Luke possessed True Sight, allowing him to see through any illusion.
Even so, the moment that darkness descended, he found himself seemingly dragged into another dimension.
It was not the Spirit Realm. Instead, it seemed to exist somewhere between the Spirit Realm and the material realm.
The place reeked of decay. Blackness was its dominant color, with dim ghostly flames giving off just enough light to reveal withered flowers, rotting flesh, and broken, weathered bones scattered all around.
The entire world was desolate, as bleak as a frozen wasteland. Simply standing there sent a bone-deep chill through him.
"We have to get back before sunrise..."
"Mom, where are you?"
"It's a bear! Run!"
"Fire! Someone help put out the fire!"
"No... don't..."
Horrifying, unnatural voices came from every direction. The monsters imitated human speech, as though giving voice to the fears buried in people's hearts.
Luke sensed the faintest response from the ward Ryze had placed on them earlier. There were exactly three signals, no more and no less.
That meant the other three were still alive.
With no idea what was happening, Luke could only move forward and explore.
He made absolutely no sound, enduring the oppressive darkness around him while carefully watching his surroundings.
Crash!
Without warning, a skeletal claw burst from the ground with a shriek like a wailing ghost.
Luke instantly dodged aside and slashed with his blade, shattering the skeletal hand. The sudden noise immediately exposed his position.
"Caw, caw, caw!"
The cries of ravens rang out. One pair after another of eerie red eyes lit up in the darkness.
The flock beat wings wreathed in ghostly flame and surged toward him like a cloud of deep, black smoke.
Seeing that hiding was no longer possible, Luke simply attacked first. He stepped forward and vanished, leaving only an afterimage behind.
Sharp flashes of swordlight flickered through the air one after another, and raven corpses began dropping to the ground.
"ROAR!"
A deafening bellow erupted as the earth trembled beneath his feet. A massive bear several yards tall, its entire body radiating the aura of death, charged straight at him without hesitation.
Then more and more monsters emerged from every direction.
Two-headed trolls, nine-headed serpents, enormous eight-legged spiders, sea monsters no one had ever seen before, twisted ghouls...
Whether they came from old legends or truly existed somewhere in the world, anything that had ever inspired fear in the human heart became reality at that moment.
The creatures were wrapped in the aura of death. Vast flocks of ravens wheeled overhead like smoke and ghostfire, spreading despair wherever they went.
Luke knew these creatures were no illusions.
He drew a deep breath, and sword intent surged from his entire body.
Then, wielding a sword in each hand, Luke shot forward like a streaking shadow and plunged into the horde.
Thunderous explosions continued for some time before Luke gradually slowed down. Eventually, he sheathed both blades and continued onward.
Behind him, the monsters' corpses dissolved into black smoke and dispersed.
Not long afterward, Luke suddenly felt the ward respond again. Someone had appeared nearby.
He immediately rushed toward the signal. His figure flashed and vanished from where he stood, reappearing more than a hundred yards away.
Soon, he spotted Yurna wielding a black dagger as she fought against a group of monsters.
Her strength had always been something of a mystery, as though she could somehow keep pace with Luke no matter how much stronger he became.
Those monsters were by no means weak, yet Yurna seemed remarkably comfortable dealing with them.
Luke had no time to dwell on it. He quickly joined the fight and helped her dispatch the monsters in short order.
"What happened after we were separated?"
Yurna answered, "I entered a strange world and saw the things I fear."
"Then Lux and Ryze probably went through the same thing."
Luke thought for a moment and pieced together their current situation.
There was little doubt that this place was Fiddlesticks's world.
Anyone dragged into its world of fear probably ended up here eventually, becoming those bones and nourishment scattered across the land, while their terror fed this world and made it even stronger.
The other three had likely been pulled into their own worlds of fear. Luke had not. Instead, he had been brought directly here, which he suspected was thanks to Mental Barrier.
"You're not hurt, are you?"
Luke looked at Yurna.
She wore the same familiar maid uniform. Her exquisitely beautiful face was expressionless, giving her the appearance of an icy beauty. Her violet eyes were as clear and brilliant as gemstones, seemingly capable of looking straight into a person's heart.
She appeared perfectly fine.
