Arcane: Twin Cities Mechanic

In the brief moment that Xerath hesitated, his shield shattered, exposing his crimson core as Malphite charged forward once again with unstoppable momentum.

At the same time, Nasus summoned soul-searing flames and magic drawn from his withered form, while Azir conjured a desert storm, commanding dozens of massive desert beasts, each with unique abilities, to surge toward their foe.

Seeing this, Li Lin manipulated the Titan, coordinating with Gaboga stationed kilometers away to fire over a thousand compressed quantum bombs, all targeting the ancient sorcerer before them.

"Nothing can control me!" roared Xerath, his voice resonating with a soul-piercing intensity. A metallic tang filled the mouths of both Li Lin and Nasus, sharp and acidic.

As Malphite's charge approached, Xerath spread his arms wide, releasing arcs of blue magical lightning as thick as a grown man's arm. The arcs swept across the sky, triggering a dramatic upheaval in the heavens.

Dark storm clouds, crackling with lightning, stretched for dozens of kilometers, blotting out the moon and the stars. The winds formed violent tornadoes that could easily tear apart buildings, plunging the world into dim chaos. Only the blue-white flashes of electricity in the clouds provided fleeting illumination.

Li Lin glanced at the energy readings, slightly startled. This magical thunderstorm was at least ten times stronger than ordinary lightning! It was dozens of times hotter than the surface of the sun—intolerable even for the body of a god.

Arcane magic, though attribute-less, could be easily converted into elemental magic by a master or grandmaster-level mage. Ryze often demonstrated this by summoning fire. 

However, Xerath's own magical affinity shouldn't have allowed him to influence nature to this degree. 

Even as a god, Xerath wasn't like Volibear, the semi-divine embodiment of natural storms in Freljord, nor did he wield authority over storms like Janna, the Wind Goddess. Inducing such natural phenomena should have been extraordinarily difficult for him.

His ability to summon this lightning storm was due partly to this region's proximity to Mount Targon, where the material and spiritual realms were naturally interconnected, making it easier to manipulate the physical world with magic. Furthermore, the area's spire had been drawing residual energy from the planet's ley lines, amplifying Xerath's power enough to create a storm capable of easily killing a late-stage Ascended like Malphite.

This power, channeled from the ley lines of the planet, was under Xerath's command. Even Azir and Nasus could feel the looming threat of death—let alone Malphite, whose strength only barely matched that of an Ascended.

[Master, a powerful super-thunderstorm is imminent!] 

Before Li Lin could respond to the AI's alert, Azir's magically transmitted voice followed: "Li Lin, Nasus, Malphite, don't let Xerath fully unleash this attack!"

The ground, not yet melted into glass from the searing heat, erupted into waves of yellow sand enhanced by Azir's astral magic. The sand formed massive hands and chains, combining with Nasus' magic and Malphite's seismic shards to ensnare Xerath.

But Xerath's arcane core drew in the remaining magical elements from the air, channeling them into his core and unleashing an arcane detonation in an instant. 

The attribute-less arcane energy expanded outward in circular waves, originating from Xerath and shattering every attack aimed at him.

Seeing the dire situation, Nasus gripped his battle axe tightly, pouring magic into it before taking a bold step forward to shield Malphite. He raised a brilliant blue magical barrier to protect them.

However, Xerath had been absorbing ley-line energy for over a year, granting him a near-unlimited reservoir of magic. His power now surged to an overwhelming level, far beyond what Nasus—who hadn't yet regained his peak strength—could withstand.

Within the span of a single breath, cracks spread across the magical barrier like a spider's web before it shattered into countless fragments. Nasus and Malphite, with no time to dodge, were consumed by the tidal wave of arcane energy. Even the AI could no longer detect signs of their life force.

Although death seemed unlikely—Ascended beings were not so fragile as to perish from an arcane explosion of this magnitude—both were likely gravely injured. Malphite, in particular, was sturdier than many weaker Ascended, and before the magical torrent engulfed them, Azir had cast a quicksand barrier over them for additional protection.

Still, injuries were inevitable. 

"Damn it! How is Xerath this strong?!" 

Li Lin was in disbelief. 

In his memory, Atreus—who had only recently reclaimed his body after being slain by Aatrox—had managed to hold his own against Xerath at the ruins of Nerimazeth shortly after regaining partial power from the War's Aspect. 

Though Atreus had wielded some residual power from the Celestial Warrior and a fragment of its authority, his star, which had once been part of the now-dormant War Star Aspect, had re-ignited during that battle. 

Even so, the battle had likely ended with Atreus retreating, as Xerath had subsequently solidified his foothold in Nerimazeth. 

But for a mere mortal who hadn't yet re-lit the full War Star Aspect to stand against Xerath back then suggested that the ancient sorcerer's current strength should not have been this overwhelming.

Li Lin's mind raced, and he could only think of one possibility: 

With Li Lin's involvement in the battle at Vekaura, Nasus had called Azir for assistance, and the two had severely wounded Xerath. This might have caused Xerath to abandon his disdain for the resurrected Emperor and take the threat more seriously.

Li Lin's heart grew heavier. Even though Xerath's strength was still within the expected range predicted by him and the AI, this scenario was closer to the worst-case estimate. 

Based on his current projections, the Titan might suffer 36%-49% structural damage to take Xerath down. 

