Skarner's Protection

Chapter 64 Skarner's Protection

Upon hearing King Yu'en's question, Tarin and Qiyana exchanged a glance, then Tarin nodded and said, "I've heard about it."

Having received Talin's reply, King Yu'en nodded in understanding.

The main reason is that Skarner is actually alive, and his mental state seems to be very unstable.

And now—

Sensing the curiosity in Tarin's eyes, King Yuen nodded slightly after a moment of silence, then said, "Lord Skana was the creator of Ixtal and the forger of the central tower. It was because of Lord Skana's guidance that the ancestors of Ixtal were able to grasp the mysteries of the primordial truth—"

Qiyana has probably already told you everything else, so I won't go into further detail.

Clearly, in King Yuen's conjecture, Tarin's knowledge of the existence of Skana—a secret unknown even to some of the younger, less experienced Yuen Tar—was likely due to his close relationship with Qiyana.

Qiyana twitched her lips slightly at this, but didn't offer any explanation, as it would indeed be more convenient to handle things this way.

King Yuen then continued, "Lord Skana has been in his palace deep underground for a long time, sensing the tremors of the earth's veins. Just now, Lord Skana foresaw the coming disaster, and this disaster is related to you."

，—

As Prince Yu'en finished speaking, the atmosphere in the council hall changed, with a hint of wariness and curiosity appearing in people's eyes.

However, Yuntar was, after all, a highly educated intellectual from Ixtal, so he was not frightened by these few words. Instead, he stared at Tarlin and his apprentice to observe their reactions.

After a moment's thought, Tallinn realized what it was all about.

After arriving in Ixtal, the only thing Tallinn did that could influence the future of Ixtal was the Piltover pioneering force.

Thinking about it, Tarin asked with some curiosity, "So, what are Lord Skana's thoughts?"

"We do not know," King Yuen shook his head, then stood up and said, "But Lord Skana has summoned us, and there is no time to lose, so let us depart now."

"Of course," Tallinn nodded.

As they spoke, Talin and the others followed King Yuen to the central tower. As the ground lit up with the magic of primordial axioms, a sense of weightlessness followed, and the surrounding space began to fall rapidly.

When everything returned to normal, the surrounding environment had changed from the magnificent, vast royal complex filled with sunlight and vitality to a dungeon filled with elemental crystals.

There were no torches or candlesticks; the light source came from the naturally seeping, cold, greenish-blue elemental veins in the rock walls. These veins, like spider webs, entwined the entire underground palace, casting a mysterious glow on the rugged rock contours.

The raging energy surged through every corner of the underground palace, flowing ceaselessly, heading towards various destinations at the confluence of the planet's spiritual veins. When they collided, invisible vibrations, like heartbeats, reached the ears of the Towering Indus.

Looking ahead, a colossal figure, so enormous that its top was invisible and almost integrated with the entire earth vein and underground palace, slowly opened its eyes.

As the creator of Ixtal, Skarner appeared remarkably calm, making no attempt to intimidate or intimidate. His eyes, gleaming with a blue light like magical gems, simply gazed at Tarin and then calmly said, "You have come, prophet from another land."

Upon hearing Skana refer to Tarlin as a prophet from another realm, King Yuen and the others present showed a hint of surprise in their eyes, and then all turned their gazes toward Tarlin, seemingly seeking an answer.

Tallinn didn't react much to this, as if he had just heard something very ordinary, and said, "I'm flattered."

As he spoke, Tallinn humbly shook his head, and when he looked at Skarner, a hint of amazement couldn't help but show in his eyes.

Although I already knew how enormous Skarner was, to be honest, Tallinn was still genuinely shocked when he saw it in person.

It lies prostrate within the earth's veins, yet its enormous body remains connected to the entire underground palace, like an embodiment of this land.

The limbs are like mountains, and the heavy carapace is decorated with orange-red and green patterns, all of which tell of the weight of time, as if it will crush the mountains beneath its feet into dust at any moment. It was painted by the ancient people of Ishtar to express their worship.

Skarner, on the other hand, has clearly been well preserved.

Its head is a sharp, prismatic structure, with a faint blue crystalline light shining from beneath its mask. Its compound eyes are as sharp as knives, and its jaws are filled with interlocking sharp teeth. The spiritual veins around its body flow like a dark skylight, conveying messages from afar.

Unlike the original artwork seen in Tallinn in the game, the original artwork of Skarna in the game is still in its prime and is still active on the surface.

What it exudes is more of an overwhelming sense of massiveness and heaviness.

Especially against the backdrop of the original artwork, with the Oken standing out, just looking at it is enough to make one feel its immense power.

Now, although there are no mountains or Ixokane as a backdrop, and its form is simply lying on the ground in slumber, it only amplifies the sense of colossality that Tarin feels.

Especially under the connection of that spiritual vein magic, Skana seemed to be the embodiment of the entire continent, or even the entire planet.

In terms of size, in Tallinn's memory, only colossal Elder Dragons like the Serpent Emperor Dragon and Lao-Shan Lung can be compared to it.

Tarlin could sense the curiosity and thirst for knowledge in his eyes, but Skarner clearly didn't pay much attention.

Throughout his long life as a member of the Shellman race, Skana had encountered many prophets and had a considerable understanding of the nature of such beings. He simply said calmly, "Do you know why I suddenly summoned you here?"

"Piltwolf?" Tallinn replied, "About those pioneering troops?"

More than ten days have passed since the repelling of the pioneers in the border region. Although Tallinn has not yet been to Piltover, he can more or less guess that news about Ixtal has spread like wildfire throughout the city.

“That’s right.” Skarner nodded, then sighed with considerable annoyance, “Every time I see you prophets who can glimpse different timelines, I feel genuinely dissatisfied—you know perfectly well what this will lead to, yet you still do it.”

