Kane's Dilemma

Lacking full coverage of the carapace, Kane's enhancements were modest compared to Kai'Sa's. His physical endurance was nowhere near hers; unable to sustain high-intensity activity for long periods, he had to rest like any normal human, causing an inevitable rift between them.

Understanding his sacrifice, Kai'Sa knew it was he who enabled her to reach her current state. Now fully armored, she felt it was time to redirect resources back to Kane.

Occasionally, Kai'Sa hunted alone, not only because she was capable but also to repay Kane, to give back what was his due.

Faint pulses of violet light emerged from the darkness, accompanied by rustling footsteps that darted unpredictably towards Kane.

Yet he sat unfazed, as if the looming threats were mere illusions.

Three emotionless, elongated eyes stared intently at him, closing in with inescapable speed.

Sharp claws hovered near his chest, poised to pierce his beating heart, but Kane remained stoically still, knowing it was Kai'Sa.

"Kai'Sa, how many times will you repeat the same prank? I've told you, you can't scare me."

Kane pushed the claw away and stood up, facing the humanoid form encased in a terrifying carapace, nearly matching his height.

"Stubborn, can't you just let me win once? I am a girl, you know!" Kai'Sa's rare acknowledgment of her femininity came out as a playful whine.

But her voice, distorted by the chitinous helmet, sounded like a wet animalistic rasp, nothing like a human.

It was chilling—her words came out as if she were coughing blood, devoid of any endearing qualities a young girl might possess.

It was as if what should have been a melodious songbird's call had transformed into a deathly howl more piercing than any venomous snake's hiss.

Kane couldn't indulge in such fatal charm, but he wouldn't deflate Kai'Sa's attempts to bring excitement into their mundane survival.

He pointed to his ears, signaling his inability to understand.

"Oh, I forgot talking through the helmet makes it unclear."

With her thought, the chitin plates of the helmet peeled back, folding one over the other like an insect tucking its wings away, revealing her hair, face, neck, and the still unremarkable chest.

"Don't get your hopes up; I can't deactivate the mental net unless..."

"Unless what?" Kai'Sa asked, curious. The mental net always caught her movements, ruining any chance of her pranks succeeding.

"Unless we return to the surface, no longer needing to worry about constant attacks," Kane replied, pinching Kai'Sa's cheek playfully.

Each time her face was exposed, he couldn't resist squeezing her cheeks or touching her nose. He found it amusing, and Kai'Sa enjoyed the human contact.

"The surface, huh... I wonder if spring has arrived. I miss the fresh scent of the meadows," Kai'Sa mused, then presented her hunting spoils.

Seven hearts, all crammed into a hollowed-out, diamond-shaped voidling skull.

"Eat up; this is just today's breakfast," she spoke casually, as if handing over a simple bowl of tofu pudding.

Kane didn't fuss, allowing his carapace-covered claw to absorb the hearts. The carapace assimilated them swiftly, and Kane watched as the edges grew a few centimeters closer to his heart.

When he achieved full coverage, they planned to move upwards, searching for an exit from this subterranean world.

"Kai'Sa, do you want to return to the surface?"

"Of course, I dream of it," she replied as she sat, reminiscing. "At our age, we should be taken to the cool valleys by the adults, learning to use spears and bows..."

In the scattered villages on the fringes of the Shuriman Desert, hunting and trading with nomadic tribes were the primary food sources.

Normally, a child of Kai'Sa's age would be basking in familial warmth, braving the desert's harshness, and dreaming of the adult world.

Those like Kai'Sa, with connections, could have been traveling across the vast Shuriman continent with their father's trading caravans, earning wealth and gaining knowledge through adventure.

Instead, the Void had ravaged her life, dragging her into the earth to endure darkness, cold, and horror unimaginable to surface dwellers.

Now, although transformed, memories of the surface made her feel like that small girl once more.

Kane did not want to shatter this innocence—it was part of what drove Kai'Sa to survive, but he knew it was also a poison that could one day wrench her heart with pain.

"Kane, don't you want to go back?"

Faced with Kai'Sa's question, Kane's demeanor cooled.

"I do, but have you considered how the people above will perceive us? With our appearance, we'll be treated as monsters."

He had begun to mentally prepare Kai'Sa for the extreme rejection they might face above ground, knowing that the pain of being outcasts could shatter her.

"As long as we don't harm them, they will understand us. After all, we too are victims of the Void," Kai'Sa pondered, her claw sinking easily into her cheek flesh.

"I advise you not to rush to show yourself. I'm trying to use mental force to retract the carapace. Once I succeed, we can return to the surface world in human form; that's safer."

He envisioned a method by which the carapace could disband into its basic elements and cluster together to hide, leaving the inner self unharmed.

It would be like a host controlling venom.

Kane's gaze swept over Kai'Sa, and she felt an itching sensation as if the flesh beside her carapace was being peeled away in the wrong direction, a sign of Kane's distant success.

"It's okay; keep working on it. Don't forget I can turn invisible—they definitely won't see me."

With that, Kai'Sa lowered her helmet, and ripples spread across her carapace, rendering her invisible to Kane's eyes—yet still traceable in his mental net.

Silently, she crept closer, seeking to startle him with an unseen touch, and then suddenly appear as if materializing from thin air.

Kane shook his head, unsatisfied with how the conversation ended.

Another year older, Kai'Sa was still a naïve girl, her simplistic thinking frustrating him with a sense of helplessness.

Just as he sensed the invisible claw nearing his shoulder, Kane reached out to intercept it—a grave mistake, as a sudden earthquake threw off his attempt...