Arcane: Twin Cities Mechanic

Lissandra's plan was crystal clear: if Ashe and Sejuani met their demise here because they ignored her warnings, it would align perfectly with her desires. Not only would it eliminate the "reincarnations" of Avarosa and Serylda, but it would also bury the secrets of the Freljord even deeper. Of course, that was contingent on Li Lin not exposing the truth. 

Rumors about this man paled in comparison to the reality of meeting him. Li Lin was a true mage, radiating the unmistakable aura of the World Runes. Lissandra had sensed this the moment she first encountered him.

After all, she and her sisters had once wielded shards of the World Runes to subdue nature and defeat the lofty demigods. As the first generation of the Iceborn, they were gifted with the Void's purest power and had a remarkable resistance to the World Runes' corrosive will. 

But that was all ancient history. Since the Three Sisters had split apart, Avarosa and Serylda had tasked the yeti tribes with sealing away parts of the World Runes.

Later, Lissandra sacrificed most of the Iceborn and the intelligent yeti to entomb the Watchers, scattering the rune shards. Now, even without wearing his intricately engineered armor, brimming with terrifying energy, Li Lin would still be a formidable opponent.

Lissandra, despite her millennia of life and mastery over countless forbidden spells, knew she might not be his match in pure magic. 

On this journey to the Howling Abyss, if Ashe and Sejuani perished along the way, so much the better. But when it came to Li Lin, Lissandra dared not entertain such thoughts. Not only because she might not be able to best him, but also because he was a critical ally in the fight against the Watchers. 

What Lissandra hadn't anticipated was that Li Lin's Project Genesis armor carried an ancient anti-demonic device—crafted from the remnants of the seal used on the Demon King, Fiddlesticks. This device rendered him immune to at least 90% of mental influences.

Ordinary people who ventured into this abyssal place would be instantly consumed by the corrupting aura seeping through the True Ice, becoming sustenance for the Void. Even the resilient Frostguard warriors returning from the Howling Abyss had a survival rate of less than ten percent. 

However, for Ashe and Sejuani, maintaining their sanity against the Watchers' corrupting presence was no challenge at all, thanks to the protective mechanisms in their armor. 

"We're heading to a place called the Hall of Nine," Lissandra said, her tone laced with nostalgia. 

At once, Ashe and Sejuani perked up their ears. The Hall of Nine was a tale every Freljordian child knew. It was said that the wise yeti once created this place with long-lost magic. The "Nine" were colossal shackles designed to imprison a terrifying creature rivaling a demigod. 

"I always thought that was just a fairy tale!" Sejuani exclaimed, her breath hitching. Even with the filtration systems in her armor, the biting cold of the True Ice-covered land felt like it could freeze her very core. 

"Little girl, you already know about the Watchers, and you still think it's just a story?" Lissandra said with a soft chuckle, leading the way without turning around. 

"Don't call me little girl!" 

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't realize you were such a grown-up now," Lissandra quipped, her voice dripping with mockery. 

"You—!" 

Before Sejuani could lose her temper, Ashe quickly stepped in to calm her down and shifted the subject. "Are the Watchers really sealed beneath the Hall of Nine?" 

"The True Ice has sealed the Watchers and their corrupted minions," Lissandra explained in an emotionless tone. "Every so often, the Frostguard dispatches brave warriors to inspect the integrity of the True Ice. Though survival rates are tragically low, at least one must return to report back to the main fortress." 

Her indifference to the deaths of her subordinates was palpable. 

"If you can easily access the Howling Abyss, why not verify the seals yourself? It would save so many lives!" Ashe said, her voice carrying a hint of reproach. 

"And this is why, without the Speaker's help, you'd merely be an idealist dreaming of uniting the Freljord," Lissandra retorted. 

Even Ashe, usually calm and composed, felt anger bubbling up inside her at those words. 

"She must constantly deliver dreams to the Watchers to keep them at bay. Without her efforts, the demigod-level seals alone would have failed long ago, and the Watchers would have shattered the True Ice, unleashing the Void upon the world," Li Lin interjected, attempting to ease the tension between the three. 

Lissandra turned her head slightly at his explanation, and the three fell into a contemplative silence.

The journey that followed was spent in silence, though moving forward was far easier than descending into the abyssal depths.

Before long, passing through a narrow crevice that barely allowed one person at a time, the four of them arrived at a cavern shaped like a massive bowl, its ceiling appearing as though a giant object had smashed through it.

The True Ice around them grew even darker, and under the illumination of the black light, nine enormous ice pillars—far larger than the weapons buried deep within Lissandra's palace used against the Watchers—shot upward into the sky, spaced far apart in a circular formation in the center of the ice surface.

"This is... the Hall of Nine..." Ashe murmured instinctively.

