Void Beetle Evolution Guide

Under Kasha's command, the entire village of orphans was successfully evacuated within an hour, excluding those who had gone out.

But the story is far from over. In the frigid north, there is only one place to go: Frostguard Fortress in Lissandra, which is also the place the bear-men are about to conquer.

If Kasha hadn't secured a ceasefire, these people would still have faced certain death. Even if they miraculously escaped death, they would be condemned to a life of constant wandering, and might one day freeze to death in the freezing cold.

...You Mei has time, Lin has time, Lin is free...

In the Hall of Nine, Lissandra sleeps on the ice.

A gorgeous long dress lay beneath her, and though she was completely naked, she slept in a dignified posture, her hands crossed over her lower abdomen. She was as peaceful as a lifeless female corpse awaiting burial, just waiting to be placed in a coffin.

Remembering how Lissandra always made bizarre entrances in his dreams, including one where she teleported him through an ice coffin, Wild Hunt couldn't help but smile with relief: "You've caused me so much trouble, and you're still sleeping so soundly."

The only difference from before was that Lissandra had covered her eyes with a black cloth. Even she couldn't look directly into the monitor's single eye, otherwise there was still a risk of losing control. Now that her sight had been restored, she needed to be even more careful.

Wild Hunt came to question Lissandra, but he did not rashly disturb her dream. The current Watcher was extremely unstable, and if the weaving of the dream was suddenly interrupted, unpredictable consequences might occur.

He set himself a time limit, within which he would quietly wait for Lissandra to wake up and, incidentally, admire her naked body.

But the intrusion of an uninvited guest interrupted his plans. The entrance to the Hall of Nine Venerables was a narrow gap that could only allow one person to pass sideways. It was the edge of the Howling Abyss that was gradually narrowing, but it was not the deepest part.

The out-of-control experimental subject brazenly barged in. It was equally unafraid of the True Ice and was larger than any of the individuals that Wild Hunt had found and eliminated. Its tail was as long as an adult's spine, making it probably the largest adult specimen to date.

By sensing the invisible wavebands and hearing the indistinct sounds emanating from beneath the ice, the Wild Hunt could confirm that it had been summoned by the Watcher. All the recent incidents within the fortress, barring any unforeseen circumstances, were likely methods employed by the Watcher to accelerate its own awakening.

The monster pressed closer, dragging its bladed limbs across the ice as it crawled straight toward Lissandra, its goal clear and showing no intention of leaving. Wild Hunt glanced at Lissandra, who was still fast asleep and completely unaware, and sighed, "Luckily I arrived early, otherwise this would have been dangerous."

When the monstrous creature was thirty meters away from Lissandra at the center of the ice, the Wild Hunt appeared and extended its hand towards it. Under the suppression of the Void Godhood, the monster was immediately forced to stop by the Wild Hunt.

The godhood of Bervis is for transformation. Although the Wild Hunt is far from fully assimilating it, it is not difficult to transform a mere void creature into its subordinate.

Things should have unfolded this way, but just beneath the ice, a grinding sound that could only be described as "massive" came from beneath my feet, as if something was spinning and emitting a strong mental impact.

"Uh..." Even the mighty Wild Hunt was affected. A strong buzzing sound rang in his mind. He knew it was interference from the Watcher, so he had to resist that will and silently kill the monster.

Wild Hunt had detonated the monster's core as quickly as possible, but it still let out a piercing scream before it died.

Lissandra awoke with a start from a nightmare, her eyes blindfolded, her chest heaving. She seemed to sense the Wild Hunt's arrival and asked in a breathless voice, "What happened?"

"The test subjects have already made their way to the Hall of Nine, so it's no longer safe for us, either in dreams or in reality." Wild Hunt's tone was accusatory, indicating that the current situation was not only due to the Monitors' loss of control, but also to Lissandra's misguided approach.

