Chapter 23

Shen knew this would be a battle of endurance. Yet the thing was, Irelia could also be tanky when it came down to it and still deal tons of damage. Shen found himself in a strategic dilemma and calculated that this would be a losing matchup. Irelia was simply too strong. She thought that Shen had defected from the Summoners, and was now going at him with a relentless, righteous fury. Betraying the Summoners was like betraying Ionia, she believed. So Shen had to find a way to appeal to her emotions, which were overtaken by her own nationalistic pride in Ionia and also the Summoner amplifying the emotions that she felt and funneling them towards Shen in a spear.

“I’m going to defeat those who stand against Ionia and the Summoners,” Irelia said to Shen. “Even if you were a fellow Ionian, such kinship no longer exists between us. You’re an enemy, and I must eliminate those who stand against Ionia and the Summoners.”

“You’ve been brainwashed,” Shen concluded, before saying. “I suppose I have no choice. I will not fight against you to prove that I’m not an enemy. Our enemy is the Summoner that is controlling you.”

“I refuse to believe it!” Irelia said with an intense shake of her head, her long black hair swaying. “Nonsense! I will not be swayed by your propaganda! The Summoners said that you and the others would try to stop them from curing us!”

“Beat me down as much as you’d like,” Shen said. “But you will not defeat me.”

With that, Irelia used her blades to beat down on Shen, shouting curses at him all the while. Shen used his twin blades to block her telepathic blade from hitting him; he knew that taking a cut from that would be fatal to him, even though he was a tank because Irelia could do true damage to him. So he would have to block her attacks and try to persuade her to the other side, but he wasn’t sure how he would do that. He needed time to think, but Irelia gave him no time to think.

“Why do you stand in our way, Shen?” Irelia cried as she rained a flurry of attacks with her blade. “What makes you stand there and endure all the punishment I’m giving you?”

“I don’t know,” Shen said. “I don’t have a clue myself. So much for the enlightened Eye of Twilight. Even still. I cherish our friendships and our ties. All the Champions are important to me, and they must live if we want to forge a better future for ourselves. I will not stand down. I will continue to resist you and the Summoners as long as I may live.”

“A foolish choice, Shen,” Irelia said regretfully. “You’re only a mere band of five, and the summoners are many.”

“I’m fighting for what is right,” Shen said. “Irelia, look deep inside yourself. Are those really your sentiments towards us? Do you really hold such blind faith in the Summoners? Or are your emotions being manipulated?”

“I…” Irelia said, looking hesitant for a moment before her pride took over her. “No! I must not give in!”

“Then I have no choice,” Shen said before he dashed through Irelia to focus all her attention on him and not what he was doing. She followed him in a righteous fury, and Shen was being worn down, but if he could just do this one thing…

Shen thrust his spirit blade towards the Summoner, putting his soul on the line. He severed the control that the Summoner held over Irelia, and it was only then that she stopped attacking Shen and looked dazed, as though she were in a dream.

“Where am I?” She said in a distant voice.

“You’re fighting alongside a friend to protect Ionia,” Shen said. “Come, Irelia. Let’s work together to stop the Summoners from killing everyone else.”

—x—

Kennen shocked Teemo, attempting to put as many sparks as possible into his lightning attacks to shock some sense into Teemo. But none of it seemed to be working. Instead, Teemo only saw Kennen as an enemy, and brutally went on, enduring whatever pain or shock or torture that Kennen would unleash upon him and continued to fight and resist his every move.

“You’re going down,” Teemo said warningly to his fellow Yordle.

“Teemo, you’re not going to stop me from doing this,” Kennen said, his normally jovial demeanor gone now. Instead, there was only a harsh look at his expression, and he was somewhat pained to do this to Teemo. “Listen, the Summoners are going to kill us all. Don’t you understand that.”

“I do…” Teemo said sadly. ‘But what does it matter? I wanted to die on the battlefield on my own terms rather than dying by the Summoners.”

“But don’t you see?” Kennen asked. “You don’t have to die at all! You can still fight, for a righteous cause! You can overthrow the Summoner’s tyranny!”

“What hope do we have against them?” Teemo asked. “Why do you struggle to fight against them even if it’s hopeless?”

“I’m not as battle crazy as you are, Teemo,” Kennen said. “But I’m fighting for the balance of Runeterra. I’m fighting for our friends. You know this isn’t right, don’t you? You don’t want to see any more friends die, do you?”

Teemo paused, as though Kennen’s words finally sunk into him. “Friends…”

Kennen held out a pawed hand towards Teemo. “The war will be over after this, Teemo. I promise. You’re still fighting against your previous demons. Don’t you want to fight for a just cause and vanquish those demons once and for all?”

Teemo shook his head, before saying, “I might as well fight for the friends I have lost and the friends that I still have. Thank you, Kennen.”

With that, Teemo threw a blinding dart at the Summoner controlling him, while Kennen finished him off with a shock stun. The two Yordles high fived one another after that, and they looked out towards the distance where the final Summoner was being fought.