The Shadow Isles once thrived with a noble and enlightened civilization. Even Ryze had studied on this very island. However, due to the Ruinous Curse and the Black Mist, any living creature that steps onto the Shadow Isles finds their life force slowly drained, attracting the relentless, predatory undead.
Death within the range of the Black Mist is a fate best avoided. If a soul is consumed by a Mistwalker, it might be considered a mercy. Otherwise, a far crueler destiny awaits. The soul might either be devoured by the mist, cursed to become a Mistwalker bound forever to this nightmare land, gradually losing its identity until it becomes yet another predator of the living. Or worse, the Soul-Locking Warden, Thresh, might come to claim it, shackling the soul in chains, dooming it to an eternity of torment within his eerie, soul-filled lantern.
The best outcome? Encountering Yorick, the Shepherd of Souls—the only living person left on the Shadow Isles and the last keeper of the Waters of Life. He could shield a soul from malevolent spirits, sewing it into a corpse for eternal rest… assuming Yorick himself doesn't perish.
Li Lin had no intention of testing the power of the Black Mist with his own life, so his combat armor remained active, its energy shield fully deployed.
A Overlord-class dragon hovered over the Shadow Isles, while over 100 war machines stood ready at the edges of the Black Mist. Above the atmosphere, orbital satellites adjusted their positions, aiming at the corrupted island. If Li Lin so desired, he could sink this landmass, larger than the Serpent Archipelago where Bilgewater resides.
But the Shadow Isles weren't entirely consumed by corruption yet. Natural spirits like Maokai and the ever-vigilant Yorick still lingered here. Even Ryze had mentioned the Shadow Isles in their past conversations, expressing a desire to restore its vitality. He claimed it was all his fault, though Li Lin couldn't yet discern what Ryze meant. What connection did the Ruinous Curse have with him?
Regardless, Li Lin had no plans to destroy the Shadow Isles outright. Runeterra is a delicate balance of spiritual and physical realms, intricately intertwined. Destroying the Shadow Isles entirely could disrupt this balance in unimaginable ways. Solving the issue of the Ruined King was the key. Figures like Thresh, Hecarim, Karthus, or even the Spider God, the Deceiver, who had ties to Elise and the Black Rose, were but minor obstacles in comparison.
Li Lin landed in Helia, a city along the Shadow Isles' coast that was once the capital of the Blessed Isles. Most of it had been swallowed by dark waters.
A haunting green glow dominated the landscape. Sunken ships, massive reefs, floating ruins that defied physics, and a sharp twilight piercing the dreary sky formed a grotesque, corrupted portrait of the abyss.
Using an anti-gravity device, Li Lin hovered above the ground, letting the roiling Ruinous magic swirl past him. Echoing wails of the undead filled the air, but most of the weaker Mistwalkers dared not approach.
Soon, he ascended a hundred-meter-high cliff and stood at the edge of ruins radiating strange magical energy. All he saw was devastation. He glanced at the energy readings on his helmet's holographic display and continued toward the area with the highest concentration.
Before long, his AI alerted him:
[Master, based on my scans, the corrupted magical essence of the Black Mist shares the same origin as World Runes.]
"What?" Li Lin froze. "The Black Mist was created by World Runes?"
[Not exactly. I'm detecting a power within the Black Mist derived from a Resolve World Rune.]
[According to my calculations, there's a 98.76% probability that the Blessed Mist that once surrounded the Blessed Isles was generated by the magic of a World Rune.]
[This energy originates underground.]
Li Lin wasn't entirely surprised that the Black Mist stemmed from the Blessed Mist, but the revelation that the Waters of Life were a byproduct of the World Runes' magic was staggering.
"No wonder Ryze said the Ruinous Curse was his fault. So, the World Runes are partly to blame… maybe not entirely, though."
Pondering this, Li Lin pressed forward, drawn deeper into the Shadow Isles by the Ruinous magic. Along the way, a few powerful but mindless Mistwalkers attacked him, only to be effortlessly pierced by gamma rays and dissipate into mist.
However, even as his energy weapons annihilated them, no system prompt confirmed their deaths. Li Lin understood that these creatures couldn't truly be destroyed—at least not by conventional means. Only the Sentinels of Light's holy relics, forged from the Blessed Isles' sacred stones and activated by willpower, could permanently exterminate them.
For now, though, the entire undead population of the Shadow Isles posed no real threat to him. His Project Genesis armor boasted near-limitless energy, and there wasn't a single godlike or demigod entity among the undead.
After traversing much of Helia's ruins, Li Lin finally arrived at a structure resembling a library. The ground was fractured and spewing gray-green death energy that coalesced into the Black Mist.
[Scans indicate that beneath this area lies an expansive ancient tomb. Its deepest chamber houses a fountain connected to a corrupted spring.]
"This is the place."
With a thought, Li Lin activated the nano-machines on his back, reconfiguring them into a laser cannon. Rising into the air, he fired a concentrated beam that easily melted through the surface, creating a tunnel several meters wide and tens of meters deep, revealing the grand hall of the ancient tomb below.
Retracting the laser cannon, he turned abruptly and spoke coldly, "You've been hiding for a while now. Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"
A chilling, sinister laugh filled the air, sending shivers down his spine. The voice, both familiar and foreign, carried a cunning and malevolent tone.
"What a unique stray soul… such a pitiful ghost."
Li Lin turned to see a tall, twisted undead emerge from the gnarled underbrush and warped trees. Clad in what appeared to be a lightweight armored robe, a key dangling from his belt, his skeletal head burned with eerie green flames. Most striking of all were the chain-linked scythe and lantern in his hands, the latter filled with anguished, wailing souls.
It was none other than the Soul-Locking Warden, Thresh.
Activating his Data Mind, Li Lin scanned Thresh's details, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.
"In my eyes, you're the real pitiful ghost… Erlok Grael."