Arcane: Mage from Noxus

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Boom!

Before the siren in the western part of the city could fade, the Kiramman estate in the east erupted into flames once again.

Amid the searing glow of the inferno, Sevika stood at the entrance of the manor, her face twisted with frustration.

"I just bombed someone's house and killed everyone inside," she snarled, her tone sharp.

"And now you're telling me the targets aren't here?"

One of Silco's men, a brawny and nervous subordinate, shrank back and stammered, "W-We didn't know the daughter of the Kiramman family would go to Zaun."

Sevika scoffed, spitting on the ground with a look of disgust.

"She may have gone there herself, but you can bet that woman had something to do with it." Her voice dropped to a growl.

"Without the Councilor or the young heiress, we've missed both of our targets. What a damn mess!"

"But at least..." another subordinate ventured hesitantly, his voice weak, "...we got the councilor's husband."

Sevika shot the man a glare that silenced him instantly. Her frustration simmered just beneath the surface as she gritted her teeth, trying to think of how to explain this disaster to Silco.

"You seem to have a problem."

The voice was calm, measured, and came from the shadows. A figure emerged, cloaked in a dark hood, though the glint of mechanical claws on his shoulders made his identity unmistakable.

"Mr. Butler," Sevika said, inclining her head respectfully.

"We've hit a snag. Councilor Kiramman went to the Grand Theater, and their young lady went to the Zaun. Now we're left empty-handed."

Her tone was subdued as she addressed him. After all, the robotic arm Viktor had repaired for her had proven invaluable—its devastating power had been the key to breaching the iron gate of the Kiramman estate.

And the mechanical claw on his shoulder? That was no mere decoration. Sevika knew better than to disrespect him.

"I think you've done enough," Viktor replied evenly, his voice devoid of judgment.

"Leave the rest to me."

Without another word, Viktor strode past Sevika and her group. He raised his mechanical claw toward the burning manor, its hex gem glowing an intense blue at its center.

Bam!

A searing orange-yellow beam shot from the claw, sweeping across the manor with terrifying precision. Anything it touched was obliterated.

Within moments, the century-old Kiramman estate was reduced to rubble. Stone walls, grand archways, and lush vegetation were cleaved apart with ruthless efficiency.

What had once been a sprawling, opulent courtyard was now a wasteland of ruins.

Sevika watched in stunned silence, awe etched across her face.

She turned to her men, their expressions pale with fear, and barked, "Let's go."

She didn't know exactly what Viktor planned to do next, but one thing was clear—lingering in his presence was a gamble she wasn't willing to take. The destructive ray he wielded didn't distinguish friend from foe.

As Sevika and her group retreated, Viktor remained unmoving, standing alone amidst the smoldering wreckage as if waiting for something—or someone.

Not long after, the sound of heavy boots echoed through the air. A squad of enforcers armed with rifles surrounded the ruins, their formation tight and disciplined.

At their head stood Councilor Cassandra Kiramman herself. Her face was a mask of fury and grief as she surveyed the devastation of her family's ancestral home.

Her voice rang out, sharp and commanding:

"Kill him! Leave no one alive!"

Da-da-da-da-da

A volley of gunshots rang out, and dozens of bullets surged toward Viktor, who stood motionless amidst the ruins.

"I believe we need to have a conversation, Councilor Kiramman," Viktor's hoarse voice rasped from beneath his hood.

Just as the bullets were about to pierce him, a brilliant blue light erupted, enveloping everything in its glow.

Time itself seemed to halt.

The bullets froze mid-air, then fell to the ground one by one, their kinetic energy extinguished. The enforcers found themselves immobilized, unable to even twitch a finger.

Bam!

A dazzling ray burst from Viktor's mechanical claw, its energy bypassing the frozen enforcers and slicing clean through a towering tree in the distance. The ten-meter-tall giant crashed to the ground with a deafening roar, shattering the white stone tiles beneath it and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

"Magic? Who are you?"

Cassandra's voice trembled with both fury and fear. She glared at Viktor, her body frozen in place by the blue force field surrounding her.

Her mind raced. Somewhere beneath this wreckage lay her husband. And though the man before her clearly possessed the power to obliterate her in an instant, she refused to show weakness.

"This isn't magic, Councilor," Viktor replied, his tone calm, almost detached.

"This is Zaun."

His words carried through the night like a proclamation, his figure silhouetted against the moonlight. The glowing mechanical claw on his shoulder made him an almost spectral presence amidst the rubble.

"A Zaunite?" Cassandra Kiramman spat.

"And what do you think you're doing? Provoking a war between Piltover and Zaun? You should know such a war would end badly for your kind."

"Arrogance," Viktor said flatly, his voice tinged with disdain.

"The same arrogance you showed when you spoke to Vander all those years ago."

Cassandra's eyes narrowed. "Vander… That's an old name."

Her voice grew measured, her mind working quickly. "You must be one of the bridge rebels. Is this all just for revenge?"

Despite her paralysis, she clung to one certainty—every power had its limits. Viktor hadn't killed her yet, which meant there was still a sliver of hope for survival.

"I wasn't there at the bridge," Viktor said, his tone unreadable.

"But I've heard the stories. Three councilors once supported Zaun's independence. I think it's time that number grew to five."

The senator's breath caught. "You're delusional!" she snapped, her voice shaking with anger.

"Even if I were to agree, the Medarda family and Heimerdinger would never support such madness!"

She hesitated as if weighing her next words carefully.

"And?" Viktor prompted, his tone as steady as ever.

"And..." Kiramman's voice turned sharp, triumphant.

"Your force field can't hold forever!"

At that very moment, four fireballs erupted on the distant horizon. Bright and furious, they streaked across the night sky like blazing suns, descending swiftly toward the ruins of the Kiramman estate.

"Behold the Piltover's H-28Q cutting-edge turrets," Cassandra declared, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

"Designed by Professor Heimerdinger himself. One strike can incinerate everything within a hundred-meter radius."

Viktor tilted his head upward, calmly watching the incoming projectiles as if they were nothing more than a passing spectacle.

"No one can withstand the might of Piltover's cutting-edge artillery," she sneered.

"You'll die here, buried alongside me and my manor."

Viktor's voice cut through her triumph like a scalpel.

"Councilor Kiramman," he began slowly, "there was a time I thought like you. I believed the world was limited to Piltover and Zaun. But as I've grown... I've come to realize this world is far too big."

With that, Viktor raised his mechanical claw and tossed a small blue sphere into the air—a hex gem.

The claw's three prongs opened wide, releasing a surge of turbulent energy that collided with the gem. The raw kinetic force propelled the gem skyward, where it began to shimmer and pulse.

Then, with a sharp crack, the gem shattered.

Blue lightning streaked across the sky, the fragments casting an otherworldly glow as they scattered. Bolts of energy twisted and intertwined, creating a dazzling, magnetic storm above the ruins.

The artillery shells, now mere seconds away from impact, began to slow. The lightning's magnetic pull seized them mid-flight, sapping their momentum.

One by one, the shells stopped descending. Instead, they began to rise, their trajectories reversing as they were drawn upward by the storm's pull.