With a jolt, Briar suddenly woke from her memories.
Her cheeks were already wet with tears. She remembered. She remembered everything.
The memories from before she became the current Briar.
Vladimir. That name, and that pale, bloodless face, were now carved deep into Briar's mind.
She would never forget again. Blazing hatred churned in her chest, nearly causing Briar to lose control once more.
But Sona's music continued to drift over, gradually calming her emotions.
"Milissa…"
Briar murmured to herself.
Sona sighed softly as she played. She could not know all of Briar's memories, but just by sensing part of them, she already knew what Briar had gone through.
In the same tent, Lux and the others had also felt the pain inside Briar's heart through Sona's music.
Once the music stopped, Briar looked at Sona and said, "Thank you."
If not for her, Briar might have gone her entire life unable to remember those memories. She might never have known that before she became what she was now, she had once been a normal person.
After recovering her memories, Briar looked even more rational. Perhaps her mind had already returned to that of a normal person.
But what made her different from a normal person was that she was far more powerful. She had now fused completely with hemomancy and gained extraordinary abilities.
When she removed the bloodstone pillory, the hatred buried in Briar's heart would be awakened.
Vladimir.
Briar clenched her fists and swore that she would have her revenge.
Just like that, Briar officially joined the Demacian army.
There was no denying that she was absolutely an extremely powerful combat force. With her joining the next few battles, things could be said to have become much easier.
And the news that Noxus's strongest living weapon had instead been used by Demacia and brought back to slaughter Noxians left countless Noxian officers terrified.
Those who witnessed everything with their own eyes could scarcely imagine it.
Even Noxus had needed to keep Briar under strict watch, yet in the Demacian army, she was granted incredible freedom.
Were they not worried at all that this lunatic would turn around and devour them?
The Noxian army suffered defeat after defeat, and bad reports were sent back to Noxus Prime one after another. The news that Demacia was about to cross the border mountains shocked countless people even more.
Once they crossed this mountain, as long as they continued forward, the place they would arrive at next would be Noxus's vast plains.
By this point, almost all of Noxus's territory extending westward had already been occupied by Demacia.
Looking across the history of the empire, this was the first time such a thing had happened.
Noxus Prime.
The arrival of autumn meant the sky above the capital was often cloudy, always seeming as though a storm was about to break.
Clouds covered this ancient city. Its various districts and streets spread outward in all directions like a disk, and its distinctive white-gray high walls laid down the city's rather dark main color.
People from the Valoran continent and even the two surrounding continents had gathered here. They came in all kinds, and for the sake of the empire's admiration of strength and fairness, they lived together harmoniously under Noxus's powerful inclusiveness.
However, as news from the western border kept arriving without pause, an uneasy restlessness also began to fill the capital.
The bad hands Darkwill played one after another caused more and more dissatisfaction.
However, those voices were quickly suppressed.
At the center of power in the capital, Darkwill could no longer sit peacefully upon his throne. His expression was dark as he paced back and forth, unavoidable anxiety appearing in his heart.
The ministers below kept whispering to one another, quietly discussing ways to resist Demacia.
Yet Darkwill had waited for a long time and still had not received a satisfactory answer.
He let out a deep breath and said coldly, "Today's meeting ends here. Continue strengthening the garrison heading to the border. Delay the Demacian army as much as possible."
That was right. At this moment, he no longer dared to boldly say they would repel Demacia.
Instead, it was delay them as much as possible.
He needed time now. He needed a great deal of time to prepare.
After dismissing the meeting, Darkwill hurried back to his chambers. Then he took out a white candle and lit it.
With a sudden flare, the candle gave off an eerie green light that swayed constantly.
Darkwill took a deep breath and waited patiently, his fingers subconsciously tapping against the armrest of his chair.
The current him had no choice but to be anxious.
What he had to face now was not only Demacia's army advancing all the way here, but also the grave problem of his approaching death.
As the days dwindled one by one, he yearned more and more for the extension of his life.
But right now, it was as if he had been trapped by Demacia. If he did not resolve this problem, he could not resolve any of the others either.
"It seems you have more bad news to tell me."
Suddenly, a soft voice came from behind Darkwill.
He turned around and saw a tall woman hidden beneath a cloak appear in the room.
