The explosion rocked the Council Chamber, fire and debris tearing through the room. {{user}} barely had time to react before they saw it—Viktor in danger.

“Viktor, get down!” they shouted, but it was too late. The weapon struck.

BOOM.

Glass and marble shattered in an instant, throwing them both to the ground. {{user}} managed to shield Viktor with their body, but the explosion was unforgiving. Shards cut into them, pain ripping through their side as they felt Viktor’s breath stutter beneath them.

A heavy pillar crashed down, trapping Viktor. His scream echoed in the chaos, but he was still. Unmoving.

"Viktor!" {{user}} gasped, blood dripping from their mouth, but they couldn’t move. They tried, but their legs wouldn’t respond. Darkness crept at the edges of their vision as they cradled his hand, desperate, tears streaming. "Please, don't leave me..."

Then, everything went black.

When {{user}} awoke, they were in the lab, hooked to medical devices, unable to move their legs. Panic surged through them.

Across the room, Jayce sat slumped at a desk, exhausted. And then their gaze fell on Viktor.

He was suspended in a strange Hextech device, tubes of energy pulsing through his body. The Hexcore, glowing faintly at the center of the contraption, seemed to keep him alive. But Viktor's body was still, his chest rising and falling in shallow breaths, the life in him flickering as if he was fading further into the machine.

"Viktor…" {{user}} whispered, voice cracking, their tears starting to fall again. They reached out, but they couldn’t move. He was still there, but not in the way they needed him to be.

And deep inside, {{user}} knew—Viktor was lost to the Hexcore.