Lissandra sat up, hugging her knees and resting her head on them. Was it to cover her exposed chest, an instinctive reaction to being wronged, or perhaps she felt cold? She whispered, "Thank you for protecting me."

Her pitiful act failed to sway the Wild Hunt, and he continued, "I already know the reasons why the Bearmen attacked the city. I'm trying to help you solve your problem, but you're creating unnecessary trouble. I'm very disappointed in you."

Lissandra's shoulders suddenly trembled. "So, I couldn't hide it after all..."

"Lissandra, why did you steal Anivia's egg? And where did you hide it?"

"..."

Everyone has their own selfish desires, and it's normal not to completely trust others. Seeing that she didn't respond, Wild Hunt earnestly advised, "You must reconsider our plan. You don't need to do anything; just agree. Volibear will be at our gates in less than a day. I can't let him affect our plans. Tell me where Anivia is; perhaps there's still room for maneuver."

Chapter 795 Standoff

Can you guarantee that your plan will succeed?

“I know you have doubts about this, but the current situation is beyond what can be resolved with a simple guarantee. No matter how confident I am, the loss of control by the surveillance forces me to accelerate the plan.”

Wild Hunt described the severity of the situation, but Lissandra countered with a somewhat stubborn question: "It's the same question again, can you guarantee your plan will succeed?"

He sighed and said honestly, "No."

“I have reasons why I cannot fail.” Lissandra exhaled a cold breath and said decisively, “Therefore, I cannot give Anivia to you; she is my remedy for failure.”

“It’s right to plan for the worst, but your actions have seriously hampered my plans and dragged your own people into danger. Lissandra, I will not tolerate your continued willfulness.”

"I could seal the Watcher eight thousand years ago, and I can still do it eight thousand years later!"

"Are you going to betray your allies again? You sacrificed the entire Yeti tribe last time, what are you going to do this time? Throw Anivia down with you?!"

"Betrayal... I have my own methods, I don't need your guidance!"

When opinions clash, even a few words are unnecessary, and the escalating argument prompted Lissandra to suddenly raise her voice. She couldn't possibly be unaware that silence was required, and this action made the Wild Hunt uneasy.

He feigned silence, his hands silently reaching towards Lissandra. As long as he didn't make a sound, she, with her eyes covered by a veil, might not notice his movements.

He then ripped off Lissandra's blindfold, and Lissandra screamed and instinctively covered her eyes with her hands, trying her best to avoid seeing the huge single eye under the ice.

Although it was only for a brief moment, the Wild Hunt noticed the strangeness in Lissandra's eyes. They were no longer as blue as the icy sea, but instead filled with a sinister purple light, as if some energy was haunting her mind and shining through the windows of her soul.

Even though Kai'Sa's eyes didn't turn purple like that—only her pupils turned purple—Lissandra's entire eye sockets were emitting an unknowable purple glow.

"What exactly did you do?" Wild Hunt demanded sharply, while reaching out to pry open the hand she was using to blindfold her.

To everyone's surprise, she moved her stiff, cold lips, and with a flick of her hand, ice shards as sharp as blades burst forth, blocking the Wild Hunt's entire position and leaving him nowhere to hide.

Ice shards pierced the Wild Hunt's body, the burst of cold freezing him solid. The perpetrator, Lissandra, still covered her eyes, muttering incoherently in her own defense: "Too late, too late. Don't blame me, you forced me to do this..." (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.)

The Wild Hunt, frozen into an ice sculpture, did not stop thinking. He was an unconventional life form with no fatal weakness, and the cold could not kill him.

He didn't break free immediately because he discovered that what trapped him was eternal, unmelting ice. Since Lissandra couldn't create ice, there was only one answer.

—Lissandra not only stole Anivia, but also stole the power of the gods, gaining the ability to create True Ice, which caused Anivia to enter Nirvana prematurely.

Lissandra wanted to use Anivia's True Ice power to seal the Watchers again, but don't forget that Anivia had already been half-corroded by the Void.

