"Again!"

Jax knocked Logan flying with a single swing as he rushed forward, but when the last light of Icathia collided with the man charging at him, Jax suddenly felt that something about the impact was off.

In the past, hitting Logan had always felt like striking a rubber ball, or, when Logan braced himself, like smashing into a block of iron. But this time, Jax had the distinct feeling that he'd hit a feather.

Sure enough, in the next instant, Logan, who had blocked the last light of Icathia with his forehead, blinked, then suddenly broke into a grin.

His hand snapped upward, and Aatrox traced a graceful arc through the air. Even Aatrox, whom Logan was holding, was stunned, because he could feel that the way Logan was gripping him had changed.

But Aatrox had no idea what exactly was going on. He could only tell that something about Logan was different.

Yi, meanwhile, could only marvel. No wonder so many gods favored Logan despite his age. With insight like this... even Master Yi, the greatest genius the Wuju school had produced in nearly a thousand years, felt ashamed of himself.

Jax had taught Yi his technique for applying force as well, but even now Yi had only grasped the barest hint of it. Logan, on the other hand, was already using it.

How much time had passed since he'd learned it?

Even Jax's expression turned grave.

"How did you suddenly learn that move of mine?"

Jax leaped back, raised a hand to signal a stop, and looked at Logan seriously.

"You were always half-baked before. Better off than Yi, but to truly master my technique, I figured it would take you at least a year. But now..." As Jax spoke, the face beneath his helmet twisted.

Understanding a force application technique and truly mastering it were two completely different things. But the feeling Logan was giving Jax right now was... that his grasp of the technique had already caught up to Jax himself?

How the hell was that possible?

Jax had spent centuries creating this technique. He had fused together the methods of countless weapons, explored the limits of what the human body could do, and from that created this still-unnamed martial art. And now Logan had completely mastered it in such a short time. How was Jax supposed to just accept that?

But Logan only chuckled. Faced with Jax's question, he simply said, "My situation is a little different from yours. You've probably both noticed already, if we're talking pure physical strength, I'm stronger than Yi, and compared to you, Jax, I'm not lacking either. And when it comes to soul strength, I'm stronger than both of you by an absurd margin."

As he spoke, Logan pointed at his own head and continued, "Which means my memory and comprehension are way beyond yours."

Jax fell silent.

A long moment later, he sighed. "A heaven-sent genius."

"I understand now why Aatrox would submit to you."

Aatrox had just been enjoying the show, but the moment the conversation turned toward him, he barked, "Submit my ass. Saijax, remnant of Icathia, Logan and I are partners, not master and servant!"

Jax ignored Aatrox's cursing and fixed Logan with a serious look. "Watch my movements carefully."

"This time, I won't hold back."

As soon as Jax said it, the flames on the last light of Icathia surged more than six feet into the air. The muscles in his arm bulged, blue veins twisting like snakes beneath his purple skin, and a glowing sphere of light formed in his palm.

"Hah!"

This time, unlike his usual effortless release of force, Jax drew power in first, then brought it crashing down in one devastating blow.

A dull, thunderous boom rang out.

The ice tomb shook violently. For the first time, the ice Lissandra had created shattered, and even the base of the mountain was nearly damaged by the impact.

But Logan's eyes lit up.

[Discovered derived skill from "Grandmaster-at-Arms," "Empower." Researching skill... Progress 10%.]

Empower, wasn't that basically Jax's W skill?

Reality wasn't a game, and martial arts weren't magic.

At their root, different martial techniques often followed similar paths. Even Yi's Wuju swordsmanship, among the sword moves that didn't use magic, had quite a few techniques that were fundamentally similar to some of Jax's.

Because of that, after mastering the core of Jax's martial skill, the technique of force application, many of Jax's other skills suddenly became very easy for Logan to learn.

What else would they be?

Jax's Leap Strike on the Rift was just him jumping up and smashing someone with the last light of Icathia. Was that supposed to be magic?

His Counter Strike was just him whirling his weapon around to deflect attacks. Anyone could spin a weapon. They just couldn't do it with Jax's airtight precision, or turn the enemy's force back on them the way he could.

That was why Empower was easy for Logan to grasp.

And now he was grinning from ear to ear. Being able to visibly feel himself improving, honestly, that felt so damn good.

Looking at the system panel, Logan could see that he had now mastered two new skills, one from Jax and the other from Yi.

[Grandmaster-at-Arms (Orange-Red / Semi-Mythic)]

[Effect: Grandmaster-at-Arms, enough to challenge gods. Every attack you make deals an additional 10% to 20% damage. Your magic resistance is also slightly increased.]

[Description: At the end of the Martial Path, can one ascend to godhood?]

It was the shortest and simplest description possible, with practically no mechanical explanation at all, and yet it was absolutely packed with raw stats.

