At this moment, Ryze was feeling more than a little helpless.
Originally, he had sensed that a seal he'd placed in an underground vault somewhere in Demacia had been broken. He remembered sealing the soul of a Darkin inside.
So he'd decided to return and take a look, but one thing after another kept delaying him along the way.
He felt like a hardworking farmer diligently harvesting wheat, only to find another field waiting the moment he finished the last one.
He'd finally gotten close to the Great City of Demacia and thought he'd be able to rest for a while, only to run into this mess.
Ryze felt as though he'd been born with a life of endless work.
And now, he had to seriously deal with the demon that was about to awaken in this town.
Even he found this particular creature troublesome enough to give him a headache.
Fortunately, the three people in front of him didn't seem ordinary either.
After thinking for a moment, Ryze spoke. "Greetings, Your Highness. My name is Ryze. People tend to call me the Rogue Mage."
He considered himself somewhat famous across Runeterra, though he figured his reputation probably didn't amount to much in a place like Demacia.
After all, this nation had only recently abolished its prohibition on magic.
It had certainly been a monumental reform, and the person responsible was the young man standing before him, someone even Ryze couldn't see through.
Naturally, it would take some time for Ryze's reputation to spread here after the prohibition's repeal.
"I've heard of you. The famous Rogue Mage. I never expected to meet you here."
Luke put on a genuinely surprised expression and enthusiastically stepped forward to offer his hand.
Seeing Ryze right now was like finding a hot meal after starving for days. Luke could hardly contain his excitement.
After all, this purple-headed guy was famously powerful and was practically regarded as a walking encyclopedia of arcane secrets.
With him here to deal with Fiddlesticks, Luke could finally experience what it felt like to have someone else provide a sense of security.
Ryze hadn't expected Luke to be so enthusiastic. Judging by the way the young man looked at him, he really did seem to have heard of Ryze before.
At the same time, a strange feeling arose in Ryze's heart.
For some inexplicable reason, something felt off.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was like having something caught in his throat, as though some important piece of the puzzle were missing.
But Luke's overwhelming enthusiasm soon made him forget about it.
Lux blinked as she studied Ryze.
Judging by Luke's reaction, it seemed someone impressive had just shown up.
"What do you think about this demon?" Luke quickly asked, getting straight to business.
Fortunately, he had Stealth Arts concealing the rune fragments and demonic powers within his body.
Otherwise, he might not have been nearly as happy to see Ryze right now.
As the widely known wandering archmage of Runeterra, Ryze bore an enormous responsibility. He searched for the World Runes and safeguarded them so they would never fall into the hands of evil.
Back when Luke had inexplicably absorbed his first rune and felt uneasy about it, Ryze had actually been the person he'd most wanted to encounter.
If Ryze had been there, he certainly could have solved the problem with ease.
But now, Luke no longer needed that kind of help.
The runes were no longer bombs waiting to explode. Instead, they were trump cards capable of proving invaluable at critical moments.
As Luke's understanding of their power deepened, his control over the runes became increasingly natural. That also reduced the risk of their power running out of control.
So far, all three rune fragments had remained peacefully inside his mental space without ever showing any signs of going berserk.
Given Ryze's personality, if he discovered that Luke possessed three rune fragments, it would inevitably create a great deal of unnecessary trouble.
Luke had no desire to come into conflict with him.
So unless absolutely necessary, he would have to avoid using the power of the runes while Ryze was around.
Ryze's expression grew serious at Luke's question.
"This matter must not be underestimated. The demon sleeping here is Fear, one of the oldest demons in existence. It possesses terrifying power."
"Sleeping..."
Luke's eyes flashed with realization.
"No wonder it hasn't attacked directly."
"Exactly. Those flocks of crows are merely signs of its impending awakening, because its existence has once again been remembered."
Ryze's voice was grave.
"Once it fully awakens, everyone in this town will become food for its fear."
Luke was slightly startled.
"Because its existence was remembered again?"
