Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route

Logan let out a furious curse. He really was getting pissed off now. Was this bastard Thresh seriously never going to let it go?

Seriously, they had only met once back then. Even if time flowed differently in the Spirit Blossom world and Runeterra, once you counted the time Logan had spent there after Kindred revived him, it had still been what, more than ten years since that one meeting?

And what about Thresh?

Was he really trying to pull some one-look-at-Logan-and-be-ruined-for-life nonsense?

Taking a deep breath, Logan just started cursing out loud.

To begin with, he was already irritated by everything happening in the Freljord. He'd been fighting Aatrox, and somehow that had dragged out Volibear, and then Volibear had gone and kicked off a second war between humanity and the old gods.

Did he think a war like that was something you could just casually start?

On top of that, Logan had truly been just one step away from mastering that power in his slaughter against the Ursine.

But while he was thinking that, Logan suddenly let out a small sound of surprise.

A voice had suddenly appeared in his mind.

It was ethereal beyond compare, like an Ahri voice drained of all emotion. The frustration Logan had been stewing in vanished on the spot, replaced by perfect clarity, as though his thoughts were open and every sense had sharpened.

Then he listened to the voice in his head—

[Congratulations, host. Soul ascension achieved. You have gained a trace of insight into the Spirit Blossom origin law...]

[Divine consciousness resonance initiated. Beginning deconstruction of the Spirit Blossom world schema. Insufficient analysis of Spirit Blossom world schema. Deconstruction probability...]

[Deconstruction failed. Converting Spirit Blossom origin law power. Forcing deconstruction... Deconstruction failed. Spirit Blossom origin law power too weak. Unable to complete Spirit Blossom world deconstruction...]

[Searching for alternate solutions...]

[Search successful. Exploring affinity with Spirit Blossom gods...]

[Affinity insufficient. Unable to deconstruct.]

[This deconstruction attempt has failed.]

"?"

The joy that had just appeared disappeared in an instant. Logan stared blankly at the bubbles in front of him.

Thinking about it, ever since obtaining Spirit Blossom, the only gods he had truly built affection with were two of them.

And then there was Thresh.

But if being desired and obsessed over by someone counted as friendship, then Logan had nothing to say. In that case, he and Thresh really were "friends."

Sighing, Logan found that his bad mood had come quickly, but gone just as quickly.

That was an ability he had picked up from spending time with Jinx. Her temper always flared fast and vanished fast, and she spent every day carefree and happy. After being around her long enough, Logan had naturally started picking up a bit of that himself.

Shaking his head, Logan decided not to dwell on it anymore. He had still gained something, after all. No matter what, he had gotten a trace of insight.

If there was a next time, he would definitely seize that opportunity and truly obtain, truly master, the Spirit Blossom origin law.

Compared to worrying about that, what Logan really ought to be thinking about now was how he was supposed to explain himself to Ahri and Kindred when he saw them in a moment...

He was not especially worried about the situation outside. Volibear's alliance of old gods really was powerful. From what Logan had sensed before he "died," at least five mighty gods had already answered Volibear's call.

But Logan's side was not exactly lacking gods either.

Lissandra could hold Volibear in check. Once Udyr defeated Aatrox, he could come help. Janna was there too, and so were Swain and Karma.

While neither of those two had answered Logan's call for help and come to the Freljord, they were definitely watching what was happening there now.

And in the end, Logan felt certain that they would step in. If the nest was overturned, no egg would remain unbroken.

If Volibear really managed to rally the gods of the Old Ways and started waging war across Runeterra, then Ionia and Noxus would suffer too.

If those two would not come help now, then they could forget about Logan helping them in the future.

Because of that, this was most likely going to be a loss.

A loss.

Not a massacre.

So I...

That thought suddenly made Logan frown.

Last time, when he died and entered the Spirit Blossom land, he had been completely unconscious. But right now, other than lacking a physical body, his mind was perfectly intact.

This did not feel like dying...

What was going on?

Logan was baffled.

And then another voice suddenly sounded in his head.

[Detected increase in divine affinity...]

[Attempting Spirit Blossom world deconstruction once more.]

[Obtained +50 affinity from the mischievous gunner.]

[Obtained +100 affinity from the shrine maiden secluded among the rice fields.]

[Obtained +50 affinity from the irritable, suspicious, seductive spirit serpent.]

[Obtained: one who walks with the wind.]

[Obtained: one sword to cut down evil, one sword to sever mortal ties.]

