MEMELAND

"Well said."

The warehouse fell silent.

Workers turned.

Noah turned.

Kai and Andre turned.

Standing near the entrance—

Was a man wearing a dark coat.

His expression was calm.

Almost amused.

As if he had arrived precisely on schedule.

Udit.

The moment Andre recognized him—

His expression darkened.

"You."

Udit smiled.

"Me."

Kai stepped forward.

"The blueprints."

"The cultists."

"The sewers."

Udit slowly clapped.

"Very impressive."

"It only took you this long."

Andre cracked his knuckles.

Andre replied.

"I thought we had a friendship going"

Noah looked between them.

Clearly confused.

"What the hell is going on?"

Nobody answered immediately.

Instead Kai stared at Udit.

Then asked:

"The giant demon."

Udit smiled wider.

"We repaired it's shattered core"

Silence.

That answer was enough.

Andre's eyes narrowed.

"You stole it."

"It was given to me."

Udit shrugged.

Kai clenched his fists.

"People died."

"Jack died."

For the first time—

Udit looked genuinely confused.

"...Jack died?"

Silence.

Kai frowned.

Andre frowned.

Noah frowned.

Udit blinked.

Then suddenly laughed.

A genuine laugh.

Not mocking.

Not forced.

A real laugh.

Which somehow made it worse.

"Hahaha..."

"Oh."

"Oh that's good."

Andre immediately hated that response.

"What's so funny?"

Udit wiped a tear from his eye.

Then shook his head.

"Nothing."

He looked oddly relieved.

Then muttered:

"So they didn't know."

Kai caught that.

"What?"

Udit ignored him.

Instead reaching into his coat.

And pulling something out.

The entire room froze.

A demon core.

Large.

Blue.

Cracked.

Yet somehow repaired.

Golden lines ran across the fractures.

Holding the core together.

The giant demon's core.

The one from Yggdrasil.

The warehouse became silent.

Even Noah stopped breathing.

Udit casually tossed the core into one hand.

Like it wasn't capable of leveling buildings.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Nobody answered.

Because they were too busy realizing what was about to happen.

Udit looked toward the GFR.

Then toward Kai.

Then Andre.

"If you survive..."

He paused.

Smiling.

"...which you won't."

Then turned around.

Andre immediately shouted.

"NOAH!"

The engineer snapped out of it.

"What?!"

"HIDE!"

Noah didn't argue.

For once.

He immediately ran.

Workers scattered.

Panic spread throughout the warehouse.

Meanwhile—

Several figures emerged from surrounding catwalks.

Then more.

Then more.

Cultists.

Fanatics.

Dozens.

Some bald.

Some not.

All armed.

All prepared.

Udit didn't even look at them.

He simply spoke.

One word.

"Go."

The cultists moved.

Immediately.

Kai charged.

A fanatic intercepted him.

Andre charged.

Another stepped in front of him.

They shoved them aside.

More appeared.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Every route toward Udit became blocked.

Every opening vanished.

Unlike previous enemies—

These people weren't trying to win.

They were buying time.

One fanatic grabbed Andre.

Andre broke his arm.

The fanatic smiled.

Another immediately took his place.

Kai slammed a cultist into a support beam.

A second jumped into the opening.

Then a third.

Then a fourth.

Every second—

More bodies.

More obstacles.

More delays.

Meanwhile—

Udit continued walking.

Calmly.

Never rushing.

Never looking back.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Toward the cockpit.

Kai threw a dagger.

A cultist jumped in front of it.

The blade pierced his chest.

He smiled.

Then collapsed.

Another immediately filled the gap.

Kai stared.

"What the hell is wrong with these people?"

Nobody answered.

Because there wasn't an answer.

Only fanaticism.

Only devotion.

Only sacrifice.

By the time Kai and Andre broke through—

Udit had already reached the cockpit.

The hatch opened.

He entered.

The hatch closed.

Andre cursed.

Kai sprinted.

Too late.

Inside the cockpit—

Udit sat down.

Before him stood the vacuum chamber Noah had described.

The startup chamber.

The catalyst chamber.

The final requirement.

Udit looked at the demon core.

Then smiled.

And dropped it inside.

CLUNK.

The chamber sealed.

Locking mechanisms engaged.

Containment fields activated.

The repaired core began glowing.

Blue light filled the chamber.

The cockpit vibrated.

Udit looked at the controls.

One button stood out.

Large.

Bright.

Impossible to miss.

START

He pressed it.

Outside—

Kai and Andre finally defeated the last fanatic.

They looked up.

The warehouse suddenly became silent.

Then—

A sound echoed throughout the entire district.

VRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMM—

Not magical.

Not mechanical.

Both.

Like machinery awakening.

Like a reactor starting.

Like something ancient and futuristic had merged together.

The floor trembled.

Noah froze.

Workers froze.

Everyone froze.

Deep inside the GFR—

Systems began activating.

Power conduits glowed.

Mana channels illuminated.

Mechanical locks disengaged.

Massive gears turned.

Hydraulic systems roared to life.

Steam burst from exhaust ports.

Pressure valves released clouds of vapor.

Magic arrays ignited beneath armor plating.

Energy surged throughout the frame.

The giant machine moved.

Just slightly.

Yet it felt like an earthquake.

A massive armored cover on the head slowly split apart.

Mechanical components shifted.

Then—

A giant red circular eye emerged.

A sensor.

A camera.

A targeting system.

The eye glowed.

Watching.

Observing.

Awakening.

The VRMMMMMMM finally stabilized.

The machine was alive.

Inside the cockpit—

Control panels illuminated one after another.

Magic LEDs filled the interior.

Runes.

Numbers.

Readouts.

Warnings.

Everything came online.

Then a mechanical voice echoed through the cockpit.

"System Started."

"Giant Fucking Robot Online."

Silence.

Udit blinked.

"..."

Then sighed.

"Whoever named this is cringe."

Elsewhere in Asphyxia—

Eric suddenly sneezed.

Alice looked at him.

"Eww."

And immediately moved away.

Back inside the warehouse—

The giant machine slowly stood upright.

Metal groaned.

Hydraulics screamed.

The entire structure towered over everything around it.

Noah looked up.

His creation.

His masterpiece.

The greatest machine he had ever built.

He felt proud.

Terrified.

Excited.

Horrified.

All at once.

Beside him—

Andre stared upward.

Kai stared upward.

Neither spoke for several seconds.

Then Kai finally asked:

"We're fucked, aren't we?"

Andre didn't look away from the giant machine.

"Yeah."

The giant red eye focused downward.

Looking directly at them.

And for the first time—

The heroes truly understood how badly they had failed.