Page 331

The dark tide of despair assaulted everyone's minds.

Frostguard had forgotten everything else—the bloodstains, the horrific sight, and the fear itself. Only those clusters of pinhole-like compound eyes emitted a mesmerizing purple light.

Faced with the boundless sea of ​​insects, the Bridge of Sorrow is like a lone boat on the Black Sea, unable to withstand the slightest tremor.

How can they stop this army of void beings and prevent them from breaking out of the fortress and wreaking havoc on the world?

Their defenses rested on this last bridge, located in the middle of the swarm's front. Simply protecting themselves from the first wave of the swarm was already incredibly difficult; how could they possibly manage the massive defensive gaps at either end of the abyss?

The rest is obvious: people will hold their ground on the bridge, and then the swarm of insects will circle around from both sides and launch an attack from above, and that will be the end of it all.

It was obvious at first glance that there was no chance of winning. Who would dare to fight such a battle? Fear spread wildly in people's hearts, and the weight of evil made their limbs tremble.

Seeing that morale and fighting spirit had been shaken to the brink by the terrifying black tide, Portil hurriedly went to the main gate of the castle and punched out a spiderweb-like pit.

Seeing that she had become the center of attention, she mustered her strength and roared, "I've locked the main gate! If we don't win, we'll all die here!"

Portil's words caused an uproar. She raised her helmet, but less than half of her followers agreed with her; not everyone was prepared to die.

Seeing this, she immediately revealed her true form as a dragon and roared towards the bridge. Seeing the dragon guarding the only exit, the Frostguards were all terrified and instinctively looked towards their chieftain, Lissandra.

"The terrifying thing below is a legacy from the time of the three sisters. If left unchecked, no one will help us solve it, and it will ultimately harm all living beings on this land," Lissandra continued. "Children of Ice, we stand here not only for ourselves, but also for our descendants, and for Freljord!"

As if they had planned it together, she and Portil combined their words to ignite the fighting spirit of the Iceborn warriors.

"Nothing is more glorious than protecting our homeland. Can you bear to watch these vile creatures devour the bones of our people? Can you bear to hand over the land where we live and grow?"

"No! We were born of ice, and we will return to ice!!" The Iceborn roared in unison, shaking the bridge. Everyone was resisting this fate from the bottom of their hearts.

"Then let's fight!" Portil's roar rose above the surrounding waves. The dragon's roar shook the very soul; even the coldest blood would ignite!

Lissandra encouraged them, “Nothing is impossible. Millions of years ago, thousands of Iceborn stood guard on the bridge, just like us, against the Void. Although they paid the price with their lives, they bought nearly ten thousand years for Freljord to thrive! Can you hear the conviction in their voices? The howling in the wind is proof of their battle! It has not diminished in the slightest with the passage of time… Now, let us fulfill the wish they could not complete even in their deaths!”

"We are of the bloodline of ice—"

"Hoohoo!"

"We will fight to the death!!!"

"Hoohoho-"

Portil and Lissandra's mobilization efforts had a remarkable effect; the belief in victory filled the hearts of every soldier, urging them to pump their blood into their entire bodies.

The Winter Arbitrator even put his hand into the brazier, and after a moment, enduring excruciating pain, raised his burned hand to demonstrate the blessing of the flames to his people.

"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!" The warrior's battle cry was enough to trigger an avalanche.

The swarm of insects on the ice cliff had no idea what was happening above, nor did they understand the meaning mixed in with the battle cries. They were simply driven by their hunger instincts, climbing upwards recklessly.

Chapter 807 The Spirit of the Ram

The crowd was in high spirits, and Kai'Sa was greatly encouraged, vowing to win this final battle. Although these Frostguards had no impact on the overall situation, only winning the war could save them.

Kai'Sa didn't hold back, immediately pulling out Ornn's Horn, intending to suppress the Black Tide with overwhelming force. However, before she could even sound the horn, it was snatched away.

“This horn of yours is quite interesting. Can I borrow it for a moment?” Syndra snatched the horn away from Kai’Sa when she was completely off guard, and she was very interested in the power of the First Flame within it.

The foundation of witchcraft controls the elements, and the First Flame is the origin of all fire in the world, the ultimate refinement of the fire element. Only such an ultimate flame could pique her interest.

"Hey, give it back to me right now! That's my ultimate weapon against the swarm of insects! What if it messes things up?!" Kai'Sa thought Syndra was going to oppose her even at a time like this, so she hurriedly demanded it back, her heart filled with anxiety.

