Void Beetle Evolution Guide

Kai'Sa suddenly remembered that she had once seen Ryze from afar. Wild Hunt had told her that his purple skin and the dense runes on it were traces left by world runes.

The rune distortions extended his lifespan, even though he never used them and never felt any gratitude towards them.

His mentor and students were all bewitched by the runes and driven mad, and his homeland was completely wiped off the map because of the rune war.

Ryze thus became a paranoid individual, harboring the utmost malice towards anyone who possessed a rune.

Ryze was born in Noxus, a thousand years ago, the precursor to Noxus. To the east of the Immortal Fortress was originally a vast valley, but after being destroyed by runes and sinking to the bottom, it formed a massive crescent-shaped bay stretching from Iron Peak all the way to Lungmen. Large swathes of land vanished in a single day. The total area of ​​land destroyed in this war was larger than ten Bilgewaters; the cost was undeniably devastating.

However, Kai'Sa has always believed that the power of the World Runes is neither inherently good nor evil; the key lies in how the wielder uses it. If humanity uses it for war, then for the victims, it becomes the root of all evil.

In reality, runes can be used for both destruction and creation. If runes can sink an entire landmass into the sea, then filling the world's deepest trenches would be a piece of cake.

Humanity has failed to fully comprehend the power of the world's runes, much like a child holding a nuclear button, ultimately harming both themselves and others.

Chapter 547 Rune Mage

After calming down, Kai'Sa tried to grab the World Rune again.

She poured her determination to expel the Void from Runeterra into it, and the runes trembled for a moment before settling down, and she held them in her palm.

Even as it was repeatedly tossed between her hands like a hot potato, she showed no sign of resistance.

Then, to her surprise, she discovered that the rune fragment in her hand had fused with the foundation stone under an invisible pull. The repair by the laws of life made the rune foundation stone more perfect, and thus it felt a sense of closeness to her, as if it were thanking her for her help.

"Is that even possible?" This unexpected joy left Kai'Sa somewhat bewildered; she had gained the rune's approval almost without doing anything.

When she first obtained the fragment, she wondered why the rune possessed independent consciousness. Now she understands completely.

The five runic stones created the world; in a sense, they are equivalent to the world itself, and it is perfectly normal for the world to possess its own consciousness.

It may not care what humans do with it, whether it creates or destroys, it doesn't matter to it, the only thing it cannot accept is being plundered.

The Void are invaders from other worlds, whose goal is to destroy this world. They constantly transform the matter that constitutes this world into their own soldiers, making them nothing less than plunderers.

Kai'Sa's act of banishing the Void is seen as acting on behalf of Heaven. Therefore, as long as one goes along with the will of Heaven, everything becomes as simple as going with the flow.

"Syndra, do you want to give it a try?" Wild Hunt noticed Syndra staring at the runes, eager to try.

“Of course! Since we’re already here, there’s no reason to just take one piece. Of course, we’ll take them all with us,” Syndra said proudly.

"Let me warn you first, Kai'Sa was able to do so smoothly because she had experience. If it were you, you would likely be affected by the runes and become an unwitting puppet. You might also be directly assimilated and become an elemental being full of destructive desires."

“What’s there to be afraid of? If others can do it, so can I!” Syndra replied defiantly, though her demeanor was no longer as relaxed as before, clearly indicating that she was nervous inside.

“If you get manipulated, don’t blame me for beating you up to wake you up.” Their eyes met, and Kasha threatened coldly, “If things really come to that, I will kill you without hesitation.”

"There's nothing you can do that I can't do. If you won't let me try, I'll try anyway!"

Syndra resolutely reached out and used her magic to pull a runic foundation stone from the pillar. She chose the purple sorcery foundation stone, and the moment she touched it, a burst of light immediately engulfed her.

The intense mental shock almost robbed her of her ability to think. The hills were shouting, the deep sea was roaring, and in her daze, she saw the terrifying scene of rolling lightning and erupting subterranean fire.