Every single attack now carried bonus percentage damage.

And it didn't consume anything.

This skill was a passive, just like the blessing Kindred had given Logan.

Lamb's Respite had massively increased Logan's survivability, turning him into a walking mountain of health. Grandmaster-at-Arms, when paired with Lamb's Respite, turned him into a monster that was insanely hard to kill and still hit like a truck.

Honestly, if you set aside the charm skill Ahri gave him, wasn't Logan basically just a complete stat monster now?

The other skill came from the Wuju school.

[Wuju (Orange-Red / Semi-Mythic)]

[Effect: Obtained a complete set of related Wuju skills, Phantom Slash / Meditative Slash / One Strike, a Thousand Slashes / Alpha Strike / Wuju Style.]

[Description: At the core of Wuju lies the Wuju path itself. Meditate upon the sword within the heart, and one sword may stand against ten thousand, while one sword may also become ten thousand.]

This skill was the exact opposite of Jax's. Grandmaster-at-Arms had given Logan a wall of raw stats, while Wuju... was full of mechanics.

Especially Alpha Strike.

That was Master Yi's Q skill.

Unlike Jax, whose abilities were true martial techniques, the core of the Wuju path lay in cutting the soul, connecting with the spiritual world through meditation, and manifesting the sword within one's heart, in more concrete terms, a sword of magic.

Because of that, Alpha Strike might not have had the highest raw damage, but its mechanics alone were ridiculous. Once activated, it partially entered the spirit realm, attacked the enemy from that realm, dodged their attacks, and made the user untargetable.

If that wasn't a mechanics monster, what was?

That was why Logan was having the time of his life.

Fighting really was the best.

Jax and Yi were enjoying themselves too, especially Yi. It had been a long time since he had truly let his power loose. So when he saw Logan stop and begin mimicking Jax's movements, Yi simply closed his eyes and started meditating as well, replaying Jax's actions in his mind.

But just as the three of them were each digesting what they had gained, a cold voice rang out.

"Finished?"

The moment Logan heard it, the ice tomb vanished, and he saw Lissandra sitting coldly upon her throne, one pale leg crossed over the other, her skin flawless as porcelain.

Logan had just opened his mouth when Lissandra said flatly, "Four days have already passed, Logan."

"In other words, today should be the joyous day of your wedding."

"?"

"What? How did time pass that fast?" Logan froze for a second, then instantly panicked.

"It isn't that time passed quickly," Lissandra said calmly. "It's that you were too immersed in the fight and forgot about time."

Then she added softly, "Even if you go back now, who knows whether you'll still make it in time."

"Oh, hell..."

Logan slapped a hand against himself, slung Aatrox onto his back, and looked at Yi and Jax. Yi, in turn, looked back at Logan with an awkward expression.

At the beginning, Yi had still remembered that Logan had something important to do, his wedding. He had even thought that if Logan forgot, he would remind him.

But later on, everyone had forgotten.

Yi had gotten caught up in the atmosphere too.

"Yi, Jax, we need to get back now."

Yi and Jax both nodded. The three of them quickly gathered themselves, then flew off at once.

Lissandra just watched them silently.

But after a while, Logan suddenly came back.

Something inside Lissandra stirred faintly, though confusion appeared on her face instead. In those pale, empty eyes, an oddly blank, almost cute little emotion flickered to life.

"What is it now?"

"I seriously suspect you did this on purpose," Logan said, glaring at Lissandra.

"Did it on purpose? You were the one who came to my territory. You were the one who asked me to create a place for the three of you to spar. How does that make this my fault?" Lissandra asked in innocent confusion.

"Because now that I think about it, you didn't need to make an ice tomb and seal the three of us inside. For you, making an open-air ice field would've been easy. Did you know that in an enclosed space, people lose track of time really easily?"

Lissandra met Logan's gaze and shook her head, though inside she was muttering to herself, I don't just know that humans lose their sense of time in sealed spaces. Even demigods aren't immune.

Logan shot her one more glare, then vanished again.

This time, as Lissandra sensed Logan's presence fading farther and farther away, clearly flying toward Noxus, she suddenly smiled while seated upon her throne.

It was only the faintest smile.

But it was beautiful.

"Damn it!"

"Damn it!"

"Where the hell did that kid run off to?!"

Zaun's council building, normally plain and dark in gray-black tones, had been transformed into a gorgeous display of red and blue. Beautiful flowers filled the building, and the streets outside were decked out in festive decorations. Little red lanterns, shaped like shining orbs and roses, hung from lines stretched across the streets.

And it wasn't just Zaun's streets and alleys that looked like this.

Piltover had been transformed too.