She was not the white-haired old man who had spoken with him the previous times, but it did not matter. He only needed to know that this was the Pale Witch.
He had seen the Pale Witch appear in different forms, so he did not care about her face.
He only said with a dark expression, "All the living weapons sent out this time were destroyed by Demacia. They failed to stop them at all."
The Pale Witch replied without surprise, "That was within expectations. After all, this Demacia has exceeded our predictions. Even Sion was defeated by them. A dozen or so living weapons were even less worth mentioning. We only intended to delay them."
"But that's exactly the problem!" Darkwill looked at her. "They didn't buy us even a little time. Unless something unexpected happens, Demacia's army is currently crossing the mountains toward our plains. Most importantly, I don't know what method they used, but they turned Number One against us."
This did surprise the Pale Witch slightly. After a brief silence, she said, "You mean they controlled Number One instead?"
"That's right. Intelligence from the border says she has gone on a killing spree. Who knows how many soldiers have died by her hand. Didn't you say that thing was difficult to control? How did Demacia manage it?"
His tone sounded as if he were interrogating the Pale Witch.
A weapon developed by their own side had instead been used by the enemy. This problem was far too serious.
The Pale Witch said, "I am quite curious about that too. It seems I will have to ask the supplier for the reason."
"Can you stop acting so relaxed? Time. How much more time do you need? Have you figured out a method to counter that Colossus yet?"
Darkwill realized that the more he spoke, the more anxious he became, but he could no longer remain calm.
"I understand how you feel, but you must know that we are in the same boat."
The Pale Witch's tone did not change, maintaining an elegant calm. "I have been attempting it all this time. It should not take more than a few days. At the same time, more living weapons are being forged as well. This time, the number will be enough for you to use for a while. Once this problem is resolved, you can calmly go search for your elixir of immortality."
Darkwill stared at her. After a few seconds, he calmed down. "Good. I'll wait for your method."
"There isn't much time. I'll leave first."
The moment the Pale Witch's words fell, her figure had already vanished from where she stood.
Darkwill looked at the room that had quieted down. His fists clenched unconsciously, and the fire of rage flickered in his gloomy eyes.
"Damn Demacia. I will never let you off easily."
The scene shifted.
LeBlanc had already appeared in a dim corridor that seemed to have no end. At a glance, only deep darkness could be seen, as if a pair of pitch-black eyes were watching her.
She gently snapped her fingers, and torches suddenly lit up one after another along the walls of the corridor.
She walked along the corridor without making the slightest sound.
Recently, she had indeed been quite busy. She had to research magic to deal with that Colossus, while also helping the vampire manufacture living weapons.
Every single task required no small amount of time and energy.
Even she could not avoid that.
This had also caused her to temporarily lack the time to learn too much about information from the outside world.
After all, they still needed Darkwill to sit in that position and command all sides until the next successor was found.
There was no problem with creating a sense of crisis for him, but they also could not continue allowing Demacia to keep fighting like this.
As she walked along the corridor, LeBlanc's eyes flickered slightly.
Although it had sounded quite simple when she first thought about it, after gaining a deeper understanding, she discovered that the principles behind that Colossus were far more complicated than she had imagined.
Otherwise, it would never have taken this long.
However, she had recently found inspiration. In a few more days, the magic meant to deal with the Colossus would be ready.
As she continued walking, LeBlanc could already hear cries and screams near her ears, mixed with pain, despair, and madness.
It was as if they came from hell.
LeBlanc's expression did not change. She slowly walked down a spiral staircase and arrived on the next floor.
This place was like a dungeon. Iron doors were arranged one after another, and inside them were locked the newest batch of living weapons.
At the end of the dungeon, a white-haired figure dressed in noble attire was busily preparing something. Even so, his movements still exuded an elegance that seemed to come from his very bones.
LeBlanc's red lips parted slightly. "The army in the west suffered another defeat. Those masterpieces of yours didn't even cause a ripple. Darkwill just came to complain to me."
When her words fell, the man turned around. His skin was very pale, and his figure was slender. His full head of white hair was combed back behind him. His eyes were dark red, like embers left in a furnace.
His calm gaze glanced at her, and he said, "Next time, make some sound when you walk. Don't be like a ghost. I dislike this habit of yours, suddenly speaking when others aren't paying attention."
LeBlanc chuckled softly. "What a shame. I rather like making my entrance this way."