In a daze, Syndra found herself on a battlefield where two armies were fighting. She saw the ground beneath her feet collapse and fall away, the bedrock deep underground seemed to be howling and vomiting, and the sky trembled as if it were the end of the world.

Houses, people—everything was gone; the sight was maddening. A massive void had appeared out of nowhere on the earth, and the ocean, which should have been a day's journey away, was now surging in.

This is a rune foundation stone corresponding to all kinds of methods. Everything in the world has its own set of rules for operation. As long as you understand these rules, you can even stir up heavenly thunder and earthly fire.

And now, arcane wisdom is flooding into her brain. Once she masters these magical secrets, destroying the world will be just a thought away!

Just then, a familiar arcane light suddenly shone at the entrance, followed by the appearance of a strange figure.

With purple skin, a bare upper body, a scroll on his back, and runes on his skin glowing, his eyes filled with arcane light... it was none other than Ryze, whom they had been discussing earlier.

This was no coincidence. Ryze sensed from afar that the restrictions he had set up had been violently broken, so he used every means to rush back from the other side of the world.

The arcane light gradually faded, and they looked at each other across the bridge. Ryze looked at the runes that had disappeared from the pillar and the two people who had appeared in the dungeon. His originally sorrowful face turned angry and ferocious.

"Don't touch the runes!" Without another word, he raised his hand, and a faint chirping sound immediately rang out in the air, its tone continuous and harmonious.

The magic of heaven and earth swirled like mist between his fingers, then coalesced into an arcane orb, which throbbed and boiled in his hand, constantly overflowing his palm as if it were about to escape at any moment. Ryze did not try to stop the arcane orb; he immediately hurled it at Syndra in mid-air.

The Wild Hunt's summoned giant claws tore through the void, shielding the unsuspecting Syndra. The orb slammed into the back of her hand, leaving a dent. He then decisively summoned countless Void creatures produced by the Hive Queen from the hive, which densely gathered into a swarm of insects that surged forth from the cracks.

“Kai’Sa, Syndra is still in a state of enlightenment. We must buy her time!” The power of the Void will inevitably be met with hostility once it is exposed, but Wild Hunt has already decided to turn against Ryze and is no longer hiding his identity.

"Alright!" Kai'Sa was the first to cross the log bridge, her eyes under her helmet fixed on Ryze: "Ryze, I respect you as a senior. If you leave now, I can still give you some dignity."

The helmet's Void Vision allows Kai'Sa to see colors invisible to the naked eye, through which she can discern the life force and magical energy within Ryze.

However, she could now directly see the other person's aura, hovering above their head like a wisp of green smoke, and it seemed she only needed a thought to seize it for her own use, or extinguish it completely. You Lin Yong, you Yong, do you even want to empty your Lin Zaizai's...?

Although Ryze doesn't use runes, having been immersed in this art for many years, how could he not know how to counter them? He immediately concealed his aura to prevent Kai'Sa from attacking him.

“You’ve all been blinded by the power of the runes; you have no idea how terrifying they are! They must remain here, preferably forever hidden from the light of day,” Ryze commanded.

"What about the Void? If the passage between the two worlds isn't closed, these abominable creatures will destroy the world you're protecting. If one day it comes to the point where you have to resort to runes, will you make an exception and use them? Or will you, even if you watch helplessly as the world is riddled with holes and countless lives are sacrificed, still hold fast to your so-called 'bottom line'?" Kai'Sa advised, trying to make him understand that the greatest threat was still the Void.

The surging monster army strained the log bridge, causing it to break apart piece by piece. Ryze stood firm at the bridgehead, his body covered in runes that emitted a bright light, becoming a faint second source of light in the dimly lit dungeon.

Chapter 548 Showdown with Ryze

"Don't force me!" Z's obsession with runes was too deep. He insisted that any action involving runes would lead to destruction and wouldn't listen to Kai'Sa's words at all: "Your eyes can't see through these runes. I've seen too many. Those who try to control runes will eventually be destroyed."

