Deep within a rocky cavern in the desert, the sound of frantic breathing echoed through the darkness.
Years of mining had left the cavern spacious, but nearly all of its useful resources had already been stripped away.
Far inside, a figure stumbled forward in panic, his hurried footsteps making it clear he was fleeing from something terrifying.
Every few moments, he glanced over his shoulder, terror filling his eyes. His body was covered in wounds, but he didn't dare stop for even a second.
His only regret now was ever greedily accepting that escort job.
That was how the monster had captured him and dragged him here.
It wasn't something humans could fight.
He'd survived by pretending to be unconscious, and now all he wanted was to escape.
Click.
The terrified man suddenly lost his footing and crashed heavily onto the ground. The torch he'd been using for light fell beside him.
Ignoring the pain, he hurriedly pushed himself back up.
Then his entire body froze.
His eyes filled with absolute terror.
In the darkness ahead, a pair of crimson eyes suddenly lit up.
Then a second pair.
A third.
More and more appeared until countless eyes filled the darkness, all staring at him with an unsettlingly human intelligence.
At that moment, despair completely overwhelmed him.
From the darkness, a dune hound slowly stepped into the torchlight.
It moved on all fours, its body long and sleek, while sharp blades protruded from both shoulders.
It stood at least three feet tall. Its fur was brighter than that of an ordinary dune hound, almost foxlike, and its eyes gleamed with unmistakable intelligence.
On either side of it followed smaller dune hounds, each with a sharp blade growing from its forehead.
They looked nothing like the dune hounds the man remembered.
It was as though they had undergone some horrifying mutation.
The man frantically crawled backward, but his trembling legs had long since lost the strength to stand.
"Have you ever seen another creature use magic like mine?"
What terrified him even more was that the leading hound actually spoke in a human language.
Its voice was low and raspy, distinctly feminine.
As it spoke, its eyes turned blood-red.
Blood magic surged forth, and crimson energy flowed toward the man.
His eyes had already betrayed him.
He had never seen this forbidden magic before.
Which meant he had never seen anyone else who used it either.
"W-Wait... I have! I really have!"
Seeing the killing intent in the hound's eyes, the man dropped to his knees in terror, desperately trying to grasp at the slightest chance of survival.
"I smell a lie."
The hound gave him no chance.
It lunged forward and sank its teeth into his throat.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
In the next moment, the entire pack rushed in.
Less than a minute later, not even a single bone remained.
The hound looked toward the cavern entrance.
It knew it would soon have to begin another hunt.
Otherwise, there would be no way to satisfy the hunger of its rapidly expanding pack.
Unfortunately, despite capturing so many humans recently, it had still failed to learn the whereabouts of another being like itself.
"Do you need to prepare anything else before we leave?"
Taliyah looked at Luke and Morgana as she asked.
"No. We're fully prepared." Luke shook his head slightly. "What about you?"
"Same here. Everything I own is already with me," Taliyah answered immediately.
Luke nodded. "Then let's go."
The three of them weren't familiar with one another, but the atmosphere wasn't particularly quiet.
Taliyah was cheerful and friendly, so she took the initiative.
"My name's Taliyah. What should I call you two?"
"Luke. And this is Morgana."
Taliyah continued, "From what I can tell, you two aren't locals, are you?"
Luke couldn't help asking, "What makes you say that?"
Taliyah looked them over.
"People who spend a lot of time in the desert usually have rough skin like mine. But both of you have smooth, fair skin. You can tell you haven't had much sand blowing against your faces."
"Fair point." Luke nodded with a smile. "We're from Demacia."
"Demacia?"
Taliyah gave the two of them another look.
"That place has been pretty lively lately. Everywhere I go, I keep hearing things about Demacia. Are you two short on money or something? You saw the notice earlier. Everyone agrees that bounty is extremely dangerous."
"We're just interested in those unusual dune hounds."
Luke answered casually.
His main reason for getting involved was actually Taliyah.
Taliyah didn't know him, but Luke knew a fair amount about her.
She had once studied under Yasuo, the Unforgiven of Ionia.
Luke had only met Yasuo once, but they had fought side by side, and in a certain sense, they were even fellow disciples of the same sword tradition.
Now that Luke knew Taliyah was likely walking into serious trouble, naturally he intended to help.
With his current strength, he certainly didn't need to avoid trouble whenever it appeared.
"I see."
Taliyah nodded.