While stealing divine power, she also transferred the corruption of the Void onto herself. Anivia could use her divinity to resist the corruption, but Lissandra, no matter how powerful, was still human. Her humanity was insufficient to resist the corruption, and she was inevitably corrupted by the Void. The time was so short that it didn't even have time to make a ripple.

Fortunately, she hasn't completely lost her way. Judging from the act of blindfolding herself, Lissandra still retains a sense of awe towards her watchers.

After figuring this out, Wild Hunt transferred himself onto Lissandra's armor, intending to control her. Unexpectedly, she abandoned her body and exploded into a pile of ice crystal shards!

The ice crystal fragments reflected Wild Hunt's ugly face, the dome of the Hall of Nine Venerables that resembled an inverted bowl, and the snowflakes that inexplicably fell.

A final snow began to fall underground, the snowflakes landing silently on the scattered fragments, as if covering Lissandra's corpse with a white sheet.

Wild Hunt didn't think Lissandra would die so easily, and sure enough, a chill suddenly appeared, running up his spine to the back of his head.

He looked back and saw that his heels were already encased in ice crystals, freezing him in place, with black ice climbing up his legs.

He looked at Lissandra's body again, but all he saw was the unmarked white snow, not even a trace of ice crystals. Lissandra had vanished into thin air.

In order to lure her out, he simply remained motionless, letting the black ice cover his entire body, and his vision gradually darkened as the ice crystals obscured his view.

An ice spike appeared out of nowhere and pierced Wild Hunt's chest. His body then shattered into ice shards, which scattered across the snow, making him appear to be dead.

“It’s over. Now no one can stop me.” A pair of dark blue lips quietly appeared. Lissandra put on the mask of ice and used her honed mental power to sense the debris on the ground.

But the next moment, a calm voice came from beside him, "Heh, you still don't know me well enough..."

The Wild Hunt had no intention of making a move. Lissandra, her smile frozen, had already had Ice Cluster carry her back ten meters away, keeping her distance from him.

"You stole Anivia's power and gained the ability to rebirth. Now, Volibear is probably in a difficult position to explain."

Lissandra had no intention of explaining. She took a deep breath, and chilling magic was summoned at will. An astonishing chill spread from beneath her feet, freezing everything in its path. Rapidly forming black ice spread across the ground, hurtling towards the Wild Hunt.

Wild Hunt casually opened a void rift, the erupting energy creating a deadly impact. Purple light illuminated Lissandra's pale face, and her lips moved slightly.

Enormous icy claws extended from beneath her feet, forming a shield that protected her and placed her in an ice coffin. The clash of void energies, capable of annihilating almost any matter, did not disappoint the Wild Hunt this time.

The shockwave pierced through the black ice coffin as easily as slicing a piece of butter with a red-hot blade, cleaving the ice coffin diagonally in two. The upper half slid down the smooth cut, landing on the ice with a dull thud.

Wild Hunt's gaze fell on the cross-section, and his brows immediately furrowed. He didn't see Lissandra inside, only Black Ice.

Suddenly, countless icy claws rose from the ice, wildly clawing at Wild Hunt, as if trying to drag him down to hell.

The twisted ice claws first seized his ankles, then his arms, his neck… Finally, a massive ice claw rose before him, slamming down on him, its sharp fingers clenching tightly. The remaining ice claws surged forth from all directions, like ten thousand hungry ghosts reaching out their hands to a living person, completely forming an impenetrable, icy cage that trapped the Wild Hunt within.

Chapter 796 Ice Egg

As Lissandra re-emerged with her crampons, she was lifted high by ice clusters and reached out to touch the cage of black ice.

She silently sensed it for a while, then clenched her withered hand into a fist. The cage made of ice claws immediately shattered under the powerful internal pressure, exploding into countless dark fragments.

"It's no use. You can't kill me with your methods."

The persistent jingle rang out again, and Lissandra reflexively waved her hand. An ice cluster flew out from beside her feet, transforming into a sharp icy spear that she spurred at the Wild Hunt with disdain.

