A blinding flash of light erupted from Shen's blade as he unsheathed it and the world around them changed.
"What's happening?"
Orion took a step back, raising his fists instinctively. The world around him looked as if it was submerged underwater with hues of blue painting everything. Turquoise and crimson bands of color weaved through the air.
Looking at the tree, each of the heads radiated crimson with the same colored flow feeding into the trunk.
And looking down he could see the roots through the soil. They stretched outward as thick tendrils of blackened wood pulsing faintly as crimson energy fed into them. The ground around the tree was not dead simply from decay, it had been drained.
"We stand within the Spirit Realm," Shen said calmly.
Shen raised his blade, his eyes glowing blue as he scanned the tree and deep rumbling traveled through the clearing as the roots beneath the soil shifted.
Thick wooden roots burst out from the ground like jagged spears and Orion, channeling his offensive magic, shattered one arcing toward him.
Immediately Kennen transformed into a ball of lightning and multiple roots exploded, and Shen cleaved in half more that attempted to ensnare him.
"Shit..." Orion cursed, swinging his fist again and shattering another jagged root but more burst out from the ground beneath him, ensnaring his feet. He shattered another and another took its place.
"Don't panic," Shen shouted as Orion's arms were bound.
"I'm trying not to!" Orion shouted back, glancing at them destroying dozens at a time as they erupted from the ground.
His gaze returned and struggles intensified as a fruit began to lower toward him with a hollow hole where the face should be.
Above it he could see the other faces smiles' broaden and morph.
"Why did you betray me," A feminine, sultry voice hummed. "We could've made Zaun together..."
"You are such a disappointment," a gruff, militant voice sighed disappointedly. "We poured millions of dollars into training you and now you're walking away..."
"It was a mistake," another face cried, sending painful spasms through his heart. "I wasn't thinking!"
"So tired…"
"You couldn't save them…"
"Was it worth it?"
The voices rolled together in a cacophony of despair causing Orion's head to hurt. He blinked and shook his head before noticing the world around him changed.
He stood once again in the narrow alleyways of the Undercity, the dim glow of chem-lamps flickering against rusted metal walls. Sweat trickled down his forehead as he saw Vi, Powder, Claggor, and Mylo standing at the end. Their eyes were wide with fear.
Behind them came explosions, fire, and then...
Pathetic.
A familiar sensation rippled out from within his chest.
I forged constellations before your species discovered fire and you struggle with a tree. Correct this embarrassment immediately.
Immediately after the ancient rumbling and furious voice finished speaking, the Spirit Realm around him returned into sharp clarity. He was suspended in the air and wrapped tightly in the tree's roots.
The faces around him twisted in anger.
Shen stood directly beneath him, his blade cutting through two of the roots with swift, controlled strikes. In front of Orion, a face that mimicked his in the fruit slowly faded as it treated.
The crimson energy flowing into the roots changed. Strands extended downward through the soil, connecting the tree to faint silhouettes buried beneath the ground.
Souls, and dozens of them.
Some were barely visible, their forms little more than fading outlines, while others burned brighter as the crimson energy drained from them and fed the corrupted spirit.
"Shen!" he shouted. "The fruits aren't the souls! The souls are underneath the tree!"
Another violent surge shook the clearing as more roots erupted, twisting toward Shen and Kennen in frenzied movement.
Kennen vanished in a flash of lightning and reappeared on a root binding Orion, electricity crackling across his fur as he blasted a cluster of roots apart.
"Then free them!" Kennen urged. "Heal the spirit!"
Orion closed his eyes for a brief moment and reached inward.
Once again compared to Piltover, the magic in Ionia felt overwhelming, like standing in the middle of a vast ocean of living energy that flowed endlessly through the land and air. Finding the thread within that sea required concentration, but once he grasped it the power surged through him with surprising ease.
He gripped the roots around him and a warm golden light began to spread through it like veins.
Sensing the shift, the tree groaned in protest and more roots shot up from every direction.
"Guinsoo!"
Shen teleported onto a branch next to Orion and a bright shield encircled them all, the roots harmlessly bouncing off it. With a triumphant grin, Kennen jumped out.
"Time to strike!" he shouted excitedly before transforming into a ball of electricity and all around them the branches sizzled before being flung away.
Golden light poured out from the roots and spread into to the ground. Wherever the energy touched, the crimson threads binding the souls flickered and weakened.
The faces continued to twist in rage and despair.
Several fruits split open as the hollow mouths stretched wider, releasing a distorted chorus of screams that echoed through the Spirit Realm.
The roots around Orion began thrashing violently as the corruption fought against the invading energy so as a precaution, Shen grabbed Orion's shirt from behind to keep him from falling.
Finally, the first crimson strand snapped and one of the faint figures beneath the earth stirred.
Then another strand broke.
And another.
Shen looked down with surprise as the ground beneath the tree glowed with Orion's magic.
And for the first time in ages, a bright green tuff of grass sprouted at the base of the tree.