MEMELAND

The light continued growing.

At first it was merely bright.

Then it became impossible to ignore.

Even the demons seemed disturbed by it.

Alice stood motionless atop the stone rooftop.

Her eyes never left the center of Oheyo.

Neither did Raj's.

Neither did Taai's.

Nobody wanted to say what they were thinking.

Because saying it out loud would make it real.

Far away, another shockwave swept through the city.

The air itself trembled.

Windows shattered.

A nearby tower cracked down the middle.

Then slowly collapsed into the streets below.

People screamed.

Demons roared.

The city continued dying.

But all three of them only watched the light.

"Brennan..."

Alice whispered.

Her voice almost disappeared beneath the chaos.

For a moment she remembered the village.

The first day.

The first night.

Everyone sitting around a small fire.

Talking nonsense.

Arguing about food.

Complaining about sleeping on wooden beds.

Nobody knew what they were doing.

Nobody knew where they were.

But Brennan always seemed to know what to do.

Or at least pretended he did.

And somehow that had always been enough.

The ground shook again.

This time stronger.

A distant explosion erupted somewhere near the city center.

Taai finally looked away.

"We need to move."

Nobody answered.

"We can't stay here."

Still no answer.

Taai sighed.

"I know."

His voice softened.

"I know."

For once there was no joking.

No sarcasm.

No playful remarks.

Only exhaustion.

Then Raj quietly spoke.

"Do you think he's winning?"

Alice didn't answer.

Because she genuinely didn't know.

Could Brennan beat Vaan?

The same Vaan who built Oheyo?

The same Vaan who had lived for centuries?

The same Vaan who seemed to know things nobody else did?

The answer should have been obvious.

No.

Brennan shouldn't be able to win.

And yet—

That light continued growing.

The city suddenly fell silent.

Not completely.

But enough.

Enough that they noticed.

The demons had stopped roaring.

The cultists had stopped chanting.

Even the battles seemed fewer.

As if everyone was looking toward the same place.

The same light.

Something changed.

Alice felt it immediately.

A pressure.

An uncomfortable pressure.

Like standing beside a waterfall.

Like staring into a storm.

Magic.

An absurd amount of magic.

The kind of power that should not exist.

Raj grabbed Alice's sleeve.

"Alice."

She pointed.

The light was changing.

At first it had been a pillar.

Now it resembled a sphere.

A miniature sun suspended above Oheyo.

The clouds around it had vanished.

The sky itself seemed to bend around it.

Nobody understood what they were witnessing.

Then something happened.

The sphere stopped growing.

For a brief moment—

Everything froze.

Then a single beam of light erupted upward.

Straight into the heavens.

The clouds split apart.

The night sky became visible despite the daylight.

The beam remained for several seconds.

Then vanished.

Silence.

True silence.

No explosions.

No screams.

No roaring demons.

Nothing.

The entire city seemed to stop breathing.

Alice felt her heart pounding.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Then—

The light disappeared.

Just like that.

Gone.

The pressure vanished.

The beam vanished.

The sphere vanished.

Everything vanished.

Leaving only smoke.

Alice stared.

Waiting.

Hoping.

Praying.

That Brennan would emerge.

That he would somehow survive.

That this was all part of some ridiculous plan.

Then she heard footsteps.

A lone cultist stumbled into the street below.

Covered in blood.

One arm missing.

Laughing.

Actually laughing.

"The Archive..."

he muttered.

"The Archive..."

The man fell to his knees.

Then laughed again.

"The Prophet was right..."

Alice immediately jumped down.

Taai followed.

Raj hurried after them.

The cultist barely noticed.

His eyes looked unfocused.

Broken.

"What archive?" Alice demanded.

The cultist looked at her.

Then smiled.

A disturbing smile.

"The future."

Alice frowned.

"What does that mean?"

The man laughed again.

"You wouldn't understand."

"The Emperor failed."

"The Archive is ours."

Alice's stomach sank.

Vaan lost?

No.

That wasn't what bothered her.

The cultist sounded happy.

Far too happy.

Like someone who had already won.

The man's laughter slowly faded.

Then he collapsed.

Dead.

Nobody knew from what.

Exhaustion.

Blood loss.

Magic backlash.

It didn't matter.

The answer died with him.

Raj swallowed.

"I don't like this."

"Neither do I," Taai replied.

Alice remained silent.

The city around them continued burning.

But something felt different now.

The battle wasn't over.

The fighting still existed.

The demons were still there.

Yet the purpose felt gone.

Like the attackers had already obtained what they wanted.

Then another distant explosion echoed.

Much smaller this time.

A reminder that Oheyo still lived.

Barely.

Alice looked toward the city center one last time.

Only smoke remained.

No light.

No Brennan.

No answers.

Just ruins.

And uncertainty.

She slowly turned away.

For the first time since arriving in Oheyo—

She felt genuinely lost.

Not scared.

Not angry.

Lost.

Because Brennan had always been the one who knew what to do.

And now—

She didn't know if he was still alive.

The three continued walking.

Away from the city center.

Away from the fighting.

Away from the place where their lives had changed forever.

None of them noticed a figure standing atop a distant tower.

Watching.

Hidden beneath a cloak.

Motionless.

The figure looked toward the center of Oheyo.

Then toward the three drifters.

After a few seconds—

The figure quietly disappeared.

As if it had never been there at all.