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"Imistan!"
Granth shouted angrily, his voice cutting through the chaos. This was the perfect moment.
The veins in his arms bulged as he braced himself, lifting Imistan onto the steel shield he held aloft. Granth's face twisted with strain, his thick hands gripping the shield tightly.
With a roar, he hurled the shield—and Imistan—through the air.
The steel shield carried Imistan swiftly across the battlefield. As he reached the highest point of his arc, Imistan tensed his legs and launched himself even higher, his sword glinting in the light.
For a moment, he was at eye level with the massive water giant. Below, the remaining soldiers of garrison had chained the giant's stone hands with desperate resolve, sacrificing their lives to hold the enemy in place.
Imistan moved like a lightning bolt, his sword slashing downward with unstoppable force. The blade drove straight into the water giant's head.
Snap!
The giant's watery head burst apart, sending shimmering droplets cascading through the air. A flicker of joy crossed Imistan's face.
For a moment, the water giant's movements... stopped.
The sword embedded in its head seemed to disrupt whatever magic animated the creature. Its body collapsed as the water drained away, leaving only lifeless stones that crumbled to the ground.
Breathing heavily, Imistan stood atop the falling rubble, scanning the battlefield.
The garrison was devastated. Most of the soldiers who had fought valiantly now lay submerged, unable to free themselves from the water's grasp. Their fates were sealed.
In the distance, Granth's face was barely visible above the water's surface.
He looked toward Imistan with a faint, bittersweet smile.
"My boy... I won't make it to your promotion feast. You and Hedrian must serve His Majesty. It's the honor of our family..."
Granth's voice faltered as his consciousness faded. His eyes slowly closed, and he sank into the water without a sound.
"Fantastic performance," came a soft, chilling voice.
"War isn't a spectacle," Ryan replied sternly.
"They fought for victory and claimed their glory... but at a cost."
Ryan's gaze rested on the chessboard before him.
Besides the white mage piece, the black knight stood tall but shattered—barely holding on.
"Noxus's finest," Ryan muttered.
"I'll bury them myself."
Snap!
Ryan's voice dropped as he raised his staff.
The waters churned violently, enveloping the black knight chess piece before it shattered into fragments.
Back on the battlefield, the sound of clattering stones filled the air.
Imistan barely had time to breathe. He steadied himself, gripping his sword tightly. Only he understood the truth—this was far from over.
Ryan's earlier attack had been a prelude, a calculated move to flood the battlefield. Now, in this waterlogged arena, the enemy's strength would be magnified tenfold.
The sound of running water abruptly ceased, replaced by the roar of crashing waves.
Imistan's eyes widened in horror as he scanned the scene before him.
"Impossible..."
The plains that stretched across the surface... were gone.
The distant mountains... vanished.
The world itself seemed to dissolve, leaving no clear boundaries.
All around him, water climbed higher and higher, surging upward until it formed a colossal wave, a towering wall that threatened to crash down.
The battlefield had become an endless ocean.
Listening to the deafening roar of waves, despair etched itself onto Imistan's face.
He... had nowhere to run.
"General!"
One of the last soldiers of Lesser garrison, barely clinging to life, cried out to Imistan. With his final act, he hurled something toward his commander.
Imistan caught it—a burning artifact, its crimson flames flickering ominously.
The soldier sank into the water, swallowed by the rising tide.
Now, only Imistan remained.
Clutching his sword in one hand and the Embrace of Netherfire in the other, he stood firm.
With a deep breath, he raised the fiery relic above his head.
"Lesser's Defense!!"
Imistan shouted angrily, his face a frenzy of defiance, as he stood motionless, awaiting the inevitable crash of the waves.
He had lost—completely.
And yet, in the face of his defeat, an eerie calm settled over him.
He was at peace for the first time in what felt like ages. At least, he no longer had to carry the weight of his duty.
The waves surged forward, crashing down in a deafening roar, engulfing him entirely.
The plains were no more, replaced by an endless expanse of water.
