Chapter 134: Jackals and Crocodiles, Nasus and Renekton

Nasus strode with determination across the square toward the temple.

Following the figure of Nasus, the audience's perspective also came to the front of the temple.

The steps at the four corners of the temple were also made of uneven stones. Two warriors wearing fitted armor made of copper plates and feathered animal helmets on their heads guarded the stairs.

They turned to look at him. Nasus hesitated as he recognized the meaning of their helmets. Two of them had prominent snouts and heads, one a crude imitation of a crocodile’s snout, the other a snarling jackal on its brim.

……

“This jackal is the Ascended form of Nasus.”

Jiang Wen explained to the audience in front of the screen,
"But this crocodile..."

Seeing this scene, the audience became curious. There was no doubt that this crocodile must also be an ascender. And he definitely had a close relationship with Nasus.

Could he be the lost one Nasus spoke of?
While everyone was speculating about this, Nasus had already approached the temple and stood in front of the two warriors.

Seeing him approaching, the two men held their spears horizontally and blocked his way.

But when he removed his robe and stood up, the warriors were shocked.

Nasus had wandered too long in the mortal realm, hunched in shame, trying to hide his great name.

He silently paid for his sins in a long and bleak period of self-exile.

But the days of anonymity are over. Nasus no longer wishes to keep his face hidden.

Beneath his rag-like robes is the body of the Ascended One.

Nasus, towering over the guards, is the embodiment of divine power and magic.

He already existed as an ascended being when heroes still walked among mortals.

Nasus's body was recreated by the magic of the sun disc, and his withered and dying flesh was transformed into a jackal-headed demigod with an obsidian body.

His chest and shoulders were covered with weathered gold armor and he wore a votive belt with the Shuriman emblem. Nasus reached out and tore off the cloth wrapped around his "staff", revealing a long-handled battle axe.

The axe's blade gleamed with excitement, and the aquamarine gem in its center drank in the sunlight.

"Step aside."

Even his plain words sounded like the howl of a jackal.

The guard shrank his head timidly but did not move.

Nasus sighed and swung his axe back and forth in a semi-arc in front of him. The end of the axe lifted up and hit one of the warriors, throwing him thirty yards away. Then he used the momentum to strike down, and the other warrior fell flat on his face in the dirt. Nasus left the warrior groaning in pain and reached out with his clawed feet to the first step.

He climbed toward the top, where the sun was shining on the shoddy metal discs. Halfway up, he looked out over the broken walls of Vekaura and saw barren dunes on three sides stretching to the horizon.

On the east side of the city, the land rises to form large, hard, low foothills covered with the hard branches of drought-resistant desert palms and banawal trees. Their roots are hundreds of meters long, penetrating deep into the sand to suck water.

The empty desert was the current state of Shurima, and Nasus felt sad.

He recalled how countless lives had flourished when the Mother of Life nourished the earth.

Perhaps Azir can bring Shurima back to life, but if that doesn't happen, finding someone who carries the bloodline will be crucial.

……

What Nasus was thinking confirmed the audience's guess.

The descendant with Shurima's ascended bloodline is the key to saving Shurima now, so Nasus must not let him fall into the hands of the wizard. And the priest standing at the top of the temple seems to be the most noble person in this city.

He was exactly what Nasus was targeting.

At the same time, the guards around the temple also rushed to the top of the temple, shouting words inherited from ancient Shurima, but without any of the original elegance and sophistication.

Nasus felt the pain and fear he had felt when he climbed the great temple of old for his own ascension ritual.

His wasting condition made it impossible for him to climb on his own, so his brother had to carry him on his back.

When they finally reached the top, the sun was just reaching its zenith, and his life was slipping away like sand in a broken hourglass.

He begged Renekton to let him go, to let him face the sun alone, but Renekton simply shook his head and whispered the last words they could remember as mortals.

"I will be with you until the end."

Afterwards, the sun disc enlightened them all to become ascenders.

Even now, these words could easily cut into his heart, hurting more than any sharp blade.

As a mortal, Renekton was volatile, sometimes violent and cruel, but also capable of grace and courage in equal measure.

The energy of Ascension granted him supreme power, and in the end, it was Renekton who fought the treacherous Witch Spirits in the Emperor's Crypt.

He sacrificed himself to save Shurima.

Save Shurima…?
Did they actually do something that day that saved Shurima?
Azir died, murdered by his childhood friend. The uncontrolled magic power that erupted after the ascension ceremony was interrupted destroyed the city in one fell swoop and buried it in the endless yellow sand.

He sealed the tomb's doors, trapping Renekton and Xerath inside.

From then on, every day he would relive the moment of sealing the door in his mind.

Although I knew in my heart that I had no other choice, the guilt still surged up in my chest unstoppably.

Now, both Xerath and Renekton are free.

Azir didn't know why, but he defeated death and became an ascender.

Under his will, Shurima was reborn.

The ancient city suddenly rose from its burial place under the sand, shaking off the tired dust accumulated during a thousand years of slumber.

Yet, if the news from the desert was true, the brother Nasus once knew and loved was no longer with him.

Renekton has completely transformed into a crazy butcher, killing everyone without mercy in the name of revenge.

“I made you do this,” Nasus said.

He climbed to the top of the temple and tried his best to clear his mind of thoughts about Renekton.

The camera zooms out and Nasus continues to climb to the top of the temple. His tattered robe has been taken off, and his golden armor glows golden in the sunlight.

This temple is the highest point in Vikaura, but it still cannot overlook the entire Shurima Desert.

The camera overlooking all this from the sky quickly passed over the vast desert of Shurima. Across the boiling sea of ​​sand, a monster was roaring the name of Nasus.

A monster he was destined to face.

(End of this chapter)