MEMELAND

The GFR continued marching.

BOOM.

BOOM.

BOOM.

Every step shook the district.

Kai adjusted his gloves.

Andre stretched his arms.

Noah reviewed the blueprints one final time.

Then suddenly frowned.

"Wait."

Everyone looked at him.

"The stabilizers."

Kai blinked.

"What about them?"

Noah pointed at the blueprint.

"The stabilizers are protected by the shield."

Kai nodded.

"Yeah?"

"The shield is powered by the stabilizers."

Silence.

Andre stared.

Kai stared.

Eric stared.

Noah continued.

"The stabilizers protect the shield."

"The shield protects the stabilizers."

Silence.

Andre finally spoke.

"That sounds stupid."

"It is."

"Who designed that?"

Noah paused.

Then slowly looked at Eric.

Eric looked back.

The two immediately pointed at each other.

"You."

"No, you."

Kai rubbed his forehead.

"We have bigger problems."

Eric suddenly froze.

Then snapped his fingers.

"Oh."

Everybody looked at him.

The architect immediately began searching nearby debris.

Wood.

Metal.

Broken crates.

Discarded materials.

Then he stopped.

"Perfect."

He picked up a sack.

Opened it.

Fertilizer.

Then grabbed charcoal from a burned workshop.

Kai frowned.

"What are you doing?"

Eric ignored him.

He continued collecting materials.

Then stopped.

"Hm."

"What?"

"I'm missing something."

"What?"

"A material called sulfur."

Nobody answered.

Because nobody knew what sulfur was.

Eric sighed.

Shook his head.

Then looked at Noah.

"Do you know magic?"

Noah looked offended.

"I built seventy percent of the magical systems inside the GFR."

Eric immediately handed him the materials.

"Can you imbue them?"

"With what?"

"A combustion enhancement."

Noah's eyes widened.

Then he understood.

"Oh."

Andre looked between them.

"I don't understand anything."

Kai nodded.

"Same."

Eric pointed at Andre.

"You."

Andre pointed at himself.

"Me?"

"Smash the charcoal."

"Why?"

"Because I said so."

Andre considered arguing.

Then simply grabbed the charcoal.

CRACK.

CRUNCH.

SMASH.

Within seconds it became powder.

Eric nodded.

"Good."

Noah began drawing small magic circles.

The fertilizer glowed.

The charcoal glowed.

Magic flowed into the mixture.

Increasing combustion efficiency.

Reducing ignition delay.

Enhancing reaction speed.

Kai had no idea what any of that meant.

But Eric and Noah looked excited.

Which was usually dangerous.

The mixture was complete.

Eric compressed it.

Noah used his oily workshop gloves to mold it into a rectangular block.

Then Eric handed Noah a piece of paper.

"Magic circuit."

Noah immediately drew one.

The paper glowed.

Eric wrapped the block with it.

Then proudly held it up.

The result looked suspiciously simple.

Andre frowned.

"That's it?"

Eric nodded proudly.

"That's it."

"What is it?"

Eric grinned.

"This."

He raised the block dramatically.

"On the Spot C4."

Silence.

Kai blinked.

Andre blinked.

Noah blinked.

"What does the C stand for?"

"Combustible."

"And the 4?"

Eric pointed.

"Four things."

Nobody questioned it.

Because it sounded exactly like something Eric would invent.

Eric handed the block to Kai.

Kai immediately felt nervous.

"How strong is this?"

Eric smiled.

The wrong kind of smile.

"Theoretically...."

"Theoretically what?."

"Theoretically Enough."

Kai hated that answer.

Noah pointed toward the GFR.

"If that reaches the stabilizer housing..."

"The explosion should dislodge the assembly."

"The shield will fail."

"And after that?"

Eric answered.

"Run."

"How long?"

"A few seconds."

Kai looked at the block.

Then at Eric.

Then back at the block.

"Wonderful."

A few minutes later—

They reached the GFR.

Up close—

The machine looked even larger.

Its massive legs towered above buildings.

The shield shimmered around the armor.

Magic artillery continued striking it.

Explosions covered its surface.

The machine barely cared.

Far above—

Alice watched through Far Sight.

Raj stood beside her.

Nish coordinated the military assault.

Everything depended on two idiots climbing a giant robot.

Alice hated how normal that sentence felt.

Below—

Andre grabbed a maintenance ladder.

"Race you."

Kai immediately started climbing.

Andre laughed.

Then followed.

The climb was miserable.

The metal was hot.

The machine constantly moved.

Every step threatened to throw them off.

Yet somehow—

They reached the maintenance hatch.

Eric's route worked.

Inside—

The machine was a maze.

Pipes.

Magic conduits.

Mechanical systems.

Maintenance walkways.

Rotating gears.

Everything vibrated.

The GFR was alive.

Andre looked around.

"This is actually kinda cool."

Then punched a wall.

CLANG.

Andre immediately grabbed his hand.

"...Ow."

Kai ignored him.

Following Noah's directions.

Eventually—

They reached the stabilizer chamber.

A massive structure.

Covered in magical reinforcement.

Protected by the shield system.

Kai pulled out the block.

Andre looked at it.

"That thing really gonna work?"

"No idea."

"Comforting."

Kai activated the magic circuit.

Then planted it.

The paper began glowing.

Fast.

Very fast.

Andre immediately noticed.

"Uh."

"Yeah."

"Run?"

"Run."

They ran.

As fast as possible.

Several seconds later—

The world exploded.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The blast echoed through the entire GFR.

Metal bent.

Support structures shattered.

The stabilizer assembly tore free.

Inside the cockpit—

Warning lights immediately appeared.

Udit frowned.

"What?"

A second later—

More warnings.

Then more.

Then dozens.

SHIELD FAILURE

STABILIZER ERROR

MANA FLOW INSTABILITY

Udit sat upright.

"What?"

Outside—

The translucent barrier flickered.

Then vanished.

The city saw it happen.

Alice immediately pointed.

"There!"

Nish didn't hesitate.

"ALL UNITS!"

"FIRE!"

The sky exploded.

Artillery.

Magic.

Ballista bolts.

Everything struck the now-unprotected armor.

The GFR staggered.

For the first time.

Actually staggered.

Cheers erupted throughout the military lines.

Inside—

Kai and Andre weren't finished.

The remaining stabilizers were now exposed.

Andre immediately kicked one.

Metal snapped.

Kai pulled wiring.

Magic conduits ruptured.

Panels exploded.

More alarms filled the machine.

ERROR

ERROR

ERROR

COOLING FAILURE

LEFT LEG INSTABILITY

POWER DISTRIBUTION FAILURE

Udit stared at the screens.

His eye twitched.

Then twitched again.

Then again.

The calm smile vanished.

A first.

Throughout the machine—

Emergency bulkheads activated.

Massive doors slammed shut.

Separating compartments.

Trying to contain damage.

Kai and Andre barely escaped being trapped.

The door slammed behind them.

CLANG.

The entire corridor sealed.

They exchanged looks.

Then ran faster.

Inside the cockpit—

Udit slowly stood.

Silence filled the room.

The warning screens reflected in his eyes.

The machine was still operational.

But now—

It was wounded.

And somebody had just embarrassed him.

Far below—

The city erupted in hope.

For the first time since the battle began—

The GFR looked vulnerable.

And Udit was absolutely furious.