The terrain had been irrevocably altered, and the once-unyielding Lesser garrison, known for its indomitable spirit, now lay buried beneath this newly-formed lake, their legacy consumed by the tides of war.
Snap!
LeBlanc raised her hand, and with a delicate flick of her fingers, the Embrace of Netherfire materialized in her grasp.
As effortlessly as Ryan had annihilated the Lesser garrison, she could have intervened to save Imistan.
But to her, he no longer held any value worth the effort.
Even the fire dragon battling the water dragon in the skies above had dissipated, leaving the battlefield quiet and desolate.
Today's events provided enough spectacle to guide her next move and gauge Ryan's intentions.
"Release his soul. There's no need to torment him further," Ryan said, his voice calm and measured.
The Embrace of Netherfire, a magical artifact capable of trapping souls, still burned with Imistan's essence, his spirit seared relentlessly within.
"As you will."
LeBlanc waved the artifact with casual indifference. A pale, translucent phantom emerged from it, floating free.
Imistan's ghost stared blankly at the chess game before him, where Ryan and LeBlanc sat as if none of this carnage mattered.
A bitter, self-deprecating smile curved his lips.
It was only now, as a soul unshackled from flesh, that he fully understood.
Whether it was himself or even the entirety of the empire—they had all been mere pawns in a game far beyond their comprehension.
"His will is admirable," LeBlanc murmured, her voice soft but detached.
"But I don't want him lingering in the here. I'm no saint, but he once served under me. There are certain debts even I must repay."
Ryan's expression softened, a faint smile tugging at his lips. He turned toward a barren patch of land atop the nearby mountain, raising a hand that pulsed with magic.
Boom!
The ground trembled as the soil heaved and shifted.
A stone monument rose from the earth, its surface glistening with moisture.
Water swirled like a blade, carving strong, authoritative words in Noxian script:
"Imistan, Commander of the Lesser Garrison, fell in battle for his unwavering loyalty to the empire."
To die in war was the highest honor a Noxian soldier could attain.
Imistan's ghost regarded the tombstone with a mix of pride and sorrow.
Slowly, he turned to Ryan and offered a solemn Noxian military salute—precise, disciplined, and filled with silent gratitude.
His translucent form began to shimmer, breaking apart into countless glowing fragments.
Like drifting embers, his essence merged with the stone monument, becoming one with the land he had fought to protect.
"The soul now rests within the monument, imprisoned until the day it is destroyed," LeBlanc remarked, her voice tinged with faint disdain.
"Hard to believe he'd accept such a fate willingly."
She shook her head lightly. She understood humanity too well—its strengths and weaknesses, its glory and folly.
To her, the so-called "honor of death" was meaningless. Only the living could be manipulated and could serve a purpose.
"This is the difference between us," Ryan said, his voice steady.
"You see death as a distant thing to evade, to conquer. But for those who embrace it fearlessly, it becomes a tool—something they master rather than succumb to. Without strong beliefs, one can never truly transcend."
"Death?" LeBlanc scoffed, her tone cold and amused.
"It's a word that holds no power over me. The Black Rose will bloom once more, and with it, my immortality."
Her figure began to waver, fading like a shattered mirror reflecting dim light. Her voice echoed faintly as she vanished.
Ryan smiled faintly, shaking his head as he turned his gaze back to the chessboard.
When LeBlanc's presence fully disappeared, the black queen chess piece on the board turned white, though its edges retained the faint outline of a black rose.
The flames vanished from the chessboard entirely, leaving only a solitary black king piece trembling precariously.
"It's been a long time since I returned to the Empire," Ryan said softly, almost to himself.
"Now seems like the right time."
As his words fell, runic blue light radiated from his form, forming a massive rune matrix that spiraled outward with glowing intensity.
Far in the distance, atop the Immortal Bastion, the heart of Noxus itself, the dark skies responded. Shadows receded as brilliant blue runes illuminated the fortress.
Above it, an identical matrix appeared, its power thrumming through the air like a heartbeat.
Ryan stood tall, the faintest smirk on his face as the magical energies converged.
The Empire awaited.