"As long as you're willing!"
Duke rubbed Lux's hair as he looked up at the Colossus of Justice, Galio. The sheer size of the giant nearly rivaled the Stone Golem. Just transporting him required countless steel rails, pulleys, and oxen.
In fact, oxen had become nothing more than consumables in front of him.
A single ox that hauled Galio wouldn't survive to see the next day.
"Duke-oniisan, do you really have a way to make him move?"
Lux's eyes widened as she stared at Duke. He patted her head again and replied, "It's simple."
"Do you still remember what I said about the properties of the Anti-Magic Stone?"
"You mean, that it can absorb magic?"
"Exactly. Galio only fell into slumber because he lacks magical power. If we supply him with enough magic, he'll awaken once more."
"Duke-oniisan, can you really provide him with that much magic?!"
"Of course I can."
Glancing around at the crowd, Duke winked at Lux.
"Ready to see the whole city utterly shocked?"
"This feels… a little reckless!"
"It's fine."
Once again, Duke ruffled Lux's hair. His mind was restless, and if he couldn't calm it, he might as well keep himself busy. Testing how much magic Galio could absorb before waking seemed like a good distraction.
The situation with Miss Fortune was already decided. No matter how anxious he felt, it was pointless now.
He couldn't just abandon matters in Demacia either. After finally prying open a path here, neither Camille nor Miss Fortune wanted him leaving halfway.
And besides, even if he rushed to Bilgewater now, it would only be to stay by Miss Fortune's side. That strong woman would never want Duke giving up his duty for her sake, especially since both he and Camille had already sent her plenty of reinforcements. She was probably counting her resources right now with satisfaction… or maybe even hoping Duke would gather more.
He had only just worked this out himself, but the tangle in his heart hadn't lessened.
So, the best he could do was find something to occupy his thoughts.
Galio was the perfect outlet: test his capacity for absorbing magic, see how long he could remain active afterward, and maybe even secure a greater bargaining chip for himself in Demacia.
If he did this secretly in the dead of night, he'd gain nothing. But if he did it openly, it would add to his influence and his voice in Demacia's affairs.
After all, a master craftsman from Piltover and a master who could awaken Galio were two entirely different things.
The first might win the courtesy of nobles. The second would be granted a royal audience.
With that thought, Duke climbed into Gluttony's cockpit. Hidden behind the glass, he retrieved the rune cores, still not something he could afford to pull from his inventory in the open.
Use it openly, and within minutes he'd be reported to the Mageseekers.
Even stage magicians who performed tricks in Demacia often drew the Mageseekers' suspicion after their shows. If they were found clean of magic, they received flowers and applause. If not, straight to the Black Cells, VIP treatment included.
Duke stepped out of the vehicle, carrying two rune cores. He glanced at Galio's massive frame and decided two wouldn't be nearly enough. He'd need at least six.
Soon, six rune cores were arranged around the Colossus's base. Duke began adjusting their settings. Members of the Crownguard family arrived almost immediately, followed by the Mageseekers.
"Master Duke, what are you doing?"
The one leading them was a Crownguard branch member, Lux's uncle.
"Just a little experiment, to see if we can get this big fellow moving."
As he adjusted the rune cores, Duke also explained to Lux the fine points of tuning them.
"Remember, Hextech crystals may have been around for some time now, but they're still unstable. Adjusting a rune core requires care, and more care, and then even more care."
"Yes, Duke-oniisan!"
Once the adjustments were done, the Mageseeker captain stepped forward. With a half-bronze mask on his face and a long blue coat draped over his frame, he introduced himself.
"Greetings. I am Marcs, captain of the Mageseeker squad. May I ask what you intend to do, Master Duke?"
Normally, Marcs would have pinned him to the ground already for interrogation.
But Duke was a guest of the Crownguards, soon to be a tutor for one of their heirs. On top of that, the Crownguard matriarch was married to Marcs's own superior.
No matter how he calculated it, this young man now stood among Demacia's elite, well beyond the reach of a mere Mageseeker captain.
"An experiment. I want to measure how much energy it takes to activate the Colossus of Justice."
"This…" Marcs looked helplessly to Lux's uncle, who could only shrug. Craftsmen of this level weren't people they could stop.
"Master Duke, will this experiment cause any damage to the Colossus?"
Lux's uncle chose his words carefully. "After all, he is the very symbol of Demacia's spirit. Any damage would be… unacceptable."
The unspoken message: Don't make a mess, or you'll doom us all.
"It won't. I've studied Anti-Magic Stone in detail."
Still uneasy, Lux's uncle sent for the Durand family, the guardians of Galio for centuries, to come supervise.
Duke ignored them all, focused entirely on his adjustments. Galio needed magic to move. If this worked, Duke would gain a powerful chip for himself.
By the time he had finished linking the six rune cores with cables and set the master switch, the Durand patriarch himself had arrived: Luwell Durand, a stout man in his sixties, thick-fingered and broad-shouldered, book still in hand as he rushed from his carriage, panting.
"Young man… can you really make Galio move again?"
"Why not?"
Duke handed the switch to Lux, then studied the old stonemason.
"Based on the Anti-Magic Stone's properties, and Demacia's own legends, if we feed him enough magic, he'll awaken."
"But do you know how much magic that would take?"
Duke raised an eyebrow. "So, you already understand this property of Anti-Magic Stone too."
"Our ancestors discovered it long ago," Luwell admitted. "That's why they built him in the first place. But the amount required is… staggering. Otherwise, we would never have left him dormant here."
He fixed Duke with burning eyes. "Do you truly have the means?"
"When I was young, I went to war as a military stonemason. I saw Galio awaken once, with my own eyes. The mages of Piltover poured their power into him for thirteen days and nights before he was fully charged."
"You seem not opposed to me trying," Duke remarked with a smirk.
Luwell's words grew fervent. "You've never seen it, the sight of him awakening! That one time… it changed everything! I am sixty-seven years old now. Before I die, I wish only to witness his awakening once more!"
He grabbed Duke's hand. "If you can do it, I'll draft the writ myself, present it to King Jarvan III, and see you rewarded with rank and title!"
"No need for titles," Duke replied calmly. "But grant me one request when this succeeds."
"If you can do it, anything!"
"I'll prove it to you now."
Turning to Lux, Duke said, "Lux, flip the switch."
"Yes, Duke-oniisan!"
She pulled the lever.
The six rune cores roared to life at once, Hextech crystals radiating waves of magic. A sour tang filled Duke and Lux's mouths as the rune plates descended, glyphs spinning to channel power.
Hummmmm!
Six pillars of magic shot into Galio's massive frame.
And Galio, of course, welcomed them all without hesitation.
The oppressive aura of raw magic made everyone present shift uneasily. Duke, however, remained perfectly calm, while his assistant Edith began recording data on Galio's absorption limits.
Minutes passed before a harsh, grinding sound rumbled from above.
Duke jerked his head up, the noise was coming from the Colossus itself. Not birds nesting in the crown this time, but a guttural scrape like clay jars dragged over cobblestones.
Lux's eyes shone with wonder. Luwell Durand's book slipped from his trembling hands as he stared, slack-jawed, at the awakening giant.
Galio's eyes rolled, fixing on the crowd below.
Then, he yawned.
And the earth shook.
"Little ones!!"
Galio's booming voice thundered across the plains.
Luwell collapsed onto the ground, weak-kneed.
Galio blinked a few times, then rumbled, "Would you mind scratching my foot?"
End of chapter....
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