Arcane: Twin Cities Mechanic

A pungent metallic bitterness spread through their mouths as Ashe and Sejuani instinctively stepped back, their armor swiftly reactivating to shield their bodies. Before them, the True Ice monolith began to emit an eerie, dark green magical glow, seeping through the ice and forming the symbol of the Resolve rune.

To their astonishment, the True Ice itself began to melt under the power of rune magic, revealing six uneven stone slabs embedded within the ice and the platform below.

At the center, a massive pillar of ice rose from the ground, encasing the frozen body of a man who had long since merged with the True Ice. His face was turned upward, locked in a silent expression of defiance. 

Ashe turned to glance at Li Lin in confusion, then looked back at the figure in the ice. "Was it… you who just spoke?" she asked tentatively.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the rune magic representing life activated, and a ghostly, green, translucent spirit slowly emerged from the icy pillar. 

The spirit was a lean, battle-hardened figure wearing a spiked helmet in the style of the Freljord, a thick fur-lined coat, and large metallic bracers on both arms. Strapped diagonally across his back was an enormous horn nearly as tall as himself.

There was an undeniable familiarity to him, and the sight triggered an inexplicable wave of sorrow and bitterness in Ashe and Sejuani, as though they had known this soul for thousands of years. 

Ashe deactivated her armor, her expression softening as she asked, her voice thick with emotion, "Who are you?"

Sejuani, following suit, revealed her true appearance and asked, "Why do I feel like I've known you forever?" 

The man's gaze swept over them both with a deep, searching intensity. "You resemble them," he murmured in a daze, "So much like Avarosa and Serylda…"

Ashe and Sejuani exchanged startled glances, then glanced briefly at Li Lin. With an awkward smile, Ashe replied, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not Avarosa, and she's not Serylda."

"But you carry her bow…" the man said, his voice tinged with longing.

"I found it at an ancient cliff near Frostguard's Peak," Ashe replied, unstrapping the True Ice bow from her back. Her eyes grew misty with sadness. "My mother, Grena, believed that was once Avarosa's palace, filled with countless treasures.

She was so obsessed with the idea that she nearly drove the Avarosan Tribe to ruin chasing it. But all I found there was an unmarked stone tomb and this bow amidst the chaos of a broken world." She took a deep breath, steadying herself.

"I am Ashe, daughter of Grena. The world may call me Avarosa reborn, but I am merely her follower, her successor, her descendant." 

"And I am not Serylda," Sejuani interjected, irritation flickering in her tone. "I am me—no one else."

Since her harrowing encounter with Volibear, when the demigod nearly shattered her consciousness and claimed her body, Sejuani had grown to detest being compared to others, even legendary figures of the past. 

"Alright… alright," the man sighed heavily, his initial hope fading before being rekindled by a spark of determination. "But if you carry on Avarosa's will, does the Frostblood lineage still aim to rule the world?" 

Ashe couldn't help but laugh softly at the question. "That's impossible. The era of the Three Sisters may have ended thousands of years ago, but even now, we haven't managed to unify the Freljord, let alone conquer the world."

"Why not? Didn't we already harness the power of the Frostblood?" the man rasped, confusion lacing his tone. "We defeated the Watchers, we conquered Valoran… The Three Sisters were supposed to lead our people and expand outward!" 

Neither Ashe nor Sejuani responded. Ashe had witnessed the sheer power of Ascended beings like Li Lin, and Sejuani had faced the overwhelming might of a demigod. They both understood that even with the Frostblood's strength, the warriors of the Freljord, and the leadership of Avarosa and Serylda, it would have been impossible to contend with the primal forces that governed this land.

It was Li Lin who broke the silence. "The Three Sisters didn't rule the world because they turned on each other."

The man froze, his expression clouding as he pressed a trembling hand to his head, his face etched with pain as if recalling a memory too agonizing to bear. "They turned on each other… Yes… The Betrayer. Someone said the Explorer betrayed us." 

"Betrayer?" Sejuani frowned, baffled. "Who could betray the Three Sisters?"

Ashe's heart skipped a beat. "The Explorer? Who is the Explorer?"

Li Lin stepped forward, positioning himself slightly behind Ashe and Sejuani. "Before asking about the Explorer, perhaps we should hear his story first."

The man's gaze lingered on Li Lin for a moment before shifting back to Ashe. In a quiet, hoarse voice, he introduced himself. "My name is Gregor… Eternal Guardian of the Howling Abyss. I was personally slain by Avarosa…"

Sejuani blinked in disbelief. "Wait, why would Avarosa kill you?"

Li Lin lightly patted her shoulder in admonishment. "Don't interrupt. Let Gregori finish his story."

It was a risky move to touch the shoulder of a warrior, as their instincts often prompted an immediate defensive reaction. Sejuani, too, was no exception.

Faced with Li Lin, Sejuani felt her entire body tense. Yet, no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't muster the will to resist him, as if she were standing before a divine being beyond defiance—similar to how she once felt in the presence of Volibear. 

After a couple of seconds, Sejuani drew in a sharp breath and slapped Li Lin's hand off her shoulder. "I hate it when people touch my shoulder." 