Seeing Ryze's actions, Kai'Sa knew his determination to fight, and her anger towards the rotten wood erupted: "How is what you're doing any different from those who want to take it for themselves?"

"Don't even think about taking the rune, unless you step over my dead body!"

As he spoke, Ryze unleashed an arcane orb, which Kai'Sa anticipated and dodged. The log bridge took the brunt of Ryze's furious attack, collapsing into fragments in the explosion and falling into the abyss below.

He watched as these bizarre and terrifying insects plummeted into the unknown abyss, blocking their only path to approach. Then he turned to look at Kasha, his gaze upon her no different than his gaze upon the insects. (The rest of the text appears to be nonsensical and unrelated to the previous sentences.)

Seeing that he was serious, Kai'Sa rubbed her hands together and said, "I know you would never use the World Rune. Fine, I won't either. Let's have a fair one-on-one duel, and whoever wins gets the rune."

As she spoke, Kai'Sa covered her helmet. She did this to prove that she hadn't been bewitched by the runes; if she used the power of the runes to trample Ryze underfoot, she would become the kind of person Ryze was talking about.

Ryze was even more eager than her. He didn't move away from Kai'Sa, which was extremely unwise for a mage to so recklessly approach the enemy. This made Kai'Sa feel that Ryze had been blinded by anger.

Although his rune-distorted physique possessed abilities far exceeding those of an ordinary person, how could he possibly compare to Kai'Sa? Kai'Sa was protected by Void Skin and possessed immense speed; could she possibly be strangled to death by Ryze's belt?

However, Kai'Sa did not underestimate her opponent just because he was a mage. She kept a close eye on Ryze's every move, and she saw every flow of magic.

Ryze was no pushover either. Centuries of practice had given him a thorough understanding of many spells, and his casting posture was second nature to him. Kai'Sa had barely seen his movements when the arcane ring that appeared out of thin air had already immobilized her in place, rendering her speed useless.

Ryze kept one hand still, continuously channeling magic to imprison Kai'Sa, while his other hand rapidly formed hand seals to unleash incredibly powerful magic, moving so fast that it created afterimages.

Kaisa struggled and found that no matter how much strength she had, she could not break free from the restraints. So she deployed her shoulder pods and unleashed scorching plasma missiles, fiercely clashing with a series of arcane explosions.

A magical shockwave erupted, breaking the bindings and blasting both of them away. Kai'Sa crashed through a magic-suppressing stone pillar used to store rune stones, falling onto the platform and being buried under the rubble. Dust from the underground vault surged out through the cracks.

Ryze's attacks were ruthless and relentless. Before she could even get up and regain her footing, he unleashed a barrage of arcane missiles. Kai'Sa glanced at them out of the corner of her eye and immediately rolled to the side, but the missiles, under Ryze's skillful control, veered in mid-air and struck her again.

These were all moves Kaisa had already used before; she knew them all too well. Calmly, she slammed her fist into the ground with all her might, sending the rubble flying into the air.

Then something strange happened: the arcane missiles, like iron filings caught by a magnet, crashed into the white stone in the air and were swallowed up without making a sound.

Ryze stopped moving.

He hadn't expected that Kasha would so easily neutralize his attack with a single move. She had perfectly utilized the magic-absorbing properties of the anti-magic stone to block his magical attack.

Kai'Sa stood up and silently watched Ryze, not needing to worry about what other tricks he might have up his sleeve.

A mage choosing to fight in a place full of anti-magic stones is putting themselves at a great disadvantage.

In the magic-suppressing vault, Ryze was restricted in many ways. Even though he was powerful enough to cast spells without regard to the magic-suppressing stone, it was hard to say whether he could unleash even half the power he used to.

Kasha didn't even need to target him much. She just needed to withstand a few of his attacks until he ran out of magical energy. Once he was exhausted, his body would be too tired to fight back.