[Obtained: a lost and helpless wandering soul.]

[Obtained: hunter of evil spirits.]

In that instant, Logan felt his soul begin to swell.

Activating divine affinity and unlocking new god-friend slots granted Logan a massive increase to his attributes and soul strength.

And in that instant, what had once been a divine friend list holding only three gods—two white, one purple—suddenly filled up with entire new rows of slots.

White ones.

Purple ones.

And Logan cried out. It felt as if his soul were being torn apart. Agony flooded his entire being.

The pain of the soul far exceeded the pain of the flesh. Even with Logan's powerful will and mental endurance, he nearly blacked out from it.

He felt as if his entire body were being ripped into pieces, and then those shredded parts were being fused back together. The pain continued without end until Logan finally lost consciousness completely.

The moment Logan passed out, the great pink lotus not far in front of him beneath the blue sky and white clouds bloomed even wider. On the lotus that had originally held only Ahri, Kindred, and Thresh, new bubbles gradually began to appear.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four...

Eleven...

And beneath that enormous pink lotus, Logan's body began giving off a soft pink-white glow. On his spiritual form, a mark appeared at the center of his forehead.

It looked like a seed.

Pink lotus pollen drifted endlessly from the flower, soft pink-white motes shimmering like rainbow dust as they floated toward Logan. They stopped at his forehead, then resonated with the seed-shaped mark there.

Buzz... buzz... buzz...

In an instant, countless lotus flowers bloomed around Logan. His spirit body floated up and drifted toward the great pink lotus, rising until it hung above all those tiny chibi god bubbles.

Then the lotus slowly closed, wrapping his spirit within.

Spirit Blossom, Purple Prison Mountain.

Above the deep-purple bamboo forest, a figure in long robes, chest and stomach bare, was furiously battling the heavens. The ghostly lantern in his hand released countless dead souls and wraiths. Alone, he was an army, continuously launching attack after attack at the sky.

"Let me out!"

"I cannot endure his disappearance! Let me out!"

"His soul must belong to me. It must!"

As he shouted, the lantern in his hand unleashed a terrifying violet beam that stretched to the horizon and slammed into the vault of the sky.

But it was completely absorbed.

"Ahri, are you really just going to watch?!"

"You took him from me, yet you stood by and watched him throw himself into danger! There will never again be a soul as beautiful as his in this world, Ahri. If anything truly happens to him, I will destroy this world!"

The man roared at the heavens, angrily denouncing Ahri, the core spirit of the lotus realm.

"How did this get dragged back to Ahri again?"

"No clue..."

"Thresh and Ahri have never gotten along. They've always fought, though usually Ahri's the one messing with Thresh. But this time feels different. Thresh is serious."

"Then what do we do? They're the two strongest. If Thresh really goes insane, can this world even endure his rage? No, if he really snaps, I'm helping Ahri beat him up. I don't want to vanish."

"Do any of you even know who this 'he' is that Thresh keeps talking about?"

All across the Spirit Blossom land, countless gods were sensing Thresh's condition, watching him attack the lotus core over and over, listening to him say things none of them understood.

Then a wronged little voice rang out.

"I-I don't know what's going on either! Logan clearly could've contacted me. He could've let me out to help him, but he didn't!"

"If he needed me, I absolutely would've helped!"

"And Thresh, stop yelling like that! Someone listening would think you and Logan were actually close!"

"You wanted to kill Logan back then! I-I'm the one who's closest to Logan!"

With silky pink hair draped over her shoulders and white-and-pink robes on her body, a woman flew into the air above the valley and shouted toward Thresh in the distance.

"You say I wanted to kill him?"

Thresh's mask fell away, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face, striking and delicate enough to seem almost feminine. But black energy twisted over that face, and the savage expression on it ruined all of that beauty.

"How could I want to kill him?! I only wanted to preserve him! I didn't want him getting lost in this cursed world!"

"Spirit Blossom, Spirit Blossom—it sounds so pretty. But in the end, this is nothing but a damned prison!"

"That's enough, Thresh!" Ahri shouted sharply.

"Thresh, you've gone too far." Another figure appeared beside Ahri.

It was Lamb. Wearing her mask, she stood with her lovely little hooves resting on the void, while behind her the smoke-white Wolf snarled viciously into the distance.

"Thresh, keep losing your mind and I'll bite you to death!"

Seeing Wolf and Lamb appear, the gods scattered throughout the lotus realm grew even more shocked.

"Kindred came out too?"

