Judgement.

Candidate: Vel'Koz.

Date: 20 November, 21 CLE.

OBSERVATION.

The Void.

It's a strange place that has haunted the borders of Runeterra since the first creature appeared in the lost city of Icathia a long time ago. There seems to be no way to stop the invasion of the creatures that lurk in that dimension, so far, the only constant in the creatures named "Voidlings" is their bottomless hunger for nourishment. Dark prophecies tell the end of Runeterra as the Void makes way... But something has changed.

Vel'Koz might be a creature from the Void, but there's something strange with him, even for the Void. He does possess the traits of the Void, but his motives are completely different, he seeks for answers. Even if his methods are ruthless, no one can deny the difference between him the other Voidlings... There is a shadow behind him... Watching his every action with a small smile... Dark eyes, ancient magic, forgotten worlds... He might be the answer... Or the end.

REFLECTION.

"Are you sure about this?" The young summoner asked nervously again.

"We have no other choice" Vessaria Kolminye answered in defeat "The procedure was completed perfectly... The best one I've seen in years... Champions these days are too brutish or they simply don't care about the formalities... I am afraid we can't deny him"

"But... But he is a monster! A monster of the Void! Like Cho'Gath and the other horrors caged in the cellars! We can't...!"

"I will not go against the code!" Vessaria interrupted angrily "Ashram is gone and Heyman is a disgrace for all of us! I will not pass down in history as the one who denied the entrance to a new champion! Even if... Even if that champion is a monster of the Void"

"We should wait for the Master Summoner..."

"We can't... He departed with his daughter yesterday... The young girl is sick and needs attention... I am in charge for now... And this is my decision"

The young summoner watched the determination in Vessaria's eyes... but he also saw fear... Nothing prepared Vessaria for this... So slowly, she walked towards the creature that waited in the middle of the room.

It was a strange monster indeed, Vessaria always believed the creatures of the Void had some sort of similarity with insects: Slugs, praying mantis... But this one was different... A big purple eye, crowned by golden armor with three smaller eyes in it, three tentacle-like limbs that glowed with unnatural energy... Vessaria walked with confidence until she felt the four eyes focused on her, the fear filled her body as she watched the creature move slowly towards her... She stopped breathing when the creature stopped right in front of her... She could smell him... She expected a putrid and foul odor... She was surprised when the scent was quite pleasant for her.

"Greetings, human" He spoke with a deep voice "I am Vel'Koz, The eye of the Void"

Vessaria knew the voidlings had a certain level of intelligence since she had seen the other creatures before... But this one was different... He had manners.

"My name is Vessaria Kolminye" She answered carefully " I am a member of the High Council of Equity, I will be in charge of your judgment"

"I see... " The creature answered in acknowledgment "I have read about the standard procedure, I do believe I am ready for it"

"You... You can read?"

"Yes"

"How?"

"It was quite hard, apparently, disintegration has its limitations, while I am able to categorize and study the components of the life-forms I deconstruct, abilities such as reading or speaking had to be acquired by other means" Vessaria had her doubts about 'Disintegration' and 'Deconstruction' but decided not to voice them.

"Other means?"

"I learned how to do it."

"How?"

"Humans seemed to be displeased by my presence... While I do believe I am capable enough to do most things on my own, I had to recognize that this was a great obstacle for me, I had no prior knowledge and the humans refused to teach me properly, so I had to learn on my own, it turned better that I had expected at first."

"I... I see... Then... What do you know about the judgment?"

"Not much, the information was concealed and I learned that investigating the procedure beforehand was forbidden... So I decided to wait patiently"

"Why? Why would you care about our rules?"

"Certainly, it would be easier to get the answers by force... But on the other hand, this land is filled with wonders well hidden, attempting to discover them by force might destroy those treasures... But if I follow the rules and join the League of Legends, my status as a champion will grant me enough liberty to study this mysteries and reach my own conclusions"

"That... is something a voidling wouldn't say"

"Probably, I have to admit my fellow comrades can be quite hard to deal with... Even I had my own share of hardships with them... I sincerely apologize if any of them had caused you any sort of inconvenient"

Vessaria couldn't believe what she was hearing... Was this a jest? Or is this creature speaking the truth? Nonetheless... She had a job to do...

"Vel'Koz, your judgment will begin now... I will ask you to let me inside of your mind and gaze upon your memories"

"I understand... Although, I will recommend discretion... Most humans that stare into the Void end with... 'Unhealthy' results"

Vessaria shivered at the thought... She knew very well the effects the Void had in humans... The image of a certain RiftWalker and a Prophet appeared on her mind... She shook the thought... She was the only one who could do it...

