Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route

The first shockwave to hit the Freljord came from the northeast, where Udyr and Aatrox were.

What appeared there was an enormous boar, so massive it defied belief. Its four legs were like pillars holding up the sky, each hoof as huge as a mountain. Its hide was the scorched brown of cracked earth, marked with strange patterns, and its curved tusks arched beside its mouth like bridges. Madness burned in its crimson eyes.

Honestly, putting a drüvask war-boar beside it was pointless. Not because of size, but because of presence. The drüvask war-boar had inherited none of the wild, primordial aura of Ildhaurg, the Iron Boar. Even Bristle, praised as some kind of atavistic throwback, would look like a tender little piglet in front of the boar god.

Because the savage presence rolling off the Iron Boar was something that simply could not be replicated.

"Who is that?!" Janna asked at once.

That boar's presence was far stronger than hers.

Lissandra answered calmly, "That is Ildhaurg."

"He is the Freljord's boar god, the one who governs savagery and the power of flesh. He is said to be the embodiment of the land itself."

"So is he here to help you, or—" Janna got halfway through the question, then stopped.

Because Lissandra was looking at her like she was an idiot.

That left Janna a little embarrassed, but she still insisted on asking, "Then… what do we do now?"

Lissandra never smiled. Her temperament was cold, severe, and while they had been working together against Volibear, Janna had come to the conclusion that she was genuinely hard to deal with. But there was no helping it. Lissandra was stronger. And on top of that, she was a native of the Freljord, so of course Janna would ask her opinion.

"We keep fighting," Lissandra said after a moment. "Udyr is already on his way."

Janna froze when she heard that.

From beginning to end, she had only entered this battle because of Logan's will. Janna fought for Logan and had no intention of retreating even one step. But Lissandra?

Everything about Lissandra's behavior so far had screamed reluctance. More than once, she had basically hinted that if nobody came soon, she was going to run.

And yet now, Lissandra had completely changed. She had become proactive.

That left Janna confused.

It was good news for her, at least. She no longer had to worry about the witch running away. But… why?

"That won't be enough…" Janna said hesitantly.

Lissandra was stronger than she was. Janna herself had already sensed several other powers lurking nearby, watching, eager to move. There was no way Lissandra hadn't noticed them too.

So even if that man named Udyr arrived, what would that really change?

After all, even with Janna, Lissandra, and Udyr together, the three of them could only suppress Volibear. At best, they could defeat him.

It took three against one to win.

And now so many others were about to come help that damn bear.

Lissandra had no idea what Janna was thinking, but if she had, she probably would have told her that things had already passed the point of no return.

This was no longer just a matter of Logan, Sejuani, the Winter's Claw, Volibear, and the Ursine.

This was now between Lissandra and Volibear, between the coalition of the Three Sisters and the coalition of the Old Ways.

It was a matter that concerned the future of the Freljord itself.

If Volibear truly gathered those old gods, then the Freljord would be remade even without the Void lifting a finger.

Thousands of years ago, when Volibear led his followers and ancient beasts, his greatest ally had been Ildhaurg, the Iron Boar. That iron boar was the force of the Freljord's earth, wielding immense primordial power, and had once been one of Lissandra's greatest enemies.

Thinking of that, Lissandra suddenly felt a little emotional. She did not even know how her past self had managed it. Her eldest sister fought the Void, her second sister fought the heavens, and she herself had led humanity against the Freljord's primordial order...

To say the Three Sisters fought the whole world so that humanity could rise would not be an exaggeration. Though they had many enemies, they had many allies too.

And on that ancient battlefield, Avarosa had become deaf fighting the Void, Serylda had become mute fighting the heavens, and Lissandra herself had become blind fighting the savage forces of the Freljord.

And yet, even so, she had really endured it.

Yes, she had lost to Volibear, but was that something to be ashamed of?

Of course not.

That was Volibear.

One of the mightiest gods in the Freljord.

One of the creator gods of the Freljord.

At the height of his power, a single strike of his paw could tear open fjords. He had battled the great serpent Rhond and killed the Magma Serpent, using Rhond's blood to create the Freljord's first river, while Rhond's corpse became the Wyrmback Mountains.

At that thought, the weariness on Lissandra's beautiful young face deepened even further.

Back then, she had two sisters to rely on and Anivia's help. Even failure had not been frightening.

But now, she had nothing left.