Vladimir withdrew his gaze from her and continued with the matter at hand. He was mixing something, gradually sprinkling fine powder into a triangular flask. Inside the flask was a dark-red liquid, without the slightest impurity visible.
Even the fine powder from just now was absorbed in an instant.
At the same time, he said flatly, "Those test subjects cannot be called masterpieces. They are merely first-batch, low-grade goods. Wasn't their inability to withstand Demacia within both your expectations and mine from the start?"
Hearing this, LeBlanc smiled. "Is that so? Was Number One also low-grade?"
"Number One?"
Vladimir turned around again, his slightly flickering red eyes looking at LeBlanc. "You sent her out this time too?"
"Of course. She had been locked in that little dark room for too long, so I thought I would let her go out and move around." LeBlanc spoke slowly. "Only, I did not expect a small accident this time."
Vladimir asked calmly, "What accident?"
LeBlanc replied, "Number One defected."
This time, even Vladimir's eyes showed surprise. Then he frowned slightly. "Number One defected?"
Why did those words sound so awkward when put together?
Number One was the second work born from his experiments.
Number Zero was Sion.
Based on his understanding of Number One, those words truly sounded rather unbelievable.
LeBlanc said, "Yes. That child must have received some benefit from Demacia. She turned around and killed quite a few Noxians."
After quietly listening, Vladimir's brow relaxed. He did not show much more concern. "There are all sorts of strange things in this world. Number One did not even listen to us, so naturally she is not entirely on Noxus's side either. Demacia likely used some special method to control her. What interests me more is what method they used."
LeBlanc asked, "And Number One? Don't you think it's a shame?"
"What is there to pity?"
Vladimir looked at her and said with a flat expression, "There is no denying that Number One provided great contributions to my later experiments. But she was not perfect, nor could she be called a masterpiece. Since I could create one Number One, I can create more Number Ones. What concerns me is the hemomancy inside her body. That absolutely cannot fall into Demacia's hands."
Even if the probability of those Demacians who had only just come into contact with magic successfully analyzing hemomancy was less than one tenth of one percent, he still did not want to see that possibility.
Because in his long life, he had once seen that one tenth of one percent happen.
LeBlanc listened quietly to the end, and a smile curled her lips. "You really are a heartless man. Your blood flows inside her body. In a certain sense, she is your only living relative."
This statement made Vladimir pause slightly. Then he smiled faintly. "You are right. She is the only one who possesses my true blood. But precisely because of that, I cannot allow her to remain in this world any longer."
He closed his eyes and began to sense the location of those drops of his true blood.
Back then, for the experiment to succeed, he had not hesitated to use his incomparably precious true blood. Although it could be reclaimed, after Number One was born, she fused with those drops of true blood.
Unless she was killed directly, it could no longer be reclaimed.
Viewed this way, it was indeed he who had given Number One life. His blood flowed inside her body.
A relative?
Those two words flashed through Vladimir's mind. He could no longer remember just how distant such a word was to him.
A girl's face flashed in his mind, and Vladimir smoothly sensed his true blood.
Hemomancy absolutely could not fall into Demacia's hands. So even if he could not reclaim those few drops of true blood, Vladimir would not allow them to be defiled.
Back then, he had personally carved the hemomancy inside Number One's body.
So to prevent such accidents from occurring, he had also quietly planted a seed, so that he could destroy it all at any time and place.
The magical power of hemomancy surged over Vladimir's body. After completing all of this, he opened his eyes calmly, still carrying that lofty elegance and tranquility.
LeBlanc looked at him curiously. "Is it over?"
Vladimir said, "It will be."
His tone carried unquestionable confidence, as if everything had already settled into dust.
LeBlanc sighed softly. "Then will I never again see her cute, crazy little face?"
"If you think it is such a pity, you can always go down and accompany her."
Vladimir glanced at her flatly. "Is there anything else?"
So LeBlanc said, "Darkwill is anxious. His lifespan is nearing its end, and yet a powerful enemy stands before him. If this drags on any longer, I feel he might want to put on armor and take the field himself."
"If he is anxious, then he can keep waiting. Does he think manufacturing a weapon whose strength increases more than tenfold out of nowhere is simple?"
Vladimir's expression remained calm.
