The Great City of Demacia.
The battle line had been pushed back from the petricite walls at the very start of the fighting to its current position, partly because the attack had caught them completely off guard.
Although the walls could absorb the curse's magic, the gates were as fragile as paper.
Under the protection of the yordle carrying a small shield and hammer, they finally held out until all the residents had evacuated.
On the empty streets, only the soldiers who had defended the walls earlier remained, running madly toward the center of the Great City.
The main body of the army was protecting the royal family there, and several great houses had also sent their best fighters.
On top of that, the Dauntless Vanguard was stationed there. It was practically the safest place in all of Demacia.
As long as they could reach that place...
But ideals were beautiful, while reality was all bones and teeth. One gaunt monster after another pounced on the armored soldiers and dragged them down.
Crossbow bolts soaked in blessed silver cut through the air, blasting the monsters into Black Mist.
Vayne, wearing sunglasses, continued hunting the monsters in silence.
"Thank you..."
In the chaos, the soldier's helmet had already fallen off, revealing a haggard face beneath it.
Ever since the monsters had charged in, they had been living in constant fear.
Only their duty as soldiers had kept them going until now. Otherwise, with their physical strength far superior to ordinary people, they would have run long ago.
"So this time it's Demacia?"
With Caleb and Gwen joining them, Senna's originally isolated two-person team had instantly become a seven-person group, much stronger than before.
"Do these weapons really work?"
Zeri nervously tightened her grip on the glowing weapon in her hand. Her main battlefield earlier had been in the undercity.
Although there had also been bright bullets like this, Zeri had not actually seen the true effectiveness of weapons of light.
"Relax. They really work."
Caleb held one blade in each hand and slowly stepped forward.
"Looks like Viego was holding back on us before."
The Twin Cities were not that large, and the Black Mist had been surging across multiple fronts at the time, so the pressure Caleb's group had endured had actually not been too great.
In the end, Vi, the one Viego had chosen, returned to herself because of Warwick's call.
But since Viego had already achieved his goal of finding the object he wanted, whether the Twin Cities were conquered no longer mattered all that much.
"The Black Mist won't hurt people... I think..."
Gwen's words were a little strange, but Caleb knew that as Isolde's most beloved doll from when she was alive, Gwen's body also held a fragment of Isolde's soul.
That was exactly why she had gained the ability to control Hallowed Mist and wield that giant pair of scissors.
Caleb continued forward and looked toward the center of the Great City. Viego was there, taking an old parasol from the kingdom's treasury. It had been repaired several times, but its worn age could still be seen.
"Just let him take that thing."
A soul was like a puzzle. If even one piece was missing, the soul would not be complete, and Isolde would not come back to life.
Viego had only set Senna and Gwen as his final targets. It was not that they had been excluded from his list.
Caleb had come here only to reduce casualties as much as possible.
After all, no matter how much he disliked Demacia, most of the people inside had not actually done anything wrong.
As lambs of society, they were merely numb followers trailing after the nobles who acted as the lead sheep.
"Hate me, curse me, the world is free to do as it wishes."
Viego looked at Jarvan IV, who was surrounded by guards, and showed a mocking smile.
The petricite statues began moving one after another, while Viego's figure disappeared instead.
"Damn it!"
Senna was frustrated that they were one step too late, while Caleb began searching for the person who should have been turned into one of the Ruined.
In the Twin Cities, it was Vi. In Noxus, it was Draven. In Bilgewater, it was Sarah. In Ionia, it was Karma.
"Who will it be in Demacia?"
Seeing Vi fall into Ruination back then had made Caleb realize that the Ruination's corruption might not depend on whether someone was a champion.
It depended on whose heart was easier to break.
Vi had been shaken awake by Caleb's scolding, and the guilt still lingered, which was why she had not quite dared to return to Zaun.
But the truth of Warwick's identity had disrupted Viego's plan.
Still, no matter how convenient transportation in the Twin Cities was, it could not compare to Viego moving through the Black Mist.
That was the source of Viego's confidence.
Inside the Black Mist, even the Hexgates could hardly match Viego's speed.
And even Hexgates still needed time to charge.
Caleb swung his blade and cut a monster charging at him in half. After obtaining weapons of light, Caleb indeed no longer saw these monsters turn back into Black Mist.
"What is the principle behind this?"
It seemed to use elemental power of light, but such near-pure light element should not have been that rare in theory.
It was still daytime now, so why was the Black Mist not affected by sunlight?
Was it because of the air? Or was the sunlight not strong enough?
Would that mean the enemy's power grew stronger at night?
Thinking of this, Caleb could not help frowning.
This was going to be trouble...
Because if Caleb remembered correctly, the sun should be setting right about now.
Sure enough, the number of monsters in the Black Mist doubled. Even though Caleb did not find them especially difficult to deal with, he could no longer observe his surroundings properly.
But as crossbow bolts appeared one after another and Gwen's threads moved around him, he felt a rare trace of unease.
"Why am I nervous?"
Caleb could not figure it out, but after taking a few more steps, he got his answer.
A woman had been nailed to a wall made of petricite by thick crossbow bolts. Although she was covered in blood, it still could not hide her breathtaking beauty.
Caleb looked at her beauty, but it was not only the beauty of her features.
More than that, it was a powerful kind of beauty, shown in her scales and dragon horns.
"Why is she there?"
Caleb looked at the woman. He knew her name, Shyvana.
But she showed no sign of being Ruined, so why had they nailed her there?
"She is an aberration."
Vayne spoke coldly from the side.
Caleb could see the wounds on Shyvana's body. They were not only marks left by crossbow bolts, blades, and swords.
There were also bite marks and claw marks, left by the monsters in the Black Mist.
It was easy to imagine how much she had gone through before she became unable to move.
Strand after strand of Black Mist flowed into Shyvana's body.
Unlike in the Twin Cities, Demacia's Black Mist did not weaken. Instead, it grew even denser.
A triangular wound, gray-green light, and those suddenly wide-open eyes.
"Honestly, I really have to hand it to you backstabbing bastards."
They judged her guilty based not on what she had done, but directly on what she was.
How much hatred did that take? Were their brains broken?
A wild wind gathered at the tip of Caleb's blade, but before this, he had never experienced a direct clash against a dragon.
Shyvana's arms tore free, spreading wide as she struggled outward.
Vayne fired several more crossbow bolts, but this time, when they touched Shyvana's scales, they were deflected away.
Before Vayne could react, enormous wings carrying flames swept toward her.
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