Void Beetle Evolution Guide

"Wait for me? What do you mean?" Kasha was completely confused; she was certain this was the first time she had met the other person.

The old mage said nothing; he simply waved his hand, and a clock-shaped magic circle appeared in his hand.

Many timelines slowly unfolded, clearly appearing on the golden discs suspended in mid-air, from which came the sound of grinding stones.

The footage shows Icathia during the disaster, with multiple camera angles showcasing the horror of the catastrophe from all angles.

Nightmarish light streamed in from the tower windows, a malevolent and ugly blue-purple that seemed to shroud the world.

The window suddenly burst open, and a deafening scream rushed in, seemingly tearing the air apart; it didn't belong to this world.

Several beams of intense light burst forth from the tents on the city wall, and huge arcs of purple energy tore through the sky, crashing to the ground like giant waves.

The roar echoed, and more and more ravines tore the earth apart.

People knelt down amidst the earth-shaking tremors, and the walls of Icathia, the walls that Shurima had torn down and rebuilt, were utterly shattered with a low, tearing groan as the earth was torn apart.

Sand and dust erupted from the city, and people screamed, but their cries were completely drowned out by the crashing of falling rocks and the tearing of the earth.

The place where the first mage king erected the Star Iron Staff was swallowed whole by the gaping maw of the ground.

Annihilation is coming, the end of the world.

Kasha felt a lump in her throat; this situation was far more terrible than the disaster that had occurred in Bervis.

Just then, a shout came from downstairs, a completely unfamiliar voice.

"Quickly, come inside! There's a reinforcement array in the tower!" An elderly man with white hair opened the tower door and shouted anxiously towards the outside.

Flames shot into the sky, and cracks appeared in the ground throughout the city, swallowing everything into darkness.

The panicked crowd rushed into the tower, their faces filled with terror as they looked towards the door.

Kasha suddenly felt that these people's faces were familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen them before.

The earth shook violently, and it seemed the tower was about to be swallowed whole by the opening of the ground. Finally, the old master made up his mind.

He spread his hands to cast a spell, his eyes filled with white light, and clock-shaped magic circles appeared on his hands and outstretched arms, the hands of the clock spinning wildly... Then, time stopped.

But this is limited to inside the tower.

Outside, the land where Icathia once stood is now completely empty.

The old mage lowered his withered hands, and the timeline vanished. He looked at Kai'Sa and said, "For thousands of years since the fall of Icathia, I have been constantly divining the threads connecting the past and present to this moment, searching for a future that can reverse everything. But no matter how I calculate, I cannot bypass you, the girl who returned from the void... I have seen you in countless timelines, but in reality, this is still our first meeting."

"Uh, my name is Kasha. Nice to meet you, esteemed Archmage." Kasha kept looking around, trying to see how those scenes had appeared. "So, it was you who used magic to transform this tower?"

"They call me Kieran. Before the fall of Icathia, I was a member of the council here." The old mage nodded noncommittally. "When the catastrophe struck, in desperation, I removed the entire building from time. To this day, I don't know how I did it. It was an extremely accidental factor. Even though I've spent a long time trying to understand the mysteries of time and causality, I can't figure out how to reverse it, how to truly bring them to life. Only I can move freely within this anomalous zone."

Even Zilean himself knew how to control the tower's time stop, so Kai'Sa didn't ask any more questions about it.

However, through the information disclosed by the other party, she learned that Kieran was an ancient archmage of Icathia and a member of the ruling class, who had personally experienced the Void's eruption.

"Was my arrival at your tower accidental, or was it arranged by you?"

Chapter 380 Kasha's Adventure

“Everything that seems to happen by chance is actually inevitable. And history is made up of countless chance occurrences.” Kieran turned his back and answered Kai’Sa’s question.

Kasha didn't quite understand what he was saying, but now was not the time to seek knowledge, nor did she want to use the code.

"I only know that the gifts of fate have already been marked with a price in secret. I am very grateful to you for helping me escape from the encirclement of the Darkborn. If you need me to do anything, you may as well be more direct."

"You're still so impatient, lacking the patience and maturity of time." Kieran smiled with relief, teasingly reciting the words of an elder advising a younger generation: "Child, not everyone wants to harm you. I can know the past and predict the future. Faced with such a great opportunity, don't you have any questions?"

Kasha frowned deeply.

To be honest, it would be a lie to say she wasn't interested in the future, but she was indeed worried that knowing the future would make her lose all motivation.

The most painful thing in life is knowing you're going to lose something, but it hasn't happened yet. If Kieran told her that the Void would devour the world in the future, how would she face reality?

Moreover, the other party appeared out of nowhere, leaving no basis for trust. How can Kai'Sa believe that what the other party says is the truth, and not that they are deliberately deceiving her to manipulate the future?

“Calculating the future is much more complicated than looking back at the past. There are countless unknown factors that change at every moment, and even I cannot calculate the future that is too far away from now.” As if sensing what Kaisa was thinking, Kieran stroked his thick beard and added an explanation.

