After finishing their late-night meal, everyone quickly cleaned up and set out.
Although Vi had suffered serious injuries earlier, she stubbornly insisted on coming along. Luke did not refuse her.
By coincidence, while they were riding the elevator down to the undercity, they ran into Viktor.
He stood alone in one corner of the elevator and looked slightly startled when he noticed Luke and the others.
"Your Highness."
"Well, look who it is. Viktor."
Luke smiled in greeting. "You look much healthier, but why aren't you asleep this late at night? I remember telling you not to stay up too often."
"I really haven't been staying up much lately. A friend invited me over tonight, though, so I decided to pay him a visit," Viktor explained.
"I see." Luke nodded. "There's nothing wrong with staying up late once in a while. Just remember to take care of yourself."
"I will. Thank you for your concern, Your Highness."
At that moment, the elevator arrived. The iron doors opened, and everyone stepped out at the entrance to the Promenade.
Luke spoke first. "Since you're going to visit a friend, we'll part ways here."
"Of course. Farewell, Your Highness."
Viktor said goodbye, then turned and headed in one direction.
Luke and the others did not linger. Following the address Janna had given them, they headed the opposite way, toward the mountains and the sea.
As they drew closer, Vi began to notice where they were going.
"Don't tell me that thing normally hides near the coast?"
"That's right," Luke replied with a nod.
Vi felt that if someone hid in a place like this and was willing to remain concealed indefinitely, she would have had an extremely difficult time finding them.
The thought only made Luke seem even more impressive. He had apparently made a quick calculation and pinpointed the werewolf's location.
The night wind howled around them. By now, the group had left the inhabited parts of Zaun and reached a coastal cliff.
Waves crashed against the rock face with rhythmic roars. Bright moonlight fell across the landscape, lending it a bleak and desolate atmosphere.
The seaside cave was not difficult to find. Even though Janna had not given them its exact location, Luke needed only one glance to identify the most likely spot.
To avoid alerting their target, everyone softened their footsteps and quietly approached the cave.
The interior was dim and pitch-black. Those with sharp hearing could already detect the breathing coming from inside.
It was steady and even, like the breathing of a sleeping beast.
The next instant, the sound abruptly stopped.
An eerie silence fell over the cave.
"He noticed us!"
Lux's eyes flashed as she immediately raised her guard. With a sweep of her hand, she fired a dazzling beam of light that instantly illuminated the entire cave.
A wolf-like creature crouched on the ground, baring its teeth. His crimson eyes were filled with the anger of a beast that had been rudely awakened.
His sense of smell was extraordinarily sharp. He had noticed them the moment they entered the cave.
At that moment, however, caution outweighed his anger. Beasts could sense the strength of living creatures through the fields surrounding their bodies, and among the group before him were several presences that made him wary.
Warwick disregarded that warning almost immediately.
The chemical pump attached to his back injected rage into his body, and a violent, savage aura spread throughout the cave.
"Get out!"
He unleashed a deafening roar that sounded like the wail of a ghost mixed with the howl of a wolf.
The next second, he sprang forward and lunged directly at the group.
Facing Warwick's ferocious attack, Lux remained perfectly composed. A staff had already appeared in her hand. Magical energy gathered around its tip, and she instantly released a spell of light.
A sturdy barrier formed in front of her, stopping Warwick in his tracks.
Warwick slashed rapidly with claws as sharp as blades. Each strike crashed against the barrier, causing it to tremble and threaten to collapse.
Naturally, Lux had no intention of giving him the chance to break through. Another spell of light erupted from her staff, and a brilliant pillar blasted Warwick backward.
She immediately raised her staff again. Light gathered in the air and transformed into a shower of arrows that rained down in dense succession.
"Raargh!"
Warwick roared in pain as wounds appeared across his body in the blink of an eye.
However, the more injuries he suffered, the greater his rage became. His healing accelerated along with it.
Seeing this, Caitlyn immediately warned them, "His regenerative ability is incredibly strong. The more severely he's injured, the faster he heals, and the stronger he becomes."