Lissandra paid no attention to the three of them. Manipulating the ever-churning ice crystals to lift herself, she moved toward the center of the ice. Li Lin hesitated briefly, intending to dissuade Ashe and Sejuani from proceeding further, but quickly reconsidered.

The Watchers were an inevitable challenge—one they would have to face sooner or later. As he predicted, neither Ashe nor Sejuani were the type to back down. When the Void eventually descended, they would both stand firm, ready to give their lives if necessary, rather than flee to the space station.

Allowing them to experience the oppressive presence of the ice-bound Watchers in advance might serve as valuable mental preparation.

Gesturing for the two women to follow, Li Lin took the lead in heading toward Lissandra. It wasn't long before they reached the center of the ice, where a massive ice pillar, bound by enormous chains and rune-infused magic, loomed before them.

Thin lines coursed across the black-lit surface of the True Ice, forming intricate, arcane runes in a spectrum of colors. 

The AI once again detected traces of the magical seals that had been used to imprison the World Runes wielded by the Ascended—definitely the work of the Yeti. As if sensing something, Ashe and Sejuani's already uneasy demeanor shifted to outright dread.

A creeping unease washed over them, accompanied by faint, sinister whispers that seemed intent on forcing their way into their minds.

Yet, some unseen force resisted the intrusion. Instinctively trying to avert their gazes, the AI overrode their armor's control systems, preventing them from directly facing the terror beneath the ice.

Li Lin and Lissandra, however, were not afforded such protection. Standing side by side within Ashe and Sejuani's line of sight, the two lowered their heads, gazing down at the ice below. Beneath the surface, a colossal, soul-chilling, faceless eye radiating an ominous violet glow stared back at them.

Separated from the material realm only by six or seven meters of dense True Ice, it was but a minuscule portion of the Watcher's vast, mountain-like body.

Most of its grotesque and distorted form remained concealed within the shadowy depths beneath the ice—a physical manifestation of the Void's aberration.

To put it into perspective, even a sliver of True Ice could be forged into a weapon capable of immense power on the battlefield. Yet, the immense thickness of this ice was barely sufficient to prevent the Watchers from breaking through the dimensional barrier and entering the physical world.

Even Li Lin, seasoned as he was, felt his head grow faint and his soul tremble in the face of the bound Watchers. Their oppressive presence far exceeded that of the Void Empress by tenfold.

Activating his "Data Mind," Li Lin noted over a dozen scattered mental debuffs applied to himself. This was merely from standing near the sealed Watchers.

One could only imagine the apocalyptic catastrophe that would follow if they ever broke free. Neither his current power nor the combined might of the celestial warriors could contend with even a single Watcher.

The Watcher continued its unyielding gaze upon Li Lin, attempting to breach the ice and reach the audacious mortal who dared lock eyes with the Void.

Unnoticed, black-and-white mist began to rise around them, laced with an unseen yet lethal toxicity. Li Lin pulled back his gaze, exhaling sharply. "So this is what a Watcher truly is..."

"How does it compare to the Void entity you faced before?" Lissandra asked casually.

"It called itself the Void Empress, but in truth, it was merely a fragment of the Void's aberrant will," Li Lin replied. "It even proposed an alliance to defeat the Watchers, though we rejected it. Compared to the Watchers, its corruption pales in comparison."

His words sent a chill down not only Lissandra's spine but also those of Ashe and Sejuani, who stood frozen in shock.

"The colossal spiked walls you've built at the key points of the Howling Abyss will be useless," Li Lin said bluntly. "I've already dispatched mechanical engineers. They'll utilize cutting-edge technology to construct defensive fortifications along the cliff faces on both sides."

"I see..." Lissandra nodded, her tone faint.

Without further ado, she removed her hood, revealing unruly strands of white hair that fell to obscure the faint lines of age and the imperfections of her scarred, pale face. "You've now witnessed the Watchers. You should leave," she said, weariness lacing her words. "The time has come—I must sleep here. If I do not provide the Watchers with dreams, they will awaken... and the seals will fail."

Speaking thus, she removed her robe and undid her hairband, letting her waist-length white hair cascade like a waterfall over her unnaturally pale skin. 

For reasons he could not explain, Li Lin sensed a deep loneliness and sorrow emanating from Lissandra—perhaps a sense of regret, but most of all, a profound despair.

"Was it worth it?" he asked.

It was unclear whether he was referring to her pact with the Watchers to oppose the demigods, or the sacrifices she had made—including her sisters and her people—to stand as the solitary guardian of the Howling Abyss for nearly ten thousand years.

"There is no question of worth," Lissandra replied with a self-deprecating smile. "Once I chose this path, there was no turning back." 

(End of Chapter)

=========================================================

DROP THEM POWER STONES PLEASE

SUPPORT ME ON P@TREON IF YOU'D LIKE ACCESS ON ADVANCED CHAPTERS

PAT REON . COM / TurdTranslations (Just remove the space).