The tunnel swallowed sound.
Cold concrete curved above Cole like a ribcage, walls streaked with old rust and something newer—darker. The hum of the city was a distant memory down here. What remained was silence. And the smell.
It was wrong. Acrid. Sweet. Like rotting flowers and scorched meat. A Void stench. The kind that made your vision blur.
Cole moved slowly, fists guarded, the sound of his footsteps echoed along the narrow space. He followed the claw marks, fresh gouges in steel and stone. Something had been hunting here. Something fast. Something cruel.
And then the laughter returned.
A scrape of claws on metal. A growl caught between a purr and a chuckle.
"I've been expecting you…The void, she spoke to me," said a voice—disembodied, slithering between shadows. "You're not of this world… A rare delicacy"
Cole pivoted, eyes sharp, mind steady. "You're more talkative than I expected."
"I evolve," Kha'Zix whispered.
Silence fell again.
Then he struck.
A blur of serrated chitin and slashing limbs tore from the wall—Cole barely twisted in time, staff intercepting a blow meant for his spine. The impact cracked bone in his wrists. He rolled, came up swinging, but Kha'Zix had vanished again, melting into the darkness with a chittering hiss.
"Invisibility," Cole muttered. "Camouflage and isolation."
He ducked into cover, pulse racing. His mind raced through his own knowledge of League mechanics. This wasn't a spar. Kha'Zix hunted solo. Hit and vanish. A single mistake was death. But he also knew that Kha'zix wouldn't win a prolonged fight.
The shadows stirred.
Another slash—this one from above.
Cole twisted. Too slow.
Claws raked his shoulder. Armor plates shattered. Pain flared white-hot down his ribs.
The system didn't need to tell him. He couldn't take many more hits.
He rolled, gasping—blood smeared across the tunnel floor. Kha'Zix crouched where he landed, mandibles flexing, low and feral. His form shimmered—then vanished again.
He's playing with me.
Cole needed Kha'Zix to lower his guard. Just once.
He drew a long, steady breath.
[Death's Dance – Ignore Pain]
The world pulsed.
The pain flooding his body dulled to a low burn. The weapon in his hands shifted—heavier, crueler, made for counters instead of speed.
The deep gash in his side no longer throbbed—it burned slowly, bleeding over time. Manageable.
Focus. Resolve. He had seconds before Kha'Zix struck again.
A voice clicked through the dark. Mocking. Alien.
"I expected a real hunt. Where's that strength you clung to? In the end, your species is just… inferior. I've evolved. I'm better. Stronger. I am better."
Kha'Zix circled his sprawled form like a predator savoring the kill.
Cole's grip tightened around the staff. The Voidreaver was close enough.
Cold breath. Cold voice.
"Let's see you evolve past extinction."
Then he lunged.
Steel clashed with claws. Grit against teeth. Cole moved with brutal precision now—each dodge tighter, every counter sharper. What should've staggered him became pain he could handle. Kha'Zix vanished mid-leap, reappearing behind him—
Cole was ready.
He pivoted into the strike, shoulder catching the blow—then retaliated, slamming the staff into Kha'Zix's chest. The Voidreaver shrieked and staggered, leaving a trail of dark blood as he vanished again.
But this time, he couldn't hide it. The trail didn't disappear.
[Champion-Grade Threat Engaged – Ignore Pain Storage Released]
Pain converted to power. A surge through his body. Cole grinned.
He tracked the signs—the blood, the shift in air, the scratch of talons.
There.
He twisted and struck—steel met flesh.
A screech tore through the tunnel. Kha'Zix materialized mid-leap, flung sideways by the blow. He crashed into a pillar, twitching.
Cole advanced. Measured. Calm. His breathing steady, even as blood dripped from fresh wounds.
"Come on," he growled. "No more hiding."
But the Void doesn't fight fair.
Kha'Zix burst forward, faster now. Desperate. Slashes rained from every angle—savage, chaotic. Cole staggered—an arm torn open, cheek split, blood blinding one eye.
But Death's Dance pulsed again. Pain slowed. Time stretched. He remained upright.
Just one more opening.
He dropped low—his sword swept Kha'Zix's legs.
The Voidreaver stumbled.
Cole rose—drove the blade into Kha'Zix's side—and activated Stasis.
Time froze.
Kha'Zix's screech warped in his throat, caught in golden light. The tunnel glowed, surreal and still.
Cole, panting, stared him down. The incoming slash hung motionless in the air.
"You're not the only one who evolves."
Stasis dropped.
The blade tore upward in a brutal arc, splitting Kha'Zix's jaw. A follow-up strike slammed him to the ground, cracking tile beneath.
Cole approached, dragging his blade behind him.
The Voidreaver writhed.
"I see you."
He raised his sword.
Kha'Zix hissed, voice rasping.
"Y-You cut off my legs… this is cruel."
Cole's eyes burned.
"Cruel? How many begged for less before you butchered them—for your evolution?"
The wings came off next.
"How does it feel to be the prey for once?"
Then his arms.
Kha'Zix shrieked, voice breaking.
"I'm not the only one they'll send. There are more of us. Stronger. Countless. The Void—won't stop."
Cole said nothing at first. He stared down at the creature—a monster that once thought itself unstoppable.
Then—
"I know."
And the sword fell one last time.
A head rolled down the tunnel, green eyes dimming to black.
Cole leaned against the wall, chest heaving, his entire body soaked in blood and sweat.
Something shifted inside him.
[Target Status: Neutralized]
[You've earned 300 SP]
[Death's Dance – Defy Triggered]
[Ignore Pain – Fully Healed]
He staggered back, exhaling. Silent now. Everything was silent.
Then—
A pulse.
Deep inside.
Not just power.
Victory.
Cole turned, and walked out of the tunnel
___
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