League of Legends If Route: Bond of Dawn ~The Two Not Chosen by Fate~ - Everyone assembles, a scene of carnage at the reactor!

The air in the abandoned mine shaft was damp, clinging to the skin. Fluorescent green moss covered the walls in dense patches, giving off a faint glow. The acrid stench of shimmer fumes stung the nostrils, and every breath scraped the throat raw. Caitlyn kept running without slowing her pace. Her deep navy ponytail swayed against her back, and she had no time to worry about the strands of hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. "Luca, how much further?" Running beside her, Luca's complexion was so pale it was obvious even in the dim mine shaft. His light blond hair, almost white, was disheveled, and the silver prosthetic eye in his right socket—usually hidden—emitted a faint blue glow. His body still hadn't healed from the wounds he'd suffered in the border zone ambush. "Just beyond this shaft... the third underground level of the old Treva Refinery. That's where the reaction furnace is." Luca's voice was breathless. Even so, he never lost his gentle tone. Caitlyn gritted her teeth. Vi was still asleep in Cross's clinic. In that shimmer explosion, she'd shielded her— (*Don't think about it. Just look ahead right now.*) Suppressing the ache in her chest, Caitlyn gripped her hex rifle tighter. —That was when it happened. Ahead in the mine shaft, two figures emerged from the green haze. Black suits. Expressionless faces. Killing intent soaked into their very bodies. Not the uniforms of Piltover Wardens. The same as the ones who attacked Luca—shadow agents under the Council's direct command. "Halt. Beyond this point is a restricted area. Only authorized personnel may pass." The agent on the right spoke in a voice devoid of emotion. Caitlyn reflexively reached for her breast pocket—but her fingertips met empty air. The badge was gone. Her authority as an Enforcer, her equipment supply routes, all of it—lost. (*Damn it—*) A moment of silence. The agents' eyes narrowed. "Your permit." The man on the left stepped forward. His hand moved toward the holster at his hip. Caitlyn drew a deep breath. Stay calm. I've got this— "...I absolutely won't tell a soul." The moment she murmured those words, she leveled her hex rifle horizontally. Aiming at the agents' feet. She pulled the trigger. *BOOOOOM—!!!* A thunderous roar. Sparks. Shattered fragments of cobblestone burst into the air. The flash that filled the mine shaft bleached her vision white in an instant. "Now!!" In the gap where their vision was stolen, Luca moved. Quietly, but fast. Only the blue light of his prosthetic eye traced his path. He circled behind the agent on the left and kicked out the back of his knee. As the man lost his balance, Luca wrapped an arm around his neck and choked him out. Not a single wasted movement. The agent on the right broke through the smoke and charged at Caitlyn. But—too slow. Caitlyn slung her rifle back and drew the hex pistol from her hip. She stepped in and struck the man's temple with the butt of the gun. *Thud.* A dull sound. The agent's body crumpled. "...Not bad." Luca, still out of breath, let the corner of his mouth relax just a little. The light in his prosthetic eye flickered faintly. "I've been training to protect you since we were kids, after all." Caitlyn couldn't find the words to reply. She just nodded. (*Even without a badge, there are things I can still do.*) A small warmth kindled deep in her chest. Before she knew it, the walls of the passageway had begun to change. The rough rock face of the mine shaft gave way to artificial metal panels. Rusted pipes crawled along the walls, and puddles on the floor glowed green with shimmer fluid. The old Treva Refinery—a facility that was supposed to have been shut down after the explosion accident fifteen years ago. The air grew even heavier. The acrid stench burned her throat. Residual shimmer vapor. "Cait... listen." Abruptly, Luca stopped in his tracks. He dropped to one knee, leaning against the wall. "Luca!?" Caitlyn spun around. Luca's face was ashen, his breathing shallow and rapid. He'd pushed himself too hard in that fight just now. His body, already battered to begin with, had taken another beating. "It's okay. This is far enough." Luca shook his head. "What are you saying—I'll lend you my shoulder. We'll go together—" "Listen, Cait." Luca touched a finger to his prosthetic eye. Rows of numbers surfaced on its silver surface. Structural diagrams of the reaction furnace, weak point data, runaway calculation formulas. "The control rod in the center of the reaction furnace... that's what's stabilizing it. But right now, it's past its limit. If you destroy it, the runaway will stop for a while." "But it won't stop completely." "That's right. You'll buy a few minutes. In that time, disconnect Jillian's prosthetic arm—that thing—from the furnace." Luca's voice was fading. "...I could never say it. Ever since we were kids... how I felt about you." Luca quietly lifted his face. Through the gaps in his bangs, his pale lavender left eye gazed at Caitlyn. And his silver right eye too—still holding its light. "I loved you. But if you're happy... that's enough for me." Something twinged sharply inside Caitlyn. (*I knew. I noticed. That Luca had always been protecting me from the shadows—but still.*) The person filling my heart is someone else. Covered in scars, throwing fists before thinking, never even noticing my jealousy—that dense, but more straightforward than anyone. (*Vi...