"Let's talk somewhere with some shade."
With a light wave of Azir's staff, the soldiers melted back into the desert as if they had never been there at all.
"You've both come a long way. You have my thanks."
From behind his hawk-like mask, Azir's cold gaze swept across the two of them. The man carried no Shuriman blood. The woman, on the other hand, really had come from Icathia.
Grave robbers? They did not look like it.
There was also that cat carrying the scent of a yordle, and the ancient book resting by its paws.
Ordinarily, there would have been no need for concern. From what he had learned from Sivir over the past few days, most of the people truly digging relics out of tombs were local Shurimans. Azir had no intention of punishing them. After the fall of the Sun Disc, the desert climate had indeed become too harsh for his people to live in. If the legacy of their ancestors could still be put to use, then so be it.
"What brings you here?"
Caleb lifted his eyes and looked at Azir in front of him.
There was no question about it, he possessed the full majesty of an emperor.
His golden armor radiated luxury, and the sharp edge of the staff hovered in stillness. Beneath the blazing sun, with the Sun Disc suspended high behind him, Azir looked like a god.
Caleb took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Destroy the Void!"
...
Inside the lavish room, Caleb fell silent for a moment.
Where was he supposed to start? What was he supposed to say?
Once the strain on his mind eased a little, he finally began.
"At the ruins of old Icathia, we found signs of Void creatures."
"She saved a tribe, but she never received the respect she deserved."
Seeing that Azir's gaze was still lingering on Kai'Sa, anger rose in Caleb's chest.
Wasn't he just one overgrown golden chicken? What was he acting so smug for?
He knew a few things, sure, but did that make Azir so untouchable?
"Apologies," Azir said mildly, unexpectedly calm instead of snapping back.
"Your Majesty."
Another figure appeared in the wide doorway.
The canine-like head made Kai'Sa almost gasp out loud.
Caleb, on the other hand, felt a little awkward. Kai'Sa was from Icathia, but that did not mean she necessarily knew what kind of relationship Icathia and Shurima had once shared.
As the last emperor of Shurima, Azir definitely knew Icathia had been the one to unleash the Void.
Caleb was honestly afraid Azir might bring that up.
If Kai'Sa learned that her homeland had been the true culprit behind the Void's release, she probably would not take it well.
"The Void?" Azir's tone carried a trace of confusion.
Back when Empress Setaka had led the Ascended Host, they had paid an unimaginably terrible price, but they had still managed to seal away all the monsters that emerged from the Void. Of that much, Azir was certain.
After all, many Ascended had survived the war, and he had heard their reports.
Nasus, standing by the door, had also recorded the matter in Shurima's libraries.
"Yes, the Void has awakened again."
"Where is it lying dormant?"
Hearing the two of them speak, Nasus joined the conversation.
He and Renekton were both extremely ancient Ascended, so old they were nearly as ancient as the empire of old Shurima itself.
When the Rite of Ascension was held, Nasus had already been gravely ill and lacked the strength to climb the dais. It was his younger brother, Renekton, who, prepared to sacrifice himself, carried him onto that platform of glory.
Both brothers became Ascended.
But because they had shared one portion of Ascension's power, neither of them was considered especially outstanding in raw strength.
For Nasus, once a civil official, that was one thing.
What was regrettable was that Renekton, a true warrior, had never undergone Ascension on his own.
Otherwise...
"In Zuretta, beside the statue of the Faceless God Xolaani."
"Though that statue may already have been destroyed by now."
Kai'Sa looked a little embarrassed. As far as she remembered, Taliyah had moved that statue to fill in the tunnel Rek'Sai had dug.
"It does not matter."
Azir lifted both hands slightly and said calmly, "It is only a statue. The masons can carve another."
"Now then, may I entrust the two of you with something?"
"Go ahead."
Faced with the emperor of the desert, Caleb still felt tense.
Even if Nasus had once been a civil official, and even if Caleb held information Azir wanted, none of that changed the fact that overwhelming strength could turn all such advantages into nothing.
"Thousands of years ago, someone betrayed me and stole the power of Ascension."
Azir's voice remained even, but Caleb's eyes narrowed at once.
He already knew who Azir meant.
"Renekton dragged him with him into the Tomb of the Emperors."
"And now that Renekton has appeared again, that means he too has returned to the world."
"I hope you can help me find him while he is still recovering his strength."
By the time he finished, Azir's voice had gone cold.
Xerath, a name meaning one who understands sharing.
And yet that name had belonged to a slave who had once risked his life to protect him, a slave Azir himself had named.
But during the Rite of Ascension, that same man stole the power that should have belonged to Azir. The capital was destroyed by the leaking force of that power, and the Sun Disc fell with it.
Only not long ago, when Sivir collapsed before his tomb, had Azir awakened again.
The royal blood flowing through her veins stirred him from death. The oasis spring meant for resurrection had only enough left for one person. Azir had used it on Sivir almost without hesitation.
That act, in turn, earned the Sun Disc's recognition, and it granted him its power.
The great emperor of Shurima awoke at that very moment.
"That won't be easy."
Caleb did not bother hiding his thoughts. Kai'Sa did not know how dangerous Xerath was, but Caleb did.
Nasus and Renekton together had been unable to defeat Xerath.
In the end, it had been Renekton who seized the chain-bound Xerath and hurled both of them into the Tomb of the Emperors.
After years of enduring Xerath's relentless influence, Renekton had become the broken thing he was now.
That alone showed how terrifying Xerath truly was.
"Do not worry. If you investigate as travelers, he is unlikely to pay you any attention at all."
Azir's voice was steady, almost reassuring.
"Sivir will stay near you. That should make it easier for you to blend in locally."
At that moment, Kai'Sa was scratching under Yuumi's chin.
Ever since that tall golden figure had started talking about entrusting them with something, she had stopped understanding any of it.
But seeing Caleb deep in thought, she chose to trust him completely and simply kept playing with Yuumi in her arms.
"So relaxed..."
Caleb muttered under his breath, but his mind never stopped turning.
One thing was certain, as Ascended, Azir and Nasus drew attention just by standing there. To avoid alerting the enemy, that was why they were passing this task off to others.
And Sivir, judging by the fact that she had once nearly died from a single knife in the back, was not exactly the most reassuring lone operative either.
So Caleb and Kai'Sa, who needed Azir's help in dealing with the Void, had ended up standing on the same side as him.
Azir truly was worthy of being called one of history's enlightened rulers. Without that catastrophe, Shurima would undoubtedly have continued to grow stronger.
Demacia? Noxus?
How many Aspects did they have? How many demons?
Would that be enough to face even a handful of God-Warriors?
After all, how could the glimmer of stars ever contend with the brilliance of the sun?
Once his thoughts settled, Caleb looked up at the silent, waiting Azir.
"We accept."
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