Impact.
The black blur hit the Nyx like a falling black star.
There was no collision. No struggle. No moment where the two shapes met and the outcome was in question. One frame, the Nyx was hovering - wings spread, glowing eyes wide, mouth open mid-screech. The next frame, it just wasn't there anymore.
The shockwave came first. A wall of displaced air exploded outward from the point of contact - hard enough to bend the branches, hard enough to rip leaves from their stems, hard enough to hit Raizen in the chest from thirty meters away and force him back a full step. His right arm came up on instinct, shielding his face. His left arm was already reached beside him, where Saffi turned sideways and braced. Across the platform, students stumbled. Kenzo planted his feet and crossed his arms over his face. Atman, still on one knee, ducked behind his own wall of smoke.
