"You bastard, you dare to lay a hand on my disciple!"
Through Edith's tracking interface, Duke saw Lux's signal marker racing toward the harbor at an astonishing speed, almost too fast for the eye to follow.
It was as if something invisible was carrying Lux away, propelling her toward the harbor.
Duke immediately leapt into his vehicle. Disabling the built-in speed limiter, he pulled the road map data and fed it directly into Ang's processing system.
Ang, a beast modified by the Beast Casket, still retained its brain, but had a dedicated information processor embedded in its neck.
The moment Ang received Duke's transmission, both of its heads jolted awake. Their ears pricked, and in both brown and blue eyes, streams of data began to flow.
"Roar!!"
With a thunderous bellow from both throats, the beast lunged forward, dragging the vehicle into a blistering sprint.
At the same time, Duke was multitasking, processing data through the miniature computer projection Edith cast into the air, while also feeling the violent thrust pressing him back into his seat.
This car wasn't ordinary. In his spare time, while building Vayne's armor, Duke had secretly performed some upgrades.
Normally, it was kept under a strict speed cap. But once released, the car would self-accelerate, and when combined with Ang's raw power, the result was something truly terrifying.
Along with transmitting Lux's coordinates to Ang, Duke opened his inventory and deployed drones. They soared into the sky, heading toward Lux's last-known position. At the same time, he summoned Pride and Gluttony.
The motorcycle and sports car hit the ground and roared to life, engines snarling as they fell in line beside Duke.
Duke transmitted Lux's coordinates to Pride and Gluttony and gave a single order:
"Find Lux!"
"If anyone stands in your way, eliminate them!"
Boom!!
Pride's headlights flared crimson, while Gluttony's chassis hissed with jets of steam. With their full power unleashed, the two vehicles surged ahead, quickly outpacing Ang.
Watching them disappear into the distance, Duke directed his drones to scout ahead and monitor Lux's condition.
Meanwhile, on a road leading to the harbor,
A carriage, pulled by four geldings and assisted by a clockwork drive system beneath its frame, thundered down the road. The mechanism lightened the horses' load, allowing the carriage to maintain great speed.
Inside, Sister Vanessa held Lux's hand, her eyes locking onto the girl's vacant gaze. She asked softly:
"Who is your teacher?"
"My teacher is Duke Sanchez, the greatest scientist in the world."
Lux's voice was hollow, her spirit seemingly drained. Whatever Sister Vanessa asked, she answered mechanically.
"Did your teacher tell you about the Hexgate?"
"Yes. Teacher said the Hexgate will change the world. It will become a storm of transformation sweeping across the globe, and no one will be able to stop it."
A strange gleam flickered in Vanessa's eyes. Reckless as her actions had been, they were now clearly worth it.
She had been a spy embedded in Demacia for over a decade, torn from her homeland to lie in wait for an opportunity like this.
And today, at a simple mage gathering, Lux had casually let slip words that exposed a secret only the well-informed could know. Though the Hexgate project was openly tendered in Piltover, only a select few were aware of Demacia's own plans to build one, an absolute state secret.
As the daughter of the Crownguard family, Lux had long been under Vanessa's watch. She had hoped to extract valuable intelligence from the girl. But today, by sheer chance, she struck gold.
If she could sabotage this project, it would ignite conflict between Demacia and Piltover. Once Demacia's mages were further provoked into rebellion, the kingdom would inevitably bleed itself dry.
And when that time came, Noxus would seize its chance.
Her shadowy cabal had invested heavily to place her here in Demacia. She could not return empty-handed, she had to deliver results, and maximize every advantage.
And the girl before her might just be the key to it all.
"Besides the Hexgate, what else do you know?"
Channeling her magic, Vanessa continued to erode Lux's mind. The girl's power was immense, yet it was unguarded, pure as white paper, and thus frighteningly easy to defile.
"Magitech armor… magitech engines… alchemical power cores… clockwork transmission systems… alchemical turbine accelerators… Hextech levitation devices…"
As Lux listed the inventions Duke had shared with her, one by one, Vanessa's expression shifted wildly.
"You… you know all of this?"
Her voice trembled.
