Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route

"Fight, or die."

Riven’s reforged blade burned with violet fire, scorching Rilfen’s fur until the smell of singed hair filled the air, while Rilfen desperately tried to evade in agony.

With her greatsword in hand, Riven moved with a dancer’s grace. When she swung her broken blade at Rilfen, it looked almost like a performance. But every time her arm came down and that sword-energy crashed out, each strike was powerful enough to devastate several kilometers around them.

That was no ordinary attack.

That was Broken Wings.

On Riven and Rilfen’s side of the battlefield, Riven held the advantage. A huge advantage.

Because the way Rilfen was fighting right now had Logan shaking his head the whole time.

How should he put it? The wolf simply had no desire to risk his life against Riven.

As an ancient god, there was a gap between Rilfen and Riven in strength, but it was not that large.

It was fair to say Rilfen was close to being evenly matched with Riven. So if he truly fought with everything he had, then even if he still lost in the end, killing him would take Riven at least several days and nights of nonstop battle.

But that was exactly the problem. Riven had no way of staying in Runeterra for that long.

The time she could remain was extremely limited. One Spirit Blossom point allowed a Spirit Blossom god to manifest in Runeterra for at most two hours.

And if a god used a large amount of divine power in Runeterra, like Riven was doing now, then those Spirit Blossom points would be consumed rapidly. In the end, the time she could stay here would shrink even further.

But obviously, there was no way Rilfen knew that.

So right now, he was furious and terrified in equal measure.

If a demi-god who was just a little stronger than you kept attacking in a style that traded life for life, how could you not be scared?

If not for how utterly unfamiliar this god’s aura was, and the heavy scent of the spirit realm clinging to her, Rilfen might really have suspected he had offended her somewhere in the past.

Because this was complete bullshit!

"Enough!"

"Do you really think I don’t have a temper? If you keep humiliating me with this suicidal fighting style, then I really will fight you to the death! You—can’t you just talk to me like a normal person? Or are you actually planning on dragging us both down together?!"

Logan raised a brow when he heard that.

Then he saw Rilfen bare his huge maw. Ever since Logan arrived, Rilfen had done nothing but take blow after blow from Riven while constantly dodging, but now he suddenly straightened his body.

The giant wolf’s black fur stood on end strand by strand, and his eyes were filled with savage light. He stared at Riven from afar as dark energy gathered between his fangs.

"Stop already. If this keeps up, then I really will have no choice but to fight you to the bitter end!"

Kinl, watching from the sky, had his eyes flash sharply at the sight and shouted, "Good, Rilfen! Then let’s really fight them to the end!"

As he shouted, Kinl blurred forward at high speed, shrinking his body in the same instant, and took a vicious peck out of Swain.

For the ancient gods of the Freljord, taking their true forms was indeed the most natural way to fight, but that only applied when gods fought gods. Like Volibear and Ornn in ages past—when they fought in their true forms, the clash itself brought natural disaster to the Freljord.

But that method was not well suited for fighting humans.

Size, after all, was not always better the larger it became. In the age when humanity rose, the Three Sisters had already proven that to the ancient gods.

The bigger the body, the easier it was to become a target.

Of the Three Sisters, even the tallest, Serylda, was only a little over two meters tall. Compared to ancient gods hundreds or even thousands of meters in size, she was no more than an ant.

But when that ant possessed strength not inferior to theirs, and every attack could tear away huge chunks of flesh from their massive bodies, then the situation truly reversed.

Because when both sides were of similar strength, the ancient gods had no way to lock onto a human’s presence through perception alone. Humans excelled at hiding themselves. That meant the gods could only rely on sight to track them.

And humans?

Humans were the cleverest creatures in the world. Naturally, they would circle around outside the gods’ field of vision and strike from blind spots. Over time, during the era of the Three Sisters, every ancient god was forced to learn the same thing—

How to shapeshift.

They had to reduce their size and assume forms better suited for fighting humans. It weakened them, yes, but little by little, the ancient gods adapted.

And now, Kinl had done exactly that.

He reduced himself into a somewhat oversized eagle, with a wingspan reaching five meters. His beak gleamed silver, and under the sunlight, the snow-white feathers covering his body turned into weapons. With one powerful sweep of his wings, Kinl shot toward Swain again.

Dodging the attack, Swain calmly looked toward Logan and said, "Logan, are you not going to help me?"

"Janna, are you done resting?"

After thinking for a moment, Janna directly turned into a little green bird and landed on Logan’s shoulder. She shook her head and said, "I don’t think I’m needed anymore, Logan. I want to rest."

"All right, then get some rest." Logan nodded and turned his gaze to the snow-white fox in front of him.

She was looking at Logan too.

Or rather, she was looking at Ahri.

"You... are also of the foxfolk?" White finally asked Ahri, unable to hold back.

Originally, White had been fighting Jie and Rilfen. Janna was the weakest among all the gods present, so without White helping and protecting her, Janna would have been the first to lose.

But because White was not good at direct fighting and killing, and because she had to divide her attention to protect Janna, she had been hit by Jie’s snake venom and temporarily lost her ability to fight.

