"The blood of Ascension!!"
As Sivir's blood was absorbed into the crystalline bow, Varus's true body trembled violently. The crimson glow coursed through the weapon like molten sunlight, and a surge of energy erupted from within him, tearing apart part of Duke's magical restraints.
"I can feel it again— the blood of Ascension! The sun's light still burns!"
"You're sure he's regained his sanity?"
Sivir eyed the howling Darkin warily and asked in a low voice.
Duke shot her a look. "Relax. He's fine. Absolutely fine."
"Just… you'll need to play along when I give the signal."
"Play along?" Sivir blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing complicated. Just do as I say when the time comes."
Duke gave her a reassuring hand gesture, then snapped his fingers. At once, the remote control command deactivated the electro-sealing patches attached to Varus's body.
Freed from the restraints, Varus roared, shredding the web bindings with his own magic. He could feel it — the blood of Ascension, the solar lineage that once blessed him with divine power and glory.
He forgot all about Kai'Sa. Rising to his feet, his feverish eyes darted rapidly between Duke and Sivir.
"Varus, Witness to Shurima's Glory!"
The voice that echoed in Sivir's mind was Duke's — though his lips never moved.
"Don't freeze up," Duke's voice urged telepathically. "It's just magic. Now repeat what I say!"
Though her pride burned at the thought, Sivir obediently murmured, "Varus, Witness to Shurima's Glory!"
Varus's eyes snapped toward her. "You! You bear the blood of the Sun!"
"That's right!" Sivir declared, every word feeling like a dagger to her pride. "I am the descendant of the Hawk Father, daughter of the desert, and the rightful heir of Shurima!"
Under Duke's control, the lines spilling from her mouth were mortifyingly dramatic — every fiber of her being screamed in embarrassment. But she had no choice. If she refused, Duke would simply seize her body and make her say it himself.
And no matter how much she loathed him for it, she had to comply.
"The rightful heir…?" Varus squinted, tasting the faint trace of solar essence flowing in her veins. Within him, the two human souls fused into his being — Valmar and Kai — stirred with curiosity. They had never seen Varus behave this way.
Those two were the human bodies that formed Varus's vessel. Their flesh had been torn apart, fused together, and reconstituted by the Darkin's corrupt power to create his form.
But unlike their bodies, their souls had not vanished — they were bound to Varus, entangled eternally within him.
Valmar and Kai were not merely companions — they had been lovers.
In short: Varus was literally the fusion of two gay lovers reborn as one being.
Three souls in one body — forever pushing, pulling, wrestling for dominance.
It was, Duke thought grimly as he stepped back a pace, the most literal embodiment of "philosophical duality" he'd ever seen.
"The blood of Ascension within you is but a drop — a diluted remnant of a forgotten line!" Varus thundered. Despite his corruption, he still clung to the echoes of old Shuriman tradition.
"Those days are long gone, Varus!" Duke's voice cut sharply, stopping Sivir before she could retort — he knew she might decapitate the Darkin on the spot if provoked further.
After all, her weapon, Chalicar, was the bane of the Darkin.
If the Ascended were the Sun, the Darkin were the filth that festered in its shadow. And Chalicar — forged from the moon's essence — was their natural counter. Its moonfire could burn any Darkin to ash.
Once, Tayanari had summoned a moonfire waterfall with Chalicar, incinerating several corrupted Ascended in an instant.
Truly, a weapon that "punishes in the name of the moon."
"Shurima's glory faded three thousand years ago," Duke said solemnly. "Its light is gone, its bloodlines nearly extinct. Of the solar lineage, only Sivir remains."
"Only one…?"
Varus staggered backward, clutching his head as his voice cracked. "No… no, it cannot be! Shurima's light is eternal! It cannot die!"
"The light has already left you, Varus. You've fallen into darkness — isn't that proof enough?"
Duke's words struck like thunder. The madness drained from Varus's face, replaced by a heavy, broken sorrow.
Thud!
He dropped to his knees, trembling, his expression lost and hollow.
"I…"
"Now, Sivir will give you one final chance," Duke said aloud — and in her mind, he added: "Step forward. Let him see your weapon."
"What good will that do? He looks insane!"