In other words, a fight against him could not be allowed to drag on. Otherwise, the werewolf would only continue growing stronger.
A confident smile curved across Lux's lips.
"Don't worry. I've barely started trying."
The shower of arrows came to an end. Just as Warwick adapted to the assault and struggled back to his feet, he discovered that floating spheres of light had filled the space around him.
He swung one claw.
The light sphere he struck immediately exploded, setting off all the other spheres nearby.
In the blink of an eye, dazzling radiance swallowed Warwick, and the entire cave became as bright as day.
Watching from behind, Luke noticed that Lux's repertoire of light magic had grown considerably.
She had developed so many techniques entirely on her own. Her talent truly was terrifying.
Even Jinx was dumbfounded by the sight.
She already knew that the little blonde was a mage, but wasn't this a little too impressive?
Damn it. At this rate, when was Jinx ever supposed to make her comeback?
She fell into serious thought and suddenly felt as though she still had a very long road ahead of her.
Lux had slightly underestimated Warwick's ability to endure punishment.
He abruptly burst through the curtain of light. His body was covered in blood, but the violent aura around him had become even more terrifying.
Even so, Lux remained calm and unhurried. She waved her staff and fired another sphere of light.
This one was different. It was much more transparent, and a strange field seemed to revolve around it.
When the transparent sphere shone upon him, Warwick immediately felt magical energy pulling at his body and slowing his movements.
"This ends now!"
Lux's golden hair fluttered as light flared around her. She raised her hand, and another orb struck Warwick, forming a cage-like barrier around him.
Shackles made of light gradually appeared around Warwick's wrists and ankles. Glowing magical runes covered their surfaces, and they seemed to weigh thousands of pounds.
Warwick was forced down onto his knees.
No matter how fiercely he struggled, he could not escape.
Lux put away her staff, turned around, and said casually, "Done."
"That was amazing, Lux."
"You looked so cool!"
Seraphine and Orianna applauded with stars in their eyes. Their admiration immediately satisfied Lux's vanity.
The blonde girl put on the expression of a seasoned master and basked in the girls' worship and astonishment.
Caitlyn and Vi were both genuinely shocked.
They had seen Lux use magic during the previous confrontation with Carroll's people, but this was the first time they had truly understood just how spectacular her abilities were.
So this was magic.
Mages were rare throughout Runeterra, yet they possessed incredible power.
The werewolf that had left them helpless had been subdued with astonishing ease.
"I've restrained him for you," Lux said, looking at Vi. "What are you going to do with him now? Kill him?"
Kill him?
Vi stared at the werewolf bound by light and found herself unable to make that decision.
There were no corpses inside the cave, but judging by the bloodstains scattered everywhere, the werewolf could almost certainly be identified as the culprit who had killed eight people over the last two days.
Yet Vi also remembered that he could have killed many more people that night, but had chosen not to. Instead, he had fled.
She wanted to know why.
Caitlyn felt the same way.
After a brief hesitation, Vi said, "For now, we'll take him back to Zaun and find a way to investigate where he came from."
Seraphine stared at the werewolf as he continued growling under his breath.
"Maybe I can help."
Everyone immediately turned toward her.
"You mean with this werewolf?" Lux asked.
"Yes."
Seraphine nodded gently, keeping her gaze fixed on him. "I can hear the song inside his heart. Just like most people in Zaun, it's kind and sincere."
"You mean he's from Zaun?" Vi asked.
"I think so." Seraphine nodded. "I don't know why he became like this, but his heart is currently filled with pain and sorrow. His consciousness is also trapped in a state of confusion, which prevents him from remaining lucid most of the time."
She had learned a great deal from Sona, and her ability to observe people's hearts had improved significantly.
That was why she could sense the pain and struggle within the werewolf. He had once been a kind man.
Lux studied him for a moment.
"Could it have something to do with those tubes and that container attached to him?"
"I think so. They seem to function as emotional catalysts. Any strong emotion can push him to the verge of losing control."