And during the time she was incapacitated, Janna had faced two enemies alone to keep them from harming her. She had been beaten apart again and again. If not for Janna’s unique nature, she could truly have died many times over.

So White was deeply grateful to Janna.

And now... both she and Janna were resting. Rilfen had been intercepted by Riven, while Jie had been intercepted by Tristana.

Those two gods from beyond, brought here by the black-haired man before her... were terrifyingly strong.

And the worst part was that when they fought, they did not care about their lives at all. It was as if they were racing against time to finish a task. White simply could not understand it.

"Yes, I’m foxfolk too~ But I think my situation is different from yours." Ahri smiled brightly and nodded to White. Then she continued, "I don’t have a physical body. As for why I become a fox... maybe it’s because of memory?"

White nodded and raised her fox face. "I can feel the immense spiritual power on you. Besides, we foxfolk can become whatever we wish."

After saying that, she lifted her head to look at Swain in the sky and hesitated before saying, "Should I... help?"

"No need." Logan shook his head at White, then turned to Ahri and said, "Ahri, I need to trouble you for this. Swain is my ally."

"Mmm, all right. I’ll help you, Logan~" Ahri nodded.

She extended a graceful hand, and a magical orb appeared in her palm. She adjusted the pink-white sleeve that had slipped down her arm, exposing half of a smooth, fair forearm. As that delicate hand slowly lifted, Ahri called out softly to the sky.

"Hey~"

The instant they heard her voice, every demi-god turned to look at Ahri.

Kinl, Swain, Rilfen, Jie—they all looked at her at once.

Only Tristana and Riven instantly shut off all five senses. The moment Ahri made a sound, both of them closed their eyes.

They would not hear, would not see, would not smell, would not taste, would not sense.

Let alone Riven and Tristana—if Ahri truly went all out with this technique, even Thresh would have trouble resisting it.

And as for Riven and Tristana, though they were indeed gods of the Akana side, among the Kanmei gods they disliked, Ahri was never one of them.

Because Ahri could be said to be the very first god to appear in Spirit Blossom. When Tristana and Riven had once lost themselves, Ahri had appeared and tried to help them, tried to guide them out of the shadows of their past.

They simply could not let go, and made the wrong choice.

That was why they understood Ahri’s power better than anyone.

Meanwhile, the demi-gods staring blankly at Ahri all wore the same expression almost instantly—dazed, unfocused, lost.

Even Swain was the same. He had always given off the impression of a cool-headed, brilliant strategist, but now his eyes were wide, his mouth slightly open, and he stared at Ahri in blank confusion.

Then Ahri parted her lips and broke the silence with a faint murmur.

"Go~"

The orb in her hand shot outward, flying toward Kinl.

The orb itself was not large, only about the size of Tristana’s head.

But as it flew, even beneath the daylight, one could clearly see white flames blazing around it.

That was soulfire.

Kinl was still dazed, and the orb passed straight through his body as though he were intangible.

In the next instant, Kinl let out a scream.

The orb made a round trip through his body in a blink, then returned to Ahri’s hand.

And when it returned, Logan clearly saw that inside Ahri’s orb there was now a tiny snow-eagle silhouette.

Was that... a fragment of Kinl’s soul?

Logan was startled.

"Help me! Rilfen! Jie! Help me!"

"Hurry and help me take back my soul!"

Kinl snapped back to himself and instantly exploded in fury. His scream from moments ago and his roar now shattered the silence. Rilfen, Jie, and Swain all woke at once.

And when they saw Kinl’s wings beginning to molt in great swaths, and the agony blazing in his birdlike eyes, Swain immediately lunged forward.

His blood-red hand stretched out, demonic power bursting free. Scarlet lightning spread across the sky and struck Kinl’s body.

"Help me! Help me!" Kinl ignored Swain entirely. Even as the scarlet lightning charred his body black, his eyes remained fixed on the pink-haired woman smiling leisurely below.

She held both hands up with lazy elegance, one hand cradling the orb while the fingers of the other tapped lightly against it one by one, her fingertips tracing circles over the surface as though she had just found a precious toy.

"Logan, this soul is really strong," Ahri said with a delighted smile.

"Does it help you?" Logan asked.

Ahri nodded, smiling even more brightly. "Of course. I can use it to perfect some of the lost souls in Spirit Blossom—fill in the missing corner of their souls and let them develop true awareness~"

She sounded genuinely happy.

Then she turned to look at Jie and Rilfen.

The moment Ahri’s gaze landed on them, both Rilfen and Jie recoiled in terror.

What kind of joke was this?

The sight of Kinl having a piece of his soul stolen had frightened both of them to the core.

If Kinl could not recover that missing fragment of his soul, then he was finished.

He would not die just because one piece of his soul was gone, but his strength would never grow again. Not even a little.

With his soul incomplete, the power of his divine law could never be made whole again.

Why had Volibear grown weaker over the years?

All the demi-gods knew the answer.

Because something seemed to have tainted Volibear’s soul.

Seeing Rilfen and Jie retreat, Ahri’s lovely face immediately showed hurt. She pouted and said softly, "Why... are you all hiding from me?"

She looked at Rilfen and Jie, then took several steps forward, passing Logan.