Ryze nodded. "Yes. Someone became aware of its existence. The very moment that thought formed, its attention was drawn here. Otherwise, those crows wouldn't have appeared."
Luke lowered his head in thought.
An ability operating on that kind of conceptual level was terrifying.
If that was the case...
Had he been the one who attracted the crows?
Because in all of Goldweald, Luke was probably the only person who had thought about Fiddlesticks that afternoon.
Simply thinking about it had been enough to attract Fiddlesticks' attention?
With that thought, Luke looked up and asked, "Is there any way to deal with it?"
"No."
Ryze answered immediately, apparently having known the answer all along.
"Fear cannot be killed. As long as fear exists in this world, it can continue to exist."
Lux raised a hand.
"That's ridiculously unfair. So basically, our only option is to seal it?"
"Yes."
Ryze looked toward Lux, noticing the dazzling radiance surrounding her.
"Against demons of this kind, sealing them away and forcing them back into slumber is the best solution."
Truthfully, even Ryze didn't have much experience dealing with demons.
He wasn't exactly a specialist in that field.
Yet somehow he'd managed to run directly into one of the most powerful demons in existence.
Outside, the last light of sunset was fading.
Night was about to arrive.
Ryze glanced outside and spoke solemnly.
"We don't have much time. The moment the sun completely sets, it will awaken."
Lux was startled.
"That soon?"
Luke looked toward the setting sun.
"We probably only have half an hour."
"Once it wakes, everyone in this town will become its first target."
Ryze remained perfectly calm even now. He looked toward Lux.
"Your light will be extremely important from this point onward."
"Me?"
Lux suddenly felt an enormous responsibility fall onto her shoulders. Her expression immediately became serious.
"What do I need to do?"
"Light does more than dispel darkness and illuminate the world for people. More importantly, it can also drive away fear. Fear is a demon's primary nourishment. The more fear there is, the stronger it becomes. Only radiance can protect people before the darkness arrives."
Ryze looked directly at Lux.
"I'm going to teach you an arcane technique. You only have half an hour. I don't intend to put unnecessary pressure on you, but if you fail to learn it, everyone outside will die."
"Let's do it!"
Lux nodded seriously.
"Watch carefully. Not a single step can be wrong."
Ryze raised both hands as mana coated their surfaces.
He moved his arms up and down in a steady rhythm, forming something resembling a sequence of hand signs.
A magical formation began to appear.
With every gesture and every change in the position of his hands, the formation grew brighter, while arcane patterns appeared across its surface one after another.
The most difficult part was controlling the mana.
The amount of mana that needed to be released changed constantly throughout the process.
Lux watched without blinking even once, memorizing every movement Ryze made.
When he completed the demonstration, Ryze withdrew his mana and asked, "How many more times do you need to see it?"
"That was enough."
Lux stepped out into the square.
She took a deep breath and, without the slightest hesitation, began reproducing Ryze's earlier movements.
As her light magic circulated, a formation shining with golden radiance appeared.
It resembled the first light of dawn before darkness, even more spectacular than Ryze's demonstration.
Perhaps this arcane technique had always been particularly well suited to light magic.
Ryze watched from behind as the formation gradually stabilized, unable to hide his amazement at Lux's talent.
It seemed she'd genuinely memorized everything after seeing it only once.
After traveling across Runeterra for so many years, Ryze could count on one hand the people he'd encountered with talent like hers.
And that wasn't even mentioning her light magic, which was extraordinarily rare in itself.
Without Lux here, even Ryze couldn't guarantee that he'd be able to save everyone in town.
Luke looked at Lux, her entire body surrounded by dazzling radiance, and a smile flashed through his eyes.
Without him even realizing it, the blonde girl who used to cry so easily had grown capable of standing on her own.
As Lux completed the final step, the formation fully stabilized.
In an instant, it erupted with intense brilliance, illuminating the sky above the town as brightly as day.
The townspeople looked up in astonishment.
A golden curtain of light descended from every direction in the sky, enveloping and protecting all of them.