The cries of the weapons in the cells reached LeBlanc's ears. They were far more unpleasant than that little one's cries back then. LeBlanc frowned slightly. "Will they only ever howl endlessly like this?"
Vladimir's gaze was calm as he said, "This is the price of using hemomancy. If mortals wish to suddenly obtain great power, they must inevitably bear an equal cost."
"To trade humanity's most important wisdom for terrifying power, who knows whether it is a profit or a loss."
The corner of LeBlanc's mouth curled into a smile. Suddenly, she thought of something interesting. "Tell me, if among these works of yours, one suddenly appeared that possessed both wisdom and power, wouldn't that make it the same as you?"
The offense in those words made Vladimir glance at her with a frown. However, the cultivation and arrogance carved into his bones prevented him from getting angry. He merely said flatly, "That is impossible. You must understand that when hemomancy reforges a person's body, it destroys their cranial nerves along with it. Powerful strength can indeed restore their physical bodies, but it cannot restore wisdom as well."
"Wisdom is the greatest product born from humanity. It grants humans unimaginable possibilities. Precisely because of that, it is unique and most precious. At the same time, it is also fragile. Once it is completely destroyed, that loss is irreversible."
Vladimir remembered how he had once tried to analyze and explore the mysteries of human wisdom.
For example, why did humans give birth to wisdom?
Why did humans think?
Why could humans imagine all kinds of bizarre things?
Why did people form connections with one another?
In the end, he gave up.
Because he realized that even he himself was merely one of the countless beings beneath this "wisdom." It was wisdom that had granted him the possibility of thinking about "wisdom."
It was like a circle whose end could never be reached, something that could not be explored or understood.
"Even if the kind of situation you describe were to appear, you must understand something. Do not lump me together with them. I gave them life. To them, I am God."
Vladimir's eyes carried supreme arrogance, the gaze of one standing at the pinnacle of life and looking down upon all things.
His nature was so proud that he would no longer become angry simply because LeBlanc compared him to a few test subjects.
LeBlanc listened with only a gentle smile on her lips, her eyes flickering.
She was rather looking forward to the day when this situation truly occurred and appeared before Vladimir. What kind of expression would he show then?
"If there is nothing else, don't disturb me. Tell Darkwill that in four days, there will be at least one hundred living weapons."
Vladimir turned around and continued working on his preparations at the experiment table.
The later batches of living weapons no longer needed his true blood. They only needed specially prepared potions.
In the border mountains, the Demacian army was on the march.
Briar skipped along the way, full of energy as she followed the troops, looking extremely happy.
To her, these past few days had indeed been truly happy.
Because she had gained many friends and, for the first time, felt what it was like to be accepted.
Just then, she felt a pain in her heart. A strange feeling kept surging up, causing her to freeze in place at once.
Lux was the first to notice Briar stop and could not help asking, "What's wrong?"
The smile vanished from Briar's face. She clutched her chest and shook her head. "I feel really bad."
The moment she finished speaking, her eyes had already grown unfocused, and she fell straight backward.
Quick-eyed and quick-handed, Quinn caught her, only to be startled. "She's burning up!"
This sudden situation drew Luke and the others over as well. Looking at Briar, who had fallen unconscious in an instant, no one understood what had happened.
But there was no time to think too much. They first found a flat place and had Briar lie down.
Luke placed his hand on her forehead and indeed felt an astonishing heat, like fire.
And right now, Briar's entire body was enduring that heat.
He released his frost sword intent, planning to first find a way to help Briar cool down, but it did not seem to have any effect.
Pain appeared on Briar's face, as if she were desperately enduring something.
Only a few seconds passed, and the heat on Briar's body had already reached the point where steam began to rise from her.
Her pale skin began to turn red, as if she were inside a steamer.
Annie was not afraid of heat, so she reached out her little hand and placed it on Briar. At the same time, she asked Tibbers in her heart and soon received an answer.
Then she said uneasily, "Inside Briar, a terrifying magic is self-immolating. Once it finishes burning…"
Annie did not dare continue.
But everyone already understood the result.
Once the self-immolation ended, Briar would likely evaporate along with it.
Although they had only known her for a few days, no one disliked this girl who smiled with a mouthful of sharp teeth and yet had an incredibly straightforward and innocent personality.
At this moment, they all showed concern.
"Hemomancy?"