Alternatively, she could choose to end the fight quickly, but she still held a degree of respect for Ryze. Without using runic power, Ryze was no match for her.

"You made a huge mistake by choosing to fight me here. You won't win today." Kai'Sa circled around her opponent, applying pressure, and tried to persuade Ryze to admit defeat so they wouldn't have to fight to the death.

“Power will change everyone. Don’t think you’ll be an exception. Everyone I’ve killed thought the same thing as you, but the facts have proven that I didn’t kill the wrong person.”

Ryze was much calmer now than before. His distorted face returned to its original melancholy, and he realized the enormous disadvantage he was in.

Kai'Sa doesn't rely on magic, and she has the abnormally powerful protection of her Void Skin armor, while he, without magic, is barely better off than an unarmed old man. But he will never give in so easily; his fight is so that others don't have to fight.

"This is no longer the time to discuss right and wrong. Since we both want to save the same world, why are you stopping me?"

As they spoke, they heard a rustling sound of rocks scraping against each other beneath their feet.

The Zerg army that had previously fallen into the abyss actually managed to crawl back, and countless malevolent purple lights lit up in the darkness, those were their hungry eyes.

Wild Hunt also held back; he didn't even summon a school of fish, otherwise Ryze would have been overwhelmed long ago.

“World runes should never be used, because the cost is always incredibly high,” Ryze said.

He held a magic orb in his left hand and a missile in his right, clapping his hands together, an explosion of magic about to erupt. Lightning bolts bounced and leaped back through the swarm of insects, instantly electrocuting a large number of them, sending them sprawling in the air.

"No matter how high it is, can it compare to the entire Runeterra?" Kai'Sa retorted angrily.

As soon as she finished speaking, Kai'Sa suddenly felt a sharp pain and collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony. She looked up and saw Ryze in a casting stance, extraordinary power crackling between his fingers. It seemed a bolt of lightning had struck her unexpectedly. She looked at Ryze in confusion; at that moment, the mage appeared to her like a reflection in water, distorted and deformed by the ripples.

Ryze struck again, unleashing a barrage of arcane fire, the flames whipping up a scorching wind and radiating heat comparable to a thousand suns. Kai'Sa dodged aside, avoiding a series of dazzling comets. Though they possessed a chilling flame, they were still incredibly scorching. The white orbs of light fell into the swarm of insects, turning the ethereal beings into empty shells emitting embers.

He then quickly cast a spell. With the movement of his hands, a loud, intense, and frenzied sound filled the air, like boiling water. Energy transformed into lightning and fire, surging and engulfing his faded hands, shooting out with Ryze's gesture.

A barrage of spells shot towards Kai'Sa, but she was nowhere to be seen. With a loud bang, as if something had been interrupted, Ryze whirled around and saw a magic-suppressing stone pillar hurtling towards him.

Knowing that magic couldn't destroy it, he hurriedly rolled to the side, but was grazed on the shoulder and sent flying backward. He was thrown to the edge of the abyss, half a leg dangling in the air, his body teetering on the brink of collapse. Before he could even get up, a surging swarm of insects had already surrounded him!

Chapter 549 A Triumphant Return

Ryze painfully opened his eyes and saw his warm blood flowing out, its glare stark against the pale stone.

He was surrounded by a horde of monsters, their terrifying limbs flailing, but they did not rush at him to devour him.

He struggled to his feet, as the anti-magic stone beneath him was rapidly draining his magical energy through his bare upper body.

Kasha, unharmed, once again strode across the rubble and ruins, walking towards him unhurriedly, her footsteps carrying a powerful sense of oppression. "You, Lin Yong, are you free? You, Lin Zai, are you not here...?"

Wherever she passed, the insect swarms bowed their heads and retreated to the sides, retracting their densely packed fangs as if welcoming the queen of the insect race.

