Void Beetle Evolution Guide

Leaving aside the flaws of these gods, Kai'Sa once borrowed the First Flame from Ornn, but he drove her away on the pretext that it would harm the life of the earth. So the Wild Hunt told her to go find the Eternal Flame instead, but unexpectedly, she ended up back where she started, as the Eternal Flame and the First Flame were actually the same thing.

Thinking about this, Kasha felt both relieved and helpless.

Secondly, if the Eternal Flame is the primordial fire, then it means that they possess the same characteristics.

The Eternal Flame's ability to extend lifespan and its special ability to attack the void indicate that it possesses a characteristic that the void fears. This characteristic is the vitality of creation.

The Primal Fire is the first flame in the world. It is because of this creative energy that Ornn was able to smelt ore into steel, forge all kinds of metal tools, and create even more things.

Since tools represent creation, why can't the flame that creates tools also represent "creation"?

And creation is the best manifestation of existence.

Void creatures represent the nothingness that annihilates everything. What they fear most is existence itself, because existence makes them feel as if they are being scorched, so they are eager to obliterate everything.

Therefore, the Primal Fire, brimming with creativity, became the Void's most severe nemesis. Creativity can also be roughly understood as vitality, because it is the infusion of vitality that has allowed Jax to survive to this day.

After figuring this out, Kasha felt her thoughts expand and become much clearer.

For creativity, Katarina possesses intricate runes that govern all creation; for fire, Syndra's sorcery foundation allows her to control all elements; for vitality, her resilient foundation provides an abundance of energy.

She had initially thought that the life energy from the runes would only be consumed by the void as sustenance, thus strengthening the enemy. But now, thinking about it, perhaps she lacked flexibility. If she changed her approach to using the runes, it might have a surprising effect.

Because Runeterra was created from runes, everything can be transformed and used interchangeably once it returns to its basics. However, they haven't yet reached such a sophisticated level of application; their understanding of the world's runes is less than one percent complete.

Of course, all of this is based on the premise that the monitors have not yet adapted to and controlled the rules. If they eliminate the weakness of intolerance, then all of the above measures will become ineffective.

However, once you adapt to the rules, new weaknesses will naturally emerge.

Pierce is the best example; she abandoned the void to adapt to existence, but ultimately died in Syndra's black hole.

Born from nothingness, and dying from nothingness. All things are interconnected and mutually restraining; none are exempt from this.

Kai'Sa was lost in thought, and Wild Hunt wisely refrained from interrupting her. When she came to her senses, she found that Ornn seemed to be waiting for her as well, without disturbing her with the deafening sound of hammering the iron blank.

This was the first time Kai'Sa had seen such a thoughtful side in this burly, stubborn demigod.

Kai'Sa thought for a moment and said to the bristling Ornn, "Ornn, thank you for resolving my confusion. I have one last question: where can I find the Primal Flame?"

She had learned her lesson and no longer directly asked Ornn to borrow the Primal Flame as she had done before. Instead, she asked him where she could find the Primal Flame.

"The First Flame isn't so easy to obtain." Orn didn't even look up, his gaze fixed on the flames in the furnace, his tone tinged with impatience.

For a moment, the atmosphere seemed to freeze, and the surrounding air seemed to become heavy.

"Is this not going to work either?" Kasha muttered, thinking to herself that this was really difficult.

Fortunately, Ornn only grumbled this time. He told Kai'Sa to wait where she was, then turned and went into the warehouse to rummage through it.

Soon, Ornn returned to the furnace.

"Thanks to Alara for helping organize the warehouse, we found this thing in no time. Stranger, reach out and catch." Kai'Sa heard Ornn's mutterings and quickly stretched out her hands below.

The moment the thick, charcoal-black fingers slowly unfurled, Kai'Sa's attention was instantly drawn to the treasure in Ornn's palm—a spiral horn, looking primitive and simple, engraved with fiery red runes, containing powerful fire energy.

