Legends of Runeterra

The blazing steel furnace never stops, and the black steel produced in Fort Driftwood is continuously melted into weapons of war and heavy armor.

Impurities produced from smelting the ore float into the sky along the chimney.

As the sun gradually sank into the ground, the Immortal Bastion, the capital of Noxus, was shrouded in a layer of light gray air.

The palace that once belonged to Bron Darkwill has now been transformed by the new ruler, Jericho Swain, into an administrative center for handling imperial affairs.

In one of the highest-level halls, a figure covered in a thick black robe, with not a single piece of skin exposed, was lazily leaning on a sofa made of the finest velvet satin.

Gazing at the gray smoke rising from the steel furnace that never stopped working under Sveia's orders, Leblanc casually picked up a letter from the table and read it, a smile on her face.

Not long ago, she, who ostensibly cooperated with Swain, instigated Elisa, the youngest daughter of the Valrokan family that ruled the area, to rebel before the rebellion in Delverhold was officially launched.

Now, Alyssa has returned to the Delverhold and, following the instructions of the Trifaree Council, has rebelled against her father.

By this point, the Empire had secured a stable supply of Darksteel ore, and Swain had shown his power to the rest of Noxus.

And our 'Pale Lady' also easily placed people around young Alyssa.

As for why he didn't control Alyssa directly, Swain is no longer the slightly smart mortal he used to be. LeBlanc is willing to maintain basic respect for the demon living in his left arm.

"Please use the borrowed power carefully, dear commander..."

Glancing towards the administrative hall belonging to Swain, Leblanc muttered something in her heart and was about to put the letter in her hand on the table.

Suddenly, the figure paused for a moment, and the next moment, the Faceless Man, who represented Cunning in the Trifaree Council, continued to handle the matters he was responsible for.

...

Deep inside the Immortal Fortress, in an unknown ancient ruins.

"Om~!"

The purple-black magic circle lit up, and Leblanc, who had left her fake body in the hall to handle affairs, now appeared on the stone throne engraved with countless complex patterns.

Leblanc, wrapped in a black robe, gently took off her mask. Her pale skin formed a sharp contrast with the purple-black lipstick, and with the eye shadow on her eyes, a cunning and seductive face was revealed in the empty hall.

“Tick, tick, tick!”

Light and rhythmic, the sound of heels hitting the ground came from the darkness in the distance.

"Hoo~!"

Black mist emerged around Leblanc, eventually gathering into a pitch-black veil that obscured her appearance.

As the footsteps gradually approached, a slender figure with extremely shocking curves slowly walked out of the darkness.

The light from an unknown source shone through the dome and hit the person from above.

"Iris, meet the Pale Lady."

Elise saluted gracefully and respectfully, waiting for Leblanc's response.

Above the stone throne, quietly gazing at the figure in the black and red dress, Leblanc noticed something unusual and a meaningful smile appeared on her lips.

"Haha~! Get up, welcome back, Iris."

"Yes, thank you sir."

"During the time you were missing, the Shadow Isles disappeared, Elise, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"Yes, sir, I was on the island at the time."

Iris slowly raised her head, looked at the figure sitting on the throne, and slowly began to narrate.

"The Maw of the Vile suddenly asked me to go to the Shadow Isles with a large number of sacrifices. Actually, it was because..."

...

"The Ruined King Viego? If he is really that powerful as you said, how did you survive?"

"The Despicable Throat coveted the power of the Curse of Ruin. Even though he was hiding in an underground cave, the Ruined King found him. The two fought, and the Despicable Throat was seriously injured and dying.

Just when the Ruined King was about to kill him, he suddenly left in a restless state.

As a follower of His, I have a certain resistance to His venom. I used the limbs He gave me to tear open the cocoon, and in turn devoured the Despicable Maw completely."

Iris said, revealing a little bit of her aura.

In Leblanc's perception, Elise was indeed much stronger than before.

“Then, even if your strength has improved compared to before, it is not enough to escape from the Shadow Island of the Ruin Curse.

More importantly, why did the Shadow Island disappear in that sea?"

"Of course, sir, the reason I was able to escape is because..."

Facing Iris's dim gaze that was filled with undisguised fear, a bad premonition kept emerging in her heart.

After all, the fundamental reason why Elise went to the Shadow Isles was to find that item for her - the skull of Saan Uzul.

"The ghost that lingers around, could it really be Him?!"

Despite her inner restlessness, LeBlanc maintained a calm exterior.

"Although it was just a glimpse, there is no mistake, sir. The thing hanging high in the sky, swallowing up the ruined black fog like a whale, is a skull!"

"Head...skull..."

“Yes, a skull that is pitch black and burning with the flames of the soul.

The extremely powerful Ruined King was also swept up by the skull and led behind a hideous door made of pitch-black steel..."

As Iris spoke, she stared at Leblanc with a fearful look on her face, as if she wanted to draw courage from her leader.

Although the Pale Lady remained as calm as a tranquil lake in terms of her body movements and magical fluctuations, Iris could vaguely sense that she was panicking.

'This is... success! ?

I have been following him for hundreds of years and have never found his weakness, but this guy Xiao Pingguo found it easily! ? '

Thinking of the deep darkness that once enveloped her and which she thought she had no power to resist, but which was now easily shaken by the words she had heard from Li En, Iris felt waves of joy in her heart.

"Woo~!"

Iris bit the tip of her tongue gently and forced herself to calm down.

"Iris you..."

"I'm sorry, sir. I'm being rude!"

"...Forget it, just leave."

"Yes, my lord."

Looking at Iris walking away quickly with her legs together, a strange look flashed across Leblanc's face.

"It seems that this is really the haunted guy. After all, just the memory can scare Iris..."

Leblanc, who was originally skeptical, became more convinced after seeing Iris's true feelings revealed by chance, and she became worried.

Sitting on the throne, Leblanc's eyes turned.

"Since the respected commander loves to spy, why not let him see the real threat to the empire."