She breathed slowly and closed her eyes.


"We have to get out of here!" Said the golden figure in front of her "We can't possibly defeat that thing! He is too powerful for us! We need to escape!"

"What about the earth?! What about the humans?! We can't leave them on their own! We have to protect them!" She questioned desperately.

"Forget about those lowly creatures already! I have always questioned your deviant bond with those weak beings, the Titan will take his time killing them, he enjoys their pain... We can use that opportunity to escape..."

"I will not abandon them!"

"And what could you possibly do, huh? You are not a warrior! You are not even a battle unit! You are a seeker! You only function is to research! The only weapon you have is a weak beam designed to deconstruct and analyze your subjects... You can't even do that right since you refuse to use it on sentient beings! You are a failure on top of everything! What can you do?!

"I... I don't know... But I won't leave them alone... Maybe Vayne can help..."

"The Night Hunter is dealing with an unknown enemy on the main city! Varus hasn't appeared yet! There's no one! Forget about those humans and leave already!"

"I... I can't..." Vessaria said before she turned around and flew to the sky:

"What are you doing?!" She heard the Arclight said from afar "Come back, Vel'Koz!"

Vessaria allowed herself to watch over the city one last time... She gazed upon the magnificent golden buildings... The terrified screams of the Arclights beneath her... The ships and portals escaping their terrible fate... She could see beams of golden and black energy clashing against each other somewhere in the capital... She recognized the energy of Vayne... She was fighting her own battle and Vessaria couldn't do anything to help her... Vayne was her best friend... One of the only two she had... But Vayne was strong, she could protect herself... The humans were alone.

She flew through the darkness of the space following the corrupted traces of the worlds destroyed by the Titan, she felt both anger and suffering for the fallen worlds... She needed to hurry.

From the distance, she saw him... The Titan was impossibly huge... Bigger than any planet she had seen before... Probably as big as a galaxy, his dark frame moved through the stars as his gaze was fixed in a small planet... He laughed loudly as he swung his gigantic hook mocking the planet and the stars... The dark orb in his left hand glowed with anticipation... Vessaria watched as the light was sucked by the thing... How could she defeat that massive force of nature? She was non-existing in comparison... Small, weak, defenseless... But she had to try... There was no one else.

She focused her powers in front of her... A golden orb of energy began forming in front of her, she felt it reach its limit and fired against the Titan... But it did nothing... The beam simply disappeared before it collided... But the Titan noticed it... Slowly, he turned around... His twisted visage glared at her... Then, he laughed.

"And what do we have here?" His voice resonated "Is this everything those cowardly Arclights have to offer? A small and weak bug? They must be desperate if they sent you here to stop me."

"I came by my own will"

"Then, You must be an idiot... Or there is something you want to protect" The Titan said with a wicked smile.

"Get away from that planet"

"You mean this thing?" The Titan asked as he pointed at the earth "You can't even call this a planet... It's just a piece of trash"

"I will protect it"

"Heh... I like your determination... Arclights lack that kind of thing... I will make a deal with you, little thing, I will leave this planet alone if you manage to harm me in any way... But if I kill you... Then, the game is over"

Vessaria thought about her possibilities... She couldn't win against him and she doubted the Titan will honor the deal... But she could buy time... Time for Vayne to finish off the enemy... Vessaria knew she would come... Vayne would never leave anyone behind.

"I accept" Vessaria spoke resolved.

The Titan laughed once again before he swung his hook towards her... The weapon was massive and Vessaria was able to dodge it barely... The Titan kept attacking her relentlessly... Vessaria studied her opponent trying to figure out a way to harm him... Her first attack did nothing... But maybe the Titan had a weak spot or something like that... Maybe his face or his eyes... Her priority was to stay alive long enough... But weakening the monster was a good idea.

Vessaria rushed towards the face of the monster and prepared her beam of light... But she felt her body freeze in place... The dark orb of the Titan began pulling her... She felt how her energy was drained by the thing... He needed to get away... But enormous wall made of purple glass surrounded her... She was trapped... She saw him swing his hook against her... She felt the pain...

She couldn't move...

She couldn't think...

She was dead...

The Titan laughed as he made his way towards the planet... Vessaria tried to stop him... But she couldn't... She watched as he lifted his hook... She could hear the panicked voices of the humans... They cried for help... But nobody came... The hook struck mercilessly... She watched as the planet was split in half... She watched how the chunks of rock flew everywhere... She saw the fire illuminate the abyss... She had failed... And now... They were dead...

The Titan laughed one more time as he played with the remains... Vessaria couldn't believe what was in front of her... Why? Why would he do that? Earth was a small planet... The humans were a young race... Full of potential... They didn't deserve this... They didn't deserve any of this... If only... If only she had been stronger... If only...