Lissandra could not lose. She could not even afford to be wounded. She carried too great a sin. For thousands of years she had run herself ragged trying to deal with the Void, until that burden had become an obsession that haunted her.

If she could not solve the Void for the Freljord, then for the rest of her life, Lissandra would never forgive herself.

That was why, when she fought Volibear, she only defended herself and refused to attack. She did not want to be injured, and she could not allow herself to be injured here.

Her sins ran too deep. They weighed too heavily.

She had betrayed her sisters. She had turned against Anivia, the god who loved humanity, and become the sinner the whole Freljord condemned.

And in order to cover up her mistakes, ashamed of her own disgrace, she had continued making one wrong choice after another. Only when she realized she might never truly resolve the threat of the Void did her thinking begin to change.

And now...

Was she really going to make the wrong choice again?

Was she going to retreat again, let Volibear's Old Ways take shape, and drag the Freljord back into an age of wilderness and savagery?

Was she going to let the people of the Freljord fall once more under the violent rule of the old gods?

"Honestly... once or twice is enough for that kind of thing," Lissandra murmured, lowering her head.

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Janna asked, slipping past a bolt of lightning and glancing over at her.

Lissandra did not answer. Instead, she rose into the air, and a wash of blue spread over her pale dress.

In an instant, her long white dress turned ice-blue. She lifted a hand, and a beautiful crystal gem appeared above her palm.

Then her fingers clenched shut around it.

With a sharp, splintering crack, power erupted from her body, magic on par with Volibear's own.

"Volibear, you once clawed out my eyes... and tore my courage to shreds."

Lissandra's body began to grow. Her smooth white hair turned into strands of jagged ice, and the image that all the world knew as the Ice Witch appeared in the sky.

In that form, Lissandra looked eerie and terrifying. A grotesque helm grew over her face beneath the freezing aura, concealing her features and leaving only her sharp chin and dark lips exposed.

Her voice became hoarse and grating. Her hands twisted and lengthened, and her nails grew into frightening talons.

"What is this, witch?" Volibear laughed loudly, thunder raging around him. He had sensed his allies arriving, and now he began mocking her. "Are you telling me all this because you plan to surrender?"

The Iron Boar, the Bone-Eroding Serpent, the Frostshadow Wolf, the Snowpeak Eagle, and the White-Headed Marten had all arrived.

The Old Ways were gathering beneath him once more.

And what did Lissandra have on her side?

Her two sisters were dead. Anivia was at a loss. The White Fox stayed hidden, too afraid to appear. The Seal Sister remained in the northern seas and no longer cared what happened to the Freljord.

Though the witch really had grown powerful—more powerful than Volibear had ever expected, powerful enough that even a being like him had to admit that humanity truly was a species beloved by Runeterra.

Their lives were pitifully short, but their gifts and intuition were astonishing. A few hundred years was nothing more than a nap to Volibear, but to humanity it was enough to overturn heaven and earth. In every span of a few centuries, a group of people would appear who far exceeded what the old gods thought possible.

And that was exactly why Volibear had to control humanity.

Humanity had to submit to the great god of war.

Humanity had to worship the great Thunder's Roar.

"I wanted to overturn everything that happened in the past and lay it all at your feet," Lissandra said coldly to Volibear. "Because you clawed out my eyes, because you tore my courage apart. That is why I conspired with the Void. That is why I plotted against Avarosa and Serylda. I betrayed Anivia, and I hurt Ornn as well. But in the end... every one of those choices was mine."

Once she said those words aloud, Lissandra felt something inside her begin to shift. She looked at Volibear and continued:

"Even without you, I think I still would have chosen to join hands with the Void for some other reason. I coveted power. Yes... that is the kind of person I am."

Only a few seconds had passed in the outside world, but inside Lissandra, it felt as though a hundred years had gone by.

Long ago, after borrowing Anivia's power, sacrificing everything, and freezing all things—sealing away the Void and countless living beings—Lissandra's own time had frozen with that day and never moved again. From that moment on, the Ice Witch existed in the Freljord, and Lissandra of the Three Sisters vanished.

She no longer showed her true face. Not even her own subordinates were allowed to see it.

So when had time begun to move for her again?

Lissandra thought about it. It had probably started after she met Logan, after hearing him speak of the Void with his own mouth, and after being scolded by him—told plainly that yes, she had truly been wrong.

Maybe that was when she stopped fearing her own past.

