The Black Mist descended upon the city with the night.
Shivering civilians hid inside their homes.
Clutching whatever barely counted as a weapon in their hands, they struggled to survive as the Black Mist surged wildly around them.
Some Piltover merchants in particular, when they saw the Black Mist rushing toward them, still tried to gather up their valuables first.
The result was obvious.
What had looked distant only moments ago arrived in an instant, and the black creatures in front of them dragged them straight into the fog.
Their fate?
If anyone found a body in one piece, that alone would count as a miracle.
The Enforcers were overwhelmed too.
These citizens would not listen no matter what they were told, insisting on tending to their precious businesses.
Then when the Black Mist actually fell, every last one of them started crying and screaming for protection.
Otherwise, apparently, it would be a betrayal of all the hard work they had put into Piltover over the years.
Even though they were deeply unhappy about it, the Enforcers still held the front line, using chem-flame and bullets to fight off the monsters coming out of the mist.
Rather than souls, these creatures still retained some human traits.
At the very least, they had human heads, mouths on those heads, and two hands.
As for the rest... well, it would be generous to say the remaining parts had anything to do with a human body at all.
...
"This is easier to deal with than I expected."
Caleb cleanly smashed apart one of the monsters crawling out of the Black Mist.
These things really were easy enough to handle.
Their only real advantage was their sheer numbers.
Without weapons like Lucian's relic pistols, monsters from the Black Mist would just come back again and again.
Zaun's people were practical by nature. Almost everyone was armed, and they poured relentless fire into the creatures in the mist.
Those polished people in the City Above were running and screaming because their firepower was too weak.
With the threat of the Chem-Barons hanging over them for so long, what household in Zaun did not have at least some desperate measure saved up?
Who cared where those things crawled out from? One burst of chem-ammo, problem solved.
Not solved? Then another burst.
"If things are under control here, we need to head to the bridge!"
Caleb shouted toward Zeri, who was still clearing out monsters in the distance with the electricity surging through her body.
Zeri nodded too. Starting a little while ago, the frequency of monsters emerging from the Black Mist had already begun to slow.
Thank goodness the people of Zaun had enough ammunition.
Zeri panted heavily, but still managed to nod.
Using magic constantly drained both stamina and mental energy.
Caleb, on the other hand, had not really strained himself much. His martial skills had already been strengthened to LV15.
Even if he used nothing but physical strength and combat technique, Caleb was already extremely close to the peak of mortal T3 strength.
After falling off so many times over the past few days, he had at least learned the basics of using a hoverboard.
He hoisted the smaller Zeri onto his shoulder, and the two of them shot toward the City Above at top speed.
The undercity still had Ekko and Jinx, plus Warwick and Zac.
The Black Mist had even taken another several dozen minutes before monsters started pouring out of it again.
...
"You're pretty strong."
A tiny female yordle stared at Janna with her dead fish eyes.
"You are not allowed to attack this city."
Janna's expression was serious too.
Thanks to Caleb, the strength plateau that had held her back for years was finally showing faint signs of cracking.
Janna had always cared deeply for this city, so of course she could not just stand by and let this one charge into it.
"Fine."
The yordle with the dark circles under her eyes looked at the demigod in front of her, propping up her cheek in total boredom.
"I was only here to slack off anyway."
She spread her hands indifferently. As far as the Shadow Isles with its complete lack of ambition went, she had only ever joined it to drift through life and wait to die.
"If you're worried, you can just stay here and watch me."
A shadow among the clouds supported Vex's tiny body, and her big eyes were full of exhaustion and apathy.
Janna silently nodded. After leaving behind only a bluebird, her figure vanished from the spot.
Amid the violent winds below, Vex actually drifted off into a comfortable sleep.
Everything was meaningless. Doing nothing was still the best.
...
By the time Caleb and Zeri reached the City Above, Jayce, Caitlyn, and Vi were already locked in a bitter fight.
Before them stood a towering figure holding a long axe, ghostly green fire burning all over his body.
Its four hooves pounded the ground, and every one of Vi's attacks was easily deflected.
Even Caitlyn's bullets, when they struck the armor, did little more than make him sway twice.
Jayce was breathing hard too. His accelerated cannon blast had just been dodged with ease.
"Hecarim!" Caleb shouted, pulling the attention of the enemy just as he was about to charge.
Caleb raised one hand toward the sky, fingers curled like a claw.
A violent bolt of lightning crashed down through the clouds and struck Hecarim hard.
"Hah..." Feeling the magic inside his body drain away like a floodgate had been ripped open, Caleb let out a long breath.
Volibear's power really was overwhelming. That one world-splitting strike had nearly used up half the magic inside him.
And the blow had clearly worked, making Hecarim stagger.
"Now!"
Caleb's shout naturally caught everyone else's attention as well.
Vi did not hesitate for an instant. She activated the propulsion system in the Atlas Gauntlets once more.
She became a blur and drove a vicious uppercut straight into Hecarim's jaw.
The front two of his legs kicked up into the air. Hecarim had taken a heavy hit and completely lost his balance.
Zeri poured all the electricity stored in her coat into her pistol and fired one explosive shot.
After fighting at Caleb's side for a while now, she had naturally started gaining some experience.
Whenever Caleb was guarding her, she could also make much more flexible use of Zaun's terrain in battle.
"Living Battery!"
At the same time, Jayce fired the Mercury Hammer's cannon. Passing through the Acceleration Gate, the expanding sphere of light completely engulfed Hecarim.
Caitlyn's armor-piercing round arrived a moment later and tore straight through the "mouth" in his face-shaped armor.
Hecarim suddenly accelerated and charged directly at Caleb.
Caleb had no intention of meeting him head-on. The bullets chasing after the spectral centaur were all deflected away by the field surrounding him.
"You've got nerve!"
Hecarim's voice sounded like it came from the underworld itself, and then his form vanished into the darkness.
Clop. Clop.
The sound of hooves still rang clearly around them.
Without question, Hecarim had not gone far at all.
"You know him?" Jayce moved closer to Caleb and switched the Mercury Cannon in his hands back into warhammer form.
"I know of him, that's all."
Caleb did not dare relax for even a second. Holding the Noxian shield-axe, he kept himself in a guarded stance.
"That bastard is looking for an angle to attack from."
Vi closed in as well. The three of them formed a protective ring around Mel, Caitlyn, and Zeri in the center.
Those three genuinely had no close-range defensive ability at all.
The rhythm of the hoofbeats grew faster and faster, like a death knell.
"Witness the power of the Shadow Isles."
Hecarim, now recovered, burst out of the Black Mist once more.
This time, he was charging straight at Jayce.
Jayce raised his hammer, twisting it once and triggering his lightning field.
But a single brutal kick from Hecarim's hooves sent him flying.
With the momentum of his speed behind him, Hecarim's destructive force had already reached a terrifying level.
In almost the same instant, he raised that long-handled battle axe high and brought it down toward Jayce's head.
Then a golden light flared.
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