Kiramman Manor

Boom!!!!

The alarm in the west of the city hadn't even faded before the Kiramman estate in the east erupted once more in towering flames.

Within the glow of that burning light, Sevika stood at the manor gates, her expression exceptionally grim:

"I just blew up someone else's place here, killed everyone inside, and now you're telling me my home got robbed?"

The burly man sent by Silco to deliver news shrank his neck, stammering as he spoke:

"We didn't know the young miss of the Kiramman family would go to the Lower City."

"Hmph, she wouldn't go on her own, but with that woman around, you never know." Sevika spat, her face sour. "The councilor's not here, and neither are our two targets. What rotten luck!"

"But at least we killed the councilor's husband, the target's father," another burly man said weakly.

Sevika shot a glare at her subordinate, her heart churning with irritation, unsure how to explain things to Silco.

"You seem to be having problems."

Just then, a slow-moving figure emerged from the darkness, a hood covering his head, but the mechanical claw on his shoulder gave away his identity.

"Butler, we've run into trouble. Councilor Kiramman went to the Grand Theater, and her daughter went to the Lower City. We need to return now," Sevika said respectfully.

The mechanical arm he had helped repair worked exceptionally well—one punch had smashed through the Kiramman estate's iron gate. And with that mechanical claw on his shoulder being no decoration, she had every reason to show respect.

"I think you've done enough. Leave the rest to me."

Viktor spoke flatly, stepping past Sevika and her men. His mechanical claw aimed at the burning estate, the Hex Gemstone at its core glowing blue.

Zzzz!!!

A beam of orange-yellow light shot straight out, sweeping across the estate and cutting through everything it touched.

The century-old Kiramman mansion collapsed directly. The stone wall at the gate, the vegetation in the courtyard—anything over a meter in height was severed cleanly.

In just a few minutes, what had been a bustling estate became a wasteland of rubble.

Sevika cast a reverent glance at Viktor's back, then turned and left with her stunned men.

She didn't know exactly what the Butler was planning, but she knew it was time to go—that beam didn't have eyes.

Watching Sevika and the others disappear into the distance, Viktor made no move. He stood silently in the ruins, as if waiting for something.

Before long, a series of footsteps rang out. A large group of enforcers, guns raised, surrounded the estate.

At their head was Councilor Kiramman. Seeing her estate reduced to rubble, her face was already twisted with fury and grief.

She barked at the figure standing in the ruins:

"Kill him! Hold nothing back."

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

A volley of gunfire erupted, dozens of bullets raining down on Viktor standing amid the wreckage.

"I believe we need to talk, Councilor Kiramman."

A hoarse voice came from beneath Viktor's hood.

The moment the bullets were about to strike him, a blue light enveloped everything around in an instant.

All things were frozen within that blue glow. No one could move. Even the bullets, having lost their momentum, clattered to the ground.

Zzzz!!!

A surging beam shot from Viktor's mechanical claw, leaping over all the enforcers and piercing a large tree not far away.

With a crash, the ten-meter-tall tree toppled, smashing a large white stone tile into pieces and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Magic? Who are you?"

Councilor Kiramman's voice was a mix of shock and rage, but feeling her body unable to move, she could only glare at him.

Behind him, in those ruins, her husband was still buried. Even if he had the power to kill her in one blow, she would never yield.

"That's not magic, Councilor Kiramman. This Humble One is Vis, from Zaun."

Viktor's hoarse voice reached everyone's ears. His figure stood high in the moonlight, the center of all attention.

"Lower City folk? What exactly are you trying to do? Start a war between the Upper and Lower Cities? You should know you have no chance of winning," Councilor Kiramman said coldly.

"As arrogant as ever. Is that what you said to Vander back then?" Viktor's tone was flat.

"Vander? That's a name from long ago." Councilor Kiramman slowly calmed down. "Were you one of those who charged the bridge? Seeking revenge?"

Faced with a power that could immobilize them, they couldn't even move.

But she still believed that every power had its limits. At least, since he hadn't killed her outright, there was still hope.

"I wasn't at that bridge charge, but I heard that three councilors agreed to Zaun's independence back then. I think this time, there will be four. No, I forgot there are eight councilors now. It seems Zaun's independence needs the approval of five."

Hearing his words, Kiramman stared at him in disbelief, her chest heaving as she struggled to steady herself:

"You won't succeed. Even if I agree, the Medarda family and Heimerdinger won't. And besides—"

Councilor Kiramman hesitated.

"Besides?"

"And your force field is about to fail!"

Councilor Kiramman's words had barely left her mouth when a fireball rose from the edge of Piltover, four colossal orbs blazing like suspended suns in the night sky, hurtling toward Kiramman Manor.

"The Piltover H-28Q Apex Turret, personally designed by Professor Heimerdinger. A single salvo can scorch a hundred meters barren of all life."

Viktor showed no sign of urgency; he even tilted his head back leisurely, watching the four projectiles wrapped in flame close in.

"No one can withstand the Apex Turret's bombardment. You are worthy of taking me—and all of Kiramman Manor—to the grave with you."

"Councilor Kiramman, do you know? I once held thoughts similar to yours. But when I witnessed someone far greater, I suddenly realized—whether Piltover or Zaun, in this world, we are all too insignificant."

Viktor finished calmly, then his mechanical claw flung a small blue sphere upward—another Hex Gemstone.

As the gemstone arced into the air, the three prongs of the mechanical claw opened, unleashing a torrent of rays that struck the Hex Gemstone. The kinetic energy from the rays overcame gravity, lifting the gem into the sky.

Under the relentless impact of the rays, the nearly indestructible Hex Gemstone suddenly shattered.

Fragments carried blue light, intertwining with azure lightning that burst across the sky—dazzling and magnificent.

At that very moment, the four shells fired from the Apex Turrets neared Kiramman Manor, about to crash to the ground.

But the lightning born from the shattered Hex Gemstone wove together in the sky, generating a magnetic field midair. The shells' downward momentum dwindled, reversed by the upward magnetic pull, and they slowly rose into the heavens.