The alley smelled of rain, metal, and the sharp tang of energy still buzzing from the Nullhound's remains.
Axis stepped forward, breath unsteady but very human, very real.
Sweat rolled down his temple. He wiped it away with the back of his wrist, trying—and failing—to keep his hands from shaking.
"Loki…" he muttered, voice low, rough. "That thing isn't some reject drone. That's Division Zero's signature. Their ace."
The Zero-Form Construct finished assembling itself from the shattered soldier fragments. Its smooth, pale surface pulsed with faint geometric lines. No face. No eyes. Just a gently rotating zero etched where a face should be.
Rain steamed off its body as if touching a heat source from another dimension.
The construct tilted its head at Loki.
"THREAT INDEX: 9.7."
"PROBABILITY OF RESISTANCE: NEGLIGIBLE."
Axis's jaw tightened.
"That thing recalculates your moves as you make them. It's a predictive construct. Like you—"
His voice dropped.
"—but without a conscience."
Loki didn't reply. His eyes dimmed into a chilling calm, the deep-blue glow narrowing to a razor focus.
Silent Edge hummed softly in his hand.
The Zero-Form moved first.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Perfect.
Its motion didn't break air. It didn't even disturb rain. It stepped toward Loki like walking through dimensions instead of space.
Mindveil Perception flared—
But this time it didn't fracture cleanly.
It skipped.
Like someone else was manipulating the outcomes at the same time.
Loki staggered slightly, feeling an unfamiliar resistance.
As if another mind—or another algorithm—was looking at the same future he was.
Axis cursed. "It's reading you. It's reading your predictions."
The Zero-Form raised an arm.
Its hand unfolded into razor-sharp geometric blades—like fractal knives that reformed infinitely.
"COUNTER-PATH CALCULATED."
It slashed.
Loki barely parried—Silent Edge ringing with a metallic shriek. Sparks exploded as the construct's arm kept reshaping mid-swing, adjusting angles faster than any human reflex.
Loki's eyes widened slightly.
Mindveil wasn't giving him clean predictions anymore.
The futures were fogged. Blocked.
The construct's voice buzzed:
"CALCULATION PRIORITY: ERASE.
Axis sprinted in—not hesitating. Not thinking.
Human instinct over pure logic.
He grabbed a fallen shock-baton from one of the broken soldiers and slammed it onto the construct's back.
A flash of sparks.
The baton snapped in half.
The Zero-Form didn't even turn around.
Axis stumbled. "Well—shit."
The construct's head rotated 180 degrees to face him.
"IRRELEVANT ORGANIC DETECTED."
Its arm morphed into a spear.
It stabbed—
But Loki was already there.
Silent Edge intercepted the spear tip a millimeter before it reached Axis's chest.
The collision cracked the pavement beneath them.
Loki's voice was low, steady.
"Don't touch him."
Axis exhaled shakily. "Little late for politeness, Loki!"
The Zero-Form recalculated, its surface rippling like water.
"YOU CANNOT PREDICT ME."
Loki inhaled slowly.
Mindveil flared again—
But different.
Sharper.
Not fractured predictions.
Overlays.
Layers on layers on layers of outcomes flashing through his sight, each adjusting dynamically as the construct changed shape.
Loki whispered:
"Don't need to predict you."
His eyes blazed.
"I only need to predict myself."
The world snapped inward—
All noise falling away—
A third-level Mindveil ignition.
Zero Shatter.
A movement so precise it bordered on impossible.
He stepped inside the construct's kill-zone—
a place no sane fighter would enter—
and swung once.
The blade didn't strike armor.
It struck the timing of the construct.
The moment between one recalculation and the next.
A perfect micro-delay.
A flaw only something human could sense.
The Zero-Form froze.
Split lines appeared across its body.
A sound like cracking glass echoed through the alley.
Axis whispered, awestruck:
"Loki… you didn't hit it. You hit its future."
The construct convulsed, glitching.
"ERROR—ERROR—ERROR—"
"THREAT INDEX: UNKNOWN."
Loki stepped past the construct.
Rain fell in a slow arc behind him.
Silent Edge finished its swing in the quietest motion possible.
The Zero-Form collapsed behind him in geometric shards, each dissolving into pixelated dust.
Silence.
Real, heavy silence.
Axis finally let himself breathe again.
His voice trembled with relief and disbelief.
"Loki… that was… that was insane."
Loki didn't answer immediately.
He stared at the dissolving construct.
Because inside the dust—
A glowing sigil remained.
A perfect zero.
Floating.
Still watching.
Still calculating.
Axis stepped back. "Loki… what is that?"
Loki's hand tightened on Silent Edge.
The sigil pulsed once.
A message formed in cold digital voice:
"LOKI OF THE MINDVEIL."
"YOUR THIRD EYE HAS OPENED."
"DIVISION ZERO WILL COME IN PERSON."
"PREPARE."
The sigil vanished.
Axis swallowed hard.
"You just made enemies with the most dangerous division on the planet."
Loki finally spoke.
His voice was quiet.
Resolved.
Cold.
"I didn't choose them."
He turned away.
"They chose me."