MEMELAND

The battlefield fell silent.

Not because the fighting had stopped.

But because everyone felt it.

Something was gathering.

Something enormous.

Kai looked up.

Then froze.

Above the battlefield—

A colossal magic circle stretched across the sky.

No.

Not one.

Dozens.

Layer upon layer.

Circles within circles.

Thousands of symbols rotated like gears.

Crimson light illuminated the district.

Even the smoke looked red.

Andre slowly lowered his weapon.

"...What."

Eric's mouth hung open.

Noah forgot how to breathe.

The soldiers nearby stared upward.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody moved.

Even the GFR seemed insignificant beneath the sheer scale of the spell.

Far above—

Alice stood at its center.

Crimson hair flowing.

Eyepatch fluttering in the wind.

Countless magical symbols orbited around her.

Raj looked up.

Then immediately looked away.

Because staring directly at the spell gave her a headache.

"You show off too much."

Alice smirked.

"I know."

Below—

Kai swallowed.

"What level of magic is that?"

Noah answered without taking his eyes off the sky.

"I have no idea."

Eric nodded.

"Neither do I."

Andre pointed upward.

"Can we learn that?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because we're normal."

Far away—

Inside the cockpit—

Udit finally noticed.

The alarms detected an immense concentration of mana.

His smile faded.

For the first time since the battle began—

He sat upright.

The machine's targeting systems immediately focused on Alice.

Threat Level: Critical.

Threat Level: Critical.

Threat Level: Critical.

The warnings repeated.

Udit clicked his tongue.

The railgun began charging.

Too late.

Alice raised her hand.

The sky trembled.

The circles accelerated.

Symbols rotated faster.

Then she spoke.

Her voice echoed across the battlefield.

The soldiers looked upward.

The civilians looked upward.

Even Nish stopped issuing orders.

Alice's voice continued.

"Crimson."

The first circle activated.

"Star."

A second circle activated.

"Heaven."

A third.

"Breaker."

The entire sky erupted.

Countless beams of crimson light descended from above.

Not one.

Not ten.

Hundreds.

Thousands.

Like a meteor shower made of magic.

Udit's eyes widened.

"Oh..."

"..shit"

The bombardment hit.

The GFR disappeared beneath an ocean of explosions.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOOOOM!

The city shook.

Buildings rattled.

Windows shattered.

The earth itself trembled.

Wave after wave of magical destruction crashed against the machine.

And it didn't stop.

The spell continued.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Only after nearly thirty seconds did the assault finally end.

Smoke engulfed the battlefield.

Silence followed.

Then—

The smoke parted.

The GFR still stood.

Damaged.

Burning.

Broken.

But standing.

Cheers erupted throughout the military.

Noah immediately grabbed the blueprints.

Looking for something.

Then he found it.

His eyes widened.

"She did it."

Kai looked over.

"What?"

Noah pointed.

"The mana absorption array."

"It's gone."

The realization spread.

Without the array—

The machine couldn't replenish its power.

Inside the cockpit—

Blood dripped from Udit's forehead.

Not much.

Just enough.

He wiped it away.

Then stared at the damage reports.

POWER LOSS

ABSORPTION ARRAY DESTROYED

LOW POWER MODE ACTIVATED

Several warning lights flashed.

The machine had been crippled.

Udit sighed.

Then laughed.

A tired laugh.

The kind somebody made when everything had gone wrong.

"Tch."

He looked toward the city.

Then toward the center of Asphyxia.

Then pressed a button.

One he had been avoiding.

WARNING.

OVERLOAD SEQUENCE INITIATED.

The cockpit immediately lit up red.

Power levels rose.

40%.

70%.

90%.

110%.

120%.

The numbers kept climbing.

Every alarm activated simultaneously.

DANGER.

CORE INSTABILITY.

REACTOR FAILURE.

DANGER.

DANGER.

DANGER.

A crack appeared.

Tiny.

Almost invisible.

Within the demon core.

The GFR suddenly lurched.

Then moved.

Faster.

Much faster.

Power levels climbed.

150%.

170%.

190%.

200%.

The machine became a monster.

The damaged leg ignored its limitations.

The ruined systems forced themselves to operate.

The GFR charged forward.

Buildings exploded beneath its feet.

Kai stared.

"What the hell is it doing?!"

Noah's face lost all color.

"Oh no."

Andre looked over.

"What?"

"It's overloading."

Everyone froze.

Then immediately began running.

Soldiers followed.

Military units retreated.

The battlefield became chaos.

Far above—

Nish's expression hardened.

"All units."

"Fire."

The military obeyed.

Everything fired.

Again.

Again.

Again.

The GFR ignored it.

The drill arm rotated.

Deflecting attacks.

But the arm was already damaged.

Cracks spread.

Metal shattered.

Then—

The entire drill assembly broke apart.

Pieces scattered across the district.

The machine kept running.

The railgun charged.

Fired.

Again.

Fired.

Again.

Then exploded.

The overheated weapon detonated.

Half the arm vanished.

Udit ejected the remains.

The machine became lighter.

Faster.

Power climbed again.

220%.

240%.

260%.

The city watched in horror.

Alice suddenly understood.

Her eye widened.

"No."

Raj looked toward her.

Alice took a step forward.

"No."

Then shouted.

"NO!"

"IT"S GOING TO SELF DESTRUCT!"

Silence.

Then panic.

The realization spread instantly.

The machine wasn't trying to win anymore.

It was trying to die.

In the worst possible place.

The center of Asphyxia.

The heart of the city.

Udit continued running.

The demon core cracked further.

Light leaked from within the machine.

Power levels climbed.

265%.

270%.

275%.

Inside the cockpit—

Warning lights illuminated Udit's face.

The machine shook violently.

Every system was failing.

The demon core was dying.

The robot was dying.

He looked ahead.

Then laughed.

A genuine laugh.

"I fucking hate this job."

The next second—

The world turned white.

A sun was born.

The explosion swallowed everything.

Sound vanished.

Light consumed the battlefield.

Shockwaves ripped through entire districts.

Buildings collapsed instantly.

Streets disappeared.

Factories vanished.

The Manufacturing District ceased to exist.

The blast expanded outward.

Alice's command platform nearly flipped.

Raj screamed.

"I HATE THIS DAY!"

The platform tilted violently.

She almost fell.

Nish grabbed her arm at the last second.

The shockwave continued.

Soldiers were thrown away.

Walls collapsed.

Glass shattered across the city.

Then—

Eventually—

The light faded.

The sound returned.

The world became visible again.

Smoke filled the horizon.

Fire covered entire districts.

Thousands of people stared in silence.

Alice slowly lowered her hand.

Looking toward the devastation.

The center survived.

Barely.

The explosion hadn't reached it.

That was the only good news.

Everything else—

Was terrible.

Destroyed homes.

Destroyed businesses.

Dead civilians.

Dead soldiers.

Dead children.

Dead elderly.

The battlefield was gone.

The district was gone.

And the cost of victory now stood before them.

For the first time that day—

Nobody cheered.

Because everyone understood the same thing.

They had won.

But Asphyxia had paid dearly for it.