Gregor shot an incredulous look at both Li Lin and Sejuani. In the Freljord, where matriarchal clans ruled, women not only held the power of childbirth but often inherited far stronger Iceborn bloodlines than men. And yet, here stood an Iceborn warrior, clearly afraid of someone who obviously didn't belong to the Freljord—a mere warmblood? It made no sense to him. Shaking off the thought, he refocused, realizing it wasn't the issue at hand today. 

Gregor straightened and resumed his explanation from earlier. "Being killed by Avarosa was, in fact, the highest honor. She bound my soul here so I could sound the horn before the Watchers returned." He gestured to the enormous horn strapped to his back, over two meters long.

Though currently ethereal and glowing with a ghostly green hue of life, one could still discern the faint yellow markings it once bore—a legendary relic forged with the power of a fragment of a World Rune. The Guardian's Horn, it was called. When blown, its sound resonated across the mental realm, reaching every corner of the world. 

This information was something Li Lin could verify with his Data Mind, which displayed the artifact's stats in a systematic format. 

"We were once human. Then the Watchers arrived, and they changed us. They turned us into weapons, into vessels of the Iceborn bloodline." 

"Wait…" This time, it wasn't Sejuani who interrupted but Ashe, her face filled with shock and disbelief. "Are you saying… our bloodline… the Iceborn power… comes from the Watchers?!" 

"That's exactly what I'm saying. We were more than willing to serve the Watchers. Is there a problem with that?" Gregor asked, confused. 

"No! That's not right! It shouldn't be like this!" Ashe's voice cracked as her emotions spiraled out of control. She turned sharply toward Li Lin. "So, what you said… it's true…" 

"Ashe?" Sejuani frowned deeply. Not even during their clash years ago, when they turned against each other, had she ever seen her sister display such a distraught expression. "What is going on?" 

Ashe clearly hadn't shared with Sejuani the information Li Lin had revealed about the Iceborn being connected to the Void's bloodline. 

"This is the truth. The Ascended also confirmed it at the time," Li Lin said plainly, his tone devoid of emotion. He wasn't paying much attention to Ashe. Instead, his gaze locked onto Gregor, who hovered behind the sisters. 

"Additionally, your memories have been altered," Li Lin added. 

Gregor, visibly agitated, bristled at the statement. "What do you mean by that?" His voice carried an edge of suppressed anger. "Are you questioning my honor?" 

"No, you misunderstand. I meant no such disrespect." Li Lin briefly glanced at Ashe, who was breathing heavily, drawing in the icy air to steady herself. 

She turned to Gregor and spoke with deliberation, "We did not serve the Watchers willingly. Their arrival brings nothing but the end of this world." 

"That's impossible!" Gregor bellowed, his voice booming with fury. 

"We conquered Valoran! Wherever we went, humanity cowered before us, and the ice followed in our wake." 

"We built a great empire," Gregor continued, his tone swelling with tragic pride. "But it wasn't ours—it belonged to the Watchers. Avarosa united us, telling us that freedom was worth dying for, and so we rose against them. 

"We knew we were stronger than they were. They gave us so much power!" He pointed toward the Howling Abyss and the massive bridge visible in the distance. "This is where the final battle took place.

This bridge—our warriors held it for days. Countless Iceborn fell in the battle, but we kept fighting. We climbed over the bodies of the fallen to press the attack. The Watchers didn't die easily." 

Gregor's voice became increasingly passionate, painting a vivid image of the battle. "In the final wave of their assault, we triumphed.

We lifted the Watchers, carried them to the edge, and hurled them into the Abyss. We watched as they screamed and fell into the depths." 

"They couldn't possibly have survived. No one could fall that far and live…" His tone was heavy, a mix of triumph and sorrow, evoking an epic struggle. Even Li Lin, for a moment, could imagine the grandeur of the Iceborn sisters' heroics. 

However… 

"All of that is false," Li Lin stated bluntly, shattering the narrative. 

"As I said, Gregor, your memories were tampered with long ago by the Frost Witch." 

Before Ashe could interject, Li Lin continued to reveal the harsh truth without hesitation. 

"The Three Sisters never conquered the entirety of Valoran. They didn't even succeed in uniting the Freljord before they fell apart." 

"The Watchers are the will of the Void. They granted you power, but the price was this vibrant, living world. Their arrival would bring its end. Not even the Iceborn bloodline could stop them." 

"You—you… Shut up! Stop insulting our glory!" Gregor shouted, nearly incoherent with rage. If he still had a physical body, he would have smashed Li Lin's skull on the spot. 

But Li Lin simply pressed on, as calm as ever. 

"Once, a Watcher did break free from the ice. More followed, crossing the rift between the Void and the physical realm to enter this world. 

"At that time, Avarosa and Serylda had already recognized the danger of the Void. They united to confront Lissandra, who had fully succumbed to the Void's power. The Iceborn armies gathered at the fortress walls near Frostguard Citadel. 

"When the Watchers emerged, their forms began to warp and twist. Only then did Lissandra truly understand the threat they posed. 

"In desperation, she cast forbidden magic, draining the life force of every magical being nearby. This sealed the first Watcher, along with the ones that followed, beneath unyielding True Ice. 

"She closed the dimensional rift, burying the Watchers—and her allies—alongside them. 

"The surviving warriors were driven to madness by the wailing and visions from the Abyss. Only Lissandra emerged unscathed. 

"That," Li Lin concluded, his voice unwavering, "is the real truth of the Howling Abyss." 

(End of Chapter)

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