The rain continued to pour down throughout the city.
High above the chaos, Loki floated motionless in the air, dark hair, his jacket whipping violently in the gale.
Nyx sat perched on his head cosmetic skin, golden eyes half-lidded against the rain.
Loki's voice carried clearly over the storm — calm, almost bored, yet serious. "Magic isn't some mystical energy from another dimension he said, as if lecturing a classroom.
"It's particles. Mana particles. Tiny, invisible things that exist everywhere — in the air, in the ground, in living things. Most people can't feel them, I can."
As he spoke, faint dark-purple particles began gathering around him, swirling.
The wind intensified, howling through the port, knocking over trash bins and sending protest signs flying.
"These particles respond to will, intent and focus. The stronger your will, the more you can pull and shape them."
The particles thickened into visible streams, spiraling around Loki's body and the rusty sword that had materialized in his left hand — the same blade he'd taken from the bandit days ago.
The sword, once dull and unremarkable, now hummed with condensed power, its edge glowing faintly.
Down below, the protesters scrambled.
"Take cover!" a woman screamed, pulling her child behind a concrete barrier as the wind nearly lifted her off her feet.
"Who the hell is that man from the sky?!" a man yelled, shielding his eyes from the rain and debris.
A group of riot police tried to maintain formation, but the gusts were too strong — shields clattered, officers staggered backward.
"Fall back to the inner gate!" one sergeant shouted into his radio, voice cracking with panic.
On the command platform, Prince Valthor stopped eating mid-bite, grease still dripping from his beard.
He stared upward, eyes narrowing.
Aldric stood frozen, his silver armor rattling from the sheer force of the wind.
His hand was locked on the hilt of his sword, but he couldn't draw it — the pressure was too great.
Valthor's voice boomed over the storm: "Aldric! Kill that man, now!"
Aldric tried to step forward. The wind slammed into him like a physical wall, forcing him back a step. His voice came out strained through the helm:
"My prince I… cannot move...the force of the wind is strong..!"
Valthor slammed his fist on the armrest of his throne, cracking the steel.
"Useless! All of you — useless!"
High above, Loki continued speaking, voice still calm and almost conversational, even as the mana around him grew blindingly bright.
"Most people treat magic like a tool, they force it. They burn through their own life force to make it obey. That's not how you use proper magic."
He raised the rusty sword slowly overhead with one hand.
The particles condensed into a swirling vortex around the blade, turning it from dull iron into something radiant and terrifying.
"But if you understand the particles… if you don't force them… they listen."
The wind became a hurricane. Protestors screamed and ducked for cover.
Knights on the walls braced against the gale, some losing their footing and sliding backward.
Mana scanners across the compound went wild, alarms blaring.
Adventurer Technology Headquarters (ATH) in Lyon, emergency screens lit up red.
A holographic display flickered to life in the main command room, showing a blurry, distorted feed of a figure floating above the port of Le Havre.
The image was heavily distorted by the sheer density of mana, but the silhouette was unmistakable — dark hair, floating posture, sword raised.
An analyst shouted: "Massive mana spike detected at Le Havre! Unknown entity — power level off the charts, It's interfering with all our sensors!"
One of them a Brigaider General (BG) leaned forward, eyes wide. "Get me a clearer image!"
Back at the port, the wind was now strong enough to flip cars and tear tarps off cargo containers.
People screamed and ran for any shelter they could find.
A young protester yelled to his friend: "What is that thing?! Is it a monster?!"
His friend, clinging to a lamppost, shouted back: "I don't know, but it's going to kill us all!"
On the command platform, Valthor finally stood up, massive frame towering over everyone.
"Aldric! I don't care if the wind rips your arms off — just kill him!"
Aldric tried again to move, but the pressure pinned him in place. His voice was strained: "My prince… it's impossible…"
Loki's voice cut through the storm one final time, calm and clear, "Magic isn't about power. It's about understanding."
The rain stopped mid-fall.
He brought the sword down in a single, clean downward arc.
"Hopefully this scares them off..." He muttered in a low tone.
The slash wasn't loud, It was silent.
A razor-thick line of pure dark-purple light shot from the blade, splitting the sky and the ocean in a perfect vertical cut that stretched from the clouds all the way down to the sea.
The hurricane winds died instantly as clouds parted.
No one was hit, no buildings were destroyed.
The slash simply erased the storm.
Aldric commented his voice shaky, "The rain has stopped..."
The port fell into stunned, ringing silence.
Loki lowered the rusty sword, expression still bored. "Did that give you a moment to figure something out?"
Nyx yawned on top of his head. "No. How does explaining magic could possibly help?"
"Are we for real?"
Aldric slowly lowered his hand from his sword hilt, the gauntlet trembling slightly.
The pressure that had pinned him in place was gone.
Prince Valthor sat frozen on his throne. His massive jaw hung slightly open, grease still on his thick black beard.
The half-eaten aurochs haunch in front of him had been cleanly sliced in two.
Valthor's eyes were wide with genuine terror.
His voice cracked when he finally spoke. "…Mage! Open the portal! Now!"
A robed mage, who had been hiding behind one of the cargo container, stumbled forward, hands shaking as he began weaving the spatial rift.
"Y-Yes, Your Highness! At once!"
Valthor slammed his fist on the armrest again, but this time it was out of fear rather than rage.
"I underestimated them… I thought France was weak, their Association was nothing but paper tigers after Dieppe."
He grabbed another piece of meat and swallowed hard. "They have someone like that on their side? I will not die here for a stupid artifact I don't even want!"
He rose from the throne with surprising speed for his size, knocking over the platter of meat.
"Everyone! We are leaving, retreat to the kingdom immediately! Leave the cultists to rot, they can explain this mess to the French!"
Aldric turned toward his prince, voice still unsteady. "My prince… the port—"
"Leave it!" Valthor snapped. "Let the French have their damn harbor back. I'm not fighting whatever that thing was. We're going home, now!"
The mage finished the incantation. A swirling violet portal tore open in the air beside the platform — large enough for the entire command group to pass through.
Valthor lumbered through first, still clutching a half-eaten rib in one greasy hand.
Aldric hesitated for half a second, then followed, his silver armor clanking as he stepped into the rift.
One by one, the Eosysêr knights and officials abandoned their posts and rushed through the portal.
The French forces and local guards watched in stunned disbelief as the they fled without a fight.
A French colonel on the ground lowered his rifle slowly and muttered:
"They're… retreating? Just like that?"
Another officer beside him let out a shaky laugh.
"The port… it's ours again."
At the ATH, the main command room was in chaos.
The holographic screen that had been showing the blurry figure of Loki floating above the port suddenly cleared as the massive mana interference vanished.
The Brigadier General narrowed his eyes at the now-empty sky.
"He's gone… The man and the cat— they just vanished into the thin air."
One of the senior analysts wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Sir, the mana signature dropped to zero in less than a second. Whoever that was… he's not there anymore."
The Brigadier General stared at the blank hologram for a long moment. "Get every available drone and satellite on that port right now. I want to know exactly what just happened."
He paused, then added quietly: "And pray that whoever that was… is on our side."