"Do you, a barbarian, even know how to use this? Watch me instead." Syndra's lips curled up at his words; Kai'Sa's words had reminded her how to use the power of the Primordial Flame.

Syndra activated the horn with the power of runes. She did not touch the horn, but it emitted an unusually deep and loud sound that shook her to the core.

"That sound..." Volibear seemed to have discerned something in the horn sound, and couldn't help but grin, lightning flashing from between his teeth, his fur flying as if he had entered a battle stance.

The old woman beside her tapped her cane and smiled with satisfaction: "I've been regretting missing your big battle. I never expected to witness the ram's fury here. Even though it was just a move or two, it was enough to glimpse its essence."

"What's so great about that old sheep-headed ram? It didn't beat me either, did it? I bet that horn was shot down from its horn by me!"

"You can't say that. You are a giant bear that has been through countless cuts and spears, an unyielding thunderbolt, a stalwart, or the embodiment of the wrath of Freljord. Ornn usually keeps a low profile and never interferes in wars. The fact that he can fight you to a draw is enough to show how powerful he is, which is why he can be our big brother."

The sound waves spread extremely far, but nothing happened for a long time. Just when Kai'Sa thought it was all bark and no bite and wanted to take back the horn to humiliate Syndra, the Howling Abyss trembled again.

"Has the Watcher turned the tables again?" Cassiopeia asked.

"No, this earthquake originated from a distant source." (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the initial statement.)

Kaisa looked solemnly toward the side of the abyss, where a robust ram with bristling fur and beard was charging toward them. Its body was formed from magma elemental energy and emitted a hellish crimson flame. Its size was almost equal to the width of the Howling Abyss.

The spirit of the ram plowed across the abyss with unstoppable force, sending massive amounts of molten slag flying. Wherever it passed, the ice cliffs melted, spewing forth lava that spread into a network of fiery rivers rushing down from the heights, surging and chasing each other towards the bottom of the abyss. The black tendrils that had once been embedded deep within the ice cliffs were burned away, turning into ashes drifting in the steam and dust.

The sheep spirit continued its charge forward, plunging into the sea of ​​insects. Purple lights flickered on both sides of the ice cliff, their狰狞 (zhengning, meaning ferocious or hideous) faces lingering in its vision.

The surging swarm of insects suddenly paused for a second, as if to think, and then, as if receiving a command at the same time, they all left the ice cliff and rushed towards Yang Ling.

In the blink of an eye, the frenzied swarm of insects had already coalesced into a form. Their terrifying numbers wove together a black chasm, long enough to span several times the Howling Abyss, blocking the way for the Lamb Spirit, ready to confront it head-on.

The sheep spirit crashed straight into the black chasm, and a deafening explosion followed as the wall of insects crumbled. It was like a fireball falling into a boiling oil pan, instantly igniting the entire sky!

The narrow passage in the abyss was burning, and black fire rained down, composed of charred remains and burning liquid, drawing crooked arcs in the air.

Seeing the Molten Goat so easily crush the insect hive, everyone on the bridge was overjoyed, but their smiles soon faded.

After breaking through the black chasm, the Lamb Spirit continued its relentless charge, its speed increasing rapidly, as if it intended to plow through the entire Howling Abyss.

The Bridge of Sorrow where Kaisa and her companions stood was located in the middle of the charge path, making it impossible for them to dodge the attack!

"Stop! Don't hurt the enemy and yourself!" Kai'Sa quickly called out to Syndra. If the Lamb Spirit crashed into them, all the mortals on the bridge who had no way to protect themselves would be turned to dust.

However, Syndra did not stop. Instead, she activated the horn with all her might, causing the demon spirit that had just been damaged to solidify again, completely disregarding the lives of others.

Seeing that Lamb was about to crash into the stone bridge, Kai'Sa looked around in panic, finally fixing her gaze on Volibear. Volibear was strong enough to go toe-to-toe with Ornn, and could definitely withstand Lamb's charge.

However, Volibear has always looked down on Lissandra and wouldn't care about the lives of those Frostguards. Would her plea really work? Kai'Sa immediately stepped forward, with no time to hesitate. She had to at least give it a try.

As soon as Kaisa approached, she heard the old woman beside Volibear ask calmly, "This is a good opportunity for you to reap faith. Aren't you going to show off your skills?"

