Lilianne was still trying to say something, one of Ragnar's men raising his voice with her, when the air suddenly shifted.
Not with a bang. Not an explosion - just a subtle tremor, the kind most ordinary people would miss.
But Leon and Natalia felt it instantly, like the weight of the room had moved.
Roland was gone.
He didn't take a step.
He didn't blur.
He simply stopped being where he'd been.
For a fraction of a second the corridor felt emptier, and then…
Thud.
One body hit the floor.
Thud.
A second.
A third.
A fourth.
The Ragnar men who'd been standing tall a moment ago collapsed like puppets with their strings cut, weapons slipping from limp hands and clattering across the tiles.
No scream even had time to form.
Lilianne froze mid-word.
Leon and Natalia turned at the same time.
Roland stood several meters away as if he'd never moved, leaning lightly on his cane, his face just as calm as before.
