"If it's convenient, I'd rather speak to him directly over video call."
As Duke spoke to Camille through the screen, she nodded with her usual grace, turned aside, and gave a soft command to someone off-screen. Moments later, her orders were being carried out.
"How are things in Shurima?"
Camille's tone carried a hint of concern. Duke took a swig from his flask, scratching the back of his head.
"To be honest? Not great."
"Oh? Tell me, child," Camille leaned forward, adopting the gentle posture of a listener. "You know I'm always here to hear your troubles."
"It's not really trouble, just… a lot of things happening at once."
Duke gave her a quick rundown of recent events — his encounter with Bel'Veth and Samira, his time with the little sparrow in Kennece, the ambush by the Ascended Viekora, and the battle against the Void that had only just ended.
"It sounds like you've had quite a week."
"I've had worse."
Duke took another gulp, set his flask down, and propped his legs up on the console. Lighting a cigar, he muttered, "It's just that with Pride and Wrath gone from my side, I've got a bit of a headache."
"Worried about them?"
"No. I'm worried about what kind of mess they'll cause."
He drew in a long breath, exhaling a stream of indigo smoke.
"The Seven Deadly Sins were born from me — shaped by my hands and given souls. That means each of them carries fragments of my darker nature. In a way, they're all reflections of who I am."
"Pride embodies my contempt for mortals, Wrath my insatiable hunger for knowledge and power, and Rage—" he paused, eyes narrowing, "—Rage carries my most primal brutality."
"I forged them like a blacksmith tempers steel, melting down my shadow and pouring it into their beings. Whether I like it or not, they are my darkness given form."
"And without me around," Duke sighed, rubbing his temples, "they're wild horses — unpredictable, uncontrollable. I have no idea where that might lead."
"The worst one is Pride," he added grimly. "He and I have merged before. That connection made him even more like me."
"Wrath is manageable — a modified creation, less influenced by my essence. But Pride… that boy's something else. As the first of the Seven, he's unique. Leaving him on his own makes me uneasy."
He could already imagine the worst: arriving too late, finding Pride had slaughtered an entire city.
If he wasn't there to rein him in, that child absolutely would.
"A parent's worry is endless," Camille said softly. "But perhaps it's time to let them find their own paths?"
Her voice turned thoughtful. "This might be an opportunity — a necessary one."
"I'll think about it."
Just then, the sound of a door opening drew Duke's attention. Jax had arrived. "I'll talk to Jax first. Get some rest, Camille."
"Very well. Don't stay up too late."
Camille faded from the screen, replaced moments later by Jax's figure — the man still holding, of all things, a boiled egg.
"You've been gone a while, Jax."
"I needed time to think, Duke."
Peeling the egg with unhurried calm, Jax replied, "And now, I have my answer."
"Your being here already is your answer," Duke said with a faint grin.
"Fair enough."
Jax shrugged. His mind replayed the sight of Duke single-handedly eradicating nearly a hundred thousand Argonian locusts — the same day he'd redrawn Demacia's southern border with nothing but sheer force.
"The power you showed that day… it shook me, Duke."
Jax's tone had lost its earlier ease, now heavy with sincerity.
"Your methods remind me of the Archmage-Kings of ancient Icathia — terrifying, magnificent, awe-inspiring. So, I've made up my mind."
He removed his mask, revealing a scarred, almost monstrous face — but his eyes, beneath it all, were still bright and clear.
"If you can deliver what I seek, then I'll fight for you."
"I've got something to show you."
Duke sent over a file — the recording of the Reality Annihilation Bomb. Jax glanced at the tablet, confused.
"Tap the button in the middle," Duke's voice came through the speaker. "Then you'll see what you want to see."
Jax did as instructed. The screen flickered to life — and in the next instant, his breath caught.
Before his eyes, the Reality Annihilation Bomb erased everything — all traces of the Xer'Sai, the Voidspawn, gone in a single flash.
For a long while, the grandmaster warrior said nothing. Then, with a heavy exhale, he finally spoke.
"What price must I pay to wield that kind of power?"
Duke shook his head slowly, puffing a ring of blue smoke. "That's my strongest weapon — for now."
Jax understood immediately. Duke's tone carried an unspoken promise: this wasn't his limit. He would surpass it — again and again.