And if Xerath still had a trump card, Li Lin might have to activate the mech's "Reserve Hidden Energy" for a nuclear fusion explosion as a last resort.

Not that it mattered too much—Azir's funding meant resources were no longer an issue. They could simply build another Titan afterward.

Li Lin took a deep breath, steadying himself. 

From this moment onward, he would need complete focus to defeat Xerath before the Titan became immobilized by its "Mechanical Repairs" protocol.

With 40 seconds left on the force-field shield, the mech's armor shifted into an assault configuration. Boosted by anti-gravity technology, its ultra-pulse thrusters emitted an almost invisible flame as it launched into an "unstoppable" offensive.

Xerath's glowing blue eyes shifted abruptly. With a casual motion, he commanded the still-forming storm clouds to unleash a barrage of lightning bolts, each striking with precision, as if the heavens themselves had turned against the mech.

The force field shield effortlessly absorbed the barrage of magical lightning, which had already reached tens of thousands of degrees and continued to intensify, leaving the mech itself completely unscathed. 

Thanks to the anti-gravity system, the resistance from the lightning storm was negligible, and instead, the energy supply peaked at over 100%. 

"Well, thanks for the recharge!" 

With Azir's remote assistance from afar, a thick yet transparent sand shield enveloped the mech, perfectly layered beneath the force field's invisible barrier. Should the "invincibility" of the force field wear off, the sand shield, combined with the mech's energized liquid-metal armor and boosted capacitive shields, would hold for a while. 

At least until the force field's cooldown ended in 3 minutes and 30 seconds, the mech's damage wouldn't exceed 10%. 

Li Lin remained composed, initiating both overload charging and overclocked operations simultaneously. He maneuvered the Titan, unleashing a deluge of plasma missiles and quantum bombs. These were launched from both the mech's rear and front, their trajectories carefully calculated to avoid the lightning strikes and head straight for Xerath. 

Meanwhile, under the AI's control, Gaboga, lurking on the battlefield's periphery, took the opportunity to fire its matter-disintegration cannon. This was synchronized with an array of similar cannons from war mechs hundreds of kilometers away, all aimed at Xerath. 

In an instant, the dark, storm-cloud-covered skies over Nerimazeth were illuminated by dazzling beams of multicolored light. Even the magical lightning streaking across the heavens couldn't withstand the piercing radiance of the disintegration beams, which seemed almost alive as they streaked toward Xerath at lightning speed. 

Steadying themselves against the arcane magical onslaught, Nasus and Malphite scrambled to their feet, only to be stunned by the unfolding spectacle. 

Especially Nasus—his violet-black, magic-infused eyes fixated on Li Lin and Xerath. He was astonished to find himself entirely unable to intervene in the battle. 

These energy beams weren't magical in nature. In particular, the falling orange-yellow beams had such destructive potential that even a single strike could corrode his ascended form. 

While one hit might not cause significant harm, the sheer quantity rendered it overwhelming! 

Once again, Nasus had grossly underestimated Li Lin's prowess. 

The battlefield before them had become Li Lin's stage alone, a confrontation between him and Xerath. 

"This can't be happening!" Xerath's shocked cry echoed from afar. 

In less than a heartbeat, he activated an arcane barrier around himself and released a storm of lightning-infused magical shockwaves. The spherical surges obliterated the incoming quantum bombs and deflected most of the plasma projectiles. 

But it was at this moment that Li Lin, piloting the Titan, closed the distance. 

Caught off guard, Xerath failed to shift into his pure energy form. The mech's colossal, plasma-field-imbued spike—a weapon many times larger than Xerath—pierced through his body, shattering the sealing sarcophagus core embedded in his chest. 

The metal chains, bronze-gold plating, and stone fragments that made up Xerath's "armor" disintegrated, leaving him as a pure energy entity. 

"You dare defy the future Emperor of Shurima!" 

Xerath hurled searing arcane pulses from his hands and chest, but with the force field shield still active for a few more seconds, his magic was utterly ineffective against the Titan. 

Li Lin paid no mind to the so-called "Xer Three Bombs," a moniker given to the Arcane Ascendant in games due to his penchant for scattershot strategies. The mech's fists, equipped with dual high-energy drills, extended plasma blades, and sonic boom-inducing movements, launched a relentless assault on the "tiny" figure before him. 

Though Xerath stood over four meters tall, he resembled a nimble mouse before the towering 200-meter Titan, evading its blows with agility. 

However, a near-miss in melee combat didn't mean the ranged weaponry shared the same fate. 

As Xerath taunted, "Too slow," while narrowly dodging another swing, he failed to notice Li Lin covertly switching the energy emitter on the mech's left wrist. 

The emitter unleashed a concentrated energy spear—comparable in power to the matter-disintegration cannons—straight at Xerath. 

"Urgh!" 

Xerath's agonized scream reverberated as the energy spear pierced his chest, pinning him firmly to the ground now reduced to rubble and molten glass. 

The subsequent downpour of matter-disintegration cannon fire engulfed him, erupting into a mushroom cloud of energy. 

With the force field shield's duration now expired, Li Lin cautiously retreated, unwilling to advance recklessly while awaiting the cooldown's end. 

But in that moment, Xerath's weakened yet maniacal laughter echoed from the dissipating energy 

"Ha… hahaha… My ultimate ritual is complete. Foolish mortal, prepare to meet your end!" 

[End of Chapter] 

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