MEMELAND

The moment the shield disappeared—

The city attacked.

Cannons roared.

Ballistae launched.

Mages cast spells.

The sky itself seemed to rain destruction.

For the first time since the battle began—

The attacks actually worked.

Metal armor dented.

Outer plating cracked.

Exposed sections sparked.

The GFR stumbled.

Only slightly.

But it stumbled.

The sight alone sent cheers through the military lines.

Inside the cockpit—

Udit stared at the warning screens.

His smile was gone.

"Interesting."

The machine took another step.

BOOM.

The damaged leg trembled.

Then stabilized.

Still operational.

Still moving.

Still dangerous.

Outside—

Nish lowered a spyglass.

"Direct all fire toward damaged sections."

Messengers immediately ran.

Orders spread.

The military shifted formation.

This time they had a target.

And this time—

The target could bleed.

Far above the district—

Alice stood on a floating platform.

The wind tugged at her crimson hair.

Raj stood nearby.

Holding a stack of reports.

And looking miserable.

"Why am I carrying these?"

"Because you're responsible."

"I'm not."

"You are now."

Raj considered throwing the reports at Alice.

Instead she sighed.

"One day."

"One day what?"

"I'm going to quit."

Alice smiled.

"You said that yesterday."

"I meant it yesterday too."

The Queen ignored her.

Her attention remained on the battlefield.

A crimson magic circle appeared before her.

Symbols rotated.

Complex patterns intertwined.

She spoke calmly.

The circle brightened.

"Far Sight."

The battlefield immediately sharpened.

Her vision crossed kilometers in an instant.

She could see soldiers.

Buildings.

The GFR.

Even individual bolts on its armor.

Then—

She noticed something.

A large section near the machine's upper torso.

A circular structure.

Partially exposed.

Alice narrowed her eye.

"Hm."

Back below—

Kai and Andre finally reached Noah and Eric.

Andre immediately collapsed onto the ground.

Breathing heavily.

Kai wasn't much better.

Noah rushed over.

"Did it work?"

Kai pointed at the giant machine.

The missing shield answered the question.

Noah grinned.

"It worked."

Eric looked genuinely proud.

"Of course it worked."

"The C4 worked."

"It wasn't C4."

"It was absolutely C4."

"It wasn't."

Their argument continued.

Nobody cared.

Then Alice's voice suddenly came from a communication crystal carried by a military officer.

"Stop arguing."

Everyone immediately shut up.

Alice continued.

"I found something."

Noah's expression became serious.

"What?"

"The upper torso."

"The circular structure."

Noah froze.

Then immediately grabbed the blueprints.

Flipping pages rapidly.

His eyes widened.

"Oh."

Kai noticed.

"What?"

Noah pointed.

"The mana absorption array."

Silence.

Andre frowned.

"The what?"

"The thing keeping it running."

Now everybody paid attention.

Noah tapped the blueprint repeatedly.

"The demon core jump-started the machine."

"But after startup..."

"It begins gathering mana from the environment."

"The absorption array feeds the internal generators."

Kai immediately understood.

"Destroy that."

Noah nodded.

"And it starts starving."

Eric added:

"It won't stop immediately."

"But everything becomes weaker."

"The railgun."

"The drill."

"The armor."

"Everything."

Andre smiled.

"Now we're talking."

Unfortunately—

The GFR suddenly moved.

And not in a good way.

Inside the cockpit—

Udit had finished reading the damage reports.

Several systems were compromised.

Shield destroyed.

Stabilizers damaged.

Power routing disrupted.

He slowly cracked his neck.

"Fine."

The machine's right arm transformed.

The railgun emerged.

At the same time—

The left arm shifted.

The drill activated.

Both weapons began operating simultaneously.

The GFR raised both arms.

Noah's face immediately lost color.

"Oh no."

"What?"

"Oh no."

"What?!"

Noah pointed.

"He can do both at once."

Silence.

Then everybody looked toward the machine.

The railgun charged.

The drill spun.

The air itself vibrated.

Then—

The railgun fired.

A blue beam ripped across the district.

Entire buildings vanished.

A street disappeared.

Several military platforms exploded instantly.

Before anyone could recover—

The drill arm swung.

A factory the size of a city block collapsed.

Reduced to rubble.

The GFR continued advancing.

Like a natural disaster given mechanical form.

People ran.

Soldiers regrouped.

Mages desperately redirected civilians.

And still—

The machine advanced.

Inside the cockpit—

Udit finally smiled again.

Not his usual playful smile.

Something colder.

Something dangerous.

"Let's see."

"How long can your city survive?"

Far away—

Alice watched the destruction.

Her expression hardened.

The playful Queen was gone.

The woman standing there now was the ruler who had protected Asphyxia for centuries.

She looked toward Nish.

"Nish."

The commander turned.

Alice pointed toward the GFR.

"I want every combat mage available."

Nish immediately understood.

"You intend to fight personally."

Alice didn't answer immediately.

Instead—

A crimson magic circle slowly formed beneath her feet.

Larger than any Kai had seen.

Larger than anything currently on the battlefield.

Raj's eyes widened.

"Wait."

"Alice."

The Queen ignored her.

The circle continued expanding.

Symbols rotated.

Layer after layer appeared.

The air grew heavy.

Even nearby soldiers noticed.

Nish looked upward.

Then sighed.

"Everyone."

"Make room."

Nobody argued.

Because they all knew what that meant.

For the first time since the battle began—

The Queen of Asphyxia was preparing to enter the fight.

And even Udit's sensors began detecting something unusual.