"Yes. Under Teacher's guidance, I've mastered them all."
Hearing this, Vanessa's body quivered with exhilaration. Everything she had risked, every gamble, had been worth it.
If she could bring this girl back to Noxus, her masters would shower her with rewards. She would reclaim her true identity and gain powers and privileges she had never dared dream of.
Even without the knowledge, Lux's innate power was a prize beyond measure. Pure, untapped, and immense, perfect material for a weapon of war.
And Vanessa's master was an expert in shaping such weapons.
As Vanessa basked in her triumph, the carriage suddenly jolted violently.
Crash!
She was thrown against the cabin wall, her head cracking painfully against it. Cursing, she scrambled to the window.
"What happened?!"
Vmm!!
A deep, vibrating hum split the air, followed by a deafening roar.
The horses shrieked in terror. The driver's screams rose and were abruptly cut short.
Vanessa muttered an incantation, a harsh syllable spilling from her lips.
Buzz!
The sound snared Lux, making her body tremble before she slumped unconscious onto the seat. Vanessa snatched up a concealed firearm and opened the carriage window.
The air outside reeked of blood. Their horses lay gutted on the road, entrails spilling across the dirt.
The coachman hadn't even finished screaming before his voice was silenced forever.
"What… what is that?!"
Before she could take a closer look, claws tore through the roof of the carriage.
Shhk!!
The roof was ripped wide open, revealing a monstrous serpentine beast looming overhead.
"Found you!!"
"A monster?!"
Vanessa fired her gun at Gluttony. Flames burst from the barrel as the bullet streaked forward.
Clang!
The shot sparked uselessly off its armored hide.
"Ha! That tickles!"
Gluttony ignored her completely, reaching into the carriage to gently lift Lux into its arms.
From the side, the wall of the carriage was also ripped open. Pride's eyes glowed a baleful red as its sensors locked on.
"Hiss!!"
Exhaling a plume of searing white vapor, Pride's gaze settled on Vanessa.
"Little insect."
Its fanged jaws opened as it reached toward her,
But a furious voice thundered across the road:
"Beast, desist!!"
In a flash of cold light, a great spear shot through the air like a dragon breaking the surface, thrusting straight for Pride's skull.
Red light flared in Pride's eyes as it whipped its tail against the incoming weapon.
Clang!!
The spear clashed with the beast's tail, shockwaves rippling outward. The spearman staggered back, driven several paces by the impact. Each retreating step gouged deep footprints into the earth.
Blood welled from the cracks torn in his palms, yet his eyes blazed with unyielding resolve.
"The will to fight unto death!"
He roared, raising his spear once more.
"There is no life without death!"
With a bellow, he charged again, his spear an extension of his very soul.
Pride rolled its eyes, annoyed at the pest. Still clutching Vanessa in one hand, it turned to face him.
The spear tip struck for its chest, but its armor was thick enough to withstand even a main battle tank, let alone a mortal weapon.
Clang!
The spearhead bent against the armor. The man gritted his teeth, but could not drive it further.
With a swipe, Pride shattered the weapon in two, then opened its jaws.
A blast of energy seared the air.
The man barely leapt aside in time, abandoning his weapon to dodge the blast that scorched a molten trail across the road.
Boom, boom, boom…!
Explosions flared, fire pillars roaring into the sky.
Rolling across the ground, he rose again, fists clenched, defiance burning in his eyes.
He glanced at Vanessa, still in her Lightbringer robes, and at Gluttony cradling the unconscious Lux.
To him, it looked like evil metal beasts had ambushed a Demacian sister of the Lightbringers and her charge.
"Leave now, and I will spare you!"
Pride sneered.
"Demacians never retreat!!"
"Then die!"
Its throat glowed, energy gathering again,
Awwooooo!!
A wolf's howl tore through the heavens.
Both Pride and the spearman turned as a massive two-headed wolf dragged a chariot toward them at blinding speed.
Onboard, Duke's eyes narrowed in surprise.
"Hm?"
"It's him? What's he doing here?"
Surveying the scene, realization dawned in his mind.
Then his voice rang out like thunder:
"Enough! All of you, stand down!!"
End of chapter....
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