Duke rolled his eyes in exasperation. "You really don't understand your own significance, do you? Chalicar was once the weapon of Shurima's Ascended Queen, Setaka. Every Ascended recognizes it."
"No one but the blood of Ascension can wield that weapon freely."
But as Duke finished speaking, his brow furrowed.
If only Ascended blood could wield Chalicar — then how had the previous Twilight Aspect, Maisha, allowed Tayanari to use it to destroy the Darkin?
Nasus had buried that weapon alongside Setaka with his own hands. So how did Maisha retrieve it?
And after using it to annihilate so many Darkin… what did she do with it afterward?
She wouldn't have returned it.
Later, Sivir had found it buried in some ancient tomb. That same weapon had later been involved in the birth of Cassiopeia's curse, Azir's resurrection, and Shurima's rise from the sands.
Which meant
A chill crept up Duke's spine. The thought struck him like lightning — a realization of a conspiracy stretching across three millennia.
"Damn…"
He hissed between his teeth. He had stumbled into something ancient — a plot that had endured the rise and fall of empires.
If his theory was correct, even the serpent-woman's tragedy was part of the same grand design.
The one who attacked her had been a serpent-headed god — and Varus's sister, Nagaka Nekkha, had also ascended as a serpent-bodied being. She'd escaped Maisha's purge once, but Maisha surely wouldn't have let her go.
She would've turned her into another Darkin weapon.
Then the question was—
What kind of weapon would a serpent become?
Of course — fangs.
Venomous fangs.
But fangs could be small — hidden, subtle, deadly. Perhaps embedded inside a stone carving…
Like the one that had bitten Cassiopeia.
Her transformation — half-woman, half-snake — it all made sense now.
Duke's eyes twitched. If that logic holds… then Cassiopeia's power came from Nagaka Nekkha — the Serpent Darkin herself.
Cassiopeia hadn't become a vessel because Nekkha's will was too weak — or bound by some restriction.
If that was true, then Sivir and the others were already entangled in a massive web — a web of fate spun by an unseen hand, pushing them all toward some predetermined end.
Duke closed his eyes, taking a slow breath.
Who could possibly orchestrate something across three thousand years?
It wasn't hard to guess.
The Twilight Aspect Maisha hailed from Mount Targon — home of the Celestials.
Meaning… the gods themselves had laid this plan. To them, time meant nothing. They had all the centuries they needed to weave their designs.
And they chose their mortal avatars with absolute subjectivity — on whims and preferences.
…Just like how the current Twilight Aspect, Zoe, had been chosen out of Celestial affection.
And how the War God once destroyed his own chosen simply out of disdain.
To Duke, the Celestials weren't deities — just higher forms of life. And like all living beings, they had desires, moods, and agendas.
If that were true… then they were the unseen puppeteers guiding Runeterra's fate.
Understanding that, Duke's gaze toward Varus and Sivir darkened with something unreadable.
To beings of higher dimensions, everything below them was just a game of chess.
And to escape that board… one had only two choices — join them, or overthrow them.
There was no third path.
"Duke! Duke!"
Sivir's urgent voice echoed in his mind, snapping him back to reality. He realized he'd fallen silent for several moments — and in that time, Varus's eyes had fixed on Sivir with growing intensity.
"What now?" Sivir asked nervously, sensing danger. "He's looking at me like he wants to eat me alive!"
"Got a bit lost in thought," Duke admitted, refocusing on Varus. His eyes gleamed with new purpose. "Alright, let's finish this."
"How?"
"Make him acknowledge your rank — and then make him submit."
Their telepathic exchange went unnoticed by Varus, who lacked the power to read minds.
At Duke's urging, Sivir stepped forward, Chalicar gleaming with cold light under the desert sun.
"The weapon of the Ascended Queen Setaka has recognized my blood and my right," Sivir declared, her voice steady. "Varus, Witness of Shurima's Glory — will you question me, question Chalicar, question Setaka's judgment?"
Varus's expression shifted wildly. Though corrupted, he still retained fragments of reason — and to him, honor and legacy were sacred.
"No… noble Princess," he said, slowly dropping to one knee. "I have never forgotten the glory of Shurima."
End of chapter....
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