She felt the wrath burn inside of her, her body glowed as bright as a star, she felt the energy inside of her... The hate... The anger... The sadness... Everything in a single moment exploded as she screamed into the abyss... She was angry... She wanted to kill him... And she was going to do it.

The Titan realized the sudden change in her... He lifted the orb and stopped the beam of light... But something had changed... His orb couldn't absorb the energy... It was colliding against it... He watched as his orb began to shatter... The golden beam of light swallowed him completely... He screamed in panic as he felt his body being disintegrated by the beam of light... He tried to fight back... But he no longer had the limbs to do so...

The Titan of The Dark Star was defeated.

Vessaria could still feel the fury in her core... She had done it... She didn't know how or even why... But she had done it... She had defeated that monster... She had done it...

But she had failed...

She turned around and watched what was left of the world she loved... Nothing but debris and broken pieces of rock... She lost everything she cared for... She failed...

The tears began to fall... She cried in the middle of the abyss... She cursed the Arclights for not helping... She cursed Vayne for not making it in time... She cursed Varus for not even being here... And she cursed herself... For being so weak... But in the middle of her weeping, she saw something else... Her tears began to glow... They began to change shape and become something else... New stars...

Hope began to grow inside of Vessaria... A new beginning... But... She had to disappear... She was dangerous... She was a monster... She needed to die... But how?

"I may have the answer"

Vessaria could feel a chill run down her spine... That voice... She knew that voice... She knew exactly what was going to happen... She turned around slowly.

He stood there in front of her, his face lacking any sort of emotion, his dark eyes studying her form... The Outsider was here.

"What are you doing here?" Vessaria asked.

"I have come to help you."

"Help? Help me? You could have helped me before! You could have fought against that thing! Why are you appearing now when everything is lost?! What do you want?!"

"I want to watch the stories, that's all"

"So you just stood there and did nothing as a planet was destroyed in front of you?! What kind of monster are you?!"

"I am a god."

"You are nothing!"

"I am the answer to your problems."

"How?"

"I can save them, I can bring them back"

"How?"

"Say my name"

Vessaria knew the Outsider was capable of many things... She had seen him make the impossible real... She knew he could do it... But there was always a price... He always had a price... Vessaria knew about the consequences... But what else could she do? The Arclights were gone by now... There was no one else but him and her... They were alone... She had no choice... Besides, she had nothing left to lose.

"**********" The name came distorted and unnatural.

The Outsider smiled wickedly and snapped his fingers... Vessaria watched as the pieces of her broken world came together... She watched as the oceans were filled... She heard the life come back to the planet... Her beloved world was back... She felt the tears fall again... They were safe...

"Runeterra" The Outsider spoke behind her "Sadly, the Titan swallowed the world you once knew... But I was able to give it new life... Everyone you knew lives again... Only in different stories... And now... It's time to pay the price."

"What do you want?" Vessaria asked as she saw white mist surrounded her body.

"It's not what I want... It's what I already have, Vessaria Kolminye."

Vessaria blinked and she found herself in a strange place... The mist surrounded everything around her... She stood on a lonely cliff in the middle of the abyss.

She had... Remembered... Yes... Those were the memories of the creature... She had decided to do the ceremony herself... She glanced inside Vel'Koz's memories... And what she saw was... Impossible.

"But that's what I do, Vessaria, I do the impossible"

She turned around and saw him... Floating in front of her with her arms crossed over his chest... His dark eyes watched her in amusement.

"Where am I?" Vessaria asked frightened.

"You are in the Void."

"No... That cannot be true... This can't be the Void..."

"But it is... I could tell you why... But that's another story for a different time... The story now is about you, Vessaria Kolminye, I always thought those memories were sealed away... But you somehow managed to find them... How? How did a human such as yourself found those precious memories?"

"I... I don't know... I simply..." But Vessaria couldn't finish as she felt a sharp pain in her chest, purple strands began running alongside her body as she felt her body disappear " What is this?!"

"Those who gaze into the Void and are not destined to do so suffer the consequences of their actions" The Outsider explained, "I am afraid your soul is being corrupted, Vessaria, you will die here and your body will become a twisted creature from the Void."

"No! This can't be possible! This is a nightmare! This is a..."


"Nightmare!" Vessaria shouted as she jumped out of the bed.

"What is wrong with you, Ria? Come here!"

"No! Don't touch me! Get away from me!" Vessaria protested as he punched the figure that tried to get a hold on her.

"Ria, What's wrong?! It's me! Look at me!"