Wild Hunt indifferently absorbed all of Lissandra's attacks, then summoned countless void energies to form threads, creating a giant net that silently contracted towards Lissandra.

The threat made Lissandra feel a sharp, stabbing pain. She immediately raised her arms, letting the solid ice embrace her and encasing her in a huge ice coffin.

The ice coffin was cut into pieces and scattered on the ground, then pieced back together and Lissandra emerged from it, launching another attack on the Wild Hunt.

The drama of dying and coming back to life has been played out several times, and both sides seem helpless against each other, not knowing when they will finally be able to kill the other.

Lissandra is not afraid of death; she has experienced the feeling of being killed countless times in her dreams. Each time, a part of her disappears, never to return.

She swung her hands repeatedly, hurling ice spears, each one carrying a fierce accusation, at the Wild Hunt. Every strike was ruthless, swift, and cruel.

The more anxious you are, the more likely you are to reveal your weaknesses.

The Wild Hunt noticed something: Lissandra always used Rebirth to transfer damage or break free from control. But as long as she wasn't allowed to die easily, she couldn't escape his grasp.

He vanished into the void, passing through countless ice blades like a phantom, and rushed in front of Lissandra, grabbing her by the neck. The Frost Witch immediately struggled, her long, icy nails piercing the Wild Hunt's eyes. The Wild Hunt deflected Lissandra's attack with his other hand, and then two strong appendages emerged from a crack in his back, their interlaced fingers trapping the tall witch in their palms, deliberately lifting her into the air to prevent her from touching the ice.

Lissandra attempted to self-destruct to escape, but the Wild Hunt was already prepared to seal off the area. However, at that moment, a rumbling sound of grinding boulders sent shivers down Lissandra's spine. The immense grinding sound so close at hand rendered her almost instantly powerless to resist.

"Did you... hear that?" she asked cautiously, her voice trembling as if she had seen a ghost, covering her eyes.

The Wild Hunt's answer filled Lissandra with utter despair: "Not only did I hear it, I saw it too. Its eyeball just moved; it's been watching us fight..."

The camera zooms out, and right at their feet, a massive, single eye stares back at the bowed Wild Hunt, unblinking.

In that gaze lay life, and a vast, unknowable wisdom. It saw him; its gaze seeped into him, penetrated him.

If the Wild Hunt hadn't possessed a divine power capable of meeting his gaze, a mere moment of direct eye contact would have been enough to drive him to utter madness. Yet, even so, the Wild Hunt still heard the incessant babbling, recounting the release and the destruction that would follow.

“The Watcher’s awakening is imminent. Let’s stop here; we shouldn’t waste our energy on this. We can talk about it outside,” Wild Hunt said. They had been very restrained in their fight, afraid of waking the Watcher, but their fears had still come true.

Lissandra nodded, sobbing, and after obtaining her consent, the Wild Hunt quickly led her away from the Hall of Nine.

Even a life-or-death struggle couldn't make Lissandra repent, but a small gesture from the monitor caused the stubborn woman to compromise. (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.)

This was a fear etched into her very bones, the future she dreaded most.

After leaving the Hall of Nine, Lissandra immediately sealed the entrance with Pure Ice. Wild Hunt shook his head, "I'm not trying to discourage you, but don't waste your energy. Once the Watcher is free, even Pure Ice won't be able to hold it back."

Lissandra lowered her arms as if all her strength had been drained, her lonely figure heavy with exhaustion. Wild Hunt comforted her, "Go and rest. Leave things to us. I won't let the bearmen trample your fortress, nor will I let the Watchers break out of the Howling Abyss."

"No, now is not the time to rest... I want you to tell me the whole plan, and I will make my own judgment."

“I can tell you, but you must also tell me where Anivia is.”

