Arcane: The Gods Want Me to Pick a Route

As night fell, a little bundle clung to Logan's leg. With her slightly wavy, fluffy hair, Isha hugged his leg tightly. She had grown enough by now that she no longer had to stand on tiptoe to reach the counter.

Over the past few years, Isha's diet had improved, and with better nutrition she had shot up fast. At her age, growing taller that quickly made perfect sense. Still, she had kept one of her old habits, she loved being held by Logan.

But Logan was cooking right now, so Isha stayed obediently by his leg instead, holding spices and the kitchen knife. Whenever Logan reached out a hand, she passed him whatever he needed with practiced ease.

Jinx sat at the dining table in the living room. Vi, Silco, and Vander were already there too.

It was a family dinner, and Vander stood out the most, because he was currently wearing the combat suit Viktor had made for him.

The upper half was a black leather jacket, with a hex crystal set into the chest. Using the rune-forging techniques Viktor had obtained from Noxus, he had inscribed protection runes on the chest, strength runes on both arms, and agility runes on the legs.

The first time Logan had seen the outfit, he had burst out laughing.

How should he put it? The thing looked way too fetishy.

But ugly as it was, once Vander put it on, tripling his combat strength was no problem at all.

Technology changing lives really wasn't just a slogan.

Once Vi put on her Hextech gauntlets, she could fight on the level of supernatural creatures. And Vander had already met that standard to begin with, now he had a brand-new combat suit on top of it.

Before long, dinner was ready, and Logan and Isha joined the others at the table. Silco poured himself a glass of wine, while Vi had already picked up her chopsticks and started stuffing meat into her mouth.

Logan had always been a pretty good cook, and his food suited Vi's taste perfectly. Back when Logan still lived in Zaun, she used to come by after work at the Enforcer station in the evenings just to mooch dinner off him.

"The Freljordians have all been settled in," Silco said. "They're staying in the western district. Tomorrow afternoon, Renata will take Sejuani around Zaun and teach her how things should be handled from here on."

"Good." Logan nodded, casually picking up the piece of meat Jinx had just dropped into his bowl. "What about Demacia? How did they react after getting the news?"

Isha also added food to Logan's bowl, grinning wide and showing off a row of neat little white teeth.

Very good. Since Logan had insisted that Isha brush properly, and had forbidden her from pushing at loose teeth with her tongue after they fell out, she had not ended up with rabbit buck teeth like Jinx.

To repeat, Jinxie really was a little bucktoothed. Logan had every right to say so. When they kissed, and his tongue was tangled with hers while he got rough with Jinxie, he could absolutely feel it. Though, of course, that didn't make her any less cute or beautiful.

Silco took a sip of wine and answered, "Honestly, it was surprising. I thought Demacia would use this as an excuse to come after us. But Jarvan III sent a letter saying they'll dispatch a new ambassador, and this time they're sending nobility from the Great City. They'll attend Noel's trial in person."

"If Demacia really was in the wrong, then Demacia will apologize to us. Jarvan III leaves quite a good impression," Silco added after a moment's thought.

If it had been him, he never would have made that kind of decision.

Because fairness and justice simply did not exist in Silco's dictionary. Everything he did put Zaun's interests first.

That was why he had tolerated the way Demacians, Noxians, and Ionians had been disrupting Zaun's order during this period.

Sacrifice the interests of a few in exchange for the interests of the many, that had always been how Silco operated. In Zaun, he had always been the one playing bad cop.

"I looked into it a little too," Logan said. "That diplomatic envoy, Noel, he was a minor noble selected out of some remote border town and brought into the Great City, right?"

"Right."

"Then it's not surprising Demacia ended up with someone like that doing this."

Logan lifted his glass and took a sip of wine. He seemed to be in a good mood.

And he really was in a good mood, because this proved Demacia could still become an ally rather than an enemy.

Logan had always had a favorable impression of Demacia. Sure, ordinary people there didn't have much room to rise, but when all was said and done, while the nobles took more and enjoyed more, when trouble came they also really did step up.

Every noble would lead from the front in wartime. That was official Demacian design from Riot itself.

Hearing that, Silco glanced at Logan, lowered his head, and took another sip of wine before letting out a displeased snort.

He knew exactly what Logan meant.

All Logan was really saying was that Jarvan III most likely had no idea Noel was doing those things. In fact, Silco had noticed this quite a while ago, Logan seemed to have a bit of admiration for people like Jarvan III and Swain.

