Runeterra: I actually know a little bit about everything

Orn never admitted that he admired the Hearth family, but deep within his volcanic heart he always held a deep respect for pure craftsmen.

The people of the Hearth do not need to kneel or offer sacrifices. They do not record Orn's words as scripture and transmit them to the ears of those in the world who do not wish to listen.

On the contrary, they remained silent, focused solely on their work, and were imaginative, energetic, and extremely diligent.

The Hearth family made Orn smile, though no one could be sure, as his large beard obscured the smile.

Time passed little by little until one day, Ornn's brother, Volibear, the god of thunder, arrived at Hearthstone.

Volibear and his army of bear-men need sufficient equipment and weapons to wage war against the armies of the Ice Sisters.

“Brother, help me make some weapons and armor, and I will repay you.”

Ornn refused Volibear because he didn't want to get involved in Volibear's affairs.

Although Ornn is not particularly enthusiastic about humans, he is not hostile to them because of the existence of the Fire Family, and therefore does not want to help Volibear wage war against them.

"Then let your followers do it; their armor is just as good!" Volibear let out a wicked laugh.

“They are not my followers.”

Orn roared righteously, "And they won't serve anyone, they owe you nothing."

"is it?"

Volibear's eyes blazed with fury: "But I feel they are your projections. They admire you, and you like them too."

"Don't even think about messing with them, or I'll beat you so badly you won't be able to get up!" Orn replied gruffly.

"If you don't help me, I'll go get it from them myself."

Volibear seemed completely oblivious to the implication in Orn's words, and instead turned and walked straight toward where the Hearth family was.

The next instant, Ornn's ram horns slammed into Volibear's body, and Volibear's body crashed into the mountain behind him, instantly shattering the mountain into pieces.

And this may just be Volibear's true intention!

The battle between Ornn and Volibear lasted for eight days. Their fighting made the base of the mountains tremble, molten ore spewed from the peak of Hearth, lightning struck the earth in dense flashes, reducing everything on the ground to nothingness, and the white and red light in the sky lasted for a long time.

The entire population of Freljord witnessed the clash between Volibear and Ornn.

When the battle between the two brothers ended and the smoke cleared, the once towering Luxiang Mountain had disappeared, and Luxiang had become a smoking volcano.

What Ornn found most unacceptable was that the entire Hearth family had died in his battle with Volibear; they were all reduced to dust, their flesh and bone marrow slowly settling into the embers.

Although Orn would never admit it verbally, he was completely devastated.

He had glimpsed the burgeoning potential of mortal life in the Fire People, but those lives vanished in the blink of an eye under the Immortal's indiscriminate rage.

Overwhelmed by guilt, he returned to the workshop alone, secluded himself to cultivate diligently, and never saw the world again.

Volibear also completely abandoned his rune armor due to his break with his brother.

He removed the armor Orn had forged for him, using only his own sharp teeth and fangs as weapons, just like the bear-men.

Now, after countless years, Ornn has emerged from his volcano and once again turned his gaze to the land he once loved.

But everything here is gone.

Orn remained silent for a long time, but both Zuo Chi and Anivia sensed the loneliness emanating from him.

“Brother,” Anivia called softly.

After a long while, Orn finally came to his senses. He shook his head violently, but his unconscious action caused Anivia, who was perched on the ram's horn above, to stumble.

"Zuo Chi, use your weapon well; its power will far exceed your imagination."

Zuo Chi nodded, then looked at Orn beside him:

“Orn, actually, there are still some descendants of those Firelands people in many places in Freljord. If you need, I can gather them back to Firelands.”

"No, my friend."

Aoun rejected Zuo Chi without hesitation: "I don't want the tragedy to repeat itself, and they should all live their lives in the present."

Zuo Chi had long anticipated this outcome.

As if remembering something, Zuo Chi suddenly looked at Orn and Anivia.

"Orn, Anivia, I have something I want to ask you."

"Hmm?" Orn and Anivia were both puzzled.

Zuo Chi continued, "Do you all know about the Frostguard and the secrets beneath the Howling Abyss?"

Having experienced Vel'Koz's previous encounter in Monster Ranch, Zuo Chi felt uneasy. If the void rift beneath Howling Abyss were truly opened, Freljord would undoubtedly become a second Icathia, or even worse.