The moment Annie mentioned magic, Luke had already guessed that it was very likely the hemomancy inside Briar causing trouble.
It was highly possible that news of Briar joining Demacia had already reached Noxus, and they had activated corresponding emergency measures.
That was, destroying Briar.
But Luke's medical skills could not deal with this sort of magic, and for a moment, he could not think of a solution.
"In any case, stop this self-immolation first. At the very least, we can't let it continue."
Luke looked toward Sona.
Sona nodded and immediately began playing her etwahl. Melodies flowed outward one after another, and her magic also entered Briar's body.
She had already come into contact with hemomancy a few days ago. Back then, she had recognized that it was an extremely dangerous forbidden magic.
At this moment, she could sense even more clearly that inside Briar, the hemomancy was operating wildly, constantly squeezing Briar's vitality, carrying the risk of exploding at any moment.
She sensed Briar's location. At this moment, the girl was trapped within the hemomancy, struggling hard against it.
Seeing this, Sona immediately joined the battlefield and helped Briar suppress the hemomancy together.
But this mysterious magic was far too powerful. Even Sona felt a sense of helplessness.
She could not hold on for too long.
Just then, a gentle light fell, radiating incomparable warmth, allowing Sona to relax a little.
Unafraid of the burning-hot Briar, Lux placed her hand on Briar's forehead, and a soft light shone from her palm.
Light was an incredibly wondrous element. It not only possessed extremely strong destructive power, but also spread radiance across the world and brought hope to countless people.
At this moment, Lux's understanding of light became several degrees deeper.
But even with Lux's help, Sona knew that all they could do was delay time.
Everything depended on Briar, because this was the power inside her body. If even she could not control it, then no one could help her.
Annie did not yet understand enough about magic and could not help at this moment. She could only watch anxiously and with concern.
The same was true of Quinn, Poppy, and Luke.
Luke kept thinking. "Is there any other way?"
Just then, Yurna, who stood behind him, suddenly spoke. "Your Highness, I remember she is a vampire."
Briar being a vampire was no longer any kind of secret.
After all, if they wanted everyone to accept her from the heart, they needed to know everything about her.
The soldiers already knew that she was the product of Noxian human experimentation, and they felt deep sympathy for her.
Some soldiers had even wanted to donate blood to her. After all, they were all strong and sturdy people. It was not as if they had never bled before. Losing a little was nothing.
However, Luke had not agreed. He usually only found Briar some beast blood to drink.
Because she herself was not at the point where she could not survive without blood. Blood simply gave her more powerful abilities.
So there was not much difference between human blood and beast blood.
At this moment, hearing Yurna's words, Luke thought briefly. Then he extended his hand and used a dagger to cut open his palm.
Perhaps human blood and beast blood were different?
No matter what, he had to bleed a little today.
Blood dyed Luke's palm red. Then, with his fist clenched, he aimed it at Briar's slightly open mouth.
Soon, crimson blood gathered into a line, flowed out, and dripped into Briar's mouth.
Briar seemed to sense something and began swallowing thirstily.
Unexpectedly, it very quickly had an effect. The heat on Briar's body actually stabilized, as if it were beginning to ease.
Seeing that it worked, Lux could not help urging, "It seems to be working. Give yourself a couple more cuts."
Luke looked at her speechlessly. Since it wasn't your blood being spilled, you really don't feel bad at all, do you?
Seeing that Quinn and the others also seemed to be planning to shed some blood, Luke spoke first. "Wait for now. It seems to be working."
Briar's expression no longer looked so pained, and the blood dripping from Luke's palm had not stopped.
With his current constitution, losing a little blood naturally was nothing. Besides, in the past, he had soaked in medicinal baths and the like whenever he had the chance.
For a vampire, the blood in his body was probably an incredible tonic.
In truth, to Briar, it was not as simple as an incredible tonic.
At this moment, her consciousness was hazy, but she felt that as incomparably fragrant blood entered her body, it immediately transformed into a wondrous energy.
Then it slowly flowed through her body, traveling to every corner.
Gradually, she recovered some consciousness. At this moment, it was as if she were in another world, surrounded by a blood-red heaven and earth.
And within this world, an enormous and profound power of hemomancy was operating, radiating endless red light.
As for her, she was tightly wrapped in that red light, as if she had been swallowed, unable to move.