"The future holds stronger weapons," Jax murmured.
"That's right," Duke smiled faintly. "For now, just show Camille what you can do. She'll handle your next steps."
"Then we have a deal."
"Good." Duke raised his flask slightly. "To cooperation."
"To cooperation."
They both smiled. Jax took another bite of his egg, chatting idly for a while longer before the call ended.
As the screen dimmed, Duke tossed away his cigar. The cleaning drone swept it up as he picked his flask back up, eyes half-lidded, thoughts drifting somewhere far away.
——
West of Viekora, buried beneath dunes of golden sand, lay an ancient, forgotten city.
BOOM!
A thunderous impact split the still air, shaking loose cascades of sand from the crumbling ruins.
A massive draconic beast stood upright, its scales gleaming red and gold. In one clawed hand, it gripped a long halberd; in the other, a colossal battle axe.
"Step back, jackal!"
Pride's guttural voice rumbled like thunder. "Interfere with my search for my brother again, and I will bring you death and ruin!"
He had been following Duke's orders — tracking down Wrath to regroup — when fate led him to an unexpected encounter with Nasus.
Because Pride had once crossed paths with a gravely wounded Sivir, he carried a faint trace of Ascended blood. Though nearly faded, that scent was enough for Nasus to notice.
And so, their confrontation began.
Through the eye of his axe, Nasus studied the dragon before him — its presence, its power, its arrogant glare — a creature not unlike his kin from ages past.
Its aura, its strength, its sheer will to dominate — if not for the long-passed age of the Ascended, he might have truly mistaken Pride for one of his own.
"You bear the scent of Ascension," Nasus rumbled. "Tell me — where is she?"
"You have no right to ask me anything."
Pride shoved Nasus backward, his halberd spinning as it carved through the air — a line of deadly light cutting the darkness. Nasus dodged aside just in time, the strike gouging a deep trench into the sand.
Nasus brought his axe down from above. "If you won't speak, I'll make you!"
"There's only one person in this world who can make me speak — my father!"
Pride's roar echoed through the ruins. His scales shuddered, arcs of electricity crackling across his body, steam hissing through his fangs.
"All others can do nothing but look up to me!"
Ignoring the descending axe, Pride charged straight into Nasus's attack, eyes glowing red with fury — and for a brief moment, Nasus hesitated.
In that face, that rage — he saw his brother, Renekton.
The lapse cost him dearly. Pride's dark halberd flashed like lightning, piercing through Nasus's chest. Obsidian-black blood splattered as Nasus howled in pain.
"Do not test my patience, dragon!"
Nasus seized Pride's shoulder, swinging his massive axe toward the drake's neck.
"Call me Pride. Call me Original Sin. Call me Death itself!"
The weapon crashed against Pride's armor — sparks exploded, metal shrieked. Even an Ascended's weapon couldn't cut through the armor Duke had forged with his own hands.
"Look up to me, jackal!"
Pride's tail lashed out like a steel whip, slamming into Nasus. He spun midair, his halberd dancing in a blur of strikes, meeting the jackal god blow for blow.
If Nasus wished to fight in the old way — raw, primal — Pride would meet him as an equal.
That was his pride.
His father had created him — and he would never let his father down.
Sparks rained across the desert as their weapons clashed again and again.
"Enough!"
Nasus stomped the ground, blue runes flaring outward in intricate patterns. The symbols connected into a vast totem that lit up the entire battlefield.
"Tell me where the Ascended bloodline is!"
"I said, look up to me!"
Pride's throat glowed with searing light — and he unleashed his ion breath.
"Jackal!"
Feeling the wave of destruction coming for him, Nasus spun his axe in defense. The sand around him erupted into a whirling tempest, forming a shield to block the blast.
The storm rose higher, becoming a colossal sandstorm that could strip flesh from bone.
Drawing strength from the desert's fury, Nasus's body swelled with energy, his muscles and form expanding as the spirit of the desert poured its rage into him.
The ground trembled as he towered above, a living monument of wrath and flame.
Facing him, Pride's body crackled with lightning. His form expanded, crystal spines bursting from his scales as he glared defiantly at the god before him.
"Come then, jackal!" Pride roared, raising his halberd. "Let me measure your worth!"
End of chapter....
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