After all, the Icathian Void Rift back then had to face the entire Ascended Legion of Shurima, thousands of Ascended, but Freljord only had a handful of Old Gods.

How could ordinary Iceborn or mortals possibly contend with Void creatures?

Upon hearing Zuo Chi's words, Orn and Anivia both fell silent for a moment.

Ornn nodded first: "Ten thousand years ago, I sensed that evil power, and I also helped the Ice Sisters excavate the Howling Abyss and build the bridge over it."

"Hmm?" Zuo Chi raised an eyebrow.

The Howling Abyss was actually dug out by Ornn!?

This was the first time he had heard this news.

Following Ornn's words, Anivia added, "I once chose to perish with a group of Calamity Scales near the Howling Abyss to stop them from wreaking havoc on mortal villages. It took a long time for them to re-hatch. But that was thousands of years ago."

“Those monstrous creatures are tainted with that evil power; I’ve also sensed it on Lissandra.”

"What's wrong, Zuo Chi? Did you find something?"

Now, when facing Zuo Chi, Anivia's tone no longer carried its former authority, but instead became very friendly.

Listening to the words of the two ancient gods, Zuo Chi understood that the ancient gods of Freljord should know about the existence of void rifts beneath the Howling Abyss.

Thinking of this, Zuo Chi didn't hide anything and told them about his encounter with Velz in Monster Ranch.

"The appearance of Vel'Koz likely means that the seal on the Frozen Tomb beneath the Howling Abyss has loosened."

Upon hearing Zuo Chi's words, both Anivia and Orn frowned.

Although they are usually carefree and unrestrained gods, when something truly threatens Freljord, they, as the creators of this land, will still take it to heart.

"Zuo Chi, if you discover anything later, please let me and my brother know."

Nodding slightly, Zuo Chi was about to ask more questions about the Frostguard. Based on their previous interactions, Zuo Chi was quite certain that Lissandra's strength was approaching that of an Ancient God like Anivia.

However, almost at the same moment that Zuo Chi was about to speak, a deafening roar suddenly rang in his ears.

"Roar! Boom!"

Suddenly turning their heads, Zuo Chi, along with Orn and Anivia beside him, looked up at the northern sky.

There, the three saw the dark thunderstorm swirling in the sky, and the dense lightning bolts constantly falling to the ground below.

Anivia withdrew her gaze and said in a deep voice:

"Voliber is fighting!"

-

The central headquarters of Bearman Island.

The impending death caused Sejuani's body to tremble violently, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her palms as she gripped the True Ice Chains.

At this moment, Sejuani finally understood the source of her sense of crisis.

She never imagined that the bear-men and Volibear, who were supposed to be heading to Monster Ranch, would end up here!

All of his/her whereabouts were firmly controlled by the other party.

Beside Sejuani, the orange-red glow on Olaf's body was growing stronger and stronger; his Iceborn bloodline was boiling, and berserk energy filled every cell of his body.

"Sejuani, get out of here."

Olaf knew that what he craved today was right before him, and he would give everything to fulfill his promise to Sejuani.

At that moment, Volibear's mocking voice also rang out.

“Daughter of Winter’s Claw, you have quite the nerve, daring to swagger into the territory of the Bearmen and even attempting to steal my treasure.”

Sejuani looked up at the towering shadow in the thunderclouds:

"God of Thunder, you knew I was coming back all along! Everything you did was a lie!"

"hehe."

The thunderclouds slowly parted, revealing Volibear's massive, nearly 100-meter-tall figure before Sejuani.

"I told you before, if you don't have enough supplies, we'll meet again. I just didn't expect it to be so soon."

"Daughter of Winter's Claw, join my ranks and become my warrior, and I will release this ant beside you."

"Sejuani, don't agree to him!" Olaf roared.

He glared angrily at the sky and cried out, "God of Thunder, come and fight me!"

"Olav, take the giant away."

Suddenly, just as Olaf finished speaking, Sejuani's calm and stagnant voice rang in his ears.

"Sejuani, what are you saying!" The red light on Olaf's body was growing stronger, and he felt that his mind was on the verge of losing control.