“It’s pointless. Don’t forget that this bridge we’re standing on was Orn’s work; it’s not as fragile as it seems,” Volibear replied. Although he didn’t like Orn’s rules, he still acknowledged the latter’s work.

Hearing the demigods' conversation, Kai'Sa suddenly realized that her worries were unnecessary. Based on her understanding of Syndra, the latter was not someone who did evil without reason; she had most likely discovered something else on the bridge and did it on purpose, clearing the insect swarm while also provoking her.

In the blink of an eye, the molten lava spirits were upon us, their fiery winds bringing hellish heat that stung our eyes. At this critical moment, the bridge suddenly emitted a deafening hammering sound, as if the forging of ancient demigods had been etched into every stone, echoing once more!

A dark red energy shield protected the bridge, and the force of the impact overturned everyone, but no one was harmed. The Lamb then passed through the bridge, plundering every inch of the Howling Abyss, turning the swarm of insects into countless showers of molten slag and fire wherever it went.

Watching the sheep spirit depart, Lissandra turned to look at the three sisters' black ice statues, a self-deprecating smile playing on her lips as she reminisced: "Back then, we all went together to ask Ornn to build this bridge. So much time has passed, and yet none of us have discovered its secret. My foolish sisters, it seems none of us are any better off."

Chapter 808 Divine Power Unfathomable

Fortunately, the bridge had a self-defense mechanism, and Molten Lamb managed to cross it safely without anyone getting hurt. However, Kai'Sa's expression was quite subtle, looking like she was questioning the meaning of life.

"Last time Katarina summoned the Burning Wind, and this time Syndra has even summoned the Lamb Spirit. Does this artifact really have a skill ceiling? Anyone can use it better than me?"

Kaisa was depressed for a while, but then she remembered that she still had the Lightning Mark given to her by Volibear, so it was time to put it to the test.

The path the Lamb took left behind thick smoke and dust, with plumes of smoke rising straight to the thunderclouds. Kai'Sa, fearing a surprise attack from the insect swarm under the cover of smoke, raised her hand and cast a lightning bolt. The power emanating from the bolt propelled her slowly into the air, and everyone around noticed the crackling electricity crackling on their weapons.

"This..." Volibear hadn't expected this turn of events. He watched as lightning responded to the summons and flowed from his body, piercing back and forth in the smoke.

The old woman, who was actually the seal nun, smiled with relief: "This girl is quite interesting. She actually used her divine privilege right in front of me. Now you have no choice but to take action."

"Fine, since this is the first time she's asked me for help, I'll do my best to help her this time." Volibear didn't argue with the old woman; instead, he laughed loudly, his voice echoing for miles, as if he were walking on thunder and clouds.

A bolt of lightning ripped through the night sky, and the world suddenly froze eerily. The legendary giant bear, said to have withstood countless blows, made its appearance. The phantom of the bear spirit reappeared above the thunderclouds, and as everyone looked up, they saw a truly formidable figure: spears, steel swords, and fangs were all embedded in its back. Its feet straddled the cliffs on either side of the abyss, and lightning struck its footprints.

Amidst the billowing smoke, faint blue and white electric sparks peek through, weaving a massive, crackling electric grid that sweeps from one side of the abyss to the other.

Lightning struck the cliff face, eroding the torn rock. Smoking boulders tumbled down the ravine, and a thick, acrid smoke enveloped the entire pit opening.

The electric grid swept through several times, relentlessly cleansing every corner of the abyss. Even if one couldn't see what was happening inside the thick smoke, it was clear that the insect swarm had been completely wiped out by Volibear's relentless purge.

If Volibear hadn't intentionally protected the bridge out of consideration for Kai'Sa, even with Ornn's protection, the bridge would have had no chance of withstanding the rolling lightning.

Even after the lightning subsided, flames and thick smoke continued to rage in the howling abyss. Not only was visibility severely limited, but it also felt like being trapped in a sea of ​​fire, an unbearable agony; every inch of air stung the eyes. Where are you, Mei? Where are you, Yongkong? Where is Lin Zai Zai? Are you...?

Syndra intended to dispel the heat, but before she could even act, the earth began to rumble. A distant booming sound came, like the hoofbeats of a thousand horses, or the sound of snow collapsing and shoving.