Briar knew Vladimir must have done something.
He was the one who had turned her into this.
Now, he wanted to destroy her again.
Briar was helpless. She did not know how to fight hemomancy at all. She felt that after a little more time passed, she might be utterly destroyed.
She could not help wanting to cry, but Milissa's gentle smile suddenly flashed through her mind.
She held back her tears and told herself she had to become strong.
Thick hatred surged in her chest. She gritted her teeth tightly and remembered Vladimir's appearance.
She still had not taken revenge. She absolutely could not die here.
As another stream of blood continuously supplied her with power, the hatred filling Briar's chest broke through its shackles, and she struggled free from her restraints.
The next second, all the magic in this blood-red world surged into Briar's shell.
These things seemed to come from an ancient era, filled with the accumulated weight of time.
In a short span of time, Briar felt her brain swell from the pressure, pain pulsing through it.
And within this magic, Briar sensed a great amount of deep, profound, and complex hemomancy knowledge. With the current her, she could only understand the tip of the iceberg.
Suddenly, more memory fragments flashed through her mind.
She saw Vladimir again, but this time, the pale-skinned man was kneeling there respectfully.
In the direction he bowed, upon a throne, sat a massive creature like a god, radiating a powerful pressure. With a gaze that looked down upon all things, it stared down at Vladimir below and then bestowed upon him a mysterious power.
Around them was an enormous army, as if it could destroy everything.
Another memory fragment flashed by. She saw that powerful creature fighting another powerful creature.
How magnificent their battle was. The earth split apart, the heavens and earth changed color, as if the end of the world had come.
In the end, the first powerful creature won, but it was also covered in wounds and severely injured.
Suddenly, a precious sword pierced the powerful creature's heart. Vladimir appeared in the scene. With scarlet eyes flickering, he pulled out the sword and stabbed again.
His betrayal came very suddenly.
But even severely injured, the dignity of that powerful creature was not something Vladimir could trample upon. It was incomparably enraged, and before death, it erupted with terrifying power, nearly disintegrating Vladimir on the spot.
In only an instant, Vladimir suffered severe injuries. However, he still accomplished his goal.
While he was on the verge of disintegration, Vladimir absorbed drop after drop of incredibly crimson blood from the powerful creature's body, each drop the size of a palm.
That blood seemed to possess the power to turn decay into wonder. Vladimir's heavily wounded body, his eyes that had nearly been robbed of light, and his severed arm were soon completely restored.
That powerful creature died. It died at Vladimir's hands.
A mighty existence had fallen in such a lonely way. Briar suddenly understood. This seemed to be Vladimir's origin.
And the power he used was hemomancy.
Now, the gates to hemomancy seemed to have opened before her.
Briar immediately chose to accept it. She believed hemomancy would be her hope for revenge.
When Briar began trying to understand hemomancy, she soon felt that the way she interacted with hemomancy had changed.
It was no longer that it provided power to her. Instead, she was beginning to control it and make it provide power for her.
This was a very strange feeling. Even though it seemed as if there were no difference on the surface, the result was different.
The next second, Briar opened her eyes and saw pairs of concerned eyes all around her. At the same time, she felt that she was lying on a transport wagon.
"You're finally awake. How do you feel?"
Lux asked with concern.
Briar felt that her lips were sweet. She instinctively licked them and could still taste Luke's blood. Then she sat up, blinking blankly. "I feel much better…"
Not just much better. Far, far better.
She felt that her body from before and her current body were completely different things.
Previously, her body had always been driven by hemomancy, creating a strange feeling that made her unable to resist wanting to destroy everything and pushed her toward madness.
But now, she could no longer feel that.
Aside from a body that seemed even more powerful, she could clearly sense the hemomancy circulating within her, and she could control it at any time.
Raising her head, she found Luke. Her gaze became even more affectionate, and with one leap, she pounced toward him, spreading her arms and legs as if wanting to thank him intimately.
She clearly understood that if not for Luke's blood, there was no way she could have endured this.
However, Luke stopped her in midair and pressed her back onto the wagon. "You finally woke up. Rest properly."
Thinking of everything she had just seen, Briar could not wait to share it. "I think I know how to use hemomancy now. There's so, so much knowledge in my head, but I can't understand it."
Luke looked at her and smiled. "In any case, it's good that you're fine."
