A cold wind whips around the ruined battlements of an abandoned Demacian Castle. It's dark. It's Gloomy. And the broken floor that once stopped people from falling from the grand parapet now seeped just enough light to barely illuminate the area.
Illuminate. Yes. There was one other source of light. And she glowed softly to herself, smiling. It was here alone that she could let herself go.
But as she gazed at her glimmering hands, she was interrupted. The first time she had ever been interrupted in this secluded area.
Weiss: They told me you threaten all the lands.
Lux: Huh?
Weiss: Tell me. Why does a rogue light caster like you seclude herself in darkness?
She sighs.
Lux: I'm no rogue.
Weiss: Hmm. Not quite what the briefing told me.
Lux: Briefing? So…everyone knows now?
Weiss: All I know, is that Demacia considers you a danger to the region. And it's my job to deal with that.
Lux: No-
She steps back, the light around her hands fading slightly, replaced by wariness. Her voice is low, half in disbelief, half in resignation.
Weiss: You COULD always surrender. Spare me the trouble.
The princess exhaled. Her own family had now secretly turned against her. And the blade they sent doesn't even know who she is.
She looks up. Her staff rises into her hand. She swings it in a valiant stance.
Lux: That isn't an option any more.
FIGHT!
Immediately, the two charge at each other. Lux barely parries the rapier's thrust with the butt of her staff. The two clash their weapons against each other in almost rhythmic sound. They almost seem to read each other's minds with expertly placed swordplay.
Suddenly, Weiss shifts her stance, putting unexpected weight behind her next blow. The force jars Lux, driving her arms high to catch it, leaving her guard momentarily open. Without hesitation, Weiss drives forward, aiming a low, surgical stab toward her ribs. She narrowly catches it, groaning under the pressure.
But Weiss doesn't relent.
Quickly letting go, she unleashes three more quick thrusts, each sharper than the last, battering Lux's defence and keeping her on the back foot. Then, a feint, blade rising high as if for a lunge, before she drops low, slipping beneath Lux's reach. The rapier punches forward into an under-thrust.
A flash of blue.
A small, concentrated burst of energy erupts from Myrtenaster's tip, sending Lux skidding backwards in a blaze of sparks and dirt.
Weiss: A sense of ease comes with my blade.
Before the smoke clears, Weiss flicks the cylinder on Myrtenaster. A vial clicks into place with red.
With a flick of her wrist, a roaring wave of flame ignites from her blade, surging toward Lux and sending her further back.
Then, she creates a set of 2 glyphs at her feet and uses them to propel herself forward with thrust. Though she misses as she misjudges how high Lux would fly, she still pushes herself back with another glyph, landing several slashes on her foe as she spins. Lux responds by swinging her staff horizontally at her, but she manages to block the attack with the rapier and creates another glyph, this one pushing her foe back.
Switching over to Ice dust, she launches a cascade of jagged icicles at the princess. In the wide-open castle, there's no cover, so Lux is forced to dodge frantically, deflecting some with well-placed blasts of light.
Despite being overwhelmed, she holds her ground, returning fire with streaks of light magic. That is, until her foot lands on a glowing black glyph.
Lux: Ah! Freaky!
Weiss switches back to fire and launches three blazing fireballs at the now levitating princess. Lux, however, intercepts them mid-air, before bursting into a brilliant flash of light, staggering Weiss and vanishing from sight.
And now, she's vanished.
Weiss: Invisibility?
The emptiness of the castle is felt tenfold. Silence. The vast, echoing emptiness of the castle presses in. Weiss steps forward cautiously, eyes scanning. She tries to use her aura.
Weiss: I know you're still here.
A faint twinkle of light is held aloft by an unseen hand, which points it in her general direction.
Weiss: Got you!
She lunges and swipes at it mightily, but the real strike comes from behind. Misdirected by a simple illusion. A sharp impact of light sends her stumbling. Before she can recover, beams of hard light converge around her, forming a cage.
Lux: Hope you like rainbows!
Then, an unrelenting barrage of light magic rains omnidirectionally on her.
When the dust settles, Weiss is on one knee, still bound by the glowing cage. Lux fades into view, stepping toward her.