When Kasha took it in her hand with utmost care, the horn felt heavy, its material neither stone nor gold, and it felt like the horn of some kind of creature.

And that's the amazing part. Kai'Sa had never heard of any biological material that could withstand Ornn's fiery tempering without crumbling. Then there were the ancient, weathered runes on the horn, perfectly integrated with the horn itself. It was as if those runes weren't engraved on the horn, but rather grew there from the very beginning.

"The primordial flame released by this horn can easily melt pure ice. Use it with caution, and never play with fire and get burned," Orn cautioned. He wasn't much of a talker, and even his warnings were brief.

This was truly an unexpected delight. She had originally planned to go find the First Flame herself, but Ornn generously lent her the artifact of the First Flame.

Kai'Sa, regaining her composure from the surprise, looked up at Ornn and thanked him repeatedly, "Thank you so much! Now I'm even more confident. With your help, I'm absolutely certain I'll expel the Void from Runeterra..."

As she spoke, she suddenly froze. Her gaze shifted back and forth between the horn in her hand and Ornn's two large, curved ram horns, and her eyes widened in surprise.

Ancient runes were engraved on the horn, emitting a bright orange-red flame, so similar to the horn in her hand! If the horn were filled with fire, it would be exactly the same as Ornn's horns!

"Could it be..."

“You saw through me.” Orn raised one eyebrow. “This horn was indeed forged from a piece of my broken horn, which is why it can bear the power of the First Flame.”

Kai'Sa looked at Ornn hesitantly and said, "But your horns look intact..."

After hearing Kai'Sa's words, Ornn belatedly touched his horn.

"Oh. It broke off accidentally during my fight with Volibear, and I figured I wouldn't waste it, so I made this piece of the horn. I didn't expect it to have healed so quickly..."

Chapter 745 Burning the Abyss

"You could forget that?"

Kaisa went to Hearth Village with a dark expression on her face, and left with another dark expression on her face.

These gods truly have no concept of time; thousands of years have passed without them ever checking their horns.

Is blacksmithing really that fun? Could someone be so engrossed in it for so long? Or did the annihilation of the Hearth Village people deal Ornn a significant blow, causing him to forget his grief by focusing solely on blacksmithing, leaving him no time to care for his injuries?

Kasha put these questions out of her mind; even if she figured them out, she couldn't travel back in time to change things. But getting the artifact was always a good thing, and she needed to go back immediately to tell the Wild Hunt the good news.

Meanwhile, Katarina was anxiously awaiting Kai'Sa's return. Since she left, another wave of monsters had emerged from the Great Rift, so numerous that even her replicated War Machine array couldn't contain them.

After emerging from the portal, Kai'Sa quickly glanced around and saw nothing but pale, twisted limbs crawling onto the ground like a rising tide.

She tossed the horn to Katarina: "Take this and try blowing it at the monster."

Katarina immediately understood. If it were just a normal blowing sound, Kai'Sa could blow it herself. It must have been specially handed over to her so that she could use the Precision Rune.

Because of her mastery of all kinds of creation abilities, Katarina figured out how to use the horn as soon as she got her hands on it.

She removed her visor, took a deep breath, brought the mouthpiece to her lips, and infused it with the power of the runes, illuminating each mark on the horn with a dazzling orange-red hue, like a branding iron.

As the deep horn sounded, the molecules in the air began to vibrate violently. The horn's sound echoed throughout every corner of the abyss, and the air seemed to be heated, creating the illusion of space being overheated and distorted.

A foehn wind suddenly arose, carrying temperatures high enough to scorch flesh, and a tsunami-like heatwave crashed into the great fissure. Under the fierce scorching of the foehn wind, the ravaged earth began to melt into orange-red magma, flowing down the fissure; hordes of Void Abominations spontaneously combusted, their bodies charred and curled up in the hellish heat, emitting a strange sound like melting plastic, falling back into the abyss with billowing flames, their burning limbs disintegrating in mid-air.