From their conversation, she could already tell Luke definitely wasn't ordinary.
Luke then asked, "What about you? Are you doing this because you're short on money?"
"Yep."
Taliyah answered without any embarrassment.
She sighed.
"I spent all my travel money along the way. If I don't earn something soon, I'm going to starve."
Mentioning hunger reminded her that she hadn't even eaten yet.
She opened the bundle she carried and pulled out three pieces of dark bread.
The bread had been dried so that it could be stored for a long time.
It was extremely hard and didn't taste particularly good, but at least it filled the stomach.
There wasn't much else inside her bag, making it obvious just how poor she currently was.
Even so, she still offered two pieces to Luke and Morgana.
"Want some? We need full stomachs if we're going to have the strength to fight, right?"
Her smile was simple and sincere.
"No need. But before dealing with those dune hounds, I think you should eat something that'll give you a little more energy."
Luke appreciated Taliyah's warmth and generosity.
As he spoke, he took out some food of his own.
If there was one thing he'd brought plenty of on this journey, it was food and water.
He had enough to last him half a year.
The storage space created by his demonic power even had a different flow of time inside, making it extremely convenient for preserving food.
Returning her generosity, Luke took out two pieces of light-colored bread stuffed with dried beef and handed them to Taliyah.
"I couldn't..."
Taliyah looked rather overwhelmed.
The food in Luke's hand looked several levels better than the black rocks she was carrying.
At this point, she was convinced Luke and Morgana definitely weren't short on money.
She'd traveled through Shurima for a long time and had rarely seen food that looked this good.
"Don't worry about it. We have plenty."
Luke practically shoved it into her hands.
"Then... thank you."
Taliyah couldn't really refuse anymore.
She didn't seem particularly wary of the two either, so she took a bite.
The taste of malt and milk immediately filled her mouth.
She had never eaten bread this delicious before.
The dried beef was also rich and fragrant.
After only a few bites, she already felt energy returning to her body.
And so, while walking, eating, and occasionally chatting, the three of them left the city and followed one of the roads commonly used by caravans.
According to the information on the bounty notice, the dune hounds frequently ambushed people along well-traveled routes.
If that was the case, they might as well play along and deliberately lure them out.
Before long, the three had traveled quite some distance along the road.
Now full and refreshed, Taliyah decided that no matter what happened, she absolutely had to protect Luke and Morgana.
She circulated the magic within her body and felt her connection with the earth beneath her feet.
There wasn't another person anywhere along the road.
Rock formations surrounded them, with not a trace of greenery in sight.
Every so often, gusts of wind swept sand across the barren landscape.
But the most unsettling thing was the strange silence.
It made the entire place feel deeply unnerving.
"Do you think those dune hounds might be hiding around here?"
Taliyah carefully scanned the surroundings.
She couldn't find any sign that dune hounds had been active nearby.
Maybe they'd set up their ambush somewhere else?
"No."
Luke had already sensed something.
"They're almost here."
"Where?"
Taliyah immediately became alert, but she couldn't hear anything.
Just as she was about to speak again, she finally heard it.
Footsteps.
Dozens of them.
The unmistakable sound of four-legged animals moving across the ground.
Immediately afterward, dune hounds began appearing atop the nearby rocks one after another.
They looked nothing like the dune hounds Taliyah remembered.
The sharp blades protruding from their foreheads were clearly unnatural, and the entire atmosphere surrounding them felt wrong.
Ordinary dune hounds also moved in packs.
But upon seeing humans, they would normally bare their teeth, growl, and bark in an attempt to intimidate their prey.
These hounds did nothing of the sort.
They simply stared at the three travelers with an eerie, deeply unsettling intelligence.
The moment Luke saw them, his suspicions were confirmed.
So it really was her.
Naafiri, the Hound of a Hundred Bites.
And a Darkin.
Throughout Runeterra's history, the Darkin had always been considered extraordinarily dangerous, symbols of brutality and bloodshed.
Even though, long ago, they had once been revered god-warriors who protected Runeterra.
Naafiri was one of those Darkin.
And she had been among the stronger ones.
Though seeing such a powerful Darkin reduced to a pack of dogs did make it somewhat difficult to feel properly intimidated.
Even so, Luke knew better than to underestimate her.
"Be careful. These dogs are powerful."
"I can feel it..."
Taliyah drew a deep breath.
Ordinary packs of dune hounds weren't particularly difficult for her to handle.
