Chapter 73: Paradox (1)
An unconscious man was thrown into the cell as Orion stepped out, now clad in an Enforcer's uniform.
No words were spoken. He followed Silco without hesitation. Hands were shaken, bags of money exchanged, and vials of Shimmer discreetly passed along.
The moment he left the cell, arcane energy crackled inside him like electricity, flooding his senses. The Weave, the long-hidden rivers of mana, surged back into his subconscious like a dam breaking.
A wry smile formed on his lips. He pondered but didn't dwell on, the eerie purple Void energies reaching out- trying to corrupt those rivers of magic.
Orion instantly recognized the presence. The same aura from his dreams, from six years ago.
Without hesitation, without a second thought, he reached out with a glowing, arcane hand, crushing the intruding force before it could take hold.
From the outside, nothing had changed. But inside, Arcane and Void energies clashed violently, a silent war raging within him.
Silco's sharp gaze flickered toward Orion.
The once chatty, reckless survivor he once knew was now completely silent. His face was hidden behind the Enforcer's mask, his presence more unsettling than reassuring.
Silco wasn't afraid for his own safety.
He was afraid of his investment- its state of mind.
The uncertainty only grew as they stepped into the elevator and it began its ascent. Silco was about to speak when he felt a shift in the air.
Suddenly- purple Void energy and blue Arcane magic erupted outward, slamming Silco and his henchman against the metal walls.
"Orion!" Silco hissed in pain, his older frame straining against the force. "I saved you twice! Remember that!"
Sweat dripped down his forehead beneath the mask, but Orion gave no sign of hearing him.
The elevator groaned, old rusted cables screeching as arcane lightning hissed through the confined space. The air burned, uniforms scorching as the metal walls blackened and warped as arcs of energy branched out.
Silco, for the first time in years, felt true fear. Yet, somehow, the raging energies missed them, striking around them but never making direct contact.
Inside Orion, it was like mixing antimatter with matter. Void and Arcane. The devouring force of the Void, seeking to unmake, clashing against the refined, structured power of the Arcane, the very lifeblood of Runeterra.
The two forces should not coexist- they were meant to repel each other, to annihilate upon contact. But here, inside him, they intertwined, chaotic and wild, yet neither fully consuming the other.
A paradox in motion.
The elevator shuddered violently as streaks of indigo energy lashed against the metal walls, searing glowing fractures into the steel. Sparks rained down, casting distorted shadows across Silco's tense, unreadable expression.
His fingers twitched toward a vial of Shimmer at his belt- a reflex, a backup plan, a lifeline if things went truly wrong.
His henchman, however, was not as composed.
"B-Boss—?!" The enforcer barely got the words out before he was yanked off his feet- not by a hand, but by the pull of the energy clashing inside Orion. His body lifted, weightless, hovering mid-air as if caught in a violent tide.
Silco's sharp eye flickered toward Orion, eyes widening in bewilderment.
((A/N: Brb, going to go grab some energy drinks while thinking about Silco and Orion's future ;p 2nd part later))