Yurna shook her head.
"Let's go. We need to find the others."
Luke turned his gaze away and continued forward.
Yurna silently followed behind him.
Before long, the ward reacted once again, indicating someone else had appeared nearby.
The two immediately rushed toward the signal. Monsters attacked them constantly along the way. In fact, the attacks had never truly stopped.
At the far edge of their vision, brilliant light suddenly flashed, dazzling in the darkness. Monsters were purified wherever it passed as sacred energy scattered through the air.
Lux stood there holding her staff.
She saw Luke and Yurna as well, and delight immediately appeared in her eyes.
Just as the three were about to reunite, Lux suddenly quickened her steps and crashed straight into Luke's arms, wrapping both arms tightly around him.
Luke froze for a moment.
He had no idea what she had just gone through, but somehow he could understand how she felt. He lifted a hand and gently rubbed her head.
At that moment, Lux felt an indescribable warmth, and her tense body finally relaxed.
As long as Luke was beside her, she knew she wouldn't be afraid, no matter where they ended up.
Only when the monsters' roars rang out around them once more did she finally release him. There were traces of tears at the corners of her eyes, but apparently unwilling to let him see them, she immediately turned around and secretly wiped them away.
For once, Luke didn't tease her.
"You were dragged into a world of fear too?"
"A world of fear?" Lux turned around, thought about it, then nodded. "I guess you could call it that. Anyway, some pretty awful things happened. But it wasn't a big deal. I handled everything easily!"
She flashed a radiant smile, her bright eyes sparkling beautifully.
"Impressive."
Luke suppressed the urge to tease her and looked toward the monsters gathering around them.
"Now we're only missing Ryze."
The ward corresponding to him was extremely faint, like the dying flame of an oil lamp that could go out at any moment.
He had been pulled into his own world of fear, and none of them knew what he was facing.
Even if they wanted to help, there was simply no way to reach him.
Luke believed the blue bald guy wasn't going to croak that easily, so he drew both swords.
"Hold the line. We'll wait for him to come back."
The moment he finished speaking, the space not far ahead suddenly rippled and shattered like broken glass, splitting apart as a figure appeared.
Ryze dropped to the ground on one knee, bracing himself with one hand while gasping heavily.
The wounds covering him were horrifying. His arm, abdomen, and thigh had all been pierced through, blood pouring freely from them. Numerous smaller injuries covered the rest of his body as well. It was obvious he had just endured a brutal battle.
The cloak he had been wearing earlier was gone, revealing a scroll strapped across his back.
Arcane energy flowed through the ancient spell patterns covering his body, radiating vitality.
His condition was poor, easily the worst of the four.
No one knew what he had experienced inside his world of fear, and there was no time to ask.
Lux immediately raised her staff. A radiant sphere of light shot forward and hovered above Ryze's head, driving away the monsters attacking him from all sides.
At the same time, warmth flowed from the light, making Ryze feel considerably better.
Seeing Luke and the others approaching, he caught his breath and said, "That monster is too powerful. We don't have much time. This is our best chance to seal it. It has only just awakened from another period of dormancy, so it hasn't accumulated much power yet. If we allow it to continue feeding on fear, none of us will be able to stop it."
Fiddlesticks had only just awakened from one of its periods of slumber, meaning this was also when its power was at its weakest.
And the way it gained strength was exceedingly simple.
Fear.
As long as it could spread endless fear throughout the world, it could continue becoming stronger.
"Deal with your wounds first."
Luke took out a petal from a peerless snow lotus and handed it to Ryze.
Ryze glanced at him but didn't waste time with formalities. He took it and swallowed it.
The snow lotus melted instantly, becoming a sweet liquid like spring water that flowed into his body and immediately released an enormous amount of energy.
Within his world of fear, Ryze had fought a fierce battle against Tyrus, who wielded the power of multiple World Runes. Calling him gravely injured would not have been an exaggeration. He had only remained standing because arcane magic was sustaining him.
But once the snow lotus entered his body, he immediately felt his wounds beginning to heal at astonishing speed.
Within moments, he was able to use his arcane magic to stabilize his condition.
"Are there... more monsters now?"
Lux looked around and noticed the change.
Countless ravens now circled overhead, flying back and forth until they formed a massive black vortex.
Meanwhile, monsters born from every conceivable fear approached from all directions. Their numbers hadn't merely increased, they had practically doubled.
No matter how many the four destroyed, new monsters appeared almost immediately. As their numbers continued to grow, the four found themselves increasingly on the defensive.
There was no telling just how immense Fiddlesticks's power truly was. Summoning these monsters seemed to cost it virtually nothing.
"We have to find it quickly."
Ryze unleashed arcane energy from both hands. Crackling lightning slammed into the horde and rapidly spread from one creature to another, killing monster after monster on the spot.
It accomplished almost nothing.
A moment later, even more monsters emerged.
If this continued, sooner or later they would simply be exhausted to death.
"It must be watching us from somewhere. It has no thought or conscious awareness. Fear is the only thing it cares about, so it's trying to use these monsters to awaken the fear inside us again."
Ryze quickly analyzed the situation.
They had all overcome their individual fears, but that did not mean those fears had disappeared.
Fear was an emotion that inevitably existed within people.
Unless someone was completely incapable of feeling fear, it could always be awakened again.
Given their current situation, if Fiddlesticks discovered the fears within their hearts once more, everyone here would probably die.
They seemed to have reached a deadlock.
How could they break it?
Even Ryze found the situation extremely difficult and could think of no solution.
He looked toward Lux.
"Your light is crucial. In fact, it may be the only power capable of suppressing it."
Lux looked equally lost.
"But what am I supposed to do?"
Almost all of her magic up until now had been self-taught, something she had researched and developed on her own.
"Light has many forms of expression. It is the culmination of every color, and also the culmination of all magic. Every form of magic we use contains light within it. But this is your power. Only you can discover what it can truly do."
Ryze had met very few light mages, and Lux was already the most powerful among them he had ever encountered.
He didn't know how to tell a girl with such limitless potential how to use her own magic.
All he could do was trust her to discover the answer herself.
Luke had also been thinking. After a moment, he said, "If fear matters that much to it, then if we put a feast right in front of it, it'll probably come out personally."
He looked at Ryze.
"I'll create the opportunity. Mage, the rest is up to you."
Ryze didn't immediately understand what he meant.
Then Luke slowly stepped forward.
He lowered the protection of Mental Barrier.
Instantly, he felt a horrifying gaze pierce directly into the depths of his mind as endless darkness surged toward him.
A twisted scarecrow-like monster appeared, rusty iron fangs jutting from its mouth as it emitted an unnatural shriek.
"Don't start screaming yet. I'm curious..."
Luke removed the necklace from his chest, stared directly at the monster in the darkness, and smiled.
"Do you feel fear too?"
The abyss stared into him, and Luke stared right back.
At that moment, the necklace released a dazzling beam of light that completely enveloped the scarecrow.
Backlash Talisman.
It reflected every attack the wearer suffered back at the attacker, including attacks against the mind.
The scarecrow couldn't see the fear hidden within Luke's heart.
That was something it absolutely could not tolerate.
So the moment Luke lowered his mental defenses, it was certain to appear.
And that gave Luke exactly the opportunity he needed.
The scarecrow's body suddenly froze in place.
A horrifying, agonized scream erupted from its mouth.
It was fear itself.
And yet even fear had something it feared.
Oblivion.
It feared being forgotten.
It feared reaching the end of time, when not a single being in existence would remember it.
It feared a world completely devoid of fear, where nothing remained except itself.
"There!"
Outside the darkness, Ryze suddenly shouted. He held both hands level before his chest as arcane lightning twisted between his fingertips.
He violently brought his hands together, and an Arcane Binding locked onto the scarecrow's position.
Its true body was trapped within it, while its mind remained imprisoned within its own fear.
This was their chance!
Ryze knew how precious this opportunity was.
"Cover me! I'm going to seal it! Don't let those monsters get close! This is our last chance!"
He shouted with all his strength and placed his complete trust in his companions.
Ryze immediately removed the scroll from his back, unfurled it, and took out an ancient book wrapped inside.
His eyes erupted with brilliant blue light. Every arcane marking covering his body lit up as magical power surged through him.
The ancient book responded.
It opened on its own, pages flipping rapidly as tremendous magical energy sprayed outward. Streams of incantations simultaneously poured from its pages.
The characters seemed almost tangible as they flew toward the scarecrow and rapidly began circling around it.
Ryze focused completely and began casting the Grand Sealing Spell.
There could not be even the slightest mistake during the process.
It had to succeed on the first attempt, or they might lose their best and only opportunity.
Luke finally broke free of the darkness and returned, only to find this scene unfolding before him.
Perhaps sensing the danger, Fiddlesticks, despite possessing no conscious awareness, began shrieking even more sharply.
An endless tide of monsters suddenly emerged from every direction and charged at the group like a maddened flood.
Their sheer numbers alone were enough to drown everyone beneath them.
Lux and Yurna attacked without the slightest hesitation, throwing everything they had into the battle.
Luke formed a series of hand signs and created several shadow clones, sending them charging in different directions toward the monsters.
Then he began circulating his magic and rapidly formed another sequence of signs. His movements were so fast that only afterimages of his hands could be seen.
As he cast the spell, his magic spread outward and began constructing something around them.
Soon, a massive sword formation enveloped the entire area.
One magical sword after another gradually solidified, each radiating overwhelming sword intent.
"Sever!"
Luke's eyes flashed.
The sword formation activated.
Every magical blade within it shot toward the monsters simultaneously, unleashing terrifying destructive power. The mountain-like, sea-like tide of creatures fell in massive numbers with every passing second.
At a moment like this, every single second was precious.
Ryze began quietly reciting the demon's true name.
He had no idea whether the Eye of True Names Luke had spoken about was real, but at this point, he could only trust him without reservation.
As the true name was spoken aloud, Fiddlesticks seemed to experience tremendous pain. Its screams became as horrifying as the wails of the damned.
Yet it was fundamentally a being without thought or conscious awareness.
How could it truly fear its own fear?
It broke free with surprising ease and began resisting Ryze's seal.
Ryze's brow suddenly tightened. Veins bulged across his forehead as he strained with every ounce of strength, refusing to allow his concentration to waver as he gritted his teeth and continued chanting.
Lux could tell how much he was struggling, and she couldn't help remembering what he had told her earlier.
Light was the culmination of all color.
Which meant what light could accomplish went far beyond what she had already discovered.
Lux closed her eyes and carefully felt the magic within her.
Suddenly, she sensed countless new possibilities.
Yet what she desperately needed was one that could solve the situation before them.
"Sealing..."
Lux opened her eyes, recalling every detail of the Grand Sealing Spell Ryze was casting.
She exhaled slowly, determination filling her gaze.
Then she raised her staff.
Her light magic began circulating at full power, and every one of Lux's senses expanded to the limit.
She didn't know how to describe the sensation.
It felt as though she had suddenly broken through some invisible barrier.
She wanted a spell capable of sealing Fiddlesticks.
And as her magic responded to that desire, the spell took shape.
A dazzling pillar of light suddenly descended from above the scarecrow, joining Ryze's Grand Sealing Spell in suppressing it.
Unfortunately, Lux couldn't maintain the effect for long.
After all, this was the first time she had comprehended this spell. In truth, most of what she was doing amounted to using raw light magic to suppress Fiddlesticks.
Just as the two seemed about to succeed, the scarecrow's power abruptly surged, showing signs of breaking free.
Even with Ryze and Lux working together, they were struggling to suppress its strength.
Luke was still slaughtering monsters with everything he had. Seeing the situation, even he felt they had landed in an impossible mess.
Simply killing Fiddlesticks was useless.
Doing so would only give it another opportunity to escape.
They had to seal it here.
But it looked as though Ryze and Lux couldn't hold out much longer.
The surrounding monsters continued multiplying every moment. Although they still couldn't break through the sword formation, maintaining that formation was steadily draining Luke's magic.
Then the rapid flutter of turning pages suddenly caught his attention.
His gaze shifted toward Ryze's spellbook.
Its pages were flipping at incredible speed, as though the book contained an endless number of them.
At the same time, it radiated an immensely powerful magical field.
Ryze's spell was already reaching its final stage.
The instant his casting ended, if the seal had not succeeded, all their efforts would be wasted.
