Lux's Farewell

To be honest, even Kalya himself does not dare to say that he is a living person.

Although he looks quite normal, except for wearing a mask, he is no different from a normal person most of the time, except that he does not need to eat or drink, but in the final analysis, the body he is moving now is just a magic puppet.

Kalya knew very well that his true form was actually a pitiful exile who could only hide in his own little world and use the body of the dark descendant as an anchor.

Therefore, when the tree vowed "I can feel your vitality", Kalya himself was somewhat dumbfounded.

vitality?

What chance can I have?

The vitality and vitality of the elemental puppet are two different things!

"Come on." Kalya waved his hand, "It is precisely because I am caught between life and death that I know better than you what is truly alive."

Kalya's tone made the other party quite confused.

The big tree carefully stretched out a branch and came to Kalya. As if it wanted to confirm something, it hovered in front of Kalya. After a long time, it finally shrank back.

"Come on, you are a living person!" As if he had been shamefully deceived, the other party's tone began to become a little angry, "The power of life is flowing in your body, you just don't know where you got it. Strange news, a blind man trying to break the boundary between life and death!”

The power of life?

How come I don’t know?

Kalya, who was confused, wanted to ask again, but it seemed that the big tree seemed to have decided that he was a liar, and just blocked the way, and then remained silent in response to all Kalya's questions.

Faced with the opponent's lack of cooperation, Kalya simply ignored the warning and tried to go in the direction blocked by the opponent.

This behavior directly stimulated the other party.

The next moment, the thick underground stem was like a flexible tentacle, grabbing at Kalya - considering the terrifying size of the underground stem, if it was caught, the result would instantly become bloody and terrifying.

Of course, Kalya would not be caught so easily. When the underground stem grabbed him, the yellow sand poured out and formed a hand, which in turn held the underground stem protruding from the big tree. .

The Hand of Yellow Sand and the Underground Stem began to wrestle, and Kalya took advantage of this opportunity to easily break through the opponent's blockade.

After crossing the barrier formed by this tree, Kalya walked forward several hundred steps quickly, but unlike what he imagined, there was no entrance to the land of the undead - even as he walked quickly along the way, , the black mist around him began to dim.

It seemed that he was leaving the darkest part of the Shadow Island.

What's happening here?

Kalya was a little confused.

As the black fog gradually dimmed, the spatial instability that he could vaguely perceive before completely disappeared.

Clearly, he had strayed far away from the goal he had hoped to find.

Could it be that the tree was playing tricks on itself and deliberately sending itself in the wrong direction?

Kalya, who had doubts in his heart, returned the same way, and then, at the original place, he heard a pleasant chuckle.

"Hahahahaha." Although the tree's laughter was not pleasant, the joy in it was real and unpretentious. "You are indeed back - you are the living, so the land of the undead refused to open its door to you. , leave and go back to where you should be!"

It was obviously impossible for Kalya to give up because of such a few words. He shook his head gently and took the initiative to approach the tree.

"How should I address you as?"

"Me?" Suddenly hearing Kalya ask this question, the tree seemed a little surprised, "Ah ha, there is no point in trying to get close - you can call me Maokai."

The name made Kalya blink.

It was indeed this tree.

"So, why do you want to stop me from looking for the land of the undead?" Kalya did not say much about the identity of the other party, but continued to ask quite directly, "This should be the first time we meet today, right? "

"The boundary between life and death should not be broken at will." Maokai said matter-of-factly, "I once promised to help maintain this fragile balance... Well, don't try to get human beings' disapproval from me. You should get the news, get out of here, the black mist is dangerous to any life."

"But you are still in the black mist." Kalya naturally did not leave easily, "Who did you promise? Could it be Aatrox?"

"Aatrox?" Maokai was stunned for a moment, and seemed to think for a while before he understood who Kalya was talking about, "No, not that guy."

"..."

Kalya was really confused this time.

If it wasn't Aatrox, then who was it?

Things seem to be very different from what I imagined!

"Okay, let's leave here." Maokai continued, "Your spells are very good. I think you are an unusual little guy among humans. You still have a good future. Don't put your precious energy on it. As for the spying on death—when you meet the Mother of Masks one day, you will have plenty of time.”

"..."

Maokai said it very seriously, but Kalya still felt confused.

"I see that you also like masks very much." Maokai continued, "Maybe the Mother of Masks will also like you... Don't resist when the time comes, she will welcome you to join."

"Mother of Masks?" Kalya, who finally found a keyword, finally understood what the other party meant, "You mean...the God of Death?"

"Ah, very few people know her name. I thought people of your age should know about Sheep and Wolf."

"Kindred, right?" Although it was a question, there was obvious certainty in Kalya's tone, "I not only know Kindred, I also know Frog Spirit, and I also know that it is not living a good life."

"You impressed me." Maokai's tone finally fluctuated a little, "I said this word correctly, right? In short, few people should still remember the unlucky guy who was tortured by the vulture. I heard that a desert death god seized the His work.”

"...If my understanding is correct." Kalya was a little embarrassed, "The Desert Death God you mentioned who usurped His work is me - it seems that the existence of the Ascended One and some folk beliefs, let a representative I went through some not-so-pleasant experiences with the Messenger of Death, and I will apologize if I see the Frog Spirit again."

Kalya's words made Maokai seem to have really turned into a tree. The branches he was waving suddenly froze, and it took a long time before he spoke again doubtfully.