But the pack in front of her felt completely different.
The magical energy within her body was restless, almost as though it had sensed some approaching danger.
At that moment, a much larger hound stepped onto a raised rock.
Its body was longer and more imposing than the others.
It looked down upon the three of them.
Crimson light flashed through its eyes.
In the next instant, barking erupted everywhere.
The pack charged.
"Be careful."
Luke drew his sword.
Before the words had even finished leaving his mouth, his body disappeared from where he stood.
Confusion appeared in Naafiri's eyes.
She seemed to realize that these humans were different from the others she'd encountered.
Then an intense sense of danger suddenly erupted within her.
Luke's lightning-fast slash had already descended.
But Naafiri's reaction speed was even more astonishing.
Almost the instant Luke appeared beside her, she began evading.
Naafiri had once come close to uniting all the Darkin.
Naturally, her strength was nothing to scoff at.
Her powerful battle instincts hadn't deteriorated in the slightest, even after becoming a pack of hounds.
At the same time, she realized that this human was unlike anyone she'd encountered since awakening within these dogs.
She could actually sense danger from him.
Taliyah stared in surprise as Luke vanished instantly.
But she didn't have time to think about it.
She raised one hand.
Rocks immediately burst upward from the ground, launching the charging dune hounds into the air.
Morgana raised her hand as well.
A powerful surge of magic crashed down from above, smashing every hound rushing toward her deep into the sand.
Although she had lost the power associated with her wings, Morgana herself was still an extraordinarily powerful mage.
Even against these clearly durable hounds, she remained completely calm.
Seeing the two of them fight finally eased some of Taliyah's worries.
Because she had realized that in this battle, she could barely manage to protect herself.
The defenses of these dune hounds were astonishing.
No matter how hard they were struck, they would stand back up moments later and resume barking with seemingly endless energy.
Taliyah even impaled one completely through the body with a stone spike.
Normally, that would have killed any creature instantly.
Yet she watched with her own eyes as the hound recovered almost immediately.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion rang out.
Taliyah looked toward Luke's battlefield.
Their clash was far more intense.
One rocky wall after another collapsed, leaving her increasingly astonished.
Amid the cloud of sand and dust, Luke unleashed a lightning-fast slash.
A tremendous gale roared outward, forming an enormous tornado of sand and dust.
Taliyah stared again in disbelief.
Was that Wind-Wielding Swordsmanship?
Naafiri immediately unleashed blood magic, forming a barrier and forcibly blocking the attack.
At the same time, she raised her head and released a howl like a wolf.
Crimson energy surged across her body.
Then, from every direction, streaks of red light came flying toward Luke at incredible speed.
They were dune hounds.
These were members of her pack that she'd scattered throughout the region so they could capture living humans more efficiently.
But now she had no choice but to summon every last one of them back.
She had never imagined that so soon after awakening within this pack of desert dogs, she would encounter such a powerful human.
She had deliberately acted cautiously ever since her return.
There wasn't just one streak of crimson light.
There were many.
Luke immediately dodged, but two hounds still slammed into him.
A tremendous force erupted on impact, sending his body flying backward.
He descended through the air.
Then vanished again in an instant.
When he reappeared, his sword was already descending from above.
A terrifying Sword Intent erupted.
The strike tore straight through Naafiri's blood-magic defenses.
A second slash immediately followed.
The gleaming blade radiated an overwhelming pressure as powerful Sword Intent rushed toward her.
Naafiri instantly ordered several hounds to intercept.
In the blink of an eye, those hounds, despite having bodies strengthened by her power, were sliced cleanly in half.
Luke's attack tore through them and continued toward her.
Naafiri violently launched the Darkin blades protruding from her body.
Crimson blood energy erupted.
The blades collided with Luke's sword, producing an enormous shockwave.
At the same time, the hounds Luke had just killed revived once more and attacked from every direction.
Luke stepped forward.
A wave of wind spread outward around him like a crescent moon.
Unstoppable sword energy blasted the surrounding pack away.
His expression turned serious.
Naafiri's true body, or perhaps the main consciousness of the pack, was most likely concentrated in that visibly different hound.
Although the pressure Naafiri gave him wasn't as overwhelming as Xolaani's, Luke knew she was still extremely powerful.
Nearly every Darkin was highly proficient in blood magic.
If he couldn't find a way to kill the main body, this battle would probably continue repeating itself indefinitely.
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