Seeing that her spell had succeeded, Lux breathed a sigh of relief.
She turned around and flashed Luke an unmistakably bright smile.
"Well? Impressive, right?"
"Very impressive."
Luke nodded with complete sincerity.
"Hehe."
Lux raised her chin proudly.
Ryze spoke up.
"This arcane technique can temporarily protect them from the encroachment of fear, but it won't last forever."
Luke thought for a moment.
"You mean..."
"Exactly."
Ryze looked beyond the town.
"The best way to overcome fear is to face it directly. Our only chance is to take the initiative and confront it ourselves."
Luke nodded.
"I was thinking the same thing."
Fiddlesticks' abilities were far too terrifying.
If they didn't seal it here and it escaped somewhere else, disaster would inevitably follow.
"Two conditions must be met before we can seal it."
Ryze looked at the other three.
"First, we need to find its name. It is Fear itself, but Fear isn't its name. A demon's true name is the key that affirms its very existence, but at the same time, that makes it a weakness.
"Second, we need to find its true body. If we seal anything other than the true body, the entire effort will be meaningless.
"I possess an arcane technique capable of sealing it, but I've never actually used it before. Without those two prerequisites, our chances of defeating it are essentially zero."
There was nothing they could do about that.
Their opponent was one of the Ten Kings, an entity that practically existed on a conceptual level.
It had even been born before the earliest eras Ryze knew of, the first fear ever born into the world.
With something like that as its foundation, it was nearly invincible.
Ryze remembered that several centuries ago, an entire nation had been destroyed by one of the Ten Kings.
That demon had been the embodiment of hatred.
Its hatred had soared beyond all limits, allowing it to destroy an entire nation in a short period of time.
The deaths of so many people attracted another of the Ten Kings, Death.
The two demons apparently fought a tremendous battle.
By the time Ryze reached the scene, all he found was a suffocating, deathly silence.
Afterward, he lost track of both demons.
But one thing was certain.
They still existed somewhere in Runeterra.
"Still, we have a chance. A demon's name usually follows wherever it goes. The problem is that finding that name is often accompanied by tremendous danger."
Ryze had expected this information to discourage the two young people before him.
He'd experienced far more than they had across the long span of history, which was why he could remain optimistic even in circumstances that would drive most people to despair.
Yet to his surprise, neither young person showed even the slightest fear.
"Maybe I know its name," Luke said.
"What?"
Ryze thought he'd misheard him.
"I know its name."
This time, Luke removed the word "maybe."
This happened to be right in his area of expertise, so naturally he wasn't worried.
Lux's reason for remaining calm was even simpler.
Luke wasn't afraid, so neither was she.
As long as Luke was beside her, she didn't even know how to write the word "fear."
"You know its name?"
Even Ryze's normally composed expression finally broke, shock showing clearly on his face.
He simply couldn't understand how Luke could possibly know the name of the demon of fear.
"I actually possess eyes that can see a demon's true name."
Luke made up the explanation without missing a beat.
Under Ryze's incredulous gaze, he calmly continued, "It was probably because I saw its name this afternoon that I attracted its attention."
"Are you joking?"
Ryze didn't find the joke particularly funny.
"I'm not."
Seeing that Ryze didn't believe him, Luke told him several stories to make his claim more convincing.
For example, when he'd dealt with Nocturne, Evelynn, and Tahm Kench, knowing their names had been precisely what allowed him to gain an advantage.
Lux nodded repeatedly beside him to confirm his story.
Although it sounded absurd, Ryze eventually chose to believe him.
And there was another reason he was willing to accept it.
"This is good news. Now we only need to find its true body."
Ryze exhaled and looked toward the sunset.
Only the final sliver of the sun remained visible.
Within a few minutes, it would disappear completely.
And that would be the moment the demon awakened.
They decided to set out immediately.
Before leaving, they instructed everyone in town not to leave the square under any circumstances.