"Can't we think about it too far in the future?" With a "let's give it a try" attitude, Kai'Sa simply asked about something that might happen in the near future: "I want to know, will the Darkin War happen again?"

"Yes." Kieran's face, which had been beaming with smiles just a moment ago, turned serious the next. As if he already knew the answer, he said without hesitation, "The Darkin War is unavoidable, and the entire Shurima will be affected. Many mortals will die as a result, and even the Darkin will not escape death."

“The war hasn’t even started yet, and Darkin have already died. This can’t be considered a premonition.” Kai’Sa realized that if Kieran wasn’t lying, then more Darkin would die at Zoran’s hands.

"...and you will lose what you cherish most because of it."

Upon hearing this, Kasha's heart skipped a beat.

The things she cherishes most... do they refer to her parents, or the Wild Hunt?

This made Kasha's breathing quicken: "Could you please be more specific?!"

Kieran shook his head, unsure whether he didn't know... or couldn't say.

"Changing one's fate from the expected will bring unknown consequences, which are often contradictory and always lead to a more dangerous fate."

Kasha's face visibly turned ashen, her heart pounded violently, and she was struggling to breathe, like a drowning person, on the verge of suffocating.

At this moment, she had a strong urge to immediately withdraw from the Darkin War and never get involved in it again, trying to escape the arrangement of fate.

Seeing Kai'Sa's reaction, Zilean added, "While that's true, isn't the greatest allure of the future its uncertainty? Before anything is set in stone, there's always the possibility of change."

Kieran's words seemed to give Kai'Sa a breath of fresh air, but she asked herself uncertainly, "Wild Hunt, should we continue to get involved in this?"

Since the matter involved himself, Wild Hunt pondered seriously and said, "In my opinion, doing nothing is actually submitting to fate. Kieran shouldn't be lying to you, and when he said those words, fate had already changed in an unpredictable direction, and the outcome is still unknown."

Hearing Wild Hunt say that, Kai'Sa finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Regardless, she decided to send her parents away first. War was raging in Shurima, and if they remained there, they risked being caught in the crossfire.

"Is there anything else you want to ask?" Kieran's eyes gleamed white as he stared intently at Kai'Sa, watching her closely and patiently waiting for her to come to her senses.

Kasha carefully considered her question, trying to make it more insightful and to the point...

"Grand Mage, I want to know, since you can foresee the future and are a council mage of Icathia, why didn't you stop them from releasing the void back then?"

The Void's harm to future generations is so severe that Kai'Sa still can't think of a way to eliminate it. So she's wondering if it's possible to address it at its source before it even happens.

However, Kieran sighed, "How I wish I could do that too! It's too late, it's all too late."

"Can't you go back in time and change all of this?" Kasha pressed.

Kieran shook his head and remained silent. By the time he comprehended the laws of time, the Void Wars had already been raging for decades. During that time, he devoted himself to research, trying to find a way to change everything.

However, what he finally found was—no solution.

Cause and effect are the manifestations of the same event at different times.

The cause was that he trapped himself in the tower when the disaster struck, and the effect was that he was banished to a spacetime anomaly and comprehended the laws of time.

Kieran cannot reverse effect to cause.

If he goes back to prevent the disaster from happening, how can he comprehend the laws of time? This is a complete paradox.

Kieran, hands behind his back, countered, "Changing the past always comes with enormous changes to the world. Child, have you ever considered whether you would exist today if the Void Wars hadn't happened?"

“No…” Kasha’s face turned ashen.

One can imagine that if the Void had not invaded, the Wild Hunt would not exist, and even its own existence would be uncertain.

At that moment, she suddenly felt that it was best to keep things as they were.

Kieran continued, "If we change the past, who can guarantee that it won't happen in a different form? You know, fate always tends to correct mistakes and put history back on track."

Even though I stopped Icathia from summoning the Void, the Void had already invaded Freljord long before that. Since then, they have been eyeing the material realm covetously.

Even without Icathia, there would still be people who succumb to the allure of this power and release it. I've seen this kind of thing far too many times.

I've searched through countless timelines, but I still can't find a way to save Icathia, except for you..."

"Me?" Kasha was stunned.

Kai'Sa felt obligated to help the Void, but she never portrayed herself as a savior.

“Yes, Kai’Sa. Only you.” Kieran nodded repeatedly. “Because I forcibly manipulated the laws of time, I was banished from time and cannot appear to interfere much with the real world. I am no longer obsessed with the mistakes of the past, and you are the only one capable of ending all of this.”

"But I tried my best and couldn't find a way to stop the Void; I could only stall for time." Kasha felt extremely ashamed; even the method of stalling for time was devised for her by the Wild Hunt. (The last part, "梅有在林你咏空你林在在没呢," is a nonsensical string of characters and doesn't translate directly. It's likely a result of OCR errors.)

“The human body has its limits. If you want to break through those limits, you’ll need my help.” Kieran stroked his beard and asked with a smile, “Since you’re here, how about learning some time magic from me? This is a field that countless mages flock to. Even the Blessed Isles are researching it, but only I have ultimately mastered time.”

“But I have absolutely no talent for magic…” Kasha rubbed her arms, feeling that she had let the other party down.