The people on the bridge looked around in panic, but thick smoke obscured their vision. They heard a sound growing louder, neither the sound of horses' hooves nor the sound of an avalanche. Kasha looked up, following the sound, and saw a giant, azure wave, over ten meters high, rushing down from both sides of the abyss, crashing overhead with a deafening roar. The surging waves obscured the sky and submerged everything.

Frostguard Fortress isn't far from the Frozen Sea, but it's still at least several hundred miles away. How did seawater from half a day's journey away appear here? Moreover, the fortress is built within a glacier and surrounded by glaciers; such a large amount of seawater appearing out of nowhere is simply unbelievable!

"Sephiroth, did you do this?" Seeing that it was too late to take off, Portil quickly used his claws to hold onto the main castle gate tightly, fearing that he would be washed away by the sea.

"You're joking, I don't have that ability." Sephi also gripped the bridge tightly. Although it was not afraid of the tsunami, it did not want to be swept into the abyss.

Just before the splash hit Kasha, she felt a cold, damp air rushing along the front of the torrent. It was like a sudden, sweet kiss, leaving Kasha stunned and speechless.

The first wave almost made Kaisa stumble and fall to her knees, but as the old woman raised her cane and forcefully struck the bridge, the giant wave that had been crashing down from the front miraculously parted, deliberately avoiding the Bridge of Sorrow.

Even so, the splashing spray still gathered into waves, seemingly washing over the bridge surface. The waves were bitingly cold, but as the water reached Kasha's legs, the cool temperature began to soothe her.

Kasha stood in the water, letting the seawater wash over her legs. The burning, dry pain was washed away, and her beautiful hair, covered in water droplets, cascaded down like a waterfall.

"Phew! That's great! Sister Seal used seawater to drive away the heat and smoke for us!"

The Frostguards leaped with dazed joy, raising their hands to welcome the seawater pouring down from the sky. The flood of seawater didn't last long; it extinguished the flames and cleared the thick smoke. After the moisture dissipated, the view suddenly opened up considerably, and Kasha saw that the black bedrock was exposed on both sides of the cliff that had been covered by ice.

Looking down, Kai'Sa found herself able to see right to the bottom of the abyss, now filled with seawater, with faint electric currents flickering within. The corpses of monsters, their hearts pierced by electricity, floated on the surface. The ice walls on either side, covered in black tendrils, had been melted by the Molten Goat Spirits, revealing charred, eroded mountainsides. The Howling Abyss had undergone tremendous changes, looking completely different from what it had been before.

Kasha keenly noticed that the water level was slowly dropping, seemingly flowing towards somewhere. She suddenly remembered the cliff not far from the entrance to the Hall of Nine Venerables, that immeasurably deep abyss that appeared to lead to the void, perhaps the one drinking the seawater.

It's unclear whether the seawater filled it first, or whether it eventually swallowed all the seawater. Kasha no longer had time to investigate this answer, because the Howling Abyss trembled once more, this time undoubtedly caused by the Watcher.

The Hall of Nine Venerables was blasted apart from the inside by immense force. The enormous, awe-inspiring, eyeless single eye, frozen within tens of feet of transparent black ice, was exposed through the collapsed walls, gazing obliquely upwards at the dome. Around it, the nine ice pillars that sealed the Watcher had either melted or collapsed, their massive fragments scattered everywhere.

"It's come for revenge!" Lissandra, her mind reeling, immediately looked away, instinctively wanting to use Anivia's power to create True Ice to refreeze it and prevent it from escaping from the Hall of Nine.

"Don't stop her, it will ruin our plans! Let her out first, let us deal with her!" Seeing that Lissandra was showing signs of losing control, the Wild Hunt quickly stopped her, and Katarina cooperated by binding the witch's arms with blood-red chains.

Kaisa shouted from the side, "Never look it in the eye, not even if you're a god!"

Even though Kasha's warning was swift enough, some people were still instantly captivated by that unfathomable gaze, unable to control their bodies, and yearning for that vast, unknowable wisdom, they took a step forward and jumped off the bridge from a height of ten thousand meters.

Chapter 809 Transformation Process

Watching others' minds be captured by the Watcher and plunge into the abyss, Kai'Sa felt immense guilt for being unable to offer help. If she were exposed to the One-Eyed's gaze, she would inevitably meet the Watcher's eyes, potentially leading to her own demise as well.

Kasha suppressed the urge to save the person, but something lurked and moved stealthily at the edge of her vision, in a dark corner. She immediately turned her gaze to the corner; making eye contact with the observer was extremely dangerous, as she didn't know when she would be subdued.

"What happened?" Kaisa was very concerned, but she couldn't see, so she could only turn to the Wild Hunt for help.

"Close your eyes, I'll share what I see with you, see for yourself." The Wild Hunt projected the strange vision of the Void creatures into the minds of Kai'Sa and all her followers. (The rest of the text appears to be unrelated and possibly machine-generated gibberish.)

The creature at the bottom of the abyss revealed itself, black tendrils writhing and intertwining to form enormous tentacles, larger than any void creature Kai'Sa had ever seen. They were distributed around the single eye, looking like some kind of excessively flexible and long fleshy eyelashes.

Kasha was shocked. If even an eyelash was this big, then how big must the Watcher's body be?

In Kasha's imagination, the Watchers were larger than a mountain range, and compared to them, they were like a frost in a blizzard, not even in the same league.

An immense pressure seeped into her mind, pushing her towards the abyss of madness. An uncontrollable thought arose in Kasha's mind—a frantic urge to escape.

"Keep your minds focused." The Wild Hunt's voice echoed in the minds of his followers. This was just the beginning.

Black tentacles coiled around the remaining ice pillars in the Hall of Nine Venerables, taut with force, seemingly trying to pull out the single eye frozen in the black ice.

This pull caused an earthquake, as if the anchor of the entire world had been loosened. The Watcher's drag didn't just affect the physical realm; Kasha felt her sanity tremble along with it.

The Void Watchers, as the most powerful beings from another dimension, are no less formidable upon arriving in Runeterra. Their every move can affect all corresponding realms; when they devour the material realm, the spiritual realm is not spared.

Kaisa glanced back, comparing the two figures; the Watcher was far larger than Volibear. At that moment, both colossal beings noticed each other, staring at one another across the distance, each trying to comprehend the other's presence.

Volibear's understanding of the Monitor occurs at the level of thought, and Kai'Sa has no way of knowing what it is thinking. However, the Monitor's understanding of Volibear is concretely manifested in its body.

They saw the ice break apart, and the tightening tentacles forcibly dragged the single eye out from beneath the ice. The bulging eye reacted violently with everything around it, undergoing a horrifying transformation that had been unfinished for millennia.

The biomass that appeared out of nowhere quickly solidified into a hard shell, protecting the exposed single eye. A structure known as the neck sprouted stiff bristles to ward off the chill of the Howling Abyss. Its tentacles grew thicker and stronger, their pulling causing cracks to appear in the black ice.

As the Watcher's appearance undergoes a dramatic transformation, the Wild Hunt realizes a terrifying truth.

"It's adapting to the rules! Or rather... it's evolving!"

This evolution is based on learned behavior. The observer, influenced by its own existence, becomes craving worship and enlightenment. And the behavior that best embodies wisdom is learning and imitation... This is the observer's most basic behavioral pattern.

The most obvious example is its ability to manipulate its own reconfigurable body to deeply mimic what it sees.

During the great war years ago, the Watcher had just arrived in the material realm when it first saw a massive army of Yetis, trolls, humans, and various other creatures. To adapt to the rules here, it imitated these creatures, growing horns, hair, and tentacles made up of countless arms.

Such evolution was undoubtedly very crude and perfunctory, but now that it has seen Volibear and the true gods, it has abandoned its weak and mixed structure and instead pursued the evolution of a more powerful body.

This ability is far superior to the Wild Hunt's adaptation; it can analyze evolution with just a glance, condensing millions of years of natural selection into just a few breaths!

Now, this plane devourer has fully awakened. Beyond its single eye, it has grown a massive, black, stone-like head, its drooping horns resembling an upside-down anchor. Aside from the single eye, it lacks any facial features, yet its thick, stiff fur is densely woven into a warm-looking scarf—absurd yet not amusing, making it impossible to comprehend the observer's thoughts and aesthetics.

Then, the Watcher raised its bruised arms from beneath it—one, two, three… a total of six arms, each capable of easily flattening the Royal Palace. Fingernails grew from the tips of these arms, embedding themselves firmly into the mountainside, as they strained to drag the Watcher's massive, mountain-like body out… The earth groaned incessantly, as if every inch the Watcher moved was tearing at its very core, devouring the magic and life of this place.

"Cassiopeia, aren't you going to do it?" The bizarre scene was forgotten, and seeing that the monitor was half free, Kasha shouted anxiously at Kasiopeia.