But Piltover's wedding style was different from Zaun's. Purple rose crystals covered Stellar Boulevard, and shops and noble households alike had taken down their family crests and replaced them with beautiful, elegant designs that were hard to make out clearly.

Even the fountain statues in the parks had been replaced with adorable children holding heart-shaped ornaments, with tiny colored lights draped over them.

Today, both cities had been preparing for Logan and Jinx's wedding.

According to the planned schedule, in just a little while, at around ten in the morning, Logan was supposed to set out with his groomsmen from Bluewind Court in Piltover, make his way on foot to Promenade Walk, then head to the entresol level there, to the room where Logan, Jinx, and Isha had once lived together, pick up the bride, and from there go to the church Zaun had built for the wedding ceremony.

But now?

Logan was nowhere to be found.

"No good, Silco. Lady Janna says she doesn't know where Logan is either. At first she managed to sense a trace of his aura, but just when she was about to follow it, it cut off."

"Someone blocked Lady Janna from tracking Logan down. But she says whoever it was didn't have any ill intent. They just didn't want her to find him."

Scar, once a member of the Firelights and now the second-in-command of Zaun's police force, stood in front of Silco.

As he spoke, he was starting to get anxious too.

Silco rubbed his head, feeling a headache coming on. Then he slammed his fist against the table and suddenly had the worst possible thought.

Could it be that Logan, right at the last second, had gotten scared?

No... that didn't make sense either.

Silco had seen Logan's attitude toward Jinx with his own eyes. That was one of the reasons he had truly accepted Logan, not just because he doted on his daughter, but because he could see how much Logan cared about her, and how much she cared about him.

But if that wasn't it, Silco genuinely could not understand why Logan would vanish over something this important.

His face flushed red with anger. His brain was telling him not to jump to conclusions. Logan was a responsible man. You know that, Silco. Don't you?

But he still couldn't stop himself from wondering whether that bastard had run off on the wedding.

"Go tell Jinx, no, I'll go myself. I'll tell her myself."

He had to calm Jinx down before she heard about this from someone else.

Thinking that, Silco grabbed the clothes set beside him and hurried out of the council building, heading for the entresol level of Promenade Walk.

Promenade Walk.

At the entresol level, one entire block had been cordoned off by Enforcers, but there were still plenty of Zaunites nearby, drinking excitedly and staring eagerly toward the busiest spot of all, a small house.

The outside walls had been painted with lovely murals. Not Jinx's usual wild, chaotic graffiti style, but something warm, cute, and full of relaxed tenderness.

Two doves leaning against each other on a tree branch, their backs together beneath a sky of white and blue.

And at that moment, on the second floor of the house, Isha, dressed in a little skirt and princess shoes, first looked at Vi, who was muttering to herself, then at her older sister, who was puffing out her cheeks in front of the mirror.

Her sister looked unbelievably beautiful today.

That huge white wedding dress looked absolutely stunning on her.

With Jinx dressed as a bride, even the flat chest people used to tease her about had been dealt with after some squeezing and wrapping. Her exposed shoulders were soft and fair, round and delicate, and her collarbones were exquisitely lovely.

Not to mention her back, smooth and pale, narrowing beautifully toward a slim waist that looked easy to wrap a hand around.

"You're really not worried at all?" Vi asked, chewing on an apple. Since she was on the bride's side, she was naturally staying with Jinx right now.

"Worried? Worried about what? There's nothing to worry about. He'll come pick me up when it's time." Jinx yawned, clearly thinking everyone was worrying for nothing.

Logan would run off on the wedding?

What a joke.

Honestly, that possibility had never crossed Jinx's mind even once.

Vi just snorted and bit into the apple again. Then she glanced out the window and saw someone waving at her.

Seeing that, Vi handed the half-eaten apple to Isha, wiped her hands on her pants, and said, "Someone's looking for me. I'm heading out for a second."

Isha took the apple with a look of disgust and set it aside, but after a moment's thought, she decided food shouldn't be wasted. So, with a miserable little face, she picked it back up and started eating it.

Isha did not waste food.

And when she finished the apple and turned, ready to chat with her sister, she suddenly froze.

At the same moment, Vi came back, and Silco was right behind her.

Two large faces turned toward one small one.

In front of the now-empty vanity mirror, all that remained was a lingering fragrance and a trace of warmth.

"Vi, where's Jinx?" Silco asked through clenched teeth as he looked at her.

Vi looked at Isha. "Isha, where's your sister?"

Little Isha spread both hands and stared at the vanity in confusion.

At the window, above the shutters that had been pushed open outward on both sides, a little cat-shaped wind chime was ringing merrily.

"Ha."

After a long silence, Silco laughed.

It was the laugh of someone too angry to do anything else.

"On the day of the wedding, with the whole city celebrating."

"But where exactly are our bride and groom?"

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