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"We must first understand what is sealed inside."
Ryan dismissed Ezreal's proposal and motioned for the group to examine the mural on the wall.
The walls of the ancient structure depicted a tale of war.
The Ascended, god-like warriors wielding an array of weapons floated mid-air.
Opposing them were grotesque, dark-purple creatures with distorted and monstrous forms.
These abominations seemed endless, pouring forth from a massive crack in the earth.
Their countless sharp tentacles reached out, blotting out the sky, desperately trying to shred the Ascended.
In the following murals, outside the towering city walls, the battlefield was strewn with the bodies of countless creatures.
The Ascended appeared weary, their divine forms dimmed by exhaustion.
Amid the carnage, several weapons radiating the brilliance of the sun lay abandoned.
Their wielders—once mighty and radiant—were no longer present in the later murals.
In the final panels, the crack had been sealed. The last remaining Ascended, their form battered but resolute, unleashed their full strength to eradicate the invading creatures.
The city was saved, but at an unimaginable cost.
"An ancient war... You can feel its tragedy and grandeur through these images," Seraphine murmured, her voice soft and reverent.
Even though it was merely a record etched into stone, she could sense the lingering echoes of the Ascended's powerful souls.
They shone like blazing suns, illuminating the earth in their final stand.
"This is a complete story... but is there a missing piece?" Ezreal speculated aloud, his curiosity piqued.
He couldn't contain the spark of adventure that burned within him.
"The story didn't happen here," Ryan said, his gaze fixed on the murals.
With the knowledge he had gathered from the Immortal Bastion, he pieced together the tale.
"It happened in... Icathia."
"Icathia?" Ezreal's expression shifted.
"The most dangerous forbidden zone in the south eastern corner of the Shuriman continent? The one filled with unspeakable horrors? No one who goes there ever comes back alive."
For a moment, Ezreal considered abandoning the entire endeavor.
He loved adventure, but he wasn't about to risk his life needlessly—especially since his name had yet to be sung across the world.
"It is said that, during the ancient Shuriman empire, Icathia sought to rebel against Shurima's Ascended and unleashed a forbidden catastrophe," Ryan recalled, piecing together fragments of ancient texts.
"The war ended in Shurima's victory," he continued.
"But nearly half of the Ascended, including their queen, perished. Icathia, in its folly, was utterly annihilated. Not a single trace of its civilization survived. To this day, the land remains a cursed wasteland, filled with the remnants of that calamity."
Ezreal frowned, muttering, "So... there might still be some of those dark-purple, worm-like horrors left. Gross."
"Everything here remains unknown," Ryan said, his eyes fixed on the massive sandstone door before them.
The door bore carvings worn smooth by the passage of millennia.
"But since we're here, this door, untouched for thousands of years, deserves to be opened."
"I'll handle it! No one's life is as meaningful—or as handsome—as mine, Ezreal!"
The explorer declared confidently, rushing to the door.
He pushed, pulled, and even knocked on the sandstone surface, but the door remained unmoving.
"Damn it... guess it's time to go big!"
Arcane energy gathered on his armguard, illuminating the dim chamber.
"Let Orianna handle this," Ryan interjected quietly.
Ezreal froze mid-cast. The arcane light on his armguard fizzled out as he stepped aside, muttering under his breath.
It wasn't like he was scared, of course. He just didn't want to risk anyone's safety.
And it definitely wasn't because the door was cursed... probably.
DENG!
Ezreal's jaw dropped as the door began to creak open.
"Wait... I pushed it too!" he exclaimed, incredulous.
"Why is it opening now?!"
"If we calculate based on the strength of an ordinary person, it would take approximately 30 times that effort to open this door," Orianna analyzed, her eyes flashing with hextech rays.
"Thirty times? So, it would take the strength of about thirty Miss Seraphines?" Ezreal quipped, smirking as he tried to deflect his earlier struggles.