"What does that book do?"
Ryze suddenly heard Luke's voice.
There was no time to think, so he answered immediately.
"It's a spellbook containing a vast number of spells. It can also amplify the caster's magical power."
"Can I look at it?"
"Anyone can, but you need immense mental strength or you'll lose yourself inside it. Even if you read it now, it won't help. You can't possibly learn to cast the spells inside it in such a short amount of time."
Ryze quickly understood what Luke intended and tried to persuade him to abandon the idea.
Only someone with sufficient mental strength could safely read this spellbook.
Anyone else would become lost within it.
And every spell contained inside was extraordinarily difficult to master. None could be learned casually.
Luke had already moved closer and reached toward the spellbook.
The instant his fingers touched it, his consciousness was pulled directly into another world.
Countless books floated throughout that strange space, drifting aimlessly through the air.
Luke casually opened one.
Its pages were filled with immensely complicated magic.
Even simply reading through it would take considerable time.
Luke had no time to study anything carefully.
He searched rapidly until he found the spellbook dealing with sealing demons.
He opened it and read the records inside.
Then, under Ryze's astonished gaze, Luke began casting the spell.
Ryze clearly sensed that half the spellbook's focus had shifted toward Luke. Responding to his magic, streams of incantations erupted from its pages.
Watching Luke's practiced movements, Ryze actually began wondering whether he had somehow read this book before.
But he hadn't.
Ryze was certain this was Luke's first time ever touching it.
Then how could his movements be so natural?
Even more shocking, could someone truly see the Grand Sealing Spell once and immediately cast it without making a single mistake?
Ryze watched Luke carry out each step flawlessly from beginning to end, and his emotions became impossible to keep calm.
He had thought Lux was already a once-in-a-generation prodigy.
He hadn't expected Luke to be hiding an even more monstrous talent.
Luke's natural aptitude had long since reached an extraordinary level, whether in physical techniques or magic.
As he gradually completed the Grand Sealing Spell, a second sealing layer reinforced the prison surrounding the scarecrow, suppressing it once again.
Yet something none of the three expected happened.
Only an instant later, the scarecrow's power surged back.
Even three overlapping seals couldn't contain it.
This was one of the three highest among the Ten Kings, a primordial fear that had existed since the beginning of the world, before humanity had even learned to recognize fear itself.
"Damn it."
Even Ryze hadn't expected the demon's power to be this overwhelming.
If it possessed true conscious thought and intelligence, the disaster it could bring upon Runeterra would be no less catastrophic than the World Runes.
But now, it seemed they no longer had the strength to stop Fiddlesticks.
Its twisted body repeatedly slammed against the sealing magic. Black smoke and ghostfire burned across its frame as its horrifying shrieks echoed around them.
"We can't hold it much longer!"
Ryze's voice was strained. He had already pushed his strength to the absolute limit.
Lux was struggling just as badly. She had only just comprehended this new spell and was still unfamiliar with controlling it.
Luke was in the same situation.
The Grand Sealing Spell itself consumed enormous amounts of magic, and the spellbook was draining him as well.
The magical power within his body was disappearing at terrifying speed.
The situation deteriorated in an instant.
It seemed there was no longer anyone capable of stopping Fiddlesticks.
Black smoke and ghostfire born from fear began spreading from its body, sweeping over the group.
They were swallowed by darkness, like candle flames on the verge of being extinguished.
Ryze growled through clenched teeth.
"Are you still not going to act?!"
Clink... clink... clink...
Suddenly, the sound of chains rang out.
A dazzling beam of violet light erupted and drove back the darkness.
In that instant, every monster's roar seemed to disappear.
The entire world became utterly silent.
A completely new and overwhelmingly powerful magical presence suddenly emerged, sacred and pure.
Wings spread wide.
Countless feathers drifted down from above, each one a beautiful shade of violet.
At the same time, four chains formed from violet energy suddenly appeared around Fiddlesticks.
The chains wrapped around its body and unleashed tremendous power.
Fiddlesticks roared.
Yet this time, even it was powerless to resist.
As the three seals descended, the chains dragged Fiddlesticks's body downward, pulling it deep beneath the earth.
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