The Gap between Time and Space, Kieran's Tower.

Kieran stood on the high platform and looked downward, "Everyone, are you ready?" ”

"Yes, Mentor."

"I'm done here!"

"Don't worry, after our testing, nothing will go wrong."

“……”

Many of the young people below responded, with excited expressions on their faces.

If calculated according to normal time, they are the geniuses that Josh and Kieran have been looking for in various eras for more than a hundred years to study the magic of time.

Twin sisters Saisha and Sinsha, who specialize in the Void, Kasiri and Tai, who are quite accomplished in the element of time, and a group of other apprentices who have their own duties and a clear division of labor.

They came not only from Shurima, but also from the later generations of Noxus, Oshra Vazuan, Ionia, and even Kaskan, the emerging kingdom of the Far East after the fall of Kamavia.

After nearly twenty or thirty years of solitary research, Josh, Lunihia, and Kiran finally discover a way to project their "time clones" onto the realm of reality.

However, this method can only be performed on geniuses who have been in contact with the element of time in reality and have a certain amount of research on time magic.

Most of them agree with Kieran's philosophy, and will actively erase themselves from the timeline and enter the gap between time and space according to Kieran's teachings, in order to find a solution to the crisis.

After persistent and collaborative research by a group of geniuses, they invented a device that could force the projection of reality.

Based on the causal philosophy of time, time is indeed a straight line of linear development, with yesterday before today and tomorrow after today.

The past is a foregone conclusion, but the future can still change.

In order to avoid the paradoxical "grandmother effect", they use the moment when Josh, who is independent of time, enters the gap between time and space, as a reference point, and can no longer explore forward across the timeline and select apprentices from the distant past.

Otherwise, it is very likely to cause unimaginable chaos in time and space, give rise to uncontrollable fate beyond expectations, and produce an even more dangerous future.

One of the timelines observed by Kieran is that Kieran and his "apprentices" attempted to reverse the point in time when Acacia was destroyed, causing the entire Runeterras to fall into a temporal storm and be annihilated by a timeline-born destroyer, the Praetorian Mech.

Receiving everyone's affirmative response, Kieran breathed a sigh of relief, but his eyebrows were still full of sorrow, and he looked at Josh who was standing next to him.

"Are you really going to do that?"

Kieran's white beard quivered, and he couldn't tell his mouth was moving.

"I mean...... There is a certain risk in forcibly projecting into reality, and our theoretical research on space-time has been quite fruitful, and we will soon be able to create a portal back to reality......

"Maybe a few years, maybe a dozen years...... Uh, maybe a few months? ”

Kieran danced as he spoke, but the more he depicted, the darker it became.

Staring at Josh's expressionless face, he thought about it, sighed, and chose to keep his mouth shut.

On the bright side, Kiran is very stable and has the demeanor of a master.

But if you actually understand who he is and get acquainted with him, you will find that this old man's personality is out of character and not as serious as he appears.

There was silence for a long time before Josh spoke: "Don't convince me, Master Kieran, the space-time jump gate we studied is uncertain, and maybe it will teleport me to when." ”

Josh shook his head and walked down the dangling staircase to the wide hall, Kieran following closely behind.

Looking up at the twilight moment of Shurima at a certain point in time constructed by time magic, Josh felt a lot of emotion in his heart.

Over the past 100 years, they have not only studied the mysteries of time, but also transformed the tower to a certain extent through complex tools of their own creation.

"I can't wait that long...... At the very least, I have to let Ahri know that I'm alive and that I'm trying to find a way to get back to reality. ”

Josh pulled out the half of the Emero Stone from his pocket, a slight tenderness in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by a look of determination.

The curly-haired exploding sisters Saisha and Sinsa walked in, dragging golden time discs of various sizes and engraved with intricate patterns connected by time magic, forming a magical cloak of metal scales.

Taking the coat, Josh put it on with ease, and then walked to the outer edge of the hall under the eyes of everyone.

Tai, who had just finished debugging the magic equipment, had a bald head and had an emerald time mark tattooed on his forehead and arms.

"Mentor."

Josh nodded to him, and settled in the center of an enlarged metal disc on the platform.

The sisters Kieran, Saisha and Sinsha, and Thai, with another inch-headed apprentice, Kasili, stood in each of the five corners, each with a symmetrical disc of time at their feet.