Vessaria recognized that stupid voice of his... She allowed herself to watch his face... A goofy pair of worried eyes looked at her with concern, his white and unkempt hair flowed through his head... That face irritated her the most.

"What are you doing here? Where is your daughter?"

"I left her with the Starchild in Ionia" He explained sheepishly as he helped her lay down on the bed "I will return once I'm sure you are okay, Ria."

"Don't call me that, fool!" Vessaria said smacking his hand "But I am glad you are here... Wait, Where is he? What happened?"

"Him?"

"The voidling!"

"Ah... He must be doing the traditional tour through the Institute of war by now"

"By now? How long have I been unconscious?"

"Thirty minutes, roughly" The Master Summoner explained looking at the clock on the wall.

It was impossible... She had seen those visions... It had been more that thirty minutes... How could this be possible?

"What happened to me?" Vessaria asked with a small voice.

"You were infected by the Void, your pupil called me as soon as he saw something was wrong... I arrived as fast as I could with the teleportation spell... But by the time I made it here, you were alright."

"How?"

"Your pupil said the voidling cured you"

"The... Voidling?"

"Yeah... I'm sure he tried to eat you... But since your condition got better we couldn't think any other thing, we have been monitoring your condition and, so far nothing seems wrong with your health... It is hard to believe... But the voidling saved you... I'm unsure why... But he did"

He saved her... He saved her... Just like he did many years ago... He had changed, Vessaria knew it... But deep inside he was the same... Maybe he wasn't the monster she thought he was...

And then, there was an explosion behind her...

Vessaria turned around just in time to see one of the towers collapse in front of the window... From afar, she could hear the panicked screams of the summoner and champions, she watched as several rockets flew in the sky before they fell on the Institute of War... And she her the psychotic laugh of the Loose Cannon.

"Oh, wow..." The Master summoner whistled as he saw the destruction in front of him "Who would have thought?"

"Hey, idiot..." Vessaria spoke trying to control her anger "Could you explain why Jinx has her weapons? I believe we have forbidden those demonic things of hers outside of the Fields of Justice."

"Ah... He, he... Well... You see..." The Master summoner began as he backed away from Vessaria "No one really wanted to give Vel'Koz his tour around the Institute... But Jinx suddenly said she wanted to do it... But Vel'Koz is an octopus... And Ionian comics are pretty popular... So... I thought she... Would be... Safer that way?" The Master summoner finished with a nervous smile.

There were many monsters in the Institute of War... Many creatures of dark origins... Many entities that could scare the bravest man... But on that moment, those creatures shivered in fear as they felt the fury of Vessaria Kolminye... The Master summoner wouldn't talk about his experience... But you could still hear him scream in agony every night.

Vessaria sighed and decided to sleep as she heard the rampage outside the infirmary... There were many things in her head... Many unfinished thoughts... But there was one that nagged her the most... The name of The Master of the Void.

"*********"

She felt a sharp pain in her head as she said the name and the world turned gray...

And she heard his voice.

"You shouldn't do that, Vessaria Kolminye."

She watched left and right... But she couldn't see him...

"Where are you?" Vessaria spoke carefully.

"I am here." Was his simple answer.

"Why are you here?"

"I will always come for those who say my name... But you, Vessaria, You were not chosen, you simply stumbled upon my name by chance... Do not use it lightly... I've seen worlds end the mere mention of it."

"And what do you want from me?"

"Silence, You will not speak with anyone about this, this will be the only secret you will take to your grave... You have discovered one of the secrets many would kill to know... Consider yourself lucky none of them know it... Yet."

"What do I do then?"

"Live your life normally, Vessaria Kolminye... Maybe I didn't choose you to be part of the story... But he did... Maybe you are destined for great things... Maybe you aren't... I cannot gaze into your future because it is now his as well... You are certainly and interesting woman, Vessaria Kolminye, and I will watch your story till the end."

Vessaria felt the pressure disappear and the world return to its original flow... She gasped for air and hugged her legs as she trembled in fear... What had she gotten herself into? Did she have another choice? Could she change her fate?

Probably not... But at least, she was alive...

And maybe...

Just maybe... He had the answers...

A powerful monster of the Void suddenly appeared in front of the Institue of War and requested and official trail to become a champion... Vessaria gazed into the memories of such being and found out there were secrets that could destroy the reality itself... An omnipotent and unknown entity just threatened Vessaria life in exchange for her silence... A crazy psychopath is currently running rampant, destroying the Institute of War and spreading the chaos across the castle...

"Just a normal day in the Institute of War" Vessaria said with a sigh as she watched a peculiar purple creature running away from a petite girl carrying a huge Shark-shaped rocket launcher "Welcome to the League of Legends, Vel'Koz"