For one heartbeat,
the world held still.
Then Loki vanished.
Not a blur.
Not a flash.
Just gone—
like the space he stood in forgot he'd ever existed.
The soldiers never had a chance.
The front line raised their rifles—
—but Loki was already behind them.
A whisper of movement.
A shift in the air.
Then—
THUD.
One soldier dropped, rifle snapping clean in half.
Before the others reacted—
THUD-THUD.
Two more fell, their armor split at precise angles, like someone had drawn lines with a ruler and reality obeyed.
Rifles flew from hands, landing in a neat pile twenty meters away—
placed, not thrown.
Axis blinked hard.
"H-He's reorganizing their weapons?!"
Jax muttered, voice trembling:
"That's not fighting… that's housekeeping."
A squad rushed Loki from the right.
Loki didn't turn.
He tilted his head a fraction.
Stepped one inch.
That inch saved ten lives—
none of them soldiers.
The rushing squad collided with each other, bodies slamming into a tangled heap as Loki slipped through the gap between them like water through cracks.
He tapped helmets as he passed.
Soft taps.
Barely contact.
CLACK—CLACK—CLACK—CLACK.
All four helmets powered down simultaneously, visors going dead.
The soldiers collapsed, systems offline.
Axis screamed:
"LOKI, STOP BREAKING PEOPLE BY TAPPING THEM!"
The commanding officer panicked.
"Formation Delta! Surround and suppress!"
Soldiers moved with drilled precision, forming a massive cage around Loki—
shields locking, rifles rising, drones buzzing into position overhead.
A perfect tactical net.
Loki stopped walking.
He looked around slowly.
Then he exhaled through his nose.
"…Sloppy."
In one motion—
SHHHK—
Silent Edge slid from its sheath.
The air trembled.
Axis grabbed Jax's shoulder.
"Oh no. Oh no no no—he's UNSHEATHED. This is over. We are ALL over."
Jax grinned.
"Shut up. Watch."
A drone fired first.
Loki didn't move.
He simply tilted Silent Edge upward—
—and the drone split clean in half, falling in two smoking pieces.
The shot never reached him.
A soldier charged from behind.
Loki raised his blade one inch—
—and the man's shield disintegrated into glittering fragments.
Another swung a rifle like a club.
Loki rotated his wrist—
—and the rifle separated into three pieces before the swing even finished.
Not one drop of blood spilled.
Not one death blow struck.
But Division Zero's formation collapsed around him like paper in rain.
Jax whispered:
"He's dismantling them.
Perfectly.
Precisely."
Axis swallowed hard.
"This isn't a fight.
This is a lecture."
When half the formation was down, the officer finally understood:
This wasn't a containable event.
This was a disaster.
He turned and bolted.
Not a tactical retreat—
pure survival.
But Loki's voice cut through the square.
Soft.
Calm.
Close.
"Running means you knew you were wrong."
The officer froze.
Because Loki was beside him.
Walking.
Hands in pockets again.
Silent Edge already sheathed.
"Yield," Loki said simply.
The officer trembled.
"Y…Yield?"
"If you don't want to be humiliated," Loki added, "do it now."
Rebels behind them murmured.
Citizens watched silently.
The officer had no dignity left—
but he still had fear.
Slowly…
He dropped to his knees.
His visor dimmed.
"I…yield."
The remaining soldiers hesitated.
Do they fight for a fallen commander?
Or follow him?
Loki didn't push.
He didn't threaten.
He simply turned around and walked back toward Axis and the rebels.
And somehow…
that was more terrifying to the soldiers than anything he had done.
One soldier whispered:
"Th-that boy… he dismantled Delta Formation…"
Another:
"He could've killed us all…"
A third:
"He didn't."
One by one—
helmets powered down.
Weapons lowered.
Then—
the entire unit retreated.
Silence.
Then cheers.
Then screams of victory.
Then the roar of people realizing they had just watched the impossible.
Jax pumped both fists into the air.
"We WON! BRO— WE ACTUALLY WON!"
Axis ran up to Loki, grabbing his shoulders.
"HOW—AND WHY—AND ALSO HOW—"
Loki looked at him blankly.
"I told you."
"Told me WHAT?!"
Loki brushed dust off his sleeve.
"That hiding was never the plan."
Axis stared.
"…That's it? That's your explanation?!"
"Yes."
Jax laughed so hard he doubled over.
"Bro, he's a menace."
On a rooftop far above the chaos,
the Director watched silently.
He didn't clap.
He didn't panic.
He didn't retreat.
He simply studied Loki through his mask.
"…So this is your pace."
He turned away.
"Prepare the Second Hunter."
A subordinate stammered:
"S-Sir—you mean the one that even Hunter One couldn't subdue?"
"Yes."
The Director's voice sharpened.
"Loki is accelerating."
He looked back at the boy in the square, surrounded by rebels and citizens who now believed in him.
"And it's time," he whispered,
"to accelerate with him."