Briar froze for a moment. Seeing the concern from everyone around her, she felt warmth in her heart.
Compared to hemomancy, what they cared about more was her safety.
At this moment, Briar sincerely wanted to belong here. She hoped she could use this newly obtained power to protect every companion.
Only after confirming that Briar's condition was fine did Luke remember what she had said about hemomancy.
"You're saying you suddenly know how to use hemomancy? What happened?"
He asked, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.
If he remembered correctly, Briar was only a product born from hemomancy.
Now, after falling strangely ill, she had suddenly grasped how to use hemomancy?
"I don't know what happened either…"
Briar shook her head and recalled the situation at that time. "After I drank your blood, all those red lights suddenly drilled into my body, and then I saw some memories that didn't belong to me. After that, there was a whole lot of hemomancy information. Maybe if I drink a few more mouthfuls of your blood, I'll remember even more!"
As she spoke, her eyes suddenly lit up and she looked at Luke, her hint extremely obvious.
"Then you don't need to remember."
Luke glanced at her and said, "Tell me about the memories you saw."
Briar let out a disappointed oh and began describing the scenes she had seen.
She did not know many words, so the story she told was not especially exciting. It only allowed everyone to imagine some of the scenes.
"A massive creature with powerful strength?"
Lux listened curiously and began imagining it, filling in many different forms in her mind.
After hearing everything, Luke did guess a little of the situation. "It was probably a Darkin."
"Darkin?"
When those words fell, Lux was confused for a moment. She felt as if she had heard it somewhere before.
"They're those powerful beings in legends who were like gods. There are more related legends over in Shurima. Supposedly, they nearly destroyed Runeterra."
Luke explained.
Lux nodded in realization. "Now that you mention it, I think I remember. So they were real?"
Naturally, such legends existed, even if only a small number of people had heard of them.
"Of course they were real."
Luke smiled.
More than real. He had even once met one.
That one had been sleeping inside a shield. If it had not been for the fact that its strength after waking was far too weak, and the vessel it occupied was not much to speak of, Luke might have died there back then.
To the people of Runeterra in ancient times, Darkin were like nightmares.
Back then, they had nearly destroyed Runeterra. That was not legend, but something that had truly happened.
It was only that history, after enough time passed, developed gaps, causing many people to no longer realize the danger posed by the Darkin.
Some Darkin had already fallen, such as the one Briar had seen in those memories.
But there were also some Darkin sealed inside various weapons. Their bodies had been destroyed, but their immortal will endured.
After hearing Luke's explanation, Lux looked worried and afraid. "Then if they're sealed inside weapons, what if they wake up one day?"
"For all we know, some might already have woken up." Luke looked at her suspicious little face and smiled. "Don't be afraid. When the time comes, let them know that Miss Crownguard isn't easy to mess with either. Whoever dares act arrogant in front of you, just blast them straight in the face."
After hearing this, Lux nodded seriously, seeming thoughtful, her sparkling eyes already starting to brew something.
"In any case, being able to control hemomancy is a good thing."
Luke looked at Briar and smiled.
With his current level, it was still far too early for him to worry about the Darkin.
Just as he said, perhaps some had already awakened, and perhaps some were still sleeping inside weapons.
But in the future, there would definitely come a day when all of these Darkin revived.
Briar nodded, blinked, and said, "Does everyone want to learn? I can teach you."
"No need. Hemomancy is a forbidden magic. It should not be spread. Only you are the one chosen by it. From now on, you need to master it properly."
Luke shook his head, with no intention of studying hemomancy.
He could absolutely have Briar teach the hemomancy she had mastered to more people, thereby obtaining a powerful army of hemomancers.
But he knew it was best not to do that.
Even those Darkin, powerful as they were, the Ascended they once were, would not casually pass hemomancy on to mortals.
Clearly, they knew the consequences of doing so.
Briar learning hemomancy was truly a matter of helplessness, or perhaps chance.
Since that was the case, it was enough for her to master it herself.
As for hemomancy, the fewer people who knew about it, the better.
Regarding this, Lux, Sona, and the others felt the same. When they had helped Briar ease the pressure just now, they had likewise sensed the terror of this forbidden power.
This kind of dangerous power was only suitable for someone as simple-minded as Briar to control.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 30 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810