Weiss (in her head): That magic… nearly drained my aura in one volley. Sigh. Just like they warned me.
Lux: If you want, we can stop now. Surrender, and I'll explain what's really going on.
Weiss: Save it. I've been told all about your manipulative ways.
Lux: Manipu- who even told you that?!
As Lux continues, a massive glyph hums to life behind her.
Lux: Why would I lie about this? I'll have you know I'm telling the truth! I'm not some evil light mage, I'm the pr-
SLAM!
A hulking sword crashes down from the side. Arma Gigas has arrived.
The princess crashes into the mossy stone wall, her body bouncing roughly off its jagged surface. She groans, rubbing her head as her vision blurs. When it clears, her eyes widen at the towering figure before her.
Lux: Huge. And unfair.
With a glyph sparking behind it, the Arma Gigas shifts unnaturally fast toward her. Lux barely dives aside as it smashes into the wall, sending stone flying. Another glyph spins into being, launching it in the opposite direction just as swiftly.
She fires a barrage of light spheres, but the armour deflects them with ease, then swats her staff out of her hands.
Lux: Uh oh.
It brings its massive blade down with force. Lux narrowly evades again, tumbling back. She conjures two spinning spheres of light mid-air, but they're also batted aside effortlessly.
It brings its massive blade down with force. Lux narrowly evades again, tumbling back. She conjures two spinning spheres of light mid-air, but they're also batted aside effortlessly.
Then a glyph activates behind her, shoving her forward with a startled "h-hey!"
Right as the armour barrels through a black glyph, propelling it at impossible speed.
The blade connects.
The force sends Lux flying across the open hall, her body grinding and scraping along the rough stone floor in a series of brutal bounces.
Groaning, she slams her palm into the ground, firing bursts of light in frustration. She flickers, trying to cloak herself in invisibility, but another glyph boosts the armour's reaction time. It catches her cloaking.
She flares her aura again and again with multiple flashbangs, but to no avail.
Weiss: And THIS, is where your terror ends, mage.
Lux coughs, still struggling as much as she can in its grip.
Lux: Not… if my light still shines!
Dozens of radiant singularities pop into view, over thirty, surrounding the battlefield. Weiss's eyes widen as she creates a powerful glyph to try and push the armor away, but it barely budges, as the slowness effect takes place.
Half of the singularities explode at once.
The shockwave staggers the armour, its grip loosening just enough for Lux to slip free. She yanks her staff back to her hand with a burst of telekinesis, breathing hard.
Lux: Shine bright!
She creates a dozen brilliant spears of light and launches them, just as the remaining singularities detonate behind her. The force overwhelms the Arma Gigas. It vanishes, shattered and defeated.
But Lux falls to one knee, drained. In that moment, her hold over Weiss fades, and the Ice Princess begins her slow, deliberate walk forward.
Weiss: You fight with a surprising strategy. Almost befitting of royalty.
Lux (panting, gasping): That's… because I am.
Weiss rolls her eyes.
Weiss: STILL clinging to that fantasy. A shame, really.
Lux: But I'm not lying! I swear!
Weiss raises Myrtenaster high, her eyes narrowed. A volley of hardlight erupts from the tip, heading straight for the Princess. But Lux simply lifts one hand, a single finger, and halts them in mid-air, with a bright smile on her face.
Lux: Shooting a Light Mage with light? Ironic.
Weiss: Yes... I suppose that was a bad idea.
With a flick of her wrist, Lux flings the hardlight beams back. Weiss grits her teeth.
Weiss: Even alone, I can still do this!
She dashes into the oncoming storm, spinning, slicing, parrying. She dodges some beams, and she cuts straight through some. A glyph pulses beneath her, launching her sideways. Two more glyphs appear mid-air, and she leaps from one to the next, propelling herself toward her foe with blinding speed.
Switching to Ice Dust, she slams Myrtenaster into the ground, sending jagged ice crystals bursting upward. They spike around Lux, trapping her in a jagged cage mid attack.
Lux: Hey! Wha-?
Her eyes dart around. She's surrounded.
