After the excitement of sealing Fiddlesticks and receiving a hefty reward, Li Lin found himself in a moment of quiet reflection.
There were still many demons wandering this world.
For example, one of the four great legends of Bilgewater, Tahm Kench, who represents insatiable greed
Evelynn, the demon of agony, who roams the continent of Valoran, hunting down prey without discrimination between men or women;
Camphor, the demon of doubt, lingers around Mount Targon, capable of stealing humanity's most vital abilities;
And Nocturne, the demon of nightmares, whom Li Lin had repelled. No one knew when it might resurface again.
Then there are the Azakana in Ionia—parasitic spirits that transform into demons upon reaching maturity.
These are the demons Li Lin was currently aware of.
Though these demons didn't compare to the original ten primordial demons in terms of power, even small gains still count.
Now that he possessed the Anti-Demon Device, if he could find these demons and seal them one by one...
Li Lin had a bold idea.
"Li Lin~~!"
As Li Lin was deep in thought, Zoe's displeased shout dragged him back to reality.
His gaze landed on Zoe, who had returned to him at some point, her entire body shimmering brightly.
"Ah... Is everything settled?"
"Humph!" Zoe puffed out her cheeks, letting out a snort of dissatisfaction. "I've been calling you for a whole minute, and you've been spacing out!"
"Sorry, sorry..." Li Lin smiled awkwardly. "I just remembered something important."
"Important?" Zoe blinked her lively, prismatic eyes, full of excitement. "Is it about our date?!"
"Uh, something like that..."
"Oh~~ something like that," Zoe mimicked his tone, curling her lips. "I feel like you're brushing me off."
Li Lin opened his mouth but didn't know how to respond.
Though Zoe was over a thousand years old and her feelings for him were genuine—she really liked him and wasn't just enamored by his looks—it was still difficult for him to accept.
Setting aside the situation with Caitlyn, Zoe's youthful appearance and childlike body made things even more complicated.
Even if her age made it legal, Li Lin still struggled to come to terms with it...
This was one of the main reasons he constantly avoided her romantic advances.
It was a tough situation, but not exactly intolerable.
What should he do...
Li Lin sighed inwardly.
Zoe sensed the change in his mood and raised an inquisitive eyebrow, a flicker of confusion crossing her eyes.
But before she could say anything, Morgana, who had been unconscious on Li Lin's shoulder due to Fiddlesticks' magic, let out a soft moan.
The fear demon had been sealed, so its magic had lost its hold. Morgana, too, was finally waking up from her nightmarish slumber.
As she opened her eyes, Morgana's consciousness was still a bit hazy. "Where... am I?"
Her senses fully returned when a golden portal appeared before her, with Zoe's displeased face peeking through, half her body already inside the portal.
Morgana quickly realized she was still slung over Li Lin's shoulder and, glancing at the sky below her, hesitated on whether to come down.
Ever since she and her sister Kayle had parted ways, Morgana had locked her wings in chains, vowing to walk the earth with her feet and never fly again.
Zoe, seeing Morgana still resting on her man, furrowed her brows slightly and shouted, "Time to get up!"
Morgana, despite her reluctance, had no choice but to undo the chains binding her wings. With a few flaps, she re-familiarized herself with the sensation of flight before finally descending from Li Lin's shoulder.
It was only temporary... Just for now...
She reassured herself silently.
"Ahem... Has Fiddlesticks been dealt with?"
Morgana cleared her throat, noticing that the demonic presence had disappeared. A faint blush crept across her face as she realized she hadn't been much help and had, in fact, been a burden.
"Of course! I took care of it myself~~ A mere fear demon? No problem!"
Zoe crossed her arms over her chest, sitting in mid-air with her legs crossed. Her small, pale foot dangled idly as a visible look of pride flashed across her face.
Morgana fell into a contemplative silence.
The atmosphere became somewhat tense.
Li Lin looked at the nonchalant Zoe before turning to Morgana and quickly attempted to ease the situation. "How about we head back to the ground first?"
