numerous extremely powerful Void creatures. Can our strength alone really stop them? More importantly, how are we supposed to find him again?"

Kassadin wasn't simply being pessimistic.

If they were going to fight the Void, he would undoubtedly be the first one to charge into battle.

But everything he had just said was a problem they would have to face.

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