He had no idea why, but it annoyed him a little.

Seriously, if Logan was going to admire someone, shouldn't he admire him?

He was Logan's father-in-law, after all.

"Did Demacia say who they're sending?" Logan asked.

"They did."

"Who?"

"The head of House Laurent will serve as the ambassador for this visit. And to ensure the trial is fair and to help maintain the alliance between our two nations afterward, House Crownguard, one of Demacia's most prestigious families, will also send one of its core members."

Hearing that, Logan raised a brow and looked at Silco. "Who's coming from House Crownguard? A guy named Garen?"

By now, Silco was no longer surprised by the strange names Logan occasionally blurted out. He answered, "Lux Crownguard."

"That sounds like a girl."

"..."

At that name, Logan's mouth twitched. He took a deep breath, then said seriously, "Silco, tell Jarvan III this right now. Ask him if they can send someone else."

Was this a joke?

Lux was coming to Zaun?

No, seriously, that girl came with built-in nation-destroying energy, okay?!

Everyone knew the real protagonist of Demacia wasn't Garen, and it wasn't Jarvan IV either, it was Lux.

The disaster-magnet witch Lux practically came with female-lead destiny baked into her character. It would be stranger if anyone who got close to her actually ended well.

"What's wrong with that girl?" Silco asked curiously.

"...Actually, forget it. Pretend I didn't say anything. It's fine."

But Logan changed his mind halfway through.

Because he suddenly remembered something, Lux might come with that whole nation-ending aura, but by nature she was kind, lively, and lovable. As long as things were kept under control, there was no reason she would cause trouble for Zaun.

Besides, causing trouble for the current Zaun would require at least a pair of demigods. Lux could only summon Galio.

And as for Sylas...

Heh.

Logan wasn't bragging, he could slap Sylas to death with one hand now. Magic-draining meant nothing to Logan, because Logan fought with his body.

With that thought, Logan turned back to Silco and said, "Since Demacia's sending those people, have someone notify Swain too. Tell him to send someone to Zaun as well, preferably with Katarina leading the group."

"What are you up to now?"

"Settling the dispute between Noxus and Demacia, obviously. What else would I be doing?" Logan answered, then continued, "Since Sejuani's already in Zaun, we might as well solve everything at once and keep future trouble from popping up. Too bad Ionia still isn't unified. Even if I notify Karma, she can't send anyone as Ionia's representative."

"Fine, I got it." Silco stopped asking questions, nodded, and went back to eating. "I'll send word to Swain first thing tomorrow morning."

"Hey, Logan, can you two stop talking about all this for a second?" Vi muttered from the side once Silco and Logan finally paused.

After taking a drink, she added, "If we're eating, then just eat. Why talk about all this random stuff at the table?"

"Ruins your appetite," Vi grumbled.

Logan glanced at the pile of bones on her plate and rolled his eyes. "If this ruins your appetite and you still eat that much, then how much do you eat when your appetite's actually good?"

"Don't mind her, Logan. She's basically a pig," Jinx snorted from the side.

"You wanna die?" Vi instantly exploded, raising her fist like she was about to punch Jinx.

"Go ahead and try!" Jinx stuck out her tongue at Vi, completely unafraid.

Please, everyone here was on her side.

Logan, her man.

Isha, her little sister.

Vander, her dad.

Silco, her second dad.

Why would she be scared of Vi?

The meal dragged on until late into the night. Vi, Silco, and Vander eventually left. Jinx took Isha off to bathe, while Logan sat alone in his room.

Then, after thinking for a bit while sitting cross-legged on the bed, Logan turned to look at the hide sack he had placed in the corner of the wall.

The bag radiated an intense magical presence. Even with Logan's half-baked grasp of magic, he could sense the powerful ice magic coming off it.

That was the seal Lissandra had placed on it.

And what it sealed was... Aatrox.

Logan reached out. With a light curl of his fingers, the sack flew over. After a moment's thought, he tore it open.

Given Aatrox's current condition, Logan didn't need a demigod's help to suppress him. He could do it himself.

Because he was already very close to being a demigod.

At his current level, Logan was not far from Aatrox at all.

Of course, that only applied to Aatrox in his weakened state. If this were the Aatrox who had slaughtered thousands of barbarians and fully manifested as the Darkin Blade, Logan obviously wouldn't be able to suppress him.

That version of Aatrox could beat Kayle senseless.

With that thought, Logan undid Lissandra's seal.