"Karya?"

"Ah, it seems that my reputation is pretty good." Kalya nodded happily, "So you should understand why I want to go to the land of the undead, right?" "I can't believe it." Maokai's tone changed. He hesitated, "Kalya should be completely dead. After all, the sheep and wolves have done a good job. Even in Shurima, they can lead those who are willing or unwilling..."

"So the Desert God of Death is already a thing of the past that only exists in Jiguang Pianyu." Kalya interrupted, "Now I am just an old guy who wants to go to the land of the undead and reminisce with old friends. This is not The boundary between life and death will not be broken—or rather, my existence itself has already broken this boundary.”

Maokai hesitated.

It twisted its huge body, got closer to Kalya little by little, and then looked at the other party carefully.

"You are lying to me." After a long time, it shook its branch with some dissatisfaction, "You are not Kalya, you are not an immortal, I am very sure of this."

"Yes." Kalya nodded, "I gave up immortality."

His tone was very relaxed, as if giving up immortality was like throwing away a rotten apple and was not worth mentioning at all.

"Don't try to deceive me. Although you seem to know a little about the unknown history, the strong vitality in your body cannot deceive me." Maokai's tone became serious, as if he would attack Kalya again the next moment. Attack, "Leave here, if you continue to insist, the wolf spirit will come to visit you soon."

"I will not leave." Kalya shook his head, "And now there is one more reason - tell me, Maokai, what vitality do you see in me?"

"..."

Maokai didn't answer, but assumed an attacking stance, with frightening barbs sprouting from the protruding branches.

"My life is like a candle in the wind." Kalya ignored the other party's threat and continued, "I know this better than anyone else, why do you turn a blind eye to it?"

"No, your vitality is very strong, which is rare in my life." Maokai snorted, "This is why the Land of the Undead will not open its door to you - if you are really Kalya, you should be able to Like Aatrox, you automatically enter behind that door, but now it seems that death does not welcome you."

Kalya finally became a little anxious.

He seemed to have discovered something that he had not realized before, but the result of this discovery was not clear enough - he tried to grasp something, but could not get the answer he expected.

Kalya also tried to get some additional information from Maokai's mouth, but Maokai made up his mind and shut his mouth tightly. When Kalya wanted to continue asking, it was even full of threats. He waved his branches.

This certainly didn't scare Karya.

Although it was a little bad to do so, in order to get the conclusion he wanted, Kalya thought that he might use some necessary violence.

The next moment, just as Maokai urged Kalya again to leave quickly, the soil under the Twisted Dryad's feet suddenly turned to sand without warning.

The golden quicksand seemed to be an all-devouring whirlpool, dragging it directly into the abyss.

"Tell me what's going on."

Although Kalya's figure is very inconspicuous compared to Maokai, at this moment, his body burst out with an aura that was difficult to look at directly.

"The living can never master the secret of death." Although Maokai fell helplessly into the whirlpool of quicksand, struggling hard but still unable to climb out, he still did not intend to give in. "The door of death will not open to you. Open it until the moment you die——"

"Don't fool me with these Riddler-like words!" Kalya raised her tone, "If death is really an absolute taboo, what about you?"

"I'm different from anyone else. I may be a part of death in the future." Maokai seemed to have thought of something, and his struggling movements gradually stopped. "Maybe, it's not the future, but now..."

Kalya was completely confused.

Although Maokai is a tree, its current posture has been seen by Kalya more than once in the past - those who believe in destiny often do this when they embrace what they think is their predetermined destiny. .

Although it sounds very nonsense for a tree to embrace its own destiny, Kalya dares to say that maybe this is what Maokai is thinking at this time.

It must have gotten some kind of hint or guidance about its future destiny somewhere!

Even Kalya can clearly sense that it seems that it has always insisted on guarding the boundary between life and death, which is probably inseparable from the fate it knows.

At this moment, Kalya's heart was in a mess.

It was originally just to visit Aatrox, and then ask him to do a small favor and bring the Noxians a trial to determine their future destiny, but now everything is stuck on the way to the land of the undead. …

Maokai, who blocked him, initially said that he had strong vitality and was far from death. After he used force, he seemed to see his fate and happily chose to accept it...

These somewhat inexplicable things seemed to be secretly connected by a clue, but Kalya couldn't see the thread and could only worry.

While controlling the quicksand vortex to keep Maokai trapped in it but not directly swallowed, Kalya began to carefully review every word Maokai said.

The power of life…

The boundary between life and death...

Not Aatrox...

Wait until you meet the Mother of Masks...the Mother of Masks!

Kalya narrowed his eyes, and at this moment, he suddenly felt something in his heart.

Maokai maintains the boundary between life and death so much, maybe because he promised the Mother of Masks, or reached some exchange with the other party, right?

And the fate it determines is probably inseparable from the exchange between the Masked Gate, the God of Death in Runeterra, and that exchange, right?

So, the fate that Maokai believes will end with him becoming a loser of death, just like Kindred?

No, it is not.

When Maokai talked about Kindred and Frog Spirit, there was no admiration or envy in his tone, and there was even some gloating in his tone.

So, what exactly is Maokai looking forward to?

Kalya looked at Maokai who was still in the quicksand.

The other party didn't struggle, he just looked at Kalya with his old man's face.

No, not at Kalya, but at his face—or rather, at his mask.

At this moment, when he realized the focus of Maokai's gaze, Kalya finally realized.

A little late, sorry.