"Whoa. Kindred's super strong too. Hey, hey, are we really about to break into an all-out brawl? Is everybody really about to go wild?"

"Heh. Tristana, why do I hear excitement in your voice?"

"Don't slander me, Cassiopeia. Sure, we're both in the Akana side, but I can't stand you. Keep talking and I'll help Ahri beat you up!"

"Go ahead and try!" With a shrill cry, an enormous black-purple serpent appeared atop a mountain.

"Fine~! Let's do it! Who's scared of who? You think I'm afraid of disappearing? I'm not you—you're still hung up on all your old junk. I don't care!" With a gleeful voice, a tiny, cute, clever little figure stepped out of a dark forest.

"N-no... no, please don't fight, okay? Everyone... please don't fight..." In the mountains, a little purple deer with tears in its eyes spoke timidly to the others.

"Why are you all arguing? Didn't you hear what they said? The soul Thresh and Ahri are talking about, this Logan—he can let Ahri out!"

"What? That's impossible. Anyone in the Spirit Blossom land could maybe leave someday, but Ahri? Ahri's the one person who should be impossible to let out. How could the lotus realm ever allow that?!"

"But Ahri said it herself! She said she could go out and help that Logan guy!"

In an instant, all the discussion stopped.

What followed were hurried breaths.

"The last time I went to visit Kindred, she had a lot of books in her hands..."

"Now that you mention it, Ahri's cave has all kinds of strange things in it. Toys too. And it smells really, really nice."

An aged voice spoke up. In a graveyard, a hunched figure muttered darkly, "So this person called Logan... can really let Ahri go out?"

"Hiss!"

The gods grew excited.

If Ahri could go out, then surely all of them could!

How had this soul named Logan done it?

Could he really allow the Spirit Blossom gods to travel back and forth between two worlds?!

In an instant, lights erupted everywhere across the lotus realm. Countless gods appeared. Nearly twenty powerful gods had shown themselves.

Seeing that, Ahri shouted loudly, "Hey! Hey! What are you all doing?! You can't all come out! You can't!"

With a fan raised before her face, a seductive and beautiful woman said, "Ahri, who is this Logan? Speak. Have you hidden him away somewhere? You want to keep him all to yourself, is that it?"

"Ahri, I want to go out too!" shouted a fluffy little creature that looked like a red panda.

It was Teemo.

Not far from him, Tristana nodded hard, practically drooling.

"I wanna go out and play too!"

In that instant, the lotus realm was livelier than it had been in a thousand years.

——————

[Congratulations, host. You have successfully gained attribute values: +70 Strength, +40 Speed, +50 Defense.

Accumulating current rewards. Converting rewards into corresponding soul strength.

Soul strength obtained: 260.

Soul strength has exceeded 300 and reached the threshold required to forcibly obtain the power of laws.

Spirit Blossom origin law has been mastered.

Beginning deconstruction of the Spirit Blossom realm structure... Breaking Spirit Blossom realm barrier... Constructing Spirit Blossom realm core...

Deconstruction successful! Breakthrough successful! Construction successful!

Congratulations, host. Spirit Blossom core upgraded. Permission acquired—Spirit Blossom Realm Control.

Congratulations, host. Title obtained: Spirit Blossom Guardian. Corresponding title abilities acquired.

[Spirit Blossom Guardian (Title/Position)]

Effects:

Host's Spirit Blossom point cap (emotion value) has been increased. Current limit: 4.

Spirit Blossom points may be consumed to perform a Spirit Blossom transformation (30 minutes), temporarily obtaining the power of the Spirit Blossom core. This grants a massive magic amplification based on the host's soul strength.

Access to the Spirit Blossom core space granted. Spirit Blossom core link may be established.

Power of the Spirit Blossom Guardian. By consuming Spirit Blossom points, and with a god's consent, the host may temporarily bring that god out of the Spirit Blossom world.

Congratulations, host. This settlement has ended.]

Beneath the blue sky and white clouds, the countless pink-white lotus flowers that had appeared in the air slowly vanished one by one, while the largest flower bud bloomed once more.

As pink light poured out and the petals opened, black hair appeared inside the flower.

Then a handsome face.

With a low groan, the figure opened his eyes.

Pink sclera.

White pupils.

And between his brows, a lotus sigil so striking it was impossible to miss.

"This..."

Jumping out of the lotus, Logan let out a deeply emotional breath, and then he could not help laughing.

"What even is this supposed to be?"

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