*) Heat welled up behind her eyes. "...I'll definitely come back for you later. I promise." Caitlyn spoke with a trembling voice. She propped Luca against the wall and stood up. Luca gave a small laugh. "I know. Don't worry, I'll be watching." Right after that, Luca apparently inhaled a huge lungful of the Gray's fumes, because he broke into a loud, hacking cough. The hard-won emotional atmosphere crumbled just a little. "...Okay, that was a bit embarrassing." "...Idiot." Caitlyn gave a wry smile and lightly tapped Luca on the shoulder. Cross's clinic smelled, as always, of medicine, decay, and iron. The chemtech lamp hanging from the ceiling cast an eerie green light. The farthest back of the three beds—that was where Vi had been laid down. Cross checked the IV tube, his wrinkled face twisting into a scowl. "How many times do I have to say, move and you die." On the bed, Vi's fingers twitched faintly. Her vivid pink hair was spread across the grimy pillow. Her steel-gray eyes slowly opened. "...Cait." It was a hoarse voice. "You're awake!?" Cross tore off his goggles and rushed over. Vi stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, then suddenly tried to spring up. "Y-you idiot! I told you not to move!" "...Feels like Cait's in trouble." Vi muttered that, then casually yanked out the IV tube. "H-hey! The fluid line—!" The IV stand toppled over. *Clang.* The metallic sound echoed through the clinic. Vi swung her legs off the bed with her scarred arms. Her old shoulder wound must have hurt—she winced for a moment—but that was all. "If Cait's in trouble, I've got no choice but to go." It wasn't logic. Her body moved before she could think. Cross let out an exasperated sigh. "...You really are—" "Well, whatever! Let's go!" Vi kicked open the clinic door and sprinted straight out into the dim abandoned mine shaft. Her feet headed unerringly toward the deepest parts of Zaun. Chasing the acrid chemtech stench—the same shimmer smell as Jillian's prosthetic arm. The center of the reaction furnace was a green hell. The massive cylindrical reactor core, reaching all the way to the ceiling, rotated as it emitted an ominous light. *Boom. Boom.* The deep bass reverberated in the pit of her stomach. Steam jetted from pipes crawling across every wall, and the air was saturated with the acrid stench of shimmer. At the center of it all—stood Jillian Vero. Her short silver-gray hair was dyed green by the furnace's glow. Her left prosthetic arm was directly connected to the reactor core's control panel via metal connectors. A small counter embedded in the back of the prosthetic hand was ticking down the seconds. "...So you came." Jillian turned around. Her amber eyes widened just a fraction. "So it really was your doing." Caitlyn advanced slowly, her hex rifle still raised. "If I die here, the furnace will stop in a chain reaction. Piltover, Zaun, and—Vi. All of them will be protected." Jillian's lips twisted. Just the right corner of her mouth lifting—her usual habit. But her eyes weren't smiling. "What you're doing is just shouldering everything alone and leaving Vi with scars that'll never fade." Caitlyn didn't stop walking. "There's no other way. You wouldn't understand." Jillian's voice trembled for the first time. Her usual composure, her ever-confident tone—it was peeling away. "I—I'll choose a way where I don't lose anyone. Not you, not Vi." The moment Caitlyn declared that— *BADOOM!!!!* One of the reaction furnace's wall panels exploded from the inside. Metal panels went flying. Dust swirled into the air. A green flash. "I dunno what's going on—but if Cait's in trouble, I'm here to help!!" The one who smashed through the wall and burst in was Vi. Covered in wounds, her arm still wrapped in bandages discolored by shimmer. Even so, her steel-gray eyes looked straight ahead. "Vi—!?" "It's that rod, right!? The one moving all weird!" Vi ran toward the reactor core without hesitation. "Stop—it's dangerous!" Jillian's scream. But Vi didn't stop. At the center of the reactor core—a single control rod, abnormally thick, glowing green. Its surface was cracked, vibrating uncontrollably. "This is it—!!!!" She clenched her fist, put her whole body's weight into it, and with everything she had—smashed it in two. *CRACK—!!* Sparks. Metal fragments scattering. The rotation sound of the reactor core—*boom, boom*—gradually wound down. The counter on the prosthetic arm—stopped. "...Hah... hah..." Vi breathed heavily, her shoulders heaving, and turned around, still gripping the wreckage of the broken control rod. She rubbed under her nose with her thumb and grinned. "Just a scratch." Caitlyn was dumbfounded. Then, something bubbled up from deep inside her— "...You—you're injured right now, aren't you!? Why did you come!? You almost died just now, you know!?" Before she knew it, she was shouting. Tears threatened to spill. As a professional, this was—but she couldn't keep the mask on anymore. (*I love this person. Love her to death.*) Her face grew hot. Her heart was pounding too loud. Embarrassment and joy and anger—all tangled up into a mess, and she didn't know what to do with any of it. Quietly, Jillian pulled her prosthetic arm free from the control panel. Her amber eyes looked back and forth between Vi and Caitlyn. "...I see. So an ending like this... is possible too." Her voice held resignation and—just a hint of relief. But the reactor core's trembling hadn't completely stopped. Even with the control rod broken, the shimmer pressure was still near critical. And Jillian's prosthetic arm—deep inside it, one last explosive charge was still packed. "But it's not over yet. The furnace is only temporarily stopped. If I use the remaining explosives along with my arm—" Before Jillian could finish, Caitlyn shouted. "Don't you dare!! Your self-sacrifice ends here!!" Before the furnace, where the green light wavered, three shadows intersected. The reprieve of the temporary shutdown was almost up. Jillian was still trying to form a smile—but the corners of her mouth were trembling faintly.

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Episode 6

Name: League of Legends If Route: Bond of Dawn ~The Two Not Chosen by Fate~
Author: Novelia

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