"Although I can't unlock the seal, I can take the entire safe with me!"
Duke glanced at the stone chamber, now shrunken down to the size of a coin. He clapped his hands and let out a low chuckle.
Ryze was an ancient mage, master of countless runes and spells. To unravel one of his magical seals through conventional means, you'd have to dismantle it layer by layer, deciphering each step in exact order—only then could you discover the correct unlocking sequence.
His seals were indeed formidable, but they only protected the "safe"—the stone chamber. The magic didn't extend outward; it merely prevented anyone from opening it.
So Duke simply sliced the entire chamber away and decided to take it home.
Once he had it in hand, why worry? Even if he had to spend days studying it, the treasure inside could no longer escape him.
He crooked a finger, and several fireflies lifted the coin-sized chamber, drifting toward him.
In the blink of an eye, the tiny stone chamber landed in Duke's palm. He opened his hand and grinned at the miniature vault resting there.
"One down. Now… where's the second?"
He scanned the surroundings—then noticed the ceiling he had sliced earlier turning rapidly red. The rock cracked open, and flames seeped through the fissures.
The moment the fire broke through, Duke instantly stored the chamber into his inventory. His body shrank down, leaving only a three-dimensional projection in his place. Sitting atop a single firefly, Duke looked up at the overhead ceiling.
BOOM!!
Flames detonated without warning, blasting the ceiling apart. A figure wreathed entirely in fire dropped down, flames cascading around him like a burning waterfall.
Fire roared and devoured everything it touched. A pair of twisted, malicious eyes locked onto Duke's projection.
"The aura of the World Rune has vanished. And you… you are not Ryze."
Brand landed heavily on the stone bridge, staring at the projection. Duke used the pause to study him in turn.
Brand's torso was bare. Lines of deep crimson muscle shimmered like molten rock just beginning to cool. Between each sinew, scarlet lava-like light pulsed and writhed.
His abdomen glowed with the heat of a small sun—flames capable of reaching thousands of degrees. His eyes had long lost their humanity, reduced to pure incandescence. From the cracks crawling across his skull, endless fire surged outward.
Below the waist, he wore only a pair of brown trousers. Bare feet pressed against the ground, and the stone beneath him had already begun to glow red.
His voice was as violent as flame—harsh, explosive, tyrannical.
And he was only a few steps away. Even at that distance, Duke felt as though he'd been thrust into a sea of magma. The flames pouring from this man were already reshaping the environment.
Brand was, in every sense, a walking volcano.
"This guy… is going to be a problem."
Duke stared at him. Even standing still, Brand's heat was melting stone like wax, dripping molten droplets onto the ground.
Normal weapons were useless. A mortal's blade would vaporize before it touched him. Bullets and arrows would evaporate in midair.
To even face such a creature, one would need armor forged by Ornn himself, crafted from unmelting True Ice.
"Speak, mortal!"
Brand's palm ignited violently as he stepped forward. The ground caved beneath him, scorched into a molten crater.
"Where is the World Rune?"
"And who are you?!"
"Me?" Duke's projection smiled. "I'm a scientist."
"Scientist…?" Brand muttered, tasting the unfamiliar word. He had been chasing the World Runes for centuries—long enough that the world had changed completely without him knowing.
"Meaningless title."
"Where. Is. The. World. Rune!"
Brand leaned forward, flames coiling around him like serpents.
"It's right on you, isn't it?"
Duke snapped his fingers.
Dozens of specialized extinguishing units materialized from the void, blasting out waves of freezing mist toward the fire spirit.
But the moment the frost appeared, Brand swept his arm—and a tide of flame surged out, evaporating the mist instantly.
This mist could flash-freeze a house in an instant. But before Brand, it lasted less than a heartbeat.
"Pathetic trick."
Fire exploded in Brand's palm, crackling like burning deadwood.
"If you refuse to speak—then you'll burn to ash!"
Duke narrowed his eyes. The blinding white fire swirling in Brand's hand… it had to be well above four thousand degrees.
The surface of the sun was only around fifty-five hundred.
It was clear Brand had completely mastered the Rune fragment within him.
And if that fragment were installed inside Original Sin… how powerful would the evolution be?
His thoughts drifted for only a second—before deadly flame streaked toward his projection.
Brand's skill—Q: Sear—shot forward like a blazing comet. Each firefly Duke had summoned popped like sparks in a bonfire as the flame hit.
The fire pierced Duke's projection, then blasted into the labyrinth wall behind.
BOOM!
A flash of white flame—then a massive hole melted through the wall. The edges dripped molten rock.
"Illusion?"
Brand froze—then his expression twisted with fury.
"You dare mock me, worm?!"
He stomped hard, releasing pillars of flame that devoured the entire area. The labyrinth transformed into a sea of fire, heat swelling like a geyser about to erupt.
A moment later—
BOOM!!
Flames shot upward like volcanic magma. Everything burned. Everything melted. Nothing remained but fire.
Brand was beyond reason—beyond morality. The Rune fragment had consumed his humanity entirely. All that remained was hunger—hunger for life, for power, for Runes, for the world itself.
"Isn't he worried he'll collapse the entire maze and bury himself?"
Duke floated inside an energy field. His Ant-Suit's power output was maxed, and the Force flowed around him as a protective barrier. Even then, sweat rolled down his face like rain. It was like standing in a furnace.
"With an enemy like this… it has to be a one-hit kill."
Duke's left eye opened wide—activating the full power of the Eye of God.
Layers of blue magic circles overlapped in his vision. His gaze saw through the flames—saw through everything.
Brand transformed in his sight—from a flaming monster into a turbulent mass of fire.
At the very center lay a glowing cyan shard—the Rune fragment—embedded at his heart. Countless threads of fire connected to it, feeding Brand power while simultaneously anchoring his existence.
"At the heart, then."
Brand suddenly shivered—sensing overwhelming danger.
"What is that?!"
He searched wildly. Even ant-sized, Duke stood out amidst the flames like a single black sesame seed in a bowl of white.
"You!"
Brand's gaze locked onto him. The scorching updraft slowly subsided, but the entire labyrinth had already become a volcanic hellscape: molten rivers, lava waterfalls, burning rock. Oxygen was gone, the temperature at nearly 3,000 degrees.
Without armor and the Force, Duke would've been vaporized.
"Good thing I didn't bring Sivir or Kai'Sa down here… they'd be ash."
Duke returned to normal size and landed on a stream of molten rock—not affected at all. His leg armor opened, launching sesame-sized micro-explosive drones.
They expanded in midair, rockets firing as they streaked toward Brand. At the same time, Duke dropped several leaves from the Null-Magic Tree into his palm.
Brand swept his arms outward, summoning torrents of flame.
BOOM BOOM BOOM—
Explosions erupted in rapid succession, releasing waves of freezing mist that tried to cool the blazing environment.
Then the Null-Magic leaves shot toward Brand, propelled by the Force.
Right behind them—Pym Particle Amplification beams fired.
"Come on—let me show you the joy of a close-range Null-Magic Forest!"
End of chapter....
IRONBOUND PATRON
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