"Even the most dull-witted apprentice can become a master if he is nourished by the world runes for a long time."

“I will teach you myself.” Kieran skillfully cast a spell, countless profound magic circles appearing around him. Before Kasha could agree, the old mage pointed a finger at her forehead.

The other party actually knew she had the World Rune?! Kai'Sa instinctively tried to pull her head back, but for some reason, even though the movement seemed very slow to her, she couldn't twist it away no matter how hard she tried.

A beam of light shot out from the withered fingers, and the moment it touched her forehead, Kasha felt as if a clock in her head had been turned, and a sense of temporal disorientation washed over her once again.

It seemed like several years had passed, yet it also felt like only a blink of an eye. When I came to my senses, that feeling had vanished without a trace.

"What did you do to me?!" Kai'Sa quickly checked herself over and found that the World Rune was still inside her body, completely still. She breathed a sigh of relief, but did not let her guard down.

“Child, you can run faster now.” The old mage smiled with satisfaction: “I have taught you the spell to accelerate time. As long as you use it in conjunction with running, you can exceed your own speed limit and even be faster than Bervis.”

"!!!"

Chapter 381 Time-Space Acceleration

Kasha could hardly believe her ears. Had this magical idiot really learned time magic? And her speed could even be increased?

"Not bad luck." Wild Hunt was genuinely happy for Kai'Sa.

Kai'Sa's limit is more accurately described as the limit of her skin and armor.

As the abilities of the skin armor become more comprehensive, the Wild Hunt's evolution becomes increasingly difficult, as evidenced by the fact that it increasingly takes over new hosts to acquire abilities.

Every living thing is subject to the laws of physics.

The erosion form's structure currently only allows Kaisa to accelerate to supersonic speeds; it will be very difficult to significantly break through this threshold.

Unless the Wild Hunt can evolve a jet-like structure, or simply, like Bervis, devour millions of people to cause a qualitative change and achieve physical immortality.

The former is somewhat possible, but Kai'Sa would never agree to the latter. It would be better to find a way to develop the power of the World Runes, refining the infinite energy they provide; perhaps that could bring about a qualitative change.

Otherwise, the Wild Hunt would never be able to surpass the speed at which Bervis devours and evolves.

"High Mage, time magic must be very precious, right? Why are you helping me?" After the initial excitement subsided, Kasha gradually calmed down. She still didn't believe that good things would fall from the sky for no reason, hence her question.

“No one else will come here, and there will be no one more suitable than you. I’ve spent countless hours deciphering the time code, and I can’t let it rot in this abnormal time-space prison with me.” Kieran replied kindly, “I’d rather teach it to you, to do my part and let you do the things I want to do but can’t.”

"I suddenly feel so much pressure. What if I can't end all this?" Kasha shrugged and smiled. What Kieran wanted to do was probably what she wanted to do too. (The last part, "梅有在梅梅想空你林在在没呢," is a nonsensical string of characters and doesn't translate directly. It's likely a result of OCR errors.)

Kieran burst into laughter again, but in the end, his laughter turned to desolation.

The loneliness of being banished by time.

Time has ceased to flow here, and his loneliness may have far exceeded three thousand five hundred years.

“Judging by the time, it’s time for you to go back. The longer you stay here, the greater the repulsion you will face from the laws of time, and eventually you will end up like me, trapped in this place forever. I can’t harm you, so this will be our only meeting.” Kieran paced back and forth, his deep eyes fixed on the motionless apprentices, his gaze profound.

Upon hearing this, Kai'Sa tensed up and took out a glass bottle from the insect hive space.

"Thank you for your help. My father taught me that I should reciprocate. It would be somewhat improper for me to leave like this. So please accept this gift."

Kieran didn't speak, he just watched Kai'Sa's actions.

"Do you know about Blessed Island?" Kasha asked.

“I have traveled to many places in my life, including Fuguang Island.”

I wonder if Kaisa remembers that Wild Hunt once said that Folyago learned about the Blessed Isle by chance from an Icathian travel diary.

Yes, that's right, the author of this diary was Kieran when he was young.

Wild Hunt thought about it and decided it was best not to tell her about such a hellish thing.

“Then you must know about Fuguang Water.” Kasha handed over the bottle in her hand.

Inspired by the last time Ahri asked her for Fuguang Water, she stocked up on a few extra bottles, just in case.

“Then I’ll accept it without hesitation.” Kieran tucked the bottle into his sleeve, then issued his ultimatum: “It’s time to send you back, child. Remember this: we are all fish living in the river of time, and the longer we stay outside of it, the more likely we are to get stranded.”

Having finally encountered a living person, Zilean seemed to have much to say, but time was running out. Without giving Kai'Sa a chance to interrupt, Zilean flicked his sleeve, and time began to rapidly rewind.

Everything is playing in reverse.

Kasha retreated uncontrollably step by step, back down the stairs to the entrance. The scenery before her eyes kept changing, and she felt herself rapidly moving away from this space and time.

The reversal of time created a sense of temporal distortion, making Kasha feel dizzy. In a daze, she heard an old man's sigh: