PREFACE: This story may show MA rating in the future chapters. I prefer this story for ages 18 and above.

Cover art: By the author
Enjoy the story!

The following story is now based in the NEW lore:

Her form was set, everything is ready as her foot rests on the ground firmly, she immediately slides it to make a step, her arms flowed like a curtain, almost fluttering around, with her hand that guides an arc that matches her steps. Indeed fascinating, the dance that she yearned to learn in years, in which her O-ma tells her to make everything a perfection, an expression, and form. However, she dances alone that lead her feelings to express while she make the step. She missed everyone, she lost what she has. In fact, all of her beloved were gone because of the invaders.

She has her own way to do what is right. Who cares about Balance? It is likely an extermination of the kind because on how dubious people were as they set their beliefs to this Balance.

As her final step reached its end, she made a deep breath, inhaling what's around her, the air of Ionia itself. She can sniff out the scent how Ionia had been as it was invaded several years ago. Almost telling her that this Ionia have changed, each factions of Ionia is fighting for their own lands.

People sought answers for her that how would they manage this kind of treachery, even some of them seeks her leadership.

"Lead Navori?" Behind her breath, she chuckled at the ridicule of the people who sought for her.

She kept her pace and meditated, she lifted her knee and maintained her posture without bailing out, closing her eyes and let the flow of her senses to reach her system. She chose to meditate at a plateau where she could view the whole country, this place is almost dear to her, she had once spotted here dancing alone with her six blades rotating in a perfect arc around her. Behind her was a huge blossom tree that is likely watching her doing her dances, she feels tranquility as the tree has its own life embedded inside of it; perhaps the spirits of the nature that almost telling her that it was alive at point of time.

Now the sun is setting, she halted her dance and sighed. Completely unaware that the dusk is soon to fall. She steadily called her blades and made it as a platform, surging down and flies downwards towards her camp.

As she lay herself to rest, she called for her blades and cleans it with warm water, she took a cloth and dips it on the basin filled with water that just came from the heat of the fire.

These blades are the embodiment of her family. She tainted it with so much life that is treacherous to her ancestors and her family; somewhat betraying her family's honor.

There is no way she could live a life without death, Ionia had changed and so its people.

From the outside of the tent, she heard a soldier seeking her assistance, she lifted herself up and made her blades float behind her. Her boots reached the entrance of the tent and sought for that soldier.

"Captain." The soldier started. "I received some news, they have seen some people who uses magic at the mountain pass."

"Magic? Is there anything you have gathered?" Irelia pressed for more.

"I have no news on why some people there use magic, they have clashed some of our soldiers and here I am, reporting the status." The soldier explained, though his voice has fear behind it.

Irelia managed to surge towards the mountains, and yes, she have seen explosions and countless screams.

"Leave!" A voice of a man echoed the area.

"Pity! You are weak that you wanted us to leave!"

"What. Is this land your keeping?! We found this land first!"

"Hold it, do you think you can MAINTAIN this land by that weak magic of yours?"

Taunts and swearing can be heard as people; her own people, exchanging conflicts regarding on the land, they fight for just the hectare even by their own Ionian blood.

"If YOU people won't stop-!" Irelia shouted, her low, cold voice boomed across the area.

The commotion stopped after they heard the captain. They exchanged glares and even some of them prepared their magic books.

And then after the silence, one man torched the opposing man with the magic, the sight is sure..excruciating.

The man got in flames, the scent of flesh almost smells as a barbecue, his skin is getting chapped up and blackened, he is screaming in pain, no one helped him as they just stared at the helpless man.

Irelia saw the horror and got agitated, she have thoughts of fighting them but..

A scream. A maniacal scream echoed, that is the time where the people finally made a riot by the use of magic, it is utterly dangerous. Each people casts their magic and throws it at each other, she can tell that the taste of death just the effect on fear from those invaders. And that's likely a reason why people of Ionia is fighting as well..

"Stand back! HURRY!" Irelia shoved her soliders and retreated, the sight ahead is like a fireworks display in which every spells have casted in an irregular position.

The area is bright, flames erupting, torching people, lighting sparks, hitting people and dying in electrocution, explosions, blasting people and even the surroundings.

The blast leads into a horrible scene where amputated limbs flying around, some flesh splattered Irelia's soldiers, making them screech in fear. Some arms and legs reached their destination. Grisly. Too gruesome as she can tell.

However, one man casts an energy ball but got hit by a fire, he screams and forgots the spell he have casted, he slaps his arm as it was being torched, and realized that the flames reached his bones, pain surging through him that his arm made the spell casted in a wrong direction. It was in a trajectory where it hits a structure behind the clouds.

The blast echoed the mountains, and as the explosion persists, it created a flash of light that brightens the area.

Irelia soon found out that they are in danger. Behind the clouds was not the peak of the mountain nor the mountainous formation of the rocks but it is a shape of a temple. A temple, floating and huge.

"Holy..shit.." One soldier swore that he have seen a huge one.

"We are so dead. So.. fucking dead." The soldier shakes his head into disbelief.

Some soldiers retreated without Irelia's orders, she just stood there as her eyes wander at that colossal structure above. Because she knew who is controlling that very most building. She knew that this person is powerful that she can wipe everything and EVEN these people in riot with a single swipe of her arm.

In fact, this will be the last day they'll be seeing life.

"C-Captain Xan!" The soldier's voice is in fear. "We have to leave!"

"We are screwed! Those people are screwed!"

"Even we ARE screwed. That person will kill us all!"

And then at the sky, they saw a blinding, purple light, dashing towards the ground, and after that, a huge explosion; almost like a bomb, creating a huge crater on the ground.

The blast is enormous that Irelia's footing is pushing her back, she blocks the air with her blades while fighting the energy in which it can send anyone flying. The trees swayed ruthlessly, leaves flies everywhere and even those people was sent flying.

Few seconds have passed, the aftermath is just..

"What the.." Irelia stared at the grounds, of course there is a huge crater there but what she have seen was all bloodshed, every corners were all splashed with blood, limbs scattered around the area, also some..internal organs were exposed like it was chopped off and grinded.

Irelia covered her mouth as her stomach churned. Yes, she heard her soldiers vomited on the scene. What made her throw up is the scent of the flesh.

"God." She averted herself and didn't dared to look at it.

Suddenly..

"Wait.. WHAT!? WHAT'S HAPPENING?" One soldier screeched, his body is floating slowly.

Irelia made a glance at her soldiers, she gasps as she saw a magical, purple binding that was wrapped on the soldier.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM. NOW!" She orders, her voice is in tense.

The soldiers followed and leaves the poor man floating.

"Captain.." The soldier stares ahead, telling Irelia to look.

There she sees her, the menacing crown finally emerged the smoke behind the explosion. What is intimidating was the glare of this person, those glowing, purple eyes is murderous that tells her that this mage was not happy. Also, she was floating, and the spheres around her is rotating in asymmetric.

Then the mage lifted her hand, slowly curling her fingers, forming like a claw. Irelia wondered why, and the answer was behind her. The soldier is being crushed by the bind.

"Nghh.. AHHH!" The man screams in pain, he was squirming for escape but the bind is getting tighter.

"STOP!" Irelia pleads in a hurry, her foot suddenly made her run towards the mage.

Instantly, she was binded, the mage called her magic and forced Irelia to shut up. She can feel the pain surged throughout her body. Abruptly, her blades flies towards the mage, ready to impale her, but the mage called her spheres and halted those six blades.

"Do you think your blades can hit me?" The mage snarled, her grip tightened as Irelia can feel the bind is wrapping her more.

She winced in pain, her arm is begging for mercy as the bind almost hitting the joints that will lead into fracture.

"You people. Hmph. How ironic." The mage snickered as she lifted Irelia up.

"Your people feared my usage of my power but I never knew that they did the same." She laughed sinisterly, her voice is hoarse that her magic is inflicted in it.

"Is that what you call..Balance?" The mage tightened her grip, but that didn't work for her, instead it works on the soldier who is literally in a death wish.

"AHHH! Ack-!" The soldier almost felt his bones going to crack. His fellow companions just watch him, there is nothing that they can do beside of staying low and quiet. In fact, they whispered their apologies and forgiveness.

"Please. JUST!" Irelia got a reply by a squeeze of the bind. She yelped in high pitch, her body is staggering by the bind.

"You can plead, but I am not going to listen." The mage continued her torture to the man.

Then suddenly.

-CRACK-

The man screamed in pain, his arm is broken, a deep fracture can be seen as the bone was bent that it scrapes the skin outside, blood flows on his arm in which is excruciating.

Irelia swore that there is no WAY her soldiers would die in a manner they are innocent, these soldiers still has the will to fight Ionia and of course, she remembered that day that these soldiers were the ones who created a small resistance where she joined early on.

Of course they would rather die for their country, not by this dangerous mage who is dormant but active when provoked.

"Take me. Instead of..HIM!" Irelia said as she hissed on the pain, her breathing is sporadic as her chest was squeezed by the magic.

The mage wondered, she now focuses on Irelia.

"So I will be killing you then." The mage now hummed. "Very well."

The binds of her body was now tightened, she can feel herself would burst at any moment.

But that alone was a last resort for her blades, with her pain, the blades acted on its own, it got off the spheres and rotates around Irelia in circular motion.

"Hm?" The mage saw the blades, she felt in need of trying to catch those blades, but her magic was denied. Simply put, the blades formed into a cone, making a clone by itself.

And each side, there is a blade floating and a streak of blades formed a line that wounded the back mage.

The mage screamed in pain, she losses her magic and Irelia falls down. Painfully.

She can't move her limbs beside her legs, she breaths air heavily as the mage above her.

"Y-YOU." The mage grunted, her rage is in peak right now.

"I could always kill you." The mage said between her breaths. She surged down with the use of gravity and stomped Irelia on the stomach.

Irelia screamed in pain, she felt like someone punched her straight to her insides.

"Hmph.." The mage eyed Irelia, how pity. She can feel Irelia's helplessness so much as she was on top of her.

"You'll remember this day. I've always monitoring your idiotic actions from my fortress." The mage pressed her foot harder on Irelia.

The captain just holds her pain. This mage is showing her dominance, and there is no way she would be defeated by that, she knew that the mage is literally trying to extract fear on her.

"And I can see you dance alone. How pitiful." The mage continues to taunt her.

Rage filled inside Irelia's eyes, and the pain suddenly wore off.

"But I am impressed." The mage hummed as she called her magic to stop the blades from attacking her behind in silent, almost assassinating her.

Now the mage lowered herself, still with her foot on the red fabric of Irelia's armor. She made a closer look at the captain's face.

"You wounded me. I never had a chance anyone who would dare to touch me like that." The mage said, her voice still has magic in it. "You tainted my skin with those..blade of yours."

"And your power. Just like I have." The malevolent mage lifted her chin with her clawed finger, by looking of it, its just an accessory. "So far, you are interesting."

Irelia shakes her head to the side to remove the mage's finger. But instead the mage gripped Irelia's face from the cheeks with her clawed hand, forcing Irelia to look at her.

"You can't resist on me. And you can't resist on my power." The mage threatened Irelia.

"Get away from me." Irelia spats coldly.

"Oh? And why would I do that to a mere Ionian like you?"

"I said. Get away from me!" Irelia used her energy to shove the mage away, she grips the mage's shoulder pads and pushes her.

"Hmph. You're tough." The mage backs away. Unfortunately, she felt the sting of the wound from her back.

"Don't play tricks on me. You're just a mage like them." Irelia tries to stand up and collect her posture.

"Just a mage?" Her brows twitched as she have got provoked.

"And don't you ever DARE showing off how powerful you are. Do you think I care?" Irelia made a sharp remark at the mage. "I've wounded you, you call that powerful? You sure have a lot of nerve and pride."

And she have done it, she could anger the mage now, and she is not afraid of it. Suddenly, her soldiers went to her side and..

"Captain!"

"WHAT are you doing?! Go away!" Irelia shouted.

A blast of wave pushed the soldiers, they were sent flying, but it can lead into injuries.

"Your pathetic men are annoying." The mage flowed her mana in high levels.

"Don't you ever dare-"

"Kill them? I gained no interest on them anymore. I will be focusing you right now." The mage called her magic and lifted the captain.

"What. Going to show off your power again?" Irelia sighed, but her remark was still sharp as ever.

The mage got ticked by that. This is the first time in her life that someone in the puny military have a cocky, yet daring captain. By looking at her, she has this face that anyone can get infuriated, annoyed and intimidating. In fact, this bitch is fearless. And she even got offended by her of ALL places, plus she is wounded by her as well.

This is literally interesting.

"Of course, I will be showing it off at my fortress." The mage snickered, yet behind her voice, she is really got hit by that.

"And you'll come with me."

"What?"

"You want my power? Then I will show it to you."

"You can do it here. Or perhaps, you just don't want anyone see you fail?"

Again. The mage got ticked off.

"This..woman." She has thoughts of punishing her because she is totally defeated by THIS woman of all places.

"You.." The mage muttered.

"Looks like I am right. Are you giving up now?" Irelia again made a cold shoulder, which it gave the mage an another batch of thoughts of punishing this captain.

Hurriedly, she flies towards her fortress with Irelia, completely binded with her blades. She is going to spare her time and make Irelia regret on the cold shoulder she spat, perhaps she is willing to make Irelia beg behind that bitch face in which she always wear. Or maybe she could wipe it off using her own expertise.