The next day, Taliyah and her people headed west along the river.
Before leaving, Taliyah stood facing Zach and Kai’Sa with a bright smile on her face.
“Zach, Kai’Sa, thank you both.
Take care of yourselves.
I hope we meet again.”
After they said their goodbyes, Taliyah summoned the stone platform once more, carrying her people until they gradually disappeared from Zach and Kai’Sa’s sight.
At that point, only Zach and Kai’Sa were left.
That was when Zach noticed the unusually complicated look in Kai’Sa’s eyes.
He nudged her shoulder.
“What’s wrong?”
Kai’Sa looked into Zach’s eyes, her purple gaze filled with loss.
“Are you leaving too?”
Originally, Kai’Sa had planned to keep taking Zach east after crossing the Sai Kahleek Desert, all the way to the border between Shurima and Ixtal.
There, Zach could leave the Shuriman continent from an abandoned dock.
If they did that, the journey would still take a few more days, and she would be able to stay with Zach for a little longer.
But now, after finding this river, Zach had far more ways to leave Shurima.
He could even say goodbye to Kai’Sa right now, follow the river across the desert, find a trading city, and leave Shurima with a caravan.
Zach looked at Kai’Sa and smiled gently at her.
Just as he had said before, there was no real meaning in him continuing to stay in Icathia.
He could not dive deep into Void burrows like Kai’Sa.
Void rifts would instinctively reject him.
He could not move through every corner of Icathia the way Kai’Sa could, so staying there would not mean much.
As for Shurima, it was currently a complete mess.
If he chose the wrong side even slightly, he might become a casualty of war.
After all, the wars over there had completely surpassed the level of ordinary people.
Azir, Xerath, Renekton, Nasus, none of them were anything less than demigod-level beings.
If he went there during such a chaotic time, he might get himself killed outright.
Taking all these reasons together, going to see other parts of Runeterra seemed like a pretty good choice.
Only, if he wanted to leave Icathia, then he would have to part with the girl in front of him.
Zach tightened his grip on Kai’Sa’s hand and winked at her.
“I’ve wanted to go take a look at the border between Shurima and Ixtal for a while now, so I’ll leave from there.
It just means I’ll need you to travel with me a little longer, Kai’Sa.”
Hearing Zach’s words, a spark of light flashed through Kai’Sa’s eyes.
She looked at Zach and said hesitantly, “But that might delay you…”
Zach suddenly leaned closer to Kai’Sa’s face, their noses almost touching.
“How could being with Kai’Sa ever be a delay?”
Kai’Sa instinctively took a small step back, and an extremely moving blush appeared on her pretty face.
Zach’s words were like a stone falling into a calm lake, sending ripples through Kai’Sa’s heart.
After all, when had she ever heard words like that before?
Zach said again, “Kai’Sa, do you not want to take me there?
Would it be too much trouble?”
“No!”
“I…
I was planning to go take a look over there anyway, so I can bring you along on the way!”
After saying this, Kai’Sa seemed unwilling to let Zach notice the panic in her eyes.
She quickly turned around and pulled Zach by the hand, leading him into the distance.
Zach let Kai’Sa pull him forward, his eyes already full of laughter.
He looked at the clouds in the far sky and said softly, “Kai’Sa, the next time I come back to find you, will you come with me to see other parts of Runeterra?
Think of this trip as me scouting the way for you.
When I come back next time, I can take you to the most beautiful places.”
The instant Zach’s words fell, Kai’Sa’s steps paused.
She did not answer him right away.
Instead, she bit her lower lip tightly and thought about it.
After a long time, just when Zach thought Kai’Sa would not answer his question, Kai’Sa suddenly turned back and looked at him with shining eyes.
“I will!”
Zach raised his brows and leaned closer to Kai’Sa with an excited face.
“Really?”
“Mm.” Kai’Sa nodded lightly.
Seeing Zach look so happy, Kai’Sa also felt an inexplicable joy in her heart.
Zach walked beside Kai’Sa and looked at her again.
“Then you have to protect yourself.
You absolutely can’t get hurt again.”
“I won’t.”
Kai’Sa said with great determination, “I’ll wait for you.”
At that point, neither Zach nor Kai’Sa said anything more.
The two of them held hands like that, moving swiftly through the deserts of Shurima.
