The footsteps grew closer, and Chen, without hesitation, extended the battle-axe in his hand, ready to use Apprehend on the person in the shadows.
A graceful, red-haired woman appeared before him. Chen looked at the scar over her left eye:
"Katarina, what are you doing here at this hour?"
He had thought it was Swain or LeBlanc, having learned something, coming to kill him.
Katarina made a "shush" gesture:
"I'm getting you out of here."
"Alright."
Chen nodded, surprised that Katarina had come to keep her promise that very night.
In the cover of night, the two moved through the Immortal Bastion...
...
Northwest of Noxus, Dalamor Plains, Drunel City, Black Rose Academy.
Rell quietly opened the room's large iron door and knocked out the guard at the entrance with a single punch.
She stealthily made her way to Powder's residence, and just as Powder had said, there were guards outside her place too.
Rell quietly snuck around from behind and jumped down the chimney.
Powder was currently squatting by the unlit stove, her hands propping up her head, as if waiting for something.
The sound of stones falling came from the chimney, and Powder's small, expectant eyes watched as Rell slid down, bracing herself against the walls with her hands and feet:
"You're here!"
Rell nodded. She angrily clenched her fists, her eyes filled with hatred:
"Before I came, I went to the laboratory. I know what's really going on now."
Rell had been at Black Rose Academy for eight years. At her mother's insistence, she had diligently trained in this fully enclosed academy.
But she always had one question: why did everyone she fought against disappear after their matches?
Until Powder appeared. Powder told Rell:
"They all died."
When Powder was brought in, she secretly glimpsed a pile of corpses being dragged out. According to Rell's description, those were all the people she had fought against.
Powder squatted in front of Rell and asked curiously:
"So, what exactly happened?"
Rell looked earnestly at Powder, her only friend in all these years:
"It started a long time ago. It's my story. It's probably not as exciting as yours, but do you want to hear it?"
Powder nodded without hesitation and pulled out a bottle of peanuts she had already prepared:
"Hurry up and tell me!"
Rell's father was an ordinary Noxian infantryman, and her mother was from a fallen noble family.
Rell's family had no money or power since she was little. When she was eight, she awakened a magic that hadn't appeared in hundreds of years.
"The magic of controlling metal!"
As Rell said this, Powder's eyes filled with anticipation. She took out a metal cup and threw it over:
"Turn it into a grenade for me!"
"What's a grenade..."
Rell, who was almost completely isolated from the world, didn't know what Powder's "advanced weapon" called a grenade was, but she still activated her magic.
The dark-skinned beauty Rell's eyes glowed faintly red. She gently held the iron water cup, and red cracks spread across the iron cup.
Gradually,
the iron cup slowly floated into the air,
melting,
turning into a puddle of scorching molten iron,
the scalding molten iron formed a sphere, slowly rotating in the air.
Rell squeezed her hand, and the molten iron, floating in the air, gradually coalesced, finally taking the shape of a small bird.
A small bird sculpture appeared in Rell's hand. She handed the small bird over:
"I don't know what a grenade is, so I'll give you this iron bird."
Her gaze went to the window. Before Powder came, her only companions were the birds flying in the sky. Giving Powder the bird was a symbol of friendship for Rell.
But Powder didn't take it. She recoiled her neck.
Rell's expression was a little sad. Was Powder unwilling to be her friend?
Fortunately, Powder spoke up at that moment:
"It just turned from molten iron. Aren't you afraid of getting burned? Iron's melting point is over a thousand degrees!"
Rell was relieved. Fortunately, Powder hadn't rejected her:
"It's fine, it's already cooled down..."
Powder happily took the little bird and continued to say to Rell:
"Go on! You haven't finished yet."
Rell continued her story. For Rell's discovery, this was a powerful force. Her parents, thinking of Rell's future, hired many mages as tutors for Rell, attempting to make Rell soar!
But they failed repeatedly. Later, she was sent to this Black Rose Academy. Rell also became a star apprentice here, but a so-called star apprentice was a "star" with no friends, isolated.
But at least every so often, Rell's parents would visit her and express their pride in her!
Just now, Rell had quietly melted several walls and snuck into the laboratory, discovering the truth of Black Rose Academy.
Rell was being groomed as a weapon by the Black Rose. She grew stronger every day, but what was the price of her strength?
It was the lives of others! The lives of other magically gifted children. Any opponent who fought Rell would be "de-magicked," their magic transferred to Rell.
Rell grew stronger and stronger, but for her to become stronger, more and more people were sacrificed.
At this point, the usually strong Rell shed tears, sobbing uncontrollably:
"If I had known all this sooner, I would rather die! I would never want to be such a sinner, just to increase my power, I caused the deaths of so many people!"
In Rell's mind, she could never forget that when she was eight, there was a boy about her age. He was different from the other children; he didn't isolate Rell, but like Powder, was willing to chat and play with Rell.
But that boy also disappeared after fighting Rell. Rell now knew that she had drained his magic, causing his death.
Powder saw Rell crying, and her mind went back to when she herself would break down, and Chen would always be there to take care of her and comfort her.
Powder knew it was her turn now. She sat beside Rell and, imitating Chen, quietly held Rell's hand:
"This isn't your fault. You don't need to blame yourself; you were also deceived. This is all the fault of the Black Rose and that damned LeBlanc!"
But Rell still couldn't accept the fact. Her tears continued to flow:
"But their magic was all transferred to me. They all died. I'm the one who least deserves to live."
Powder's mind raced, thinking about how Chen would comfort her if it were her, what words Chen would say, what Chen would do.
Powder suddenly hugged Rell, gently stroking Rell's back:
"Listen, then you have to live well, live for them, right?"
"And there are so many children who were forced to lose their magic. You have to think of them too, and use your power to save them!"
Rell leaned into Powder's embrace, took a few deep breaths, and wiped away her tears:
"Powder, thank you. You're right."
"I'm going to rescue all the children who survived in Black Rose Academy."
Then Rell stood up, walked step by step to the window, and glared into the distance:
"Noxus, your retribution will come sooner or later!"
Rell's five fingers spread open, her eyes glowing intensely red, and magical power surged forth.
All the iron objects in the room slowly trembled,
slowly floated into the air,
melted into molten iron,
the scalding molten iron merged together and floated into Rell's hands,
a massive knight's lance was instantly forged.
"Powder, let's go, let's get out of this cursed place!"
Powder immediately followed:
"Yay!"