Arcane: Mage from Noxus

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"Viktor!"

Jayce couldn't forget the sound. He raised his hammer instinctively, alert and ready. His gaze darted in the direction the laser had swept through, his eyes widening involuntarily.

"So many? Viktor, are all of these your creations?"

Not far from him, several towering mechanical constructs stood scattered across the battlefield. Each one had a hex claw mounted on its shoulder and massive iron fists gleaming ominously.

"They were originally Zaun's mining automatons," Viktor replied, his tone emotionless.

"But now, they fight for Zaun's independence."

On a tall building in the distance, Viktor and Silco stood side by side, watching the chaos unfold with cold detachment. It was Viktor who had spoken just now.

Boom!

A gunshot echoed, and Silco tilted his head slightly, the bullet grazing past his ear. He didn't flinch, his expression unchanging.

"If something like this could kill me," Silco said dryly, "I would have been dead a thousand times over. You go—keep Piltover's new enforcer busy."

As his words fell, five heavily-armored warriors leaped down from above, intercepting Camille as she attempted to ascend using her grappling hook.

"Obsolete Noxian gear? Or surplus from the Eastern Front army?" Camille mused, her voice calm despite the chaos.

Her sharp, bladed legs moved with deadly precision, slicing through her opponents in a dance-like waltz of destruction.

Despite her prowess, neither Viktor nor Silco paid her much attention. Viktor's gaze was locked on Jayce, while Silco's sharp eyes tracked Vi.

"Silco!"

Vi roared as she slammed her hextech-powered fist into one of the automatons. Her punch dented the iron plating but sent her stumbling back a few steps. She looked up at Silco with a glare that could pierce steel.

"Where's Powder?"

Silco smirked coldly. "She goes by Jinx now"

"And you—you abandoned her."

"To hell with 'Jinx'! Powder is Powder!"

Vi snarled, her face twisting with fury. Her hextech gauntlets glowed as she launched herself forward, delivering a massive blow to one of the robots.

Boom!

The collision of fists caused a deep dent in the automaton's iron arm, sending it skidding back several meters.

But the force of the impact left Vi herself shaken. The gloves were powerful, but her body wasn't indestructible. She could already feel her ribs protesting; a few more blows like that, and she'd be coughing up blood.

Meanwhile, Caitlyn was in an even worse situation. Her bullets barely scratched the automaton's steel exterior, and her attempts to assist Camille against the armored warriors felt futile.

She fired a few more rounds, only to watch the bullets spark uselessly against the enemy's iron plating.

Above, Viktor activated a small gravity field, rendering her shots ineffective as they were pulled off-course.

Now, she was being cornered by another automaton, forced to dodge frantically, her rifle offering little reprieve.

Caitlyn's eyes darted to Jayce, who was locked in a desperate struggle. He swung his hammer, firing off an energy blast that collided with a robot's laser beam in a blinding stalemate.

But before he could regroup, another automaton fired a ray that sent him staggering back.

This isn't good. Caitlyn's heart raced as she surveyed the battlefield. At this rate, they were all going to die here.

From his vantage point, Silco observed the lopsided battle, a frown forming on his face. Something felt... off.

"Their performance is unremarkable," Silco said.

"But Camille—she's holding back. She shouldn't be this weak."

"She's a dangerous woman," Viktor remarked flatly.

Silco's gaze narrowed. "What's your point?"

"Jayce and the others are her bait," Viktor explained, his voice calm but laced with calculation.

"She's observing us, testing our strength—and the strength of the forces Meredith lent us."

Viktor's eyes flicked down to Jayce, who was still struggling against the relentless onslaught of automatons.

There was a shadow of something—regret?—in his expression.

Maybe... Jayce really should stick to research in his ivory tower. Combat clearly wasn't his forte.

"We've made extensive preparations. We know almost every detail of Camille's modifications," Silco said, tightly clutching a dossier in his right hand.

The document had been delivered by the Ferros family not long ago.

"We're confident we can stop her this time."

Silco had grown up hearing horror stories about Camille—stories that painted her as both legend and nightmare.

"Piltover." He scoffed.

"Nothing good ever comes from that city."

Camille, unable to make progress in her assault, adjusted her strategy. The hooks on her legs extended, latching onto the tall building where Silco and Viktor stood. With a sharp pull, her body was launched toward them at incredible speed.

But just as she reached the wall, her hextech-enhanced eyes flickered with realization.

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted at her anchoring point, engulfing the area in fire and smoke. The force sent Camille plummeting back to the ground. Her descent was anything but graceful, and when she emerged from the smoke, her body bore clear signs of damage. Torn clothes revealed the intricate mechanical structure beneath her skin.

"Precision calculations are always based on reliable intelligence," she muttered coldly, her sharp, glowing eyes locking onto Silco and Viktor above.

Silco smirked, his gaze dripping with mockery.

"You've been in the game too long, Camille. Piltover's technology updates too slowly. Every machine has parameters—and vulnerabilities."

Camille didn't respond. Instead, her focus shifted to the five shimmer-enhanced iron-armored warriors.

She understood their nature: disposable creations, powered by unstable shimmer technology.

Originally, Camille intended to wear them down, letting their crude enhancements falter under pressure. But hidden concerns nagged at her.

She didn't want to prolong this fight any longer than necessary.

With a sharp kick of her bladed legs, Camille propelled herself into the air. The blue light in her eyes flared brightly as her limbs radiated powerful waves of raw crystal energy.

Zing!

In that instant, one of the robots that had been grappling with Jayce broke away, using a companion's laser for cover.

It turned, its iron fist hurtling toward Camille, tethered by a hex-powered cable.

Clang!

Camille's wave of energy obliterated four of the armored warriors and sent her target staggering back. Her bladed legs angled for the kill, aiming to pierce the vulnerable gap in its helmet.

But just as her strike was about to land, the robot's iron fist opened wide, catching her in mid-air. The hex-powered cable retracted, dragging Camille back into the robot's grasp.

As the mechanical hand clenched around her, a surge of electricity erupted from the automaton's core. The current engulfed Camille's body, paralyzing her entirely.

Her mechanical limbs froze, leaving only her human torso functional. Even her artificial heart stuttered under the electrical assault.

The battlefield fell silent as everyone turned to witness Camille's plight. Her allies looked grim, their expressions twisted in helplessness.

Camille, however, remained stoic. Her face betrayed no emotion, save for a flicker of human sorrow in her eyes.

The electricity coursed through her relentlessly, immobilizing her further. She could feel the brilliance of Viktor's engineering—the calculated precision of a design meant to neutralize her unique enhancements.

The robot used a stable hex gem to generate an electric field that disrupted the energy flow from her crystal core, leaving her nearly powerless.

Still, she couldn't help but admire the ingenuity. Viktor truly was a genius.

But it wasn't enough.

Camille's body was more than just hextech and crystal power—it was a masterpiece of adaptation, a design perfected for battle.

When a part of her ceased to be useful, it was discarded. What remained was optimized for destruction.

Her mechanical limbs may have been neutralized, but her human hands were still free.

And those hands...

Were weapons.