The two reached a temporary agreement, but the Wild Hunt had no intention of involving Lissandra in the operation. She had been corrupted by the Void, becoming an unstable element who might act recklessly at any moment. Involving her would be risking the entire world.

……

Lissandra leads the Wild Hunt to a towering spire. There is a secluded ice chamber there, through which one can see the clear night sky and the beautiful aurora borealis swirling.

The layout here is remarkably similar to Lissandra's treasure chamber, with countless astronomical symbols etched into the glass of the skylight. Aside from lacking the ice sculptures of various warriors, it's virtually identical. In the center of the spacious ice chamber sits a colossal egg, almost as tall as Lissandra herself. Ice pillars rise from the ground, encircling and securing the egg within, where Anivia's consciousness slumbers.

Afterwards, Wild Hunt urgently summoned most of his familiars, including the few who had followed him all the way, as well as the Sun and Moon, and the four celestial spirits, the Angel Sisters. Almost all the most powerful forces in Runeterra were gathered here. To be more precise, one could say that almost all of the ten most powerful women in the world were present.

“She is so beautiful. The Mother of Winter’s War, full of hope.” Lissandra’s thin fingers gently stroked the eggshell, the cold touch was so wonderful.

For some reason, LeBlanc also joined in. She looked at the ice egg, which shimmered like a jewel radiating icy magic, and extended her gold-dust-covered fingers.

"You'd better not touch her, or you might get your fingers frozen off by Zhenbing," Lissandra warned coldly, shooing away the several hands on LeBlanc.

"Why are you still hoarding your food? You took Anivia's power from her yourself, and you still have the nerve to criticize others. Why don't we just go all the way and divide it up? This is a demigod's egg; who knows how much it would nourish us if we ate it." Sephiroth rubbed his hands together, making no attempt to hide his covetousness for the ice egg.

"A demigod's... egg?" The Protoss, unaware of the situation, exchanged bewildered glances, wondering if this operation was to protect the ice egg before them. Finally, they turned their gaze to the Wild Hunt, who had summoned them.

Wild Hunt's face was stern and his expression extremely serious: "I've summoned you all here to deal with the Monitors. Time is of the essence, so let's finalize the battle plan. Listen up, this operation can only succeed; failure is not an option!"

Chapter 797 Operation Plan

Threads of light wove together in the Wild Hunt's hand to form a three-dimensional map, revealing the layout of the Hall of Nine. His followers gathered around him, forming a circle.

It was a cave shaped like the bottom of an inverted bowl, with a perfectly flat ice floor at its center, like a black mirror. Around the smooth, open space stood a ring of nine enormous, prominent pillars.

"It's crystal clear, as if you were actually there." With a few simple tricks, the Wild Hunt captivated LeBlanc. Even she could only construct dynamic, two-dimensional maps with the help of external objects; nothing could be as intuitive as the Wild Hunt's map.

“Where is this place?” she asked.

“The Hall of Nine,” Lissandra said solemnly, “is like a giant yoke, binding whatever dwells beneath it.”

Wild Hunt nodded, as if thanking Lissandra for her explanation; nothing was more authoritative than having her herself explain these things.

"The ice is said to last for ten thousand years without melting, but under long-term erosion, it also shows signs of melting." He said, while zooming in on the details of the ice pillar.

Fine lines were etched on the surface of the ice pillar, forming runes, but now the writing has melted and blurred, and dark tendrils, like long, thin tentacles, are sealed inside the ice pillar.

Wild Hunt swiped two fingers, and the map's size changed again, revealing what lay beneath the ice. A gigantic, single eye was prominently displayed, but beneath it lay even more, larger, and indescribable things.

"This single eye is part of the Watcher who hasn't fully adapted to the laws of reality." Even Lissandra didn't quite understand what the Wild Hunt meant by "not fully adapted to the laws of reality." He would explain later. (The last sentence appears to be unrelated and possibly a fragment from another context: "You Mei, have you thought of me Mei Kong, are you Lin Zai Zai Mei...?")