The fire spread rapidly along the crack, burning the broken seals left by the ascendants to ashes. The membranes burned like spider webs, and the giant curtain of flames divided the entire ancient battlefield. The fire licked at the sky, turning the great crack into a sea of ​​fire. Icathia seemed to have ushered in the end of the world again. Even the air was dyed orange-red, and breathing it in was painful.

The earth, riddled with holes by the void, spews forth columns of magma under the torment of heat and pressure. Crimson magma, streaked with sparks, crashes into the inferno, sending up even higher waves of fire, like raging fiery pythons writhing in the abyss.

In moments, the great rift in Icathia transformed into a volcanic inferno, as if the very mantle of the earth had leaked from the wound. Not a single abomination could escape the inferno, and never would again.

Everyone stared in disbelief at the scene, not expecting that the incredibly effective Kai'Sa had already led Katarina back to the ancient city, crouching behind a wall to escape the scorching heat.

The temperature quickly rose to an unbearable level, and the entire ancient city, connected to the abyss, became a giant oven, making it impossible for anyone to stay.

"Get away, who knows how long this fire will burn." Kaisa retreated again and again, the sea of ​​fire formed by the Primal Flame making her skin and armor tremble uncontrollably just from the flames it emitted.

"I'm afraid it won't go out." Wild Hunt answered confidently, "Guess why it's called the Eternal Flame? It can keep burning even without fuel, not to mention that the Great Rift will continuously generate fuel for it to keep burning."

Kasha paused for a moment, then said uncertainly, "It's better to burn it down. At least no more monsters will escape."

Ornn said that the Primal Flame is territorial and will extinguish once it leaves its place of origin, but the Great Rift produced all the Void Creatures of Icathia, accumulating such a vast amount of Void energy. With its "production capacity," it's not impossible for it to sustain a fire of this intensity indefinitely.

Thinking about it this way, if Ornn had accepted the three sisters' invitation to fight the Watchers, perhaps the Howling Abyss wouldn't be the frozen hell it is now, but a fiery inferno, making the entire Freljord much hotter. A desert would appear out of nowhere in the icy land, and even the Iceborn would have to become Fireborn.

The two retreated to a less hot spot, and when they looked back, they realized Jax hadn't followed. He stood alone on the ruins, a lamppost pointing at the burning crack, gazing intently, like a solitary guardian.

"Jax, are you planning to leave?" Kai'Sa seemed to realize something and shouted at his back, her voice sounding somewhat unreal from the heat.

“I’m tired of wandering, so let me stay in Icathia. I’d like to see how long this fire will burn!” Jax replied with a heroic air, his cloak billowing in the heat, though his heroic spirit was tinged with the weariness of a hero in his twilight years.

Kasha didn't say anything more; she understood. (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.)

Putting himself in Jax's shoes, he spent his entire life searching for someone who dared to stand against the Void. Even though he knew that his individual strength was futile against the Void's invasion, no different from a suicide mission, he was driven by his obsession and could no longer stop, blindly searching for a powerful, illusory ally like a walking corpse.

Perhaps it was a case of heaven rewarding those who persevere, for he actually found someone who seemed impossible. Of course, such a powerful person didn't need him to fight alongside him; that didn't fit his definition of a warrior at all. He solved the problem that had plagued him his entire life all by himself.

While the method wasn't perfect, it did manage to stop the Void's invasion. With his long-cherished wish fulfilled, Jax no longer needed to search the world for allies. The only thing keeping him alive was the suspense of what would remain after the fire had burned everything.

Kai'Sa nodded without saying anything. She wouldn't let the fire burn indefinitely, but that would have to wait until after they returned from Howling Abyss. Cassiopeia was already preparing to target the Void Watchers, and the others could only follow her lead. Once they obtained the final crucial item, they would launch their attack on the Watchers beneath Howling Abyss.

The two women took one last look at the raging inferno. Jax's figure still stood on the broken wall, like a lonely guardian. They turned and stepped into the portal. A flash of light, and they left the fire and ruins of Icathia behind.

