MEMELAND

The chamber was strangely quiet.

At least compared to earlier.

Most of the cultists were on the floor.

Some unconscious.

Some groaning.

Some questioning their life choices.

One man was somehow upside down inside a crate.

Nobody knew how that happened.

Not even Andre.

He had stopped keeping track.

Andre stood in the middle of the battlefield.

Breathing heavily.

Covered in cuts.

His shirt was torn.

One sleeve was gone.

His knuckles were bleeding.

But he was still standing.

Meanwhile—

Kai wasn't.

Fais stood over Kai's unconscious body.

Looking down at him.

Disappointed.

"I expected more."

Nearby, Eric finally found the courage to move.

The architect carefully stepped forward.

Very carefully.

As in—

The kind of careful movement someone makes around a sleeping dragon.

"Um..."

Fais glanced at him.

Eric immediately regretted existing.

"Nothing."

The architect stepped backward.

Fais returned his attention to Kai.

The battle was over.

Or at least—

It should have been.

The captain reached down.

Grabbing Kai by the front of his shirt.

Lifting him effortlessly.

Kai dangled like a broken doll.

Blood stained his clothes.

His head hung forward.

Unmoving.

Fais raised his right gauntlet.

The golden one.

Power gathered in his arm.

Eric's eyes widened.

"Oh."

"That's bad."

Very bad.

Fais prepared to strike.

Then—

"HEY BALD GUY!"

The chamber echoed.

Fais paused.

Slowly.

Very slowly.

He turned around.

Andre stood several meters away.

Hands on his hips.

Looking entirely too confident.

Fais stared.

Andre stared back.

The silence stretched.

Then Andre pointed directly at him.

"Your head is so shiny even shit doesn't stick to it."

Silence.

Absolute silence.

A cultist on the floor looked confused.

Eric looked confused.

Even Andre seemed uncertain whether that made sense.

It didn't.

Not even a little.

But somehow—

It worked.

A vein appeared on Fais' forehead.

The captain slowly lowered Kai.

Then released him.

Kai dropped onto the floor.

Unconscious.

Forgotten.

For the moment.

Fais looked at Andre.

Expressionless.

Dangerously expressionless.

Andre grinned.

"Yeah."

"That's what I thought."

The vein became larger.

Eric quietly took several steps backward.

He wanted no part of whatever was happening.

Fais finally spoke.

"What did you just say?"

Andre pointed again.

"Your."

Point.

"Head."

Point.

"Is."

Point.

"Shiny."

Point.

"Like."

Point.

"A polished coconut."

A second vein appeared.

The surviving cultists collectively decided not to get involved.

Some problems were above their pay grade.

Fais cracked his neck.

Then his shoulders.

Then his knuckles.

The atmosphere changed.

Again.

This time even Andre noticed.

"Oh."

The grin slowly faded.

"You actually got mad."

Fais took a single step forward.

The floor cracked beneath his foot.

"I am going to enjoy this."

Andre rolled his shoulders.

Spat blood onto the ground.

Then smiled.

"There we go."

The thief cracked his knuckles.

For the first time since entering the chamber—

His playful attitude disappeared.

Not completely.

But enough.

Enough for people to realize something.

Andre wasn't taking this lightly anymore.

Fais charged.

Not a blur.

Not a flash.

A missile.

The distance vanished instantly.

BOOM.

Their fists collided.

The shockwave echoed through the chamber.

Eric nearly fell over.

Several unconscious cultists rolled across the floor.

Both men remained standing.

Neither yielding.

Neither retreating.

Fais' eyes widened slightly.

Andre grinned.

"That all you got?"

Fais smiled.

A dangerous smile.

"No."

The chamber trembled.

And the real fight finally began.