Bzzz!!!
Blue and red light met and merged. A sonic boom echoed through the entire city as a shockwave swept out from the point of contact, rapidly passing over half the city.
People in its path were involuntarily blasted away, the glass it struck shattered into fragments, and even the walls showed cracks.
Only when the shockwave reached the Noxus Embassy was it erased without a trace by a suddenly rising Water Curtain.
Ryan stood atop the building, his entire body radiating blue magical light. He turned with a smile and praised,
"This is Hextech's true potential. The world will change because of it."
"Your vision is unmatched."
Katarina stood guard at his side. As she glanced at the phenomenon of red and blue light filling half the sky, there was a trace of reverence in her eyes.
Anyone capable of creating such an astonishing weapon deserved to be remembered by all.
"Let us enjoy today's finale. I am greatly looking forward to seeing the two part ways under Heimerdinger's witness."
Elsewhere in Piltover, both Heimerdinger, who was operating the advanced turrets, and Jayce, who was clearing the battlefield, abruptly changed expression upon seeing the blue light spreading across the sky and hurried toward it.
The former site of Kiramman Manor.
The phenomenon in the sky vanished, but the manor's ruins had also been completely wiped away. Under the bombardment of shells and lightning, even the dust had been swept clean.
Yet Viktor, standing directly beneath the impact, had not been harmed in the slightest.
"Is Hextech's power still not even a fraction of magic's?"
Viktor sighed and shook his head, tightening the coat wrapped around his body.
The Anti-Magic Cloak he had borrowed from Ryan had easily helped him withstand the aftershock.
Ignoring the Enforcers and Kiramman councilors who had been blasted away, he slowly stepped forward, passed the Enforcers lying dead and wounded in great numbers, and headed toward the nearby Boundary Bridge.
Even as his figure nearly disappeared into the distance, none of the Enforcers dared step forward. Only two with lighter injuries ran off into the distance.
The Boundary Bridge was not far away, but at Viktor's pace, it still took him nearly ten minutes to reach it.
His steps were slow, and he was not afraid of danger at all. From the way he looked back from time to time, he seemed to be waiting for someone.
He had long since removed his monocle, and even the hood that had covered his head was gone. He walked openly through Piltover's streets in his true appearance.
Meanwhile, at the highest point near the Boundary Bridge, magical light flashed, and Ryan and Katarina appeared.
They silently watched as Viktor stepped onto the Boundary Bridge and walked toward Zaun, one step at a time.
Crackle!
A blue sphere of energy suddenly shot toward Viktor from afar beside the bridge, only to be effortlessly shattered by a beam fired from his mechanical claw.
"You came too late, Councilor Talis."
Viktor did not seem surprised in the slightest. He calmly turned around and fixed his gaze on the tall figure holding a hammer.
His eyes swept over the hammer in Jayce's hand, and he could not help shaking his head slightly.
"How ironic. You were the one who said the technology was not mature enough, yet you are also the one fighting with a half-finished product. Aren't you afraid that Hex Gemstone will explode? Your hammer has not even been forged properly."
"Viktor! Why? Do you know how many Enforcers died tonight?"
Jayce gripped his hammer tightly, the veins on the back of his hand standing out as though proclaiming his anger.
"Yes, quite a few died. But do you know how many Zaunites died on this bridge back then?"
Seeing Jayce's righteous expression, Viktor suddenly laughed, his laughter filled with weariness.
"You and I both know what happened back then. If the Zaunites had not stormed the bridge, they would not have died. But everyone who died today died because of you!" Jayce said coldly.
"Ha ha ha ha."
Viktor laughed heartily, but his laughter was exceptionally sorrowful. Looking at the newly arrived small figure beside Jayce, he spoke with grief in his voice.
"Since Teacher Heimerdinger is here as well, why not let him tell you? If they had not stormed the bridge, how would they have died???"
By the time he spoke the final word, a hint of ferocity had appeared on his face.
Did these two not know what Zaun's environment was like? Toxic gas and polluted rivers were everywhere. If they did not seek a way to survive, they could only wait for death.
Moreover, Piltover pressed down upon Zaun. Rather than solving Zaun's problems, it instead suppressed Zaun's development in another form.
If his inventions had been put to use earlier, how many fewer Zaunites would have died?
Heimerdinger had personally witnessed Zaun's birth. His eyelids drooped, and sorrow covered his face.
"Zaun's birth was a mistake. We simply did not want that mistake to happen again in Piltover. Viktor, you are my finest student. Why did you do this?"
"Yes, a mistake."
Viktor shook his head self-mockingly. His unfocused gaze turned toward Piltover, bathed in moonlight behind them, and he spoke calmly.
"Teacher Heimerdinger, you were my teacher on the path of science, but unfortunately, you are not human. You cannot understand what a mere few decades mean to humans. You cannot understand the feeling of one's homeland suffering disaster. You cannot understand the sorrow of seeing the person you considered your best friend stand by and do nothing."
"Viktor, we need time. Many things must be handled one at a time. Piltover will have a bright future," Jayce could not help saying.
Clack!
The mechanical claw behind Viktor opened. The sight made Jayce nervously raise his hammer, while Heimerdinger merely sighed, grief written across his face.
"Jayce, I hope you can realize your ideals and protect Piltover's brightest tomorrow. But at the very least, the hammer in your hand should be a finished product."
Even now, Viktor smiled as he offered his closest friend a sincere blessing.
Then, before Jayce and Heimerdinger's horrified eyes, the mechanical claw fired a beam at the ground.
The beam precisely swept across the bridge pier between Viktor and Jayce. The Boundary Bridge that spanned the Upper and Lower Cities, the Boundary Bridge that had stood for two hundred years, broke apart at its center under the very eyes of its creator, Heimerdinger.
Viktor gazed indifferently at Jayce and Heimerdinger across the river and called out in a hoarse, weak voice.
"From this day onward, Zaun shall separate from Piltover. There will be no more Upper and Lower Cities—there will only be Zaun!!!"
Rumble!
His voice, accompanied by the sound of the Boundary Bridge crashing into the water, was deeply imprinted in the eyes of everyone watching this scene.
Whether they were Piltovans on the opposite bank or the watching Zaunites on this side, the collapse of this centuries-old bridge planted an unnamed seed in their hearts.
After doing all this, Viktor resolutely walked toward Zaun's darkness.
"Viktor!"
Jayce's voice halted his steps, but he did not turn around.
Standing on the opposite bank, Jayce declared firmly,
"I will prove that you are wrong!"
Viktor remained expressionless after hearing this. He simply no longer paused, and his figure merged into the darkness, leaving everyone with the sight of a frail yet resolute back.
Before you continue