Josh looked around and saw that everyone was ready, his hands clasped and gestured, his fingertips showing the green roulette wheel of time, and the appearance of the planet Runeterrae appeared in the center.

"Let's get started."

As everyone began to cast spells one after another, the golden time disc was attached to the jade-colored time element, and the rings separated upwards one by one, corresponding to the disc that had settled above their heads, and spun extremely fast, encircling Josh in it.

The cascading wind came out of nowhere, ruffling Kieran's beard and the clothes of the crowd.

Josh could sense his consciousness separating from his body, and the world in front of him began to spin and change rapidly under the twist of the spinning ring.

"The Time Circle has worked! Josh, you ......"

Kieran's shouting came to an abrupt end, and by the time Josh came to his senses, he had appeared in a dark forest, the weak spot where the physical and spiritual realms merged.

The projection location they chose was the Python Islands, where Josh and Margusa had arranged a temporary refuge, and the territory of the Bajou sect, which had befriended Halia.

Josh looked around, and his heart was roughly measured.

[Have you arrived at the desired location?] Lunixia's voice came to Josh's mind.

Josh only came into reality with a projection of time with his consciousness, and his body was still in that gap of time.

Although Lunicia can't follow him to this place, she can still communicate over long distances "across time and space" through spirits.

"Pretty much."

Josh closed his eyes and stared, extending his spiritual power through the arcane aura in the environment, spreading his perception outward, and soon noticed the familiar aura.

"Ahri ......"

It's been more than a hundred years......

The longing in Josh's heart suddenly exploded, and a tear slipped from the corner of his eye unconsciously.

[Josh, Kieran let me tell you, this state won't last long, you have to do whatever you want to do as soon as possible.] 】

"I know."

Josh takes a deep breath to quickly ease the sadness in his heart, and uses the arcane call with the element of time attached to it to him and channel Ahri.

After waiting for a while, with the sound of rustling not far away, the lover that Josh had been thinking about finally arrived.

It's just that Ahri, who doesn't understand the situation, seems to have misunderstood something, and directly broke down and cried: "No ......"

Josh was distressed and said, "Ahri, don't be sad, I'm not dead." ”

Hearing this, the tear-eyed girl raised her red eyes and took a general look.

Josh's appearance was the same as it was today, but the perceptive Ahri always sensed that something was not right.

The lover in front of him, in addition to being like a shadow after death, seems to be much older on some level that cannot be seen.

When Ahri was studying magic, he had learned that some of the incarnations of the spiritual realm were also fond of emotions.

They are called demons, and they like to use their emotional weakness to tempt them to get the food they want.

After a brief emotional breakdown, Ahri quickly regained his composure and was secretly vigilant, "You...... Is it really Josh? ”

Josh couldn't help but shake his head and smile, and instead of taking the initiative to answer, he took out the half of the Emero Stone that Ahri had given him.

"You...... During the day, during the day, I gave you a fairy amulet, and you gave me half of your Imero stone, it can't be fake, right? ”

Ahri stared at the stone in Josh's palm for a moment, then pulled the other half out of his pocket and cautiously stepped forward.

Although Josh's projection could not be touched, the cracks of the Imero stone could be spliced together almost seamlessly, which was enough to prove that Josh in front of him was real.

Demons can't do that.

"It's really you!"

Ahri burst into tears again, trying to reach out and touch Josh's face, but her fingers passed straight through the shadow.

"How did you, how did you become like this......"

Josh made a gesture of caressing Ahri's cheek, although there were a thousand words in his heart to express his thoughts, but it had taken a lot of time to wait for Ahri to arrive, and now there was not much left.

[If there is something important, hurry up and say, most of the projection time has passed.] 】

Josh took a deep breath and looked at the sad and crying Ahri in front of him, but at this time he could not comfort him in time, which was quite sad.

"I'm sorry, I had a little accident here, and I may not be able to come back for a while."

Without giving Ahri a chance to ask questions, he immediately said, "But don't worry, I really don't have anything to do, I'm just stuck somewhere, and I've probably found a way out of it." ”

Josh gives Ahri a smile, but it quickly turns into a serious expression.

"However, I was unable to prevent the Curse of Ruin from happening, and Fuguang Island has been swallowed up by the Great Ruining and turned into the Shadow Island......

"And, Ahri, you must remember what I'm going to say next, it could be the difference between the lives of millions."

Ahri bit her lip and nodded tearfully, "You say, if I can do it!" ”