Nine glyphs form a circle around her, as she remains locked in place. Then, a final glyph beneath Weiss's feet launches her into a deadly dance.
Weiss: This, is my legacy to uphold!
She bounces from glyph to glyph, stabbing from every direction, slashes from above, jabs from behind, strikes from impossible angles. It's relentless. It's vicious. It's-
STAB.
The blade sinks into Lux's torso, dead center. The ice shatters as Weiss withdraws her weapon, leaving the princess to collapse to her knees, gasping, choking, growling.
Weiss: All I ever heard about you were horrors. Crushing armies. Clearing skies. I'm honored to be the one to end your reign of terror.
She turns, skirt flicking as she walks away.
Lux: …I'm tired.
Weiss: (pausing) Hmm?
Lux: Tired of being ostracized. Tired of explaining myself to people like you. Tired of fleeing everyday because of the way I was born.
Weiss: I see no reason to hear your excuses.
Lux: No one ever does. That's why…
She lifts her head, light flickering around her.
Lux: …I'm the only one who can shine my own light.
In a burst of you guessed it light, Lux rockets forward faster than Weiss can react, slamming her fist square into Weiss's gut.
Crack.
The blow clearly ruptures something inside and effortlessly cracks through her aura. Weiss is launched backwards, coughing blood mid-flight. She barely manages to summon a black glyph to catch herself midair.
Weiss: What the-?!
But Lux isn't finished.
Before she can recover, Lux is on her again, two more crushing blows rain down, each one driving the wind from Weiss's lungs, until finally the princess hoists her skyward and hammers her into the ground with bone-shattering force. Then, she calls her staff back with telekinesis, flipping mid-air and diving down, aiming to stab.
Weiss rolls just in time, gasping, and throws up three glyphs to launch herself out of range.
Weiss: Overwhelmingly strong… I need distance!
With a guttural cry, Weiss slams Myrtenaster into the cracked stone, unleashing the last of her Ice Dust. Four thick, jagged walls of crystalline ice erupt around her.
Weiss: (panting) Only Lightning Dust left…
On the other side of the battlefield, Lux stands amidst the fractured remains of ice and scorched rubble.
Lux: I never deny who I am! No more holding back!
She raises her staff. A final spark. A surge of light.
But Weiss doesn't hear it. She sits head down.
Weiss: She sounded… so convincing. But I wouldn't let myself believe her.
She stares into the dirt.
Weiss: …Did I screw up?
Crack.
Weiss: No. They wouldn't lie. And I have a mission.
A wall shatters.
Crack.
Another.
BOOM!
A massive beam of unbeatable light tears toward her.
Weiss: Ah!
Time slows. In the pitch-black heart of the light,
Her eyes open. Blue. Unyielding. Alive.
Weiss: Granddaughter of a hero. Daughter of a villain. Citizens of a fallen kingdom. Heir to nothing. But above all, I'm me. And I still have a legacy to create."
She summons one final glyph, golden. Time dilation.
The world decelerates to a crawl.
Effortlessly, gracefully, Weiss moves through the raging beam, weaving around the blast like a dancer of light itself.
Lux: No… no!!
Weiss: You can't defeat a Huntress like me!
She soars into the air, flipping with stunning control. Aura blazing, she dives one last time, driving her rapier straight into Lux's…
Weiss: …Wait.
The blade passes through.
Flicker.
Lux disappears. Just an illusion.
Lux: Gotcha.
STAB.
Her real self drives her staff through Weiss's back.
Lux: BY THE LIGHT!
A second blast, massive, searing, pure, erupts from the weapon. It devours Weiss in vibrant brilliance. Her scream echoes through the castle halls as she's consumed in light. The blast bursts upward, tearing open the roof, flooding the abandoned castle with sunlight.
For the first time in years… the sun shines within the castle.
When the light fades, only Myrtenaster lies on the shattered marble floor. Lux drops to her knees, trembling, every ounce of strength spent.
Lux collapses to her knees. Gasping. Trembling.
Lux: I… I need to leave.
She tries to rise, legs buckling beneath her.
Lux: Leave… and never come back.
KO!