Ryan noted the information, contemplating what it revealed about ancient Shurima. This level of resistance likely represented some sort of benchmark for their advanced engineering.
"See? Definitely not my fault," Ezreal chuckled nervously, attempting to salvage his pride.
He flexed his armguard as though testing its power.
"With this baby, though, I could blow that door apart in no time. Yep, I've got the strength!"
The door creaked slowly as it was pushed further open, and a fiery red glow emanated from the widening gap.
The sight made the group pause in cautious anticipation.
"It's... spectacular," Ezreal murmured, swallowing hard as the scene before them revealed itself.
Inside the chamber, hundreds of soldiers made of flame and stone stood silently, their fiery bodies blazing as they faced the center of the room.
At the center was a barren expanse of stark, snow-white terrain—a saline ground, Ezreal recognized. Amid the lifeless expanse stood a massive stone tablet.
The tablet radiated a fiery red light, and golden, flowing inscriptions etched across its surface seemed to pulse with latent power.
"Everything here is powered by magic, except for the central area," Ryan observed, his gaze lingering on the flame guardians.
"If the door had been opened improperly, those flaming golems would have been activated."
Seraphine cast a teasing glance at Ezreal, who quickly straightened up, forcing a grin.
"Well, we're here now. Might as well press forward. Worst case? We smash all these fiery rock guys."
"I agree with that approach," Ryan replied, raising his hands slightly with a small smile.
BOOM!
Streams of water erupted from Ryan's palms, coiling around the flame golems like living serpents.
The water quenched their blazing forms, reducing them to lifeless piles of stone that clattered to the ground.
"See? Solving problems before they arise. That's what a teacher does best," Seraphine said with a knowing smile, glancing at Ryan before turning to Ezreal, whose ego had clearly taken another hit.
Ezreal crossed his arms, muttering under his breath, "I was gonna suggest that. Ryan just beat me to it, that's all. Well, at least my idea was validated... that's something."
Ever the optimist, Ezreal quickly shifted his focus back to the stone tablet at the center of the room.
His instincts told him it was more than just a relic—it was a treasure.
And whatever it was meant to seal, it was probably long dead by now.
Definitely safe to take, right?
Ryan didn't intervene as Ezreal made his way to the salt the earth, but his gaze sharpened.
Magical light flickered in his eyes as he prepared for the worst.
Sand crunched underfoot.
Ezreal tread cautiously, but nothing out of the ordinary happened.
Even when he reached the stone tablet and picked it up, the silence remained unbroken.
"See? Told you it was fine," Ezreal said, grinning as he examined the tablet.
"Look at this! It's written in ancient Shuriman. I recognize some of the words—'Oshera Va'Zaun'! Lymere told me about these markings. This is big!"
The stone tablet pulsed faintly in his hands as Ezreal basked in the triumph of his discovery.
"This could be proof! Proof that Zaun has ties to Oshera Vazaun! With this, I'll be famous!"
Ryan took the tablet from him, his eyes scanning the golden inscriptions. He deciphered what he could from the ancient language:
"The Tomb of Kalikan. Fulfill the oath on the Day of Flames, protect Oshera Vazaun for eternity... Transform into an eternal blazing sun, consuming the power of Calamity..."
Ryan's brow furrowed as he pieced together the meaning. He couldn't translate it perfectly, but the general message was clear enough.
"Kalikan..." Ezreal mused.
"He was the mage of Emperor Azir! There are historical records about him. They say he could bind souls to inorganic objects and control them in battle."
His explanation made everyone glance warily at the lifeless stone figures around them. These must have been Kalikan's creations.
"But what exactly are they sealing here?" Seraphine asked, her tone thoughtful yet uneasy.
"If Shurima was so powerful, why not destroy whatever it is?"
"Maybe," Ryan replied, his eyes glowing with arcane energy, "because it couldn't be destroyed."
RUMBLE!
The ground beneath the terrain began to shake. A deep, resonant roar echoed through the chamber, as though something ancient had awakened.