After putting their feelings into words, the atmosphere between Zach and Kai’Sa seemed to become even more subtle.
Although they still chatted with each other the same way they had before, the way they looked at each other had clearly changed.
Time passed bit by bit.
About three days later, the yellow sand ahead of them began to disappear, replaced by a stretch of dense vegetation.
Zach knew that if they continued northeast, they should enter Ixtal’s territory.
There, the scenery would be completely different from Shurima.
It was strange, when one thought about it.
They were clearly on the same continent, and Ixtal had once been a vassal state of the ancient Shuriman Empire, yet the climates of the two places were complete opposites.
Shurima was hot all year round, with yellow sand filling the sky, while Ixtal was hidden within dense rainforests, which contained countless rare plants and animals.
Zach and Kai’Sa did not need to go deeper into Ixtal’s territory, because the abandoned port Kai’Sa had mentioned had already appeared ahead of them.
At this point, Zach and Kai’Sa had reached Shurima’s southeastern border, and the port was located at the edge of the Guardian’s Sea.
Zach only needed to take a boat from this port and follow the Guardian’s Sea north to leave the Shuriman continent.
However, Zach had never been to any other part of Shurima, so this voyage really could only be guided by his own instincts.
Zach and Kai’Sa searched the abandoned dock for a long time before finally finding a small boat that was still in decent condition.
The boat was a little over two meters long.
Its hull had been made from trees from Ixtal’s dense forests, and it looked fairly sturdy.
Zach only needed to raise the sail and set off, saving himself even the effort of rowing.
After everything was ready, Zach and Kai’Sa stood face to face on the wooden planks of the dock extending into the sea.
At their feet, the small boat rocked gently in the water.
Kai’Sa looked at Zach and repeated with shining eyes, “I’ll wait for you!”
As she spoke, Kai’Sa raised her right hand and held out her pinky finger.
“Pinky promise!”
Kai’Sa remembered what Zach had said before.
A pinky promise meant a promise was settled, and it could not be taken back.
She remembered every word Zach had ever said.
Zach looked at Kai’Sa’s raised hand, then at her watery purple eyes.
He opened his arms and pulled Kai’Sa tightly into his embrace.
“Mm…”
The rich scent of a man instantly filled her breath, and Kai’Sa froze completely.
But she did not resist at all.
Instead, she raised both arms and hugged Zach’s back from beneath his arms.
However, very soon, Zach and Kai’Sa both discovered something that shocked them beyond words.
Kai’Sa’s Void armor was afraid of the Ascended power on Zach’s body.
Whenever Kai’Sa and Zach came into contact, the Void armor would automatically part.
Before, Kai’Sa and Zach had only held hands, so they had not felt anything strange.
But now, the two of them were hugging each other tightly.
Holding Kai’Sa in his arms, Zach’s gaze slowly drifted downward.
The first thing that entered his sight was Kai’Sa’s flushed pretty face and delicate collarbone.
Farther down…
“Don’t look!”
“Uh, cough, cough!”
Blushing, Kai’Sa covered Zach’s eyes with her hand and pushed him toward the small boat.
“Go, hurry up and go!”
Once the two separated, the Void armor once again covered Kai’Sa’s body.
Zach stood on the small boat and let the seawater push it away from the shore.
He waved both hands toward Kai’Sa on the shore.
“Take good care of yourself and wait for me to come back!”
Kai’Sa stood on the shore, staring without blinking as Zach’s figure grew farther and farther away.
Even after Zach’s figure had disappeared from sight, Kai’Sa still stood on the shore for a long time.
After a long while, Kai’Sa withdrew her gaze, and the look in her eyes once again became serious and calm.
From now on, she had to return to her old life.
The Void armor completely covered her face as well, and Kai’Sa turned into a streak of purple light, rushing swiftly in the direction of Icathia.
He becomes connected to Silco’s side, gains a Skin Master System, and uses League skin-based weapons, tech, armor, and abilities to change the fate of Zaun.
Instead of letting Arcane’s tragedies play out exactly the same way, Felix tries to protect the people around him, especially Powder/Jinx, and push Zaun toward open rebellion against Piltover.
The story starts with the Piltover-Zaun conflict, then expands into the wider Runeterra setting: Noxus’s invasion of Ionia, Demacia’s internal conflict, the Freljord, Shurima, the Void, and eventually the Ruination/Shadow Isles plotline.