And the instant he opened the hide sack, far away in the north, beneath the abyss, the white-haired woman seated within the Hall of the Nine suddenly lifted her head.

Her lips moved faintly.

Then she shook her head and said nothing.

"Bastard! Filthy worm! Insolent beast!"

"I'll kill you! I'll kill everyone you cherish!"

A violent, chaotic voice exploded inside Logan's mind. Logan lifted a pinky, dug it into his ear, and clicked his tongue.

At that moment, an enormous sword lay across Logan's legs.

Its edges were lined with spikes and curved upward. A hollow ran through the center, glowing with crimson light. Within that blood-red glow, veins of blood flowed visibly, and where those veins gathered most densely, they formed an eye, an evil eye staring straight at Logan.

That eye glared at him, cursing furiously, while thick blood energy streamed from the blade. Bloody tendrils crept up Logan's arm, extending toward his chest and heart.

But in the next instant, Logan gave a cold snort, and the surging tendrils dispersed, retreating until they remained only in the hand gripping the sword.

"Give yourself to me! Surrender your body to me!"

Aatrox roared unwillingly. The blade trembled, but there was nothing he could do about the fact that a human was holding him.

After all, as fellow Darkin weapons, Aatrox and Rhaast were not that far apart in strength once they had both become Darkin, even if Aatrox was stronger overall.

And Rhaast had been controlled by Kayn.

Kayn was a genius. As a child, he had been sent by the Noxians to the Ionian front as disposable cannon fodder, only to later catch Zed's eye. And Zed was Shen's equal, one of the strongest people below the level of a demigod.

Kayn's talent was so great that even Zed praised it.

But compared to Logan?

There was no comparison.

Not because Logan was arrogant, but because at his current level, he really did have that right.

After his system evolved, Logan had already surpassed Shen and Zed. Unless Kayn fully mastered Rhaast, he had no hope of catching up.

And since Kayn could control Rhaast, there was no reason Logan couldn't control Aatrox.

That was also why Logan had brought Aatrox back with him.

Logan needed a weapon.

Back in the day, he could barely get by using the wind sword he condensed from wind magic, because ordinary swords simply couldn't withstand his power.

But after fighting the Ursine and seeing his wind sword shatter again and again, Logan had come to realize that he truly needed a proper weapon now.

And after thinking it through, there were only three kinds of weapons in Runeterra that would let Logan use his full strength.

The first kind was a weapon forged by Ornn. If Ornn made it, it was guaranteed to be top-tier.

The second kind was a Darkin weapon. Like Kayn using Rhaast, it could dramatically increase his strength.

The third kind was an Aspect weapon. But Logan would never deal with the Aspects. He knew very well that the Aspects were future enemies of Runeterra. And to obtain one of their weapons, the first step would be climbing Targon, earning an Aspect's approval, and allowing the soul of that Aspect to enter his body.

Yeah, right. As if Logan would ever do something like that.

Let an Aspect enter his body, then occupy his soul?

Was he insane?

So under the circumstances, Aatrox was the best choice.

And just so happened, Aatrox was a sword-form Darkin.

Just imagining himself wielding Aatrox made Logan start to get excited.

If Aatrox could become his sword, then as long as Aatrox didn't make trouble and cooperated, Logan would have to be at demigod level by then, right?

Thinking that, Logan said, "Shut that filthy mouth of yours and maybe we can talk. Or do you want to be stuffed back in the bag and tossed into the dark again?"

"How dare you! Do you know who I am?"

"..."

Why did this conversation feel weird somehow?

Logan knew Aatrox was dramatic and arrogant, but now that they were actually talking, he couldn't help finding it strange.

Aatrox was giving him the vibe of some weirdly cocky little brat.

"What, are you some kind of puffed-up punk..."

"Aatrox, are you sure you don't want to talk?"

Without waiting for Aatrox to answer, Logan sighed and picked up the sack beside him. "If not, then I'll just bag you up again and seal you away. This is my territory. Once I seal you here, don't even think about getting back out."

That was Logan's threat.

And then he heard it, a trace of panic in Aatrox's voice.

"Wait!"

The greatsword trembled. Aatrox's voice carried a hint of fear. He didn't want to go back to that sunless darkness, where he couldn't move, couldn't even make a sound, couldn't even cry.

So he gave in.

The eye on the sword turned toward Logan. It was still an eye full of evil and majesty, but now that majesty carried a trace of anxiety and unease.

"What do you want to discuss, human? Hah. Do you want my power?"

"You're thinking way too much."

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