The city didn't sleep.
Not after what it had seen.
Not after a Reaper fled.
Not after Hunter One—the perfect, unflinching weapon of Division Zero—was sent flying across rooftops by a boy who never raised his voice.
Every screen, every whisper, every drone feed kept circling back to one name:
Loki.
Inside the top floor of the Division Zero Spire, a door slid open with a hiss.
White air. White floors. White silence.
Then—
step… step… step…
The Director walked out.
A tall man in a sleek black coat, movements controlled and precise.
No visible weapons.
No glowing armor.
Not a single enhancement on his body.
He didn't need any.
His presence alone silenced the entire room.
"Director," one officer stammered. "Hunter One has returned with—unprecedented data."
The Director didn't break stride.
"Where is he now?"
"In diagnostics, sir."
"And the boy?"
The officer swallowed.
"Walking through District Six as if he owns it."
The Director finally stopped.
His voice was quiet—dangerously quiet.
"What's his demeanor?"
"Unbothered, sir."
The Director's eyes sharpened behind his mask.
"…Then it's worse than anticipated."
He touched the glass railing and looked down at the glowing city below.
"Prepare my descent."
The entire room reacted at once.
"Sir—the Director doesn't enter the field—" "You're stepping outside the Spire?" "Should we deploy an escort team—?"
"No."
His voice cut the air like a blade.
"I am going alone."
Silence fell.
Everyone in Division Zero understood what that meant.
If the Director himself stepped into the city…
it was no longer a search.
It was no longer containment.
It was something far more rare.
A personal evaluation.
Down on the street, Axis felt the shift first.
A pressure in the air.
A weight.
A presence.
He turned slowly.
"…Loki?"
Loki stopped walking.
His expression didn't change, but something in him sharpened—eyes narrowing just slightly.
He felt it too.
A calm, controlled, unmistakable aura.
It was nothing like the Reaper-General's raging brutality.
Nothing like Hunter One's mechanical precision.
This was colder. Cleaner. Sharper.
Like someone walking with perfect purpose.
Axis whispered:
"That feeling… that's… that's him."
"Who?" Loki asked.
Axis pointed upward, voice trembling.
"The Director."
The white doors of the spire opened.
A single man stepped out.
No guards.
No drones.
No entourage.
Just a man in a long black coat walking calmly through the city, his mask reflecting the neon lights.
People froze as he passed.
Some bowed.
Some hid.
Some ran.
A child tugged on her mother's sleeve.
"Mom… who is that?"
The mother didn't look away.
"That's the man Division Zero fears."
The Director didn't respond to anyone.
He walked like the streets moved for him.
Like the world adjusted around his steps.
He reached the intersection where Loki and Axis stood.
And he stopped.
The Director's masked gaze lifted to Loki.
The air tightened.
The city went silent.
Not because of fear—
but because two auras had collided.
Loki stood still, hands in his pockets, flower still tucked behind his ear.
Composed.
Calm.
Unimpressed.
The Director tilted his head slightly.
"…So this is the boy who humiliated a Reaper and forced Hunter One to unlock limiters."
Axis whispered:
"Please don't antagonize him, please don't antagonize him—"
Loki blinked once, bored.
"Oh. You're the mask guy."
Axis slapped his forehead so hard he almost knocked himself out.
The Director actually paused.
For a heartbeat.
As if Loki's answer legitimately surprised him.
"Loki," the Director said, voice smooth and surgical, "I am not here to threaten you."
Loki responded:
"That's good."
"I am here," the Director continued, "to understand you."
Loki stared at him for a moment.
Then:
"You came in person for that?"
"Yes."
"You could've just asked."
Axis mouthed silently:
LOKI PLEASE.
But the Director didn't get angry.
He stepped closer.
Then closer.
Until he stood just a meter from Loki.
The Director spoke quietly—too quiet for the world, but loud enough for Loki:
"Tell me something, Loki."
A pause.
"What kind of existence are you?"
Loki rolled his shoulders slightly.
Unhurried.
Almost lazy.
His voice came out soft but resonant:
"The kind that doesn't need permission."
The Director lowered his head a fraction.
Not a bow.
Not submission.
Just acknowledgment.
"A dangerous answer," he murmured.
"A true one," Loki replied.
Behind them, Axis swallowed hard.
He had never felt two people talk with so little sound…
and yet shake an entire intersection.
Finally, the Director stepped back—just one step.
But that one step said everything.
He wasn't retreating.
He was concluding.
"Very well," the Director said quietly.
"We will not contain you."
Axis's jaw dropped.
"We will not pursue you."
Loki blinked once.
"And we will not erase you from the records."
The city gasped collectively.
The Director slowly turned away.
"But know this, Loki…"
He looked over his shoulder.
"When the others take notice of you… even I may not be able to stop them."
Loki's expression stayed unreadable.
"Then let them come."
The Director froze.
For the first time that night…
something shifted behind his mask.
Respect.
The Director continued down the street, the crowd parting automatically.
"Axis," Loki said, already walking again, "let's go."
Axis ran after him.
But before he caught up, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He turned.
The Director stood beside him.
Axis nearly fainted.
The Director's voice dropped quietly:
"Stay with him."
Axis blinked.
"What? Why?"
The Director's grip tightened just slightly.
"Because you are the only anchor he has."
Axis swallowed hard.
"W-what happens if I'm not here?"
The Director looked toward Loki's back.
"Then this city won't survive him."
And with that—
he vanished into the crowd.
Axis rushed to Loki's side, heart pounding.
"Bro… the Director just talked to ME—what did he mean by that?!"
Loki didn't slow.
"He's right."
Axis sputtered.
"About what part?!"
"About the city."
"…Loki what does that MEAN—?!"
Loki said nothing.
He just kept walking.
Calm.
Unbothered.
Already moving toward the next storm.