Chapter 746 Cassiopeia's Target

After helping Kasha deal with the situation in Icathia, the Wild Hunt shifted its focus to Cassiopeia.

Cassiopeia is currently residing in another mansion in Noxus. The mansion, enclosed by high walls, is built with a pale stone that cannot be found elsewhere. It is majestic and solemn, yet not a single piece of stone; many large Noxian buildings are made of the same material.

Inside the towering building atop the main building, the Wild Hunt encountered Cassiopeia. The strange thing was that he saw two Cassiopeias.

One of them was sitting in front of the easel, holding a brush and painting a portrait, while the other sat elegantly in a leather chair, holding a wine glass and watching the former paint with a slightly tipsy gaze.

As the Wild Hunt ascended the steps, his silhouette bathed in candlelight, Cassiopeia paused to continue her work, while Cassiopeia, who had been drinking, swept her long red hair back and rose to walk gracefully toward the Wild Hunt.

"Welcome, my master." She pressed herself against him with a seductive smile, placing her hand on Wild Hunt's shoulder. Her red lips exhaled a fragrant breath, intoxicatingly sweet: "Would you like a toast, my dear?" (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.)

The "cross-cupped wine" she was referring to wasn't the gesture of wrapping one's arm around the other's to drink, but rather the act of feeding the Wild Hunt the imported red wine she was holding in her own mouth.

“Cassiopeia, is this what you call important?” Wild Hunt remained unmoved, ignoring Cassiopeia’s red lips that were close to his face, and looked at her with a frown.

"Let's play a little game before we get down to business. Guess which one of us is the real Cassiopeia?" Cassiopeia didn't seem to care. She swallowed her drink, raised her glass to sip her red wine, tilted her head to reveal her delicate jawline, and kept her alluring eyes fixed on the Wild Hunt.

Wild Hunt glanced at her, then at the figure still quietly painting, and fell into deep thought.

Based on past experience, Cassiopeia's eagerness to cling to him, as if she were in heat, does fit her character. However, we can't jump to conclusions. After all, Cassiopeia comes from a noble family and is skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, so the person sitting there painting could also be her.

Wild Hunt remembers that Cassiopeia had a demonic avatar managing her household affairs, and this so-called avatar is very likely the lustful demon Evelyn in disguise. Cassiopeia is hard to distinguish, but Evelyn is easy to identify too? She probably can't paint, so the one drinking in front of Wild Hunt is Evelyn.

In addition, there is another extremely slim possibility. That is, the Black Rose leader LeBlanc is also involved. LeBlanc is good at imitating others, and if she is involved, the variables will be too great. Perhaps neither of the two people in front of us is the real Cassiopeia.

But why would LeBlanc do that? Was she jokingly welcoming him to Noxus? Wild Hunt could easily exclude her and deduce their identities through process of elimination.

"Evelyn, stop pretending. I can smell the stench of evil on you."

"whee."

Hearing the Wild Hunt's disdain, Evelyn let out a silvery laugh and gradually revealed her true form—an even more alluring and seductive body, wearing only a bikini with flowing shadows, revealing large expanses of smooth, heterochromatic skin.

"I thought I could fool you. Did I not act convincingly enough?"

"You do look quite similar, but you shouldn't appear with the real body."

Wild Hunt replied, ignoring the succubus who was striking a pose, and walked behind Cassiopeia.

What are you drawing?

"Almost done, one of my goals."

Cassiopeia took a moment to reply; this was the first time the Wild Hunt had seen her so focused on something other than intercourse.

He looked closely and saw that it was a rather thin man with his hair meticulously combed back and braided with iron hooks along with his temples, revealing a somewhat pale face and a pair of dark green eyes.

"Thunder... Stone." The Wild Hunt paused upon seeing the humanoid figure before uttering the name of the powerful undead who had escaped from the Shadow Isles, appearing somewhat surprised.

The empty, gloomy robes covering the corpse, exuding a desolate and dilapidated aura, gradually overlapped with the dignified and somewhat refined man before him, transforming him into two faces of a fanatical sadist.