Then Ahri bent down right in front of him, and Logan immediately felt his nose grow hot and found it hard to look away.

Because the robe-dress Ahri wore exposed her entire back to him as she leaned forward. The full curve of her lower body became even rounder and more pronounced with the motion, tightening the fabric around her, while beneath the hem, her long fair thighs—

Fair as hell.

"Run!"

Rilfen and Jie exchanged a look and both made their decision.

Especially Rilfen.

In the moment he had lost his mind to Ahri’s allure just now, Riven had slashed her blade straight into his head.

He had completely lost the will to fight.

Because both he and Jie had already sensed it—at that very moment, more demi-gods were rushing toward them.

One was an old acquaintance they knew well, the Seal Sister.

The other... was completely unfamiliar.

So both gods concluded that the second one was probably another ally of this group.

What kind of joke was this?

The moment Ahri, Riven, and Tristana had appeared, the very first thing Rilfen thought about was grabbing Jie and running.

Because every one of those three gods was monstrously powerful. In a one-on-one fight, Rilfen could not beat a single one of them.

And Jie was no better off against that little purple-skinned girl.

That girl might not have been as vicious as the she-devil Rilfen was facing, and she was always smiling too, but the attacks she launched...

Like the pink-haired woman’s, they damaged the soul itself.

Every time the violet flames pouring from the gourd on her back struck Jie, Jie would scream in agony.

Because it was not the flesh being attacked.

It was the soul being burned by violet fire.

The sensitivity of the soul far exceeded that of the body. Even the slightest sensation was magnified countless times over.

So even gods could not endure the pain of having their souls burned.

"Jie, run!"

Dark shadow erupted from Rilfen’s body as he invoked his divine law.

Every demi-god possessed a divine law that belonged to them alone.

Volibear commanded lightning.

Ornn commanded fire.

Anivia commanded ice.

The Seal Sister controlled water.

The Iron Boar possessed undying flesh.

White the Snow Fox excelled in sealing and healing.

Jie excelled in venom.

And Rilfen’s domain was shadow.

He could hide within shadows, and now he wrapped Jie’s small body in his darkness and dragged her into it with him.

Seeing that, Kinl cried out in agony, "No! Rilfen! Jie! You bastards! Didn’t we say we’d fight together?!"

"You lied to me? You dare lie to me?!"

Rilfen shot Kinl a cold glance, and a trace of contempt showed in the wolf’s mouth.

What a joke.

The only one he cared about was Jie.

He and Jie were friends—true friends.

As for Kinl... Rilfen understood perfectly well why that guy had come to find him and Jie.

Between them, there had only ever been利益.

Nothing but shared interest.

"Stop him!" Logan shouted the moment Rilfen vanished, calling to Riven.

Riven frowned, about to refuse, but the lotus mark between Logan’s brows suddenly began to glow.

At the same time, the dark lotus that had appeared earlier on Riven’s arm flared to life.

Her entire arm turned scorching hot in an instant.

Riven fell silent.

Then she lunged at Rilfen’s shadow.

He had not fully disappeared yet.

Tristana also rode her gourd over and slammed down on the spot with her whole weight.

But... both attacks missed.

Seeing that, White said from the side, "Rilfen is best at killing and escaping. If he truly sets his mind on fleeing, even Ornn and Volibear can do nothing about it. Unless Anivia were here. Only Anivia could freeze him completely."

Logan listened and nodded.

Then he looked up at Kinl in the sky.

"Kill him," Logan said.

"No!" The moment Kinl heard Logan’s voice, he cried out in panic.

At the same instant, Riven, Tristana, and Swain all moved.

Riven leapt high into the air, greatsword in hand, and slashed toward Kinl from the right.

On Kinl’s left was Tristana, hugging her gourd with an evil grin on her face.

A huge flame burst from the gourd. Logan did not even see what happened before the fire had already attached itself to Kinl’s body.

And directly in front of Kinl, Swain unleashed lightning without hesitation, a trace of savage satisfaction on his face.

Before Logan arrived, Swain had suffered quite a bit at Kinl’s hands.

But now...

It was this snow eagle’s turn to suffer.

Tristana burned his soul.

Swain burned his body.

And after Ahri had already taken away a piece of his soul, Kinl no longer had the strength to resist.

Three demi-gods—

No, four demi-gods were attacking him at once.

Kinl had no possible way to fight back.

Among the demi-gods of the Freljord, he was not even in the top ten.

And in the end, the last thing Kinl saw was a greatsword wreathed in violet fire.

"Wuuuuu—"

The wind howled wildly.

A strange gale suddenly swept across the Freljord, and with it came gathering storm clouds, thunder, and torrential rain.

There was even a trace of blood in that rain, and it fell over every corner of the Freljord.

Even on the borderlands occupied by Noxus, the rain began to pour.

Those touched by the rain included humans, beasts, monsters, and demi-gods.

And every demi-god drenched by that rain revealed the same expression of horror.

"A god... has died."

"After seven thousand four hundred and thirty-nine years..."

"Another demi-god has died!"

This sudden rain over the Freljord...

Was the world itself mourning the death of a god.

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