Walk

"One year ago, a king, the false monarch, took possession of the town.

He reigns like a tyrant," says Furina.

"If you wish to enter, you must either pay with energy cores or submit and join his group.

But that's just as well, pay and you'll find yourself in the safest place in the blue nightmare, the flying fortress filled with soldiers armed to the teeth.

But to live there, you have to obey all his orders."

"Otherwise you can join the revolutionary camp, I'm currently living there with a lot of soldiers."

"We're in the far north of the zone."

"Why didn't anyone think to kill him?"

She laughs.

"Kill Luther? Many have tried but his flying fortress is truly a celestial treasure. It's engraved with many runic formations. It's a giant trap. He has a crown that allows him to manipulate the entire area."

"The only way to eliminate it is to take the crown or destroy the flying fortress."

"But let's stop talking about it."

She smiled, then stood up and approached Zeno.

"Life is beautiful when you're young, even if you're in hell, there are a thousand and one ways to have fun, I can show you one, what do you think?"

Wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Hands off bitch!" Says Guizhong drawing his sword.

"It's okay, it's okay."

"So we're stuck."

'Maybe the bitch is lying,' said Guizhong in an angry voice.

The beautiful reaper seemed sincere and deadly competent.

"Night will fall and the beasts will come out, I advise you against going any deeper. Follow me."

She guided Zeno and Guizhong into a ruined house a few metres away.

"Make yourselves comfortable, this is one of my bases!"

"I'll guide you tomorrow at dawn."

After that, they exchanged a lot of information over a hot meal.

Zeno and Guizhong were in no mood to continue the conversation, the more they learned about the overall situation, the more their hopes sank.

'And when that damned quest is going to appear...'

Zeno lay on the ground with his two companions.

Zeno was in the middle, Guizhong on his right against the wall and Furina on his left.

Guizhong fell asleep quickly, overwhelmed by the long day and happy to have a bed.

Perhaps he imagined that he would never see the outside world again and never visit the next realms.

He might never become a Zenith, let alone a Hero....or Empyrean.

He may never learn the secrets of Noxus.

He may never discover the dragon's heritage.

Discouraged at being imprisoned here with no way forward, he found a semblance of consolation.

'At least there are monsters to kill....I can unlock my two auras at another stage and learn more about Spirit Haki.'

'Oh, and the quest given by Namiel.'

...Soon, Zeno fell asleep.

***

In the morning, they set off for the flying fortress.

"Follow me. Two things, listen to everything I say and don't make any noise."

"Understand?"

"Yes."

The beautiful reaper smiled.

She turned and started walking.

Zeno looked back at her and swallowed.

She raised an eyebrow and winked.

"Like what you see?"

"Yes..." he said before taking a huge kick in the liver from Guizhong, bending his knees slightly.

"PFff haha."

The more Zeno travelled around the city with Furina, the more he feared her.

They encountered a dozen rank 3 monsters...but each one was frozen and reduced to nothing by Furina.

"How are you so strong?"

"It's my ability, Moon On Glacial River."

"I condense particles in the air, which allows me to form an ice lotus that can eliminate demons.

As long as it's powered by my aura and particles, the lotus releases a continuous stream of pure ice energy that allows me to freeze enemies.

What's more, as long as the lotus is formed, I can use the ice as I wish", she said, forming an ice statue of herself.

"However, when the ice lotus can no longer hold, I have to reform one, and that's a bit complicated, it's not a question of the aura, but of the ice particles around it."

"Until I reach the rank of Saint, I'll be dependent on the ice particles."

"It's so powerful and unique."

'Why did she admit to us what her power was? Sharing secrets like the abilities of one's origin is not a good thing to do,' said Guizhong telepathically.

"It's not that important."

They left the ruined district and went deeper into the streets of the outer city.

The dark ruins spread out around them like cobwebs. With a grey sky above, they seemed to be walking towards death.

Fortunately, entrusting his life to Furina was a good idea, especially as she was extremely strong and sedating.

One step at a time, this was how he was going to survive.

Crossing the outer city was a slow ordeal. It was a great labyrinth in ruins. With narrow and wide streets.

Sometimes they walked under the empty sky, sometimes they crawled under the rubble.

They visited many ruins along the way, many with preserved interiors.

There were remains of meals preserved as well as many intact books written in runic language.

Furina made travelling easy and this increased the respect they had for her.

But death was everywhere, human bones, monster carcasses and vultures feasting.

No one was safe.

"Living out here alone, I don't even want to think about it."

"Why think about something that will never happen," said Zeno to Guihzong.

...Soon, as the sun began to decline, they finally reached the crystal steps leading up to the fortress.

Zeno looked up, feeling a slight unease creep over him. Nobody noticed, but Namiel's ring began to glow slightly.