"How could he recognize all of this? Is there anything that his master doesn't know?" Cassiopeia exclaimed. She only knew that Thresh had taken human form through fate, and she couldn't understand how Wild Hunt had learned of it.

"I just happen to know," Wild Hunt asked. "How did he end up in Noxus?"

“Thresh is obsessed with tormenting souls. Although his plans on the Shadow Isles were thwarted by us, he still gained power from them, giving him the ability to move freely outside the Black Mist.” Cassiopeia put down her brush. Since the Wild Hunt recognized her, there was no need to continue drawing.

"Thresh took a crucial containment item from the Shadow Isles' vault, an item that LeBlanc had been searching for. Years ago, when the Blessed Isles still existed, LeBlanc placed that item on the island for safekeeping, so that it would never return to Bastion. Later, the Great Ruin occurred, and LeBlanc wanted to retrieve the relic, but she was unable to do so due to the black mist and undead on the island."

"Later, Elise, who could travel through the black mist, appeared. LeBlanc immediately entrusted her with the important task of finding and bringing back the relic from the island, but Elise did not find it until the curse was broken by her master. She began to promote Elise as the colonial governor of the Shadow Isles, and then used her position to plant a large number of spies in the vault to search for the relic, but no matter what they did, they could not find it, and even began to suspect that Elise was secretly keeping it for herself."

"But what she didn't expect was that Thresh had already taken that thing from the Shadow Isles, and even personally brought it to the Black Rose's territory." Cassiopeia's story came together here, and she turned to face the Wild Hunt, "Thresh is plotting another terrible conspiracy, an unprecedented disaster, and that relic that LeBlanc fears so much is the key. Since he wants to operate in the Immortal Bastion, the first step is naturally to integrate into the local area and return to human form."

"They're right under our noses, hasn't LeBlanc noticed yet?" Wild Hunt asked. He knew what it was.

"So what if they found out? Thresh didn't even try to hide. He not only gathered a bunch of undead henchmen, but also found a powerful ally, planning to storm the Immortal Fortress." Cassiopeia shrugged, her nonchalant attitude completely disregarding the matter, as if she were watching a farce.

Who would help him with something like this?

“Come on, I’ll take you to see him and you’ll see.” Cassiopeia smiled, stood up and took the Wild Hunt’s arm, then changed the subject: “But before that, I need to freshen up a bit. I can’t go out in clothes stained with paint, can I? So, would you like to come along? My dear master~”

Chapter 747 Noxus Night

Only after the harbor bells rang did Cassiopeia leave her hideout with the Wild Hunt.

She was dressed in her finest attire, a black gown, and intimately linked arms with Wild Hunt, as if she were going to a banquet.

Instead of taking a carriage along the main road, they wandered into dark and narrow alleys, blending into the night.

The city streets gave Wild Hunt a cramped feeling, full of oppression, as if every corner was pulling the walls on both sides closer and closer, until they were about to crush her.

He felt as if he were inside the intestines of some kind of behemoth, and could see the entire city spreading out from his feet, all shrouded in the shadow of the immortal fortress.

Three independent, towering stone pillars, massive monoliths shimmering with dark energy, form the tallest and most unique structure in the entire city, resembling a giant monument standing in the city center, or perhaps a seal that serves a suppressive function.

The Immortal Fortress can refer to the city itself, or it can refer to itself alone. The rest of the capital is merely an extension of it; it is the oldest and most sturdy building in the capital, the very foundation of Noxus.

Wild Hunt gazed at the magnificent ancient building, its immeasurably high walls and towers adorned with countless imperial banners. Nothing embodied Noxus's power better; it was the center of Noxian politics and the origin of its culture, the end of all secrets.

The Immortal Bastion sits in the heart of Noxus, its history predating the empire itself. Legend has it that it was commissioned by the terrifying spirit Mordekaiser, and many parts of it were completely leveled and gradually rebuilt over the past few centuries, resulting in streets that rise and fall, with some areas now below ground level.