Ryze spat out a mouthful of blood, raised his hand to summon a pillar of light, and the Arcane Ring once again imprisoned Kai'Sa in place. Kai'Sa, finally no longer holding back against Ryze, launched a fierce counterattack.

Her body twitched, breaking free of her restraints with a vibration frequency invisible to the naked eye. She raised her hand and fired a shot that grazed past Ryze's ear, knocking him down with just the sound of it cutting through the air.

This old man is no longer the respectable rune mage he once was, but a madman bound by the nightmares of the past, a stubborn stumbling block.

A giant claw tore through space and grabbed Ryze, slamming him against a pillar. His bones groaned in pain as the magic-suppressing stone relentlessly drained his mana, seemingly trying to cripple him until he was too weak to fight.

Ryze seemed powerless to resist, letting Kai'Sa walk up to him. She looked down at the ground and picked up a scroll that had fallen from behind Ryze.

Seeing the scroll fall into Kai'Sa's hands, Ryze's eyes widened, and he used his only remaining functional wrist to flick out a ball of light, heading straight for the scroll.

Kai'Sa reacted quickly, moving the scroll away and thwarting Ryze's plan. Then, the giant claw tightened its grip, and a phantom crawled over, piercing his palm with its sharp limbs, rendering him unable to move.

"What is it that you would rather destroy than let me have?" Kasha asked, holding up the scroll.

Ryze fell silent, but at the same time, the runes on his skin lit up one after another, and his whole body radiated an arcane light that was more dazzling than before, making it impossible to look directly at him.

Borrowing the power of runes requires an extremely long preparation time, and the other party wouldn't give him that opportunity. Therefore, he decided to take a desperate gamble before his magic power was exhausted.

Then, a blinding light erupted, engulfing everything in the basement. The anti-magic stone pillars were successively blasted and destroyed, losing their main support, and the pale dome immediately collapsed.

Ryze used Arcane Explosion to break the supporting pillar, which also blasted away the giant hand pressing down on him.

In the instant the magic-free dungeon collapsed, he used a teleportation technique to the only safe corner inside the dungeon, and to the other side of the broken bridge.

The rune mage watched as everything in the dungeon collapsed before his eyes, as the ruins buried what he had been protecting deep underground. He moved his cracked lips, darkened by the corrosive effects of magic, gritted his teeth, and used his energy to shatter the broken claw remaining in his palm, struggling to swallow his rage.

No one can take the world runes out of this place; even if they are buried, he wants them to remain here forever!

When everything fell silent, Ryze breathed a sigh of relief and knelt on the ground, his hands hanging limply at his sides, and he closed his eyes wearily.

A familiar light shone from the ruins—the magical glow emanating from the runestone. Seemingly stimulated by the light, his eyes opened again.

The moment he saw the rune, his eyes turned colder than any wind in Freljord, and a chilling, morbid fear filled his very bones.

Seeing that there was no further movement from the ruins below, he believed that he had achieved his goal, but he no longer had the strength to go down and check and collect the runes again.

This unexpected calamity caused Ryze to let out a sorrowful sigh. He abandoned the last vestige of irrational sympathy in his heart and summoned the last bit of magical energy within him to cast Warp Leap once more.

As the runes on his skin gradually lit up, the arcane light engulfed him, and when the light subsided, he vanished from the spot.

After the rune mage left, a spatial rift silently tore open in the darkness, and Kai'Sa, who had hidden in the cracks of the world, reappeared on the ruins.

Then, the Wild Hunt's giant claw extended, its open palm revealing a dazed Syndra lying on it.

She only came to her senses now, clutching her throbbing head as she glanced at the surrounding ruins, asking in bewilderment, "What happened?"

"You really know how to pick your time, making me the villain all by myself," Kai'Sa replied irritably.

Ryze thought they were dead, but it was just a ruse they had created.

In those brief seconds of collapse, they had enough time to hide in the cracks of the world. The runes were left deep within the ruins, creating the illusion that the runes remained even after the person was dead.