Runeterra: I actually know a little bit about everything

"Varus, what are you doing in Ixtal? And fighting with Malphite? Aren't you going to fight back?"

Hearing Zuo Chi's series of questions, Verus couldn't help but glance at Zuo Chi, and in his eyes, Zuo Chi actually saw a hint of embarrassment.

Zuo Chi became even more curious!

Varus remained silent for a very long time before finally speaking softly:

"I need to kill Zolani, so I naturally need a more powerful body. However, I can't find a more suitable body in the short term. Those elemental dragons are a good choice. Although they are a bit weak, they are still better than the bodies of two mortals."

“Uh.” Zuo Chi raised an eyebrow.

"So, you went to Murphy's territory to steal the dragon, and then Murphy caught you?"

Verus: "."

"But why are you unwilling to take action against Murphy?"

Chapter 142. The Monolith! Zolani's Trail!

"But why are you unwilling to take action against Murphy?"

On the eastern border of Shurima, where jungle meets desert, Zuo Chi walked under the cool shade of trees, looking at Varus beside him with curiosity.

Varus gently stroked the longbow in his hand and said calmly, "Because I don't want to watch the only monolith in the world disappear before my eyes."

When Varus said this, there was a deep sense of nostalgia in his eyes, but perhaps because he was now a Darkin, he did not want to show it too obviously.

"Oh?" Zuo Chi couldn't help but feel curious after hearing Varus's words.

As for Malphite, Zuo Chi only knew that he was the current guardian of Ixtal and seemed to have been connected to Shurima a long time ago, but Zuo Chi didn't really know much about the specifics.

"Tell me more," Zuo Chi asked with a smile.

Varus rolled his eyes at Zuo Chi, his tone suddenly tinged with deep hatred.

"That bastard Nazuk's only contribution to the Shurima Empire was creating the Monolith; in every other respect, he was utter scum."

"If it weren't for him, how could Horlock have died!"

"Um!?"

Upon hearing this, Zuo Chi's heart skipped a beat.

Horlock Left Pool knew about it, after all, he had heard Aatrox mention it back in Howling Abyss.

He was an Ascended general like Aatrox, who once wielded the Blade of the Underworld deep into the Void Rift and pierced the Void Heart with a single sword strike, enabling the Ascended Legion outside to successfully seal the Void and end the protracted Void War.

However, Zuo Chi has now received new information: Horlock died at the hands of Nezuk?

Naizuk, yet another new name, and Zuo Chi felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity with it.

As he pondered the name, Varus's voice continued to echo.

As mentioned earlier, Ixtal, as a vassal state of the ancient Shurima Empire, differed from Icathia. Ixtal had many powerful warriors who gained the recognition of the Sun Disc and became ascended gods in the eyes of the world.

And this Nazuk is one of them!

Born in Ixtal, Nezhk is an extremely powerful elemental mage, possessing unparalleled elemental magic and unmatched arrogance.

Faced with the Void Rift that had left the Shurima Empire riddled with holes, Nazuk petitioned the then-Shuriman Emperor to create a weapon capable of confronting the Void.

After months of arduous labor that would be unbearable for humans and the expenditure of countless resources, Nazuk revealed his strategic weapon in front of the entire Ascended Legion—the Monolith, a living rock weapon!

Although it is called a monolith, it is actually an incredibly huge floating fortress, almost the size of a city, suspended in the air, capable of completely obscuring everything in the sky.

The monolith is maintained by a group of the greatest elemental mages and Nezhk himself, and it is also home to other Ixtal's celestial warriors.

This weapon attracted the attention of the entire Shurima the moment it was unveiled.

Nazuk and his superweapon arrived at their destination, once again facing the endless howling and bottomless darkness of the abyss, and the hordes of void monsters it created.

The magic-suppressing crystal on the monolith continuously projected lightning bolts downwards, melting the yellow sand below into glass. Elemental magic of various attributes fell from the monolith, frantically ravaging the void creatures below.

One after another, head-sized anti-magic grenades flew out of the monolith like raindrops, causing a series of violent roars on the battlefield below.

Its violence and scale were unprecedented in Runeterra. The sorcery they used was enough to wipe out an entire civilization or turn an entire continent into a memory. It was this power that was unleashed upon the Void.

Some even said at the time that if the Shurima Empire had possessed more strategic weapons like the Monolith, perhaps the entire Runeterra would have submitted to Shurima.

However, no matter how strong the monolith is, the void is by no means an enemy that can be easily defeated.

