The lower half of the steep slope was gentler, and Kai'Sa, who had tumbled down the incline, suffered only superficial injuries and a mild concussion, unlike Kane who had fallen from midair.

As Kane assessed her wounds, he couldn't help but think that she might genuinely be the protagonist of this tale.

Noticing that the Void creatures hadn't followed, Kane refrained from waking her. But soon, Kai'Sa came to, clutching her head, grimacing in pain.

Even now, her striking natural beauty was evident—her features sharp and delicate, her eyebrows like fierce willow leaves, and her slightly upturned lips exuded a hint of sensuality.

Days of mourning had left her black hair disheveled and her face stained with tears and dust. Yet even so, her dark, luminous eyes lost none of their brilliance against the gloom of the underground.

Had fate not intervened, Kai'Sa might have been the belle of her village.

Upon opening her eyes and spotting Kane, Kai'Sa froze, then, without a word, lunged at him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Is it really you? Kane, I thought you were dead!"

Her tears of joy spilled over as she basked in the rare solace of his presence.

"Kai'Sa, easy... and quiet down! You're squeezing me to death, and my arm is killing me!" Kane gasped, pleading for mercy.

Kai'Sa's embrace was intense; had Kane known she would pounce like this, he might have pushed her away.

But her reaction was understandable...

She had believed she was the sole survivor of her village, doomed to endure loneliness and darkness alone. Kane's appearance was a beacon in that darkness, a promise that she was no longer alone.

Children are prone to emotion, and after such an ordeal, who could blame her for her outburst?

Reminded by Kane, Kai'Sa became aware of her decorum and the monstrous beings she had seen earlier. She quickly let go and sealed her lips shut, casting fearful glances around.

"They didn't follow. But please, no matter how excited you are, don’t make a noise louder than a bleating lamb, okay?"

Kane spoke with clarity despite his pain, pondering the gap between this reckless girl and the fearless Void Hunter from his memories. It seemed life had yet more trials in store for her before she could become the formidable Kai'Sa.

"I'm sorry," Kai'Sa whispered, wiping away tears. "I didn't mean to... it's just that seeing you made me so happy."

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"I know, and I'm happy too... just not in the right state for a hug."

"What happened to your hand?" Kai'Sa finally noticed Kane's arm, hanging limp by his side, reminding her of a villager who had been kicked by a horse.

"It's broken," Kane admitted with resignation.

"Did I do that?"

"It happened when I fell..." Kane choked a little on her logic, but following her thought, he indeed felt that Kai'Sa's strength was unnaturally great for a ten-year-old child.

"Do you feel it?"

"Feel what?" Kai'Sa looked puzzled.

"Your hand."

"My hand? It's tingling..."

It was a pricking sensation, as if insects were crawling under her skin. The sensation on her arm grew clearer, sharper.

Lifting her arm in the darkness for a closer look, she discovered it was covered with a dark purple carapace, an ugly, massive scar sprawled across her skin.

Kai'Sa's gaze darted to the lifeless creature behind her, its presence confirming her worst fears. Panic gripped her as her eyes shifted between her transformed arm and the corpse. In desperation, she tried to scrape off the grotesque addition with her dagger, but the carapace was as hard as iron, and her efforts only resulted in breaking the blade.

A scream escaped her lips, followed by a defeated stare at her altered limb, filled with revulsion.

She ceased her struggles, allowing the carapace to cling to her skin, its countless tiny barbs digging into her flesh, causing unbearable pain. The sensation of being enveloped by a cat's tongue-like plate of fine needles filled her with hatred.

"What did I just say? No matter how excited you get, keep your voice down," Kane admonished after watching Kai'Sa break her dagger.

Although he didn't understand the significance of Kai'Sa breaking her dagger as fate had seemingly planned, if it was meant to happen again, so be it.

"But I've become a monster..." Kai'Sa caressed the rough carapace, her eyes welling with tears.

"Kai'Sa, in this world of monsters, only by becoming a monster can we survive."

Kane's reassurance came with a gentle hand extended towards her. "Don't be afraid, Kai'Sa. Pick up your dagger and grab my hand."

The girl hesitantly complied, picking up the broken blade and allowing Kane to lead her to the monster's corpse.

"Peel off a layer of carapace from it," Kane instructed, pointing at the creature lying on its back.

"Why?"

"Don't ask why. Just do it. I won't harm you." Kane's tone was terrifyingly stern, unlike anything Kai'Sa had heard from him before.

Out of trust for her companion, Kai'Sa suppressed her disgust and delved the broken blade into the creature's cavity, filled with sticky purple fluids and strange flesh. The carapace, no longer as hard as the piece on her arm, yielded a palm-sized fragment which she carefully handed to Kane.

Kane received the carapace with trembling hands and whispered, "Becoming a monster isn't what's frightening, Kai'Sa. What's terrifying is falling into depravity and forgetting our humanity. In this underground world, it's just us two, and I won't care about your appearance... Let's defy fate together and strive to survive for each other."

His words lingered in the air, accompanied by a pale smile.

He knew what Kai'Sa would become, and that's why he said it. But could he become a monster himself? If so, would he be abandoned?

Everything was unknown.

Kai'Sa was touched by his words, but as she opened her mouth to respond, Kane's smile contorted in pain, his teeth bared as if enduring excruciating agony.

She looked down to see him pressing the carapace to his broken arm.

The pain was searing, unforgettable, as if his flesh were being corroded. Kane flung the carapace aside, his face ghostly pale.

Looking down, his arm was now a gory mess, the Void energy spreading through his veins, killing the tissue it touched, as the flesh visibly darkened and necrotized.

This was not the symbiosis he had envisioned—far from it. Not only had he failed to bond, but the Void was now corrupting his body.