"Yes, it was indeed my own stubbornness." Tallinn nodded understandingly, frankly admitting his mistake.

To this, Skarner shook his head and said, "Is it just your stubbornness? I think it's your stubbornness."

Skana's blue-glowing eyes glanced at Qiyana.

Although it was just a casual glance, the sudden pressure made Qiyana tense up.

Any other princess would likely be speechless with shock by now, but Qiyana was clearly not one to yield. She defiantly met Skarner's gaze and declared, "Ixtal deserves to be great!"

"Ugh."

Upon hearing Qiyana's reply, Skarner appeared somewhat irritated.

"Great, great—in the long course of history, countless great individuals and civilizations have become dust in the annals of history."

Is not enough of an inspiration that Ishtar, who lived a simple life hidden in the mountains, has endured?

Skarner's frustration and dissatisfaction were not without reason. Or rather, for Skarner, who lived deep underground in a palace where spiritual veins converged, the patience shown in the conversation just now was already a great favor.

In most cases, even if King Yuen came, Skana would not bother to pay him any attention.

According to Tarlin's speculation, the reason Skarner was willing to meet with him today was probably because of his identity as a prophet and the matter of Piltover.

The combination of these two factors led to a major change in Ixtal's situation, which is why Skana decided to come out and talk to him.

Despite thinking this, Tarlin's face did not show any tension.

All the unease stemmed from the unknown, and although Tarlin's understanding of Skarner was also quite limited, through the background story and the records in the Royal Library of Ixtal, Tarlin also mentally mapped out Skarner's personality.

Overall, Skarner is relatively easy to communicate with. However, Ixtal holds a special significance for Skarner.

In Ixtal legends, Skana is the protector of the Ixtal civilization.

He was born into the Baixing tribe of the Shell People, and his mother was the legendary Nest Mother, Nisha'er.

In fact, the description of the Shellmen race in the background story of League of Legends is not much—in fact, it is almost non-existent.

Fortunately, there are related records in the Grand Library of the Ishtar Royal Family.

Although ordinary people are not qualified to read it, through his relationship with Qiyana and with the help of Farin, Tarin had the opportunity to read much of the history that was considered secret even to some of the Yuntars.

The Shellmen, according to the records of Ixtal, are an ancient, powerful, and extremely long-lived intelligent race that feeds on ley line energy and is born with the ability to merge with the earth.

Even among the Shellmen, Skana is an extremely unique individual.

Because most of the Shell People leave their mother's shell after gaining the ability to take care of themselves and go to sleep at other places where the spiritual veins of this world converge.

Unlike Skarner, who chose to stay and continuously learn from his mother's strength and wisdom, Skarner's dedication and studiousness gave him a control over the earth far exceeding that of ordinary shell-people.

And the ability to perceive the distant world and detect movements in the distance through the rhythm of spiritual veins and the vibrations of the earth.

When the Ixtalites arrived with the Great Migration, the Skana initially just observed silently.

Skana intervened only when a sudden rockfall threatened to destroy and bury the nascent Ixtal settlement.

Its massive body stretched across the heads of humans, pulverizing falling rocks into dust, allowing the early inhabitants of Ixtal to survive.

After that, the Ixtals sincerely thanked, worshipped, and appreciated Skarner.

This satisfied Skarner and gave rise to an unprecedented protective instinct, believing that these fragile creatures could not survive without him. So he taught them the magic of the Primordial Axioms and built giant towers for them.

At first, Skana thought all humans were cute.

It is clear that Skarner truly regarded the Ixtals as his own children.

Later, the Ascended of Shurima rose to power.

For humanity, especially the Shurima people, it was undoubtedly a powerful, prosperous, brilliant, and glorious era.

But Skarner clearly saw the depravity, greed, and the ruthless pursuit of power.

He had clearly expressed his concerns to the Yuntars, whom he had created, but when the Shurima Empire extended an invitation to the Yuntars for an alliance, the Yuntars readily accepted.

Skarner remained silent, simply protecting Ixtal. It wasn't until later, when the Void Wars broke out and the Shurima Empire collapsed, that Ixtal decided to follow Skarner's wisdom, choosing independence and distancing himself from the outside world.

This decision was undoubtedly correct.

Since the end of the first Void War between Shurima and Icathia, Shurima has been in decline. In particular, the death of Ascended Queen Setaka in battle caused many Ascended to have different thoughts.

Even though Shurima later rose again under Azir's leadership, the entire empire was plunged into the desert with the collapse of the Ascension ritual.

After losing the last of the golden bloodlines, the Darkin Wars followed. After the Darkin Wars ended, the remaining human subordinates of the Darkin became warlords, and warlord wars broke out.

Just as the warlord wars were finally quelled, the rune wars broke out.

The Rune Wars, in particular, not only destroyed the material realm, but also allowed countless evil spirits from the spiritual realm to enter the material realm, transforming into demons with physical forms. Their lingering influence continues to cause tragedies to this day.

Thinking this, Tarin spoke after a brief silence: "I am not questioning your power and greatness, but I still believe that the future of Ixtal should be decided by the people of Ixtal themselves."

Others might not understand what Tarlin meant, but Skana easily grasped what Tarlin was trying to say.

It wasn't angry; it simply turned its gaze back to Tarin and calmly said, "That's because you simply don't understand this world, nor do you understand the insignificance of humanity—existing for a fleeting moment and perishing in an instant. Ixtal's civilization and power are simply insufficient to face those true horrors."

"Weren't those who ascended to heaven strong enough? They still turned to dust. I would rather they be content with ordinariness and live in seclusion in the mountains than see them repeat the same mistakes. This is how I protect them, and it is my only expectation of them."

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