The eerie void energy carved deep wounds into the monolith, making its surface rugged and charred, thus forming an unnatural stone—Murphy Rock, which means "bad stone" in Ishtar.

The fortress was pushed to its design limits and struggled to repair itself, stitching together the damaged superstructure.

But even the most magical spells have a critical point of collapse.

Just as Nezuk was gathering his fellow Ascended to make one last desperate charge and unleash a full-force attack on the Void, the Monolith reached its limit.

Under the witness of the entire battlefield, the floating fortress, which was as large as a city and blotted out the sky, fell from the sky and crashed straight into the void rift.

Ultimately, over 90% of the monoliths crashed into the void rifts and were swallowed by the ever-satisfied void.

The remaining small fragments were forced to detach from the main body during the fall of the monolith, turning into meteors and flying to every part of the Shurima continent.

Of these, only one fragment remains intact and has not yet been tainted by the power of the void.

The fragment flew to the land of Ixtal, and for thousands of years, the rich elemental magic nourished the monolith fragment. Gradually, this living rock gained its own sentience.

And this monolith fragment that has gained sentience is Murphy!

With that unwavering determination etched into his very being, Malphite became the guardian of Ixtal, and he relentlessly fought against the void beneath the earth.

At this point, Zuo Chi understood why Verus had held back against Malphite.

Yes, he was once Varus's comrade-in-arms, and he saved the lives of countless ascended gods and Shurima's people.

Thinking of this, Zuo Chi suddenly raised his head, as if he remembered hearing the name Naizuk somewhere before!

He had never heard of Nazuk, but he had heard of Nazuk's Bronze Gauntlets—a strange weapon that granted Ezreal the ability to travel through space.

It's the one Ezreal wears on his hand!

Zuo Chi still clearly remembers that Ezreal must have obtained this weapon from a tomb in Shurima by following the guidance of his missing parents.

Zuo Chi looked at Varus: "Varus, you seem to dislike this Nazuk?"

"Humph!"

Varus snorted coldly: "He was almost the most severely infected by the Void. Humans called him the Darkin Madman and Tyrant Nazuk. After everyone became Darkin, he even used a scheme to kill Horlock, who did not want to participate in the war, thus causing the only weapon that could damage the Heart of the Void, the Nether Blade, to disappear."

"However, he was quite self-aware, knowing that he would die sooner or later. After stabilizing central Shurima, he began enslaving humans to build a mausoleum comparable in size to the Shurima royal tombs."

"In the end, it actually came in handy."

"Uh," Zuo Chi scratched his head.

What kind of nonsense is this?

Other Darkin, after seizing territory, indulge in pleasure and think about expanding their territory all day long. Why is it that when it comes to Ner'Zoot, he is eager to build a grave for himself?

Zuo Chi had a feeling that something was off about this.

Shaking his head, Zuo Chi didn't think about it anymore. He was just curious about the Void War back then.

Back in Shurima, it's time to get down to business.

"Varus, what are your plans for the future?"

"Of course, we're going to kill Zolani!"

Varus glanced at Zuo Chi indifferently: "Where are you?"

Zuo Chi smiled at Verus and shrugged:

“I originally wanted to go find Aatrox, but since I can’t sense each other like you Darkin, I guess I’ll have no choice but to follow you.”

Just as Zuo Chi said, he also wanted to find Aatrox, since following Aatrox would undoubtedly increase the chances of winning.

Putting aside Aatrox's rumored Darkin brethren, Aatrox was already powerful enough simply by obtaining a demigod-level physical body.

If the goal is to kill Zoranny, then Aatrox and his gang are definitely the most suitable.

Unfortunately, Zuo Chi had no idea where Aatrox was.

The continent of Shurima stretches as far as the eye can see, its area almost as large as the combined territories of the Demacian and Noxian Empires. In such a place, finding Aatrox accurately would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

On the contrary, if we follow Varus now, we might be able to find Zoranny first.

Since we can't reunite with Aatrox and the others yet, let's test Zoranny's current fighting strength first.

With his and Varus's current fighting strength, they might actually be able to kill her; even if they couldn't win, escaping shouldn't be a problem.

In contrast to Zuo Chi's composure, Varus seemed somewhat surprised:

"You've seen Aatrox!?"

Zuo Chi nodded: "Yeah, what's wrong?"

Recalling what happened in Freljord, Zuo Chi could only say that his relationship with Aatrox was far more than just a simple meeting.

Verus gave Zuo Chi a deep look, then strolled forward.

"You actually survived his clutches and weren't possessed by him. Could it be that he's planning to raise you up and possess you later? A kind of nurturing system?"