Seraphine nodded.
"In that case," Luke suddenly said, "why don't you try stabilizing his consciousness?"
Everyone looked at Seraphine.
She nodded, then took a deep breath.
"I'll try."
She slowly approached the werewolf. At first, she was somewhat afraid, but she gradually calmed herself.
"Raargh!"
Seeing her draw closer, Warwick released an enraged roar.
Seraphine did not retreat.
She carefully felt the emotions inside his heart, then parted her lips.
A gentle melody emerged from her humming. It transformed into wondrous magic in the air, surrounding them like dancing spirits.
The ethereal song made Warwick freeze.
The roaring inside his head suddenly seemed quieter, and the pain in his heart began to fade.
Still humming, Seraphine slowly moved closer.
As the werewolf gradually lowered his guard, she lifted one hand and stopped just before touching his forehead.
A soft light radiated from her palm.
Warwick heard an incomparably beautiful song echo through his mind. His heart gradually became peaceful, and his frenzied consciousness slowly calmed.
Then a bolt of agonizing pain suddenly tore through him.
The song inside his head was interrupted. The suffering and screams from countless experiments surged back into his mind.
Warwick's consciousness began to collapse once more.
Seraphine frowned as she sensed his inexplicable loss of control.
Someone had implanted a command deep within his subconscious that ensured he would never know peace.
Whoever had done this seemed determined to turn him into a madman forever, though she could not imagine what cruel motive had driven them to do so.
Seraphine began to struggle. She discovered that she could not suppress the werewolf's growing frenzy.
A beautiful note suddenly rang out.
Seeing that Seraphine was about to lose control of the situation, Sona finally intervened.
Her slender fingers played across the strings of her etwahl, answering Seraphine's humming. Their melodies joined together and produced an even more extraordinary effect.
With Sona's help, Seraphine gradually regained control.
She understood that restoring the werewolf's consciousness required erasing the command embedded in his subconscious.
To erase it, she would have to awaken the humanity buried deep within his heart.
She could sense that the werewolf's mind was in complete chaos. It was as though his life had suddenly been severed, causing everything from his past to vanish into nothingness.
Only by recovering what he had lost could his humanity be awakened.
Seraphine knew she had to try, and Sona's support gave her even greater confidence.
As she deliberately reached deeper, the strange resonance between them emerged once more.
Warwick's emotions stabilized, and his entire consciousness was drawn into his memories. The recollections buried in the deepest reaches of his heart began to sprout like new shoots in spring.
Seraphine hummed the melody of Warwick's heart aloud.
As the song entered everyone's ears, they began to see everything he had experienced.
Scene after scene flashed before them.
He had been born in Zaun during an age of chaos.
The newly established city of Piltover was flourishing. The Sun Gates had been constructed, and every eye turned toward the City of Progress.
Zaun seemed like a city that had been discarded and forgotten.
The people who lived there gradually began following darker paths, and Zaun soon became a lawless, chaotic, filthy city.
Everyone recklessly consumed Zaun's resources without restraint.
It had truly been an age of madness.
Warwick might once have had another name.
Vander.
Vander had grown up in that version of Zaun. Day after day, he fought and remained constantly vigilant. Through it all, he developed formidable skills, and his fists eventually became feared throughout the entire undercity.
His reputation gradually spread.
Eventually, he came to understand the fundamental reason Zaun had become what it was.
The cause was the ever-increasing oppression from Piltover.
The upper city drained Zaun like a vampire feeding on its blood, pushing the undercity deeper into ruin with every passing day.
Vander gathered a group of like-minded people and formed an organization. They began stabilizing the situation in Zaun while resisting the upper city's oppression.
That was how the conflict between the twin cities began.
Piltover possessed superior equipment, and the people of Zaun were initially no match for them.
However, Zaun had one defining trait.
Its people grew stronger in adversity.
Before long, Vander and his companions had earned a fearsome reputation, but the conflict between the cities continued to escalate because of it.
Eventually, it nearly developed into a full-scale war.
