"What is that?" Caleb stared at the enormous figure in the distance, momentarily stunned.
"What is that thing?" Caleb's brows furrowed too.
"It seems to be a Balestrider. I heard Anivia drove them into the icy sea to the north," Ashe said after thinking for a long while, finally remembering.
"A problem on that level doesn't seem like something we can solve..." Caleb hesitated. He really had never seen this thing before. "It's not Baron Nashor, not the Rift Herald, not any drake... And it's not Vilemaw either..." Caleb racked his brain for a long time, but still could not figure out what exactly this thing called a Balestrider was.
Its legs were spindly compared to its body, and the massive single eye on its head filled anyone who looked at it with instinctive horror.
"Run!" The moment Caleb saw that thing seem to turn its gaze toward them, he immediately gave the order.
His scabbard was already packed full of gathered wind, but he had no intention of testing it on this thing.
Right... if I remember right, north of here is Ursine territory. Then why was it Anivia who drove them away instead of Volibear?
Caleb felt there had to be some hidden reason behind that, so he did not plan to summon Ornn either. With Ornn's temper, expecting him to sit down with the Ursine and calmly discuss peace would be less realistic than expecting Caleb to take down Lissandra by himself.
"You all retreat first. I'll catch up later."
The Wind Wall Caleb swung out distorted the air, naturally bending the incoming beam slightly as well.
"Again?" Kai'Sa looked at Caleb hesitantly, clearly reluctant to leave.
He was not even taking Yuumi, who absolutely would not get in the way? Yuumi's Book of Thresholds could open portals. Even if they could not win, escaping should not be a problem.
And yet Caleb seemed to be deliberately keeping everyone away.
As everyone hurriedly withdrew toward the land farther west, Kai'Sa's brows never relaxed.
"Don't worry. Caleb will definitely catch up with us," Yuumi said, as if she had sensed something, trying to comfort Kai'Sa.
"Yeah."
Fortunately, Kai'Sa's trust in Caleb was far greater than anyone else's. She no longer looked back. After activating Supercharge and turning invisible, she caught up with the main group ahead.
"Come on, then."
Once Caleb confirmed that everyone had retreated far enough, he did not hesitate to take out the little sword he had wrapped in bark.
"I definitely can't do this on my own. I'll have to borrow the Darkin's power."
Caleb snapped the little sword in his hand without hesitation, then broke into a sprint. With the help of Arcane Shift and Shadow Step, he used the wind built up by Mortal Steel to disrupt the creature's line of sight.
"This really is deadly..."
Escaping was not difficult for Caleb, but the pressure from the Balestrider was simply too great.
"The World Ender has arrived!"
In the distance, a winged body was flying toward Caleb at high speed.
"It can glide through the air? Looks like Yaanogel was right."
Caleb even looked over for a moment. Although Aatrox's wings were somewhat tattered, they still looked powerful enough.
"Kill it!"
There was no hesitation in Caleb's words. This thing looked like it could shave points right off someone's sanity, and Caleb had no intention of confirming its identity any further.
Whether it was native to this place or a Voidborn creation, all that mattered was hitting it until it died.
No, Caleb was not about to shout, "let's freaking go."
Aatrox's greatsword came down without hesitation, slashing hard into the Balestrider's leg.
The creature did not seem to have expected that this being, several sizes smaller than itself, would actually dare launch an attack against it.
But in the next second, it could no longer keep looking down on him, because a horrifying wound had truly opened on its leg.
"Need help?"
Caleb pulled out the World Rune, Blue without hesitation.
The power of the Sorcery path might not be weak, but Caleb had also prepared himself. Even if this brought Ryze back, with the Balestrider and Aatrox here, he probably would not attack Caleb immediately.
Ryze had always treated the World Runes as the greatest threat.
But there were many things capable of destroying Runeterra. The World Runes were only one of them.
"If you can hurt it, that would be best."
Seeing Caleb's presence change completely, Aatrox did not stand on ceremony. After this guy took something out, his aura had transformed entirely.
That feeling had not returned since the war against the Void.
Even the earth-shaking Darkin War had not interested Aatrox all that much. After all, it was only natural that those Darkin were inferior to him.
But during that war against the Void, Aatrox, as the greatest of the Ascended warriors, had finally enjoyed the pleasure of battle.
And although the creature before him did not come in such vast numbers, it was still enough for him to enjoy himself.
Before this, only his battle with that mortal had been this interesting.
"Come on!"
Once Caleb gripped the World Rune, his body naturally understood how to use it.
Under the Balestrider's gaze, Aatrox's surface almost looked as if it were about to melt away. But the muscle and skin on Aatrox's body grew wildly, while that massive greatsword continued hacking into the creature again and again.
It was truly a ruthless exchange of blows.
And the Balestrider never expected a new threat to come from the horizon.
A huge comet streaked across the sky and smashed violently into the thick, solid ice.
...
"Is Caleb okay?"
They watched the huge blue comet streak across the horizon. The sound of its landing was almost loud enough for the entire Freljord to hear.
"That comet seemed to be headed straight for Caleb's position."
Even Yuumi had never seen anything like this.
If Heimerdinger had been here, however, seeing this scene might have triggered some trauma.
...
"Whew..."
Caleb let out a long breath. Blue bands of energy coiled around him.
It was the Sorcery rune Manaflow Band, rapidly restoring Caleb's magical energy.
The comet just now had also carried the effects of Absolute Focus and Scorch.
"Kid, you nearly hit me too!" Aatrox looked at Caleb, who was gasping for breath in the distance, then revealed a smile. "Now that is the strength one should have when serving His Majesty of Shurima!"
With his wings still spread wide, Aatrox charged forward and continued hacking madly.
The bands beside Caleb continued flowing without end.
"Now I understand why people fought over this thing until their brains spilled out."
Caleb could feel his arcane energy recovering at an astonishing speed.
Although summoning that comet had almost drained all of Caleb's potential, thanks to Manaflow Band and Transcendence, it took only the next second to keep him from coughing blood due to overusing his energy.
"Can you do it again?"
Aatrox laughed loudly for once, his voice carrying the same arrogance he had shown when fighting the Void in the past.
"Of course!"
Caleb's three gusts of wind did almost negligible damage, but they still triggered Phase Rush.
With the massive burst of movement speed, he nimbly shook off the creature's beams all along the way.
Then he suddenly stopped in place.
The beam that had originally been aimed at him was dissolved by a layer of shielding.
Nullifying Orb!
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810