Chapter 206: Kaisha's Story (1)

Kassa looked out from the tunnel entrance and felt like she was standing at the end of the world.

A huge rift valley went deep into the ground, and the sun couldn't even reach the bottom. Surrounding it were the openings of dozens of other tunnels. These tunnels, which had been drilled deep into the rock formations, were now exposed to her, with rock blocks peeling off from time to time.

Once upon a time, this place was inhabited by a large group of void creatures. These tunnels were holes they dug, chaotic and random, similar to the degree of deconstruction of matter. Sudden corners, dead ends, overlapping and reciprocating spirals... Every tunnel seemed to be just for the purpose of "eating the world." This is the void - a living structure without a mind, all actions follow the instinct to fight, devour, and destroy, and never consider the future. She has realized through countless hunts that these creatures have no more complex minds.

But the tunnel Kai'Sa was in was different. It hadn't been formed from aimless destruction. It led straight north, and she had been following it for nearly four days. This tunnel, this corridor, had been cut with purpose. With a clear purpose. It didn't make sense...

Kai'Sa will find a reasonable explanation, and the first thing she needs to know is where this corridor leads to.

So she came to this great rift valley.

Kasa looked at the hole opposite. It was hard to tell how deep each cave was. But she was willing to bet her second skin that one of the caves must be connected to the corridor she was in.

She moved her shoulders. The living armor woke up and pressed its flesh against her. It was her only companion, and it had grown up with her since she was very young. It was once a Void, and those monsters killed her family and her village. Later, Kai'Sa put on its shell and became a monster in the eyes of the people. But without this shell, she could not fight the Void and protect the world.

Without it, she would be nothing.

The scaled pods on her shoulders shrank and tightened, and as she selected her first target, the crystals embedded in them began to glow. The crystals heated up and squeezed out a plasma missile, aiming at a cave. It took six seconds to fly across the chasm. It was very wide. Another second later, the missile hit the bend. Not this one. Not the cave she was looking for.

All that was left to do was aim and shoot, alternating and repeating. Most of the missiles hit the wall within a second or two. But Kai'Sa had patience. No matter how long it took, she would stick with it until the end.

She found the tunnel just as the sun began to set. She waited until the missile crossed the chasm, then began counting. One. Two. Three.

Four. Five. Six. That's it. This is the next section of the corridor.

She smiled and fired a barrage of bullets around the hole as a mark. The previous missile was still flying... until she heard a terrible scream, and she didn't know what was hit.

She folded the pod on her shoulder, folding it in half to hide the fluorescence, and quietly waited for her prey to show up.

Another weird cry. A Hollow emerged from the hole. Kai'Sa had spent the past few years battling, observing, and cataloging Hollows. This one was a species she had never seen before. The monster's body was smooth and round, with scars from missiles. It opened its long jaws, and its body deformed. Its mouth was full of transparent, needle-like teeth that protruded ferociously. The sides of its body expanded and contracted constantly, as if it was breathing.

Or maybe catching a scent. She thought as she watched the creature turn. No eyes, but it can still find me. As she aimed, the sun dropped below the horizon. The Hollow began to... glow. Something—a tongue?—protruded from its mouth, emitting a soft blue light, like the hanging lanterns in a mine dug by humans. Never seen a Hollow like this. The wounds on its body, she noticed, were glowing, too.

Let's call it "Fluorescent Light". She fired a missile. The fluorescent light changed its position. It made a long, high-pitched chirp and dodged Kasa's attack. Damn it. Kasa aimed and shot again.

The tunnel behind it suddenly lit up with blue light. Thousands of fluorescent lights appeared. They all opened their mouths, and their tongues flickered in the air. Kai'Sa forced herself to breathe slowly. She had dealt with tougher situations before. All together. Good. Kai'Sa unleashed a barrage of bullets, hoping to destroy all the Voidlings in one fell swoop.

As the missile cluster passed through the Great Rift Valley, the Void Spirits spread out on the rock wall like dust being blown away, and the missiles whizzed past them.

What... Led by the injured fluorescent lamp, all the Hollow Spirits began to act in unison and attacked Kaisa.

……what the hell?

She raised her hands high and shot rapidly at the swarming Void Spirits. Some of the fluorescent lights were hit, but not enough to cause a significant reduction in their numbers. And they had already run a quarter of the distance. Kassa quickly looked around. There were not many choices: defend the cave entrance; retreat along the corridor; jump down and fight; try to climb up and fight on the ground;

She glanced up, then took in the Aetherials. They were halfway across. She had to climb. Kai'Sa fired upward, alternating between left and right—each bullet hole a point for her to grab and step on. She pulled herself off the ground and began to climb.

Shoot, grab, pull. Shoot, grab, pull. Kai'Sa climbed as fast as she could. The pods on her shoulders kept firing at the group of Voidlings. They were close, but Kai'Sa had a good rhythm. She had already climbed half the distance and would soon reach—

Her hands felt the sand.

She fired again. The missile hit a hole, piercing the sand, and sand immediately flowed out to fill the hole. There were no more indentations to hold on to. Could she just jump out? Kassa gritted her teeth and turned to look at the monsters. If she was going to die here, she would have to kill a few more at the end.

Suddenly, cracks appeared in the rock wall surrounding the Void Spirit.

Then it collapsed.

Hundreds of them fell with the rubble, swallowed by the darkness of the Great Rift. Only three were still sprinting towards Kai'Sa. She could handle that many. They were so close that she could even see the thorns on their tongues.

Three light bullets shot out. Two fluorescent lamps fell down. Only one remained.

Its thorny tongue smacked Kassa's ribs. She slammed into the rock wall, breaking several ribs beneath her armor. She struggled to take a breath, and the armor began to repair her damage. She grabbed the rock wall with her left hand and the root of the monster's tongue without thorns with her right hand. Purple energy surged out. The fluorescent tongue melted in her hand. It screamed and retreated. Kassa aimed patiently.

This time, she didn't miss.

Okay. Kesa breathed. Okay. Next. She had to find a way to get to the ground.

Only then did she notice that there was a square rock protruding from the sand wall.

It wasn't there just now. Kasha reached out to grab it - it was just the right size for her palm. She tried to transfer her weight to that hand. The stone was stable. She couldn't help but be curious and turned sideways to look up. About every arm's length, there was another square rock protrusion. This sudden good luck, she would question it later.

Kasha climbed up step by step, and finally climbed out of the ground. She looked around in the moonlight, but could not see any landmarks, only sand dunes and cliffs. A sandstorm was rising in the distance. She looked down to the valley floor. If she looked hard enough, she seemed to be able to make out a light...

The wind was getting stronger. The sandstorm was approaching fast. She turned to face the wind. In the center of the storm was...

A girl?
(End of this chapter)