Determined to completely overthrow Piltover's oppression, Vander led a large number of Zaunites into the Battle of the Bridge of Progress.
The people of the two cities fought a bloody battle upon the bridge connecting Piltover and Zaun.
That night, the flames of war reached the heavens and set the edges of both cities ablaze.
Countless people died.
Vander watched friends and loved ones fall one after another before his own eyes.
Just as the fighting threatened to become even more intense, representatives from Piltover found him and offered a truce.
According to their proposal, Piltover would reduce its oppression of the undercity. Zaun would remain under Piltover's jurisdiction, but it would gain the right to develop with a degree of autonomy.
In exchange, Vander had to end the battle before even more lives were lost.
Otherwise, Piltover would mobilize its full military strength and fight to the bitter end.
After witnessing so many sacrifices, Vander also realized that Zaun could not defeat Piltover in its current state.
He agreed to the truce and withdrew with his people.
It was during this time that he found two little girls amid the flames.
Their family had been caught in the fighting and buried beneath the ruins of their home forever.
Driven by guilt and self-reproach, Vander took the two girls with him.
He swore that he would raise them well.
At the same time, he accepted responsibility for maintaining order throughout Zaun.
From that day onward, his life was occupied entirely by Zaun and the two girls.
Most of the time, he was exhausted.
Yet whenever he returned home, two adorable little girls would come running out to welcome him.
In those moments, everything seemed worthwhile.
During those years, he experienced the warmth of a true home and the happiness of having two daughters.
As time passed, the girls grew older. They began running all over Zaun and causing trouble wherever they went.
Vander began experiencing the worries of a father. He feared for their safety and constantly wondered what they were doing.
Even so, he was happy.
Under his leadership, Zaun also gradually regained peace and stability.
Then, one day, his daughters caused serious trouble.
They went to Piltover and stole something important from an inventor's home.
At the same time, another faction began making itself heard within Zaun.
Piltover demanded that Vander surrender those responsible for the theft. Only then would the situation be resolved.
Vander never considered doing so.
Not even for a moment.
However, when someone made a mistake, someone had to accept responsibility.
As a father and as the man responsible for an entire city, he knew that he alone had to bear that burden.
Vander therefore decided to surrender himself to Piltover.
That was when even more unexpected events began to unfold.
A force that had been hiding for a long time finally began moving in secret.
Assassinations, false accusations, kidnappings, threats, and coercion followed one after another.
Then his two daughters arrived with their friends to rescue him.
In the end, the situation spiraled beyond anyone's ability to control it.
Silco continued tightening the noose.
A violent explosion rang out, seeming to destroy everything.
Flames raged all around them.
To protect his daughters, Vander desperately tried to stop Silco.
In the end, however, he fell powerless amid the fire.
At that moment, his heart was filled only with guilt and regret.
He regretted being too weak.
He blamed himself for failing to protect his daughters.
As his life approached its end, a figure appeared within his blurred vision.
Singed.
A mad alchemist who would stop at nothing to complete his experiments.
Singed secretly took Vander back to his laboratory.
At first, Vander still retained his memories.
He watched helplessly as his body was subjected to one inhumane experiment after another.
He was forced to endure everything.
He endured every cut of the alchemist's scalpel.
Pungent, burning, unbearable alchemical compounds were poured into his body.
Every bone in his body was deliberately broken while he was still alive.
Unknown liquids were injected into him.
His flesh was cut open, and pumps filled with liquid chemicals and tubes were inserted into his body.
The experiments became progressively more severe.
At first, Vander managed to endure by clinging desperately to his love for his daughters.
Sometimes, he wondered whether everything happening to him was punishment for the mistakes he had made when he was younger.
The alchemical substances strengthened his body's ability to heal, allowing him to survive most forms of physical trauma.
His mind, however, eventually collapsed beneath the endless agony.
He was completely broken.
He forgot everything about his past, even his own name.
Perhaps forgetting allowed him to suffer a little less.
From that day onward, nothing remained but a vast and empty void.
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