Arcane: Twin Cities Mechanic

As the blinding white light began to fade, Kayle and Morgana flew to the epicenter of the explosion. 

In the distance, they spotted a severely damaged steel giant, barely recognizable as humanoid, with parts vaporized and molten beyond repair. 

Before it, Leona stood in a daze, staring at the towering wreckage. "It even withstood an explosion hotter than the sun itself... What kind of monster is this?" 

Kayle and Morgana landed behind her. 

"Dawnbringer," Kayle greeted her curtly, while Morgana wasted no time flying to the top section of the mech. She scanned the remnants of the fusion reactor's energy and quickly located the cockpit. 

Tearing through the fused metal shell, Morgana found nothing but wreckage—damaged circuits, motionless mechanical arms, and no sign of Li Lin. 

Relief washed over her as her heart, heavy with dread, lightened. It seemed Li Lin had escaped in time. 

Morgana glanced back at Kayle and accidentally met Leona's gaze. 

Leona, visibly taken aback, asked, "You... know this thing?" 

"To be precise, we know the mech's owner," Kayle said gravely. 

Morgana added, "His name is Li Lin, an Ionian inventor from Piltover. Recently, he was a guest in Demacia." 

"Piltover… Ionia… Demacia… a mech?" Leona murmured, repeating the names as if trying to piece them together. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't connect them. 

"What exactly is going on?" she asked, turning to Kayle. "That 'sun' explosion—could it have been Azir?" 

The news of Azir's resurrection and the revival of the Sun Disc in the heart of Shurima had not escaped the Solari atop Mount Targon, and Leona was well aware of it. 

The Sun Disc's power stemmed from the sun, albeit in a way quite different from her own. If she had to link the explosion to a deity, Azir was the first to come to mind. 

"Azir is not capable of something like this," Kayle replied, casting a glance at Morgana, her helmet glowing faintly, though she revealed little else. 

[This mech seems beyond repair. We need to find Li Lin,] Morgana said to Kayle telepathically. 

[But doesn't his armor have teleportation magic? We have no idea where he's gone. In this endless desert, where do we even start looking?] Kayle's response left Morgana silent for a moment. 

[Perhaps we should ask Azir,] she finally suggested. 

With the magical energy in the air previously drained by Xerath, even the faintest magical currents were now noticeable. 

Leona raised an eyebrow, her curiosity growing as her gaze darted between Kayle's helmet and Morgana's face. She refrained from speaking, though, out of courtesy toward her fellow celestial hosts. 

"We're going to find Azir and ask him. Are you coming?" Morgana tilted her head toward Leona. 

Leona closed her eyes and sensed the eastward direction. Azir and his army were roughly two hundred kilometers away, and now that the explosion's aftershocks had subsided, the Shuriman emperor seemed to be approaching this area. 

"It seems he's already on his way," Leona said, reopening her eyes and addressing the angelic sisters. 

Not long after, as the swirling sands began filling the ruins of Nerimazeth, Azir arrived, gliding forward on his currents of sand. He quickly scanned the desolate wasteland that was once a city, his gaze lingering on Morgana, Kayle, and Leona. His golden eyes glowed faintly, lingering momentarily on the Dawnbringer, who also bore the gift of the sun. He said nothing, though. 

Next, he commanded the flowing sands to crawl up the edges of the wrecked Gaboga mech and reached its cockpit. 

"Where is Li Lin?" Azir's voice carried the weight of an emperor—majestic, yet tinged with hoarseness and sorrow. 

Judging by the aftermath of the explosion, Azir believed no god, not even Xerath, could have survived it. By that logic, Li Lin stood no chance. Yet, unwillingly, his mind conjured the haunting image of the young inventor engulfed in solar flames, vaporized instantly—just as he had been when Xerath once cast him into the Sunfire. 

It shouldn't have ended this way... 

Azir's heart was heavy. 

"That's what we were going to ask you," Morgana replied sharply, realizing from his tone that Azir, too, knew Li Lin. 

Azir looked momentarily stunned. "You star Aspects know him as well?" 

Leona's eyes grew even more curious. Just who was this Li Lin, that even Shurima's emperor and two celestial hosts were so concerned about him? 

"Now isn't the time for idle talk," Morgana interrupted impatiently. 

"He wasn't in the cockpit when we arrived," Kayle added. 

Morgana followed up, "His armor has teleportation capabilities. With your mastery over sand, you should be able to find him." 

Azir froze momentarily before silently extending his senses through the sands beneath his feet, expanding his search. 

Yet instead of locating Li Lin, he picked up a familiar, sinister aura. 

"This is impossible!" Azir exclaimed, his voice trembling. "Xerath is still alive?" 

Before the angel sisters and Leona could react, he immediately swung his sharp spear-staff and summoned an ancient sand beast imbued with Sand magic, which burrowed into the earth.

In no time, with a burst of blue arcane light, a nearly transparent arcane energy sphere erupted from the ground.

"Ha, ha... cough, cough... Nothing, nothing can stop me! Cough, cough... Not even the sun!" Xerath's weak voice intermittently came from within the arcane energy sphere.

By all means, he should not have survived the explosion of a nuclear fusion missile with his own strength.

However, at the critical moment of life and death, Xerath dispelled most of his power and, regardless of everything, burrowed underground, using the earth's magic veins to barely preserve his life.

Even so, his life was hanging by a thread. His strength had dwindled to near nothing, and he could barely maintain a human form. He was incapable of fighting.

Just as he broke through the surface, Azir's sand chains and prison cage locked around him tightly, leaving him no room to escape.

"Cough, cough... Even if you bring that, that fool who is willing to sacrifice herself for you, you still... still can't kill me!" Xerath laughed wildly. "Even if I lie dormant underground for a thousand years, once I gather enough power... I'll break through the seal again!"

"Once you're in my hands, do you think I'll give you another chance?" Azir's voice was filled with anger.

Nearby, the angel sisters gasped in surprise, "What is this?"

Unlike them, Leona wasn't overly shocked.

Having grown up on Mount Targon, she had heard many tales. Aside from the celestial spirits worshipped there, she was naturally aware of the fall of Shurima thousands of years ago.

In particular, the enmity between Azir and Xerath was widely spoken of in Shurima. The story was even documented in the Sun Disc sect.

"A traitor!" Azir snorted coldly, directing all his fury at the now frail Xerath.

The star magic-infused sand continued to pass through Xerath's energy body, torturing his spirit and making him cry out in agony.

In Azir's mind, this was just the beginning.

If Li Lin truly died because of Xerath, he would never forgive this wretch!

"Tormenting him now is pointless. We should first find the 'Li Lin' you mentioned," Leona said impatiently.

From the star energy she sensed in Azir's divine body, it was clear that he couldn't release an explosion exceeding the temperature of the sun's core by several times.

Combining this with the reaction of the angel sisters, Leona guessed that this incident likely had something to do with this "Li Lin" they spoke of.

What confused her most, however, was how a mere mortal could have done all of this?!

Leona's question was soon answered.

As Azir used the sands to search for Li Lin's trace, a large arcane teleportation circle appeared on the ground not far from them.

They all turned to look, and after about the length of an average person's breath, another severely damaged Titan appeared in their sight.

At the same time, Li Lin's cheerful voice came through the mech, reaching their ears: "Oh, so you're all here?" 

(End of this chapter)

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