"Mm-hmm~~!"
Zoe summoned a portal with a thought, revealing the charred ground below, scarred by energy and kinetic blasts.
She was the first to step through, her delicate feet—clad only in footless stockings—hovering just above the scorched earth, not a speck of dirt touching them.
Turning back, she waved to Li Lin, "Come on!"
Li Lin stepped aside, making way for Morgana. "After you."
"Thank you."
Once both of them were back on solid ground, Li Lin exited the Dominator mech, allowing the AI to control the slightly damaged machine and teleport it back to Piltover.
"Such peculiar technology... It has traces of magic, yet it's not entirely magical," Morgana mused, staring at the spot where the Dominator disappeared.
"This is Hextech from Piltover—a fusion of technology and magic," Li Lin remarked, a hint of pride creeping into his voice.
After all, he played no small part in the advancement of Hextech! Ordinary mortals... now wielding the power of magic?
Morgana's glowing violet eyes widened in astonishment.
Li Lin shifted his gaze and asked Zoe, "By the way, Zoe, will Fiddlesticks return after being sealed by you?"
"Well…" She scratched her cheek awkwardly. "I'm not entirely sure."
"Not sure...? What does that mean?"
"When I saw 'Mr. Scarecrow,' I recalled the first Twilight Aspect... Uh, what was his name again? Eh, never mind, that's not important.
"Anyway, he and the other Aspects worked together to seal the Ten Great Demons. Yet somehow, 'Mr. Scarecrow' managed to escape his imprisonment and even clashed with the previous Twilight Aspect... something-something Sha.
"And this key..." Zoe showed the key she had taken from Fiddlesticks, hanging at her waist, to Li Lin. "She stole it from that demon."
"Each of the Primordial Demons has a similar key. But what exactly these keys do, I don't know. The only thing I'm sure of is that we can't let 'Mr. Scarecrow' get his hands on it."
Confusion filled Li Lin's mind, and he glanced at Morgana.
She shook her head, indicating she also had no knowledge of this matter.
Zoe, however, continued, "But! I'm very confident in my sealing magic. No ordinary mortal mage could break my spell. It would take some kind of ancient dark sorcery—just like the fool who released 'Mr. Scarecrow' in the first place."
Li Lin's concerns eased a little upon hearing that.
"The dark magic here has completely dissipated," Morgana added. "No evil sorcerer is going to sniff their way here."
Still, for caution's sake, Li Lin planned to have the AI send in a mechanical unit to secretly monitor and guard this place.
Furthermore, he intended to have Jarvan IV report the situation to his father, King Jarvan III. After all, this was within Demacian territory, and it would be best for Demacian soldiers to stand watch over the area.
After a moment's thought, Li Lin suggested, "Since Fiddlesticks is sealed, how about we head to Hengfeng Village?"
"Hengfeng Village?" Zoe and Morgana both asked, puzzled.
"The villagers there were all devoured by Fiddlesticks…" Li Lin quickly recounted the events that had brought him and the Demacians to this place.
"That Andel guy is truly awful!" Zoe huffed angrily. "And Natalie, too! How dare they summon 'Mr. Scarecrow'?"
Morgana furrowed her brow. "But… based on what you said about Fiddlesticks mimicking Andel's voice after devouring him, there might be more to this story than we realize."
"That's exactly why I want to go back to Hengfeng Village," Li Lin sighed. "Their daughter, Qian, her spirit… it seems to be lingering there. I've seen her more than once."
He projected the two times he encountered Qian's apparition, explaining to Morgana the basic principles behind this "dynamic image recording" technology.
"At first glance, it does resemble a ghost," Morgana hesitated briefly, "But the souls of Runeterra can't escape Kindred's grasp, can they?"
The moment she mentioned the Eternal Hunters, Zoe perked up excitedly. "Are we talking about death gods? I can sense them nearby~~!"
(End of Chapter)
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