Because there really was someone who knew the truth behind all of history, and who still dared to stand before her and say to her face that she had done wrong.

She had hidden it for so long, buried it for so long. But when someone finally exposed it and condemned her for it, the emotion she felt was not anger or humiliation.

It was relief.

From that moment on, she should have shown herself in her true form.

At that thought, Lissandra suddenly felt a little moved.

I, Lissandra, have lived for more than ten thousand years, and in the end, a child's words changed the way I think...

"Witch, what the hell are you babbling about?" Volibear roared, displeased. He could feel that the witch was becoming strange.

Lissandra gave a hoarse laugh.

Her voice spread across every corner of the Freljord. Every human being heard her.

Then her expression changed. The dark, chilling air around her shifted. Lifting her chin, she shouted:

"Let every living thing in the Freljord hear me!"

"My name is Lissandra, youngest of the Three Sisters. Out of selfish desire, I murdered my two sisters, Avarosa and Serylda, and brought a monstrous calamity upon the Freljord.

I slaughtered countless tribes. I buried villages and towns beneath snow and ice, all so I could bury the truth of history and keep humanity from learning what I had done.

But now, I will tell every person in the Freljord with my own mouth: I, Lissandra, am a sinner!

Those things were done by me. I will not deny them. I will admit them one by one.

Go ahead, then. Criticize me. Hate me. Curse me.

Even so, I will not apologize to you.

I will prove everything through my actions.

Volibear, you want to bring your Old Ways back to the Freljord? Then you are dreaming too much.

Because starting today, I will be your mortal enemy to the bitter end!

Starting today, the Frostguard declare war on every last Ursine! I will kill all of your followers, and I will personally crush this beautiful dream of yours!"

Lissandra's voice echoed throughout the entire Freljord.

That declaration, resounding through heaven and earth, made Volibear's face turn dark with fury. He glared at Lissandra and roared, "Witch, you've got some nerve!"

"You really think I'm afraid of you?" Lissandra no longer resembled the hesitant woman who had only known how to defend herself while fighting alongside Janna.

Right in front of Janna, she leaned forward and shot through the sky until she stood before Volibear's enormous body.

Separated by hundreds of meters, Lissandra and Volibear faced each other. Ice and lightning crashed together. Lissandra burned away her own life-source, and behind her appeared a phantom no smaller than Volibear himself.

It was a white-haired woman with closed eyes and a sacred air about her.

It was the youngest of the legendary Three Sisters.

Lissandra.

She was a genius.

An absolute genius.

The Three Sisters had all been geniuses. Whether Avarosa or Serylda, each was the kind of talent that appeared once in ten thousand years.

Even Setaka, the Ascended Empress, could barely be spoken of in the same breath as Avarosa and Serylda.

Think about it. In humanity's darkest era, when people were herded and raised as food for other living things, it was the Three Sisters who led humankind in carving out a world of their own. It was the Three Sisters who led humanity to rise.

And each of them stood against the most dangerous, most powerful, most terrifying things in existence.

The Aspects of the heavens.

The creatures of the Void.

The primordial gods of the wilds.

And Lissandra—her talent and brilliance surpassed even those of her two sisters. That was precisely why she was able to pierce the false veil and come into direct contact with the Void.

Ten thousand years ago, even without the Void's power, Lissandra could fight Volibear.

And ten thousand years later, after taking in the Void's power and honing herself for nearly ten thousand more years...

Just as Logan had thought, Lissandra's strength now sat at the very ceiling of Runeterra.

Many people thought someone like Mordekaiser was the true great final enemy, but if he were placed in front of Lissandra, what exactly would he amount to?

By age alone, for Mordekaiser to call Lissandra his ancestor would practically be insulting her.

By experience, Mordekaiser's greatest feat was little more than being cast into the underworld.

And as for enemies, Mordekaiser's enemies were Noxus—meaning opponents on the level of Swain and LeBlanc.

But Lissandra's enemy?

An entire Void.

The Watchers themselves had been deceived and toyed with by Lissandra, and every last one of them wanted her dead.

And so, when Lissandra truly cast everything aside and finally faced herself...

the Freljord would learn just how powerful the Ice Witch truly was.

"Come then, Volibear! Now, exactly as you wished!"

"I will fight you until one of us dies!"

The witch's shrill, piercing cry rang across heaven and earth. The surge of magic was so immense that every living thing on Runeterra felt it.

Even the heavens sensed her power.

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