Soon, during the final seconds before the sun vanished below the horizon, the four of them stepped beyond Lux's formation of light.
An inexplicable cold wind swept past.
A chill raced across their bodies in an instant.
The deserted town looked incomparably sinister beneath the night sky.
Lux raised one hand and released a dazzling radiance that enveloped all four of them.
The light drove away the cold and illuminated their surroundings.
Ryze was extremely grateful to have a companion like her today.
Otherwise, dealing with all of this by himself would've been more than enough to give him a serious headache.
"By the way, how are we supposed to find it?"
Lux asked quietly.
Ryze answered, "It is the primordial fear of this world. It has no thoughts and no concept of the world around it. All it understands is how to create whatever fear living beings dread most. So it will inevitably come to us on its own."
Lux's light wouldn't make Fear hesitate.
Its hunger was practically limitless, and it would inevitably want to devour even the light itself.
If it wanted to feast upon the fear inside the four of them, it would have to appear.
Several crows landed on the nearby rooftops.
They remained completely silent, merely staring at the four with glowing red eyes.
That was proof the demon of fear already had its attention fixed on them.
The four walked down the street, keeping a vigilant watch on their surroundings.
Then, in a single instant, they suddenly realized that a scarecrow had appeared in the road ahead.
It had simply materialized within their field of vision.
There had been no process of arrival whatsoever.
An inexplicable sense of horror washed over them.
The scarecrow held what appeared to be a rusty scythe in its left hand and a lantern in its right.
Its body and appearance looked no different from an ordinary scarecrow standing in a farm field.
"Hello..."
A bizarre voice suddenly sounded.
It was unbearably hoarse, like a broken blade scraping across a rusted sheet of iron.
The instant they heard it, their heads began to ache.
Luke fired an arrow.
The tremendous force exploded against the scarecrow and instantly blasted it into powder.
But in the very next second, horrifying voices echoed from every direction.
"We need to find its name..."
"Next, we need to find its true body..."
"Your light will be extremely important..."
"My name is Ryze... the Rogue Mage..."
The eerie voices came from all around them.
They were clearly repeating things the group had said earlier, but although the words were identical, the sounds felt as though they were being forcibly squeezed out of something incapable of true speech.
They resembled the grinding, creaking, clanging, and rattling of a broken, rusted iron cage, distorted and sinister beyond description.
More crows appeared around them.
Strange noises came from the darkened alleys.
Lux raised a hand.
Light burst outward, illuminating their surroundings.
And there they were.
One grotesque scarecrow after another stood motionless around them.
Their bodies began twisting and swelling hideously as monstrous faces emerged from them.
Those faces were made of coarse burlap, horribly crooked and distorted, with jagged teeth of rusted iron protruding from their mouths.
Long, thin legs supported their sprawling bodies, giving them bizarre, unnatural proportions.
The cages built into them changed as well, becoming dark and horrifying.
More than a hundred crows frantically beat their wings inside the cages.
With only a glance, an even deeper darkness suddenly began spreading outward from within them.
The darkness overwhelmed the light Lux had released.
It was blacker than darkness itself, swallowing every trace of color.
Then came the eyes.
Countless eyes.
Crimson and chilling.
They opened inside the darkness and stared directly at the four of them.
The group had no choice but to move closer together.
Darkness approached from every direction, trapping them within.
"I'm not sure what ability this is, but there's one thing you absolutely must remember."
Mana surged throughout Ryze's body.
"Face your fear!"
He attempted to attack the surrounding darkness, but it had no effect whatsoever.
Every attack became useless.
Even Lux's light, for the first time, seemed so small and weak before the darkness.
She couldn't help feeling discouraged.
Her light had always overcome everything in its path.
Yet now, it had actually lost to darkness.
But she quickly recovered.
She knew that her light was more important than ever at this moment.
Lux took a deep breath and focused her mind.
As she swung her staff, an even more brilliant radiance erupted forth.
This time, the light seemed capable of standing its ground against the encroaching darkness.
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