Chloe watched Dorian running all over the Seven-Pointed Star cult’s hideout, scattering gunpowder everywhere.

Then she looked at Max.

"What the hell is happening? I understand absolutely nothing," she asked.

Max sighed.

"Dorian has officially become a pyromaniac and wants revenge for his friend by burning this entire place to the ground."

Chloe nodded as if this were the most natural thing in the world.

"That seems perfectly fair."

Max couldn’t help but smile.

"Yeah, a little."

But then he pointed ahead.

"Anyway, we need to leave now if we don’t want to end up as charcoal."

Neros sheathed what remained of his broken sword.

"If you’re not helping Dorian destroy everything..."

He looked at Max, Chloe, and Seraphine.

"...then find the exit together."

His expression was completely serious.

"I know my ex-wife can handle herself just fine."

He glanced toward the soon-to-be-burning corridor.

"...And Dorian."

He paused briefly.

"Well. Dorian has very clearly gone completely insane at this point, so we should probably just let him do his thing."

Seraphine nodded once.

"I’ll need some concentration and time."

She stepped into the middle of the corridor, closed her eyes, and brought both hands in front of her chest.

Magical circles slowly began appearing beneath her feet. One layered over another. Small blue and golden particles floated around the mage.

Chloe’s eyes widened slightly.

"...Wow, it still surprises me every time I see her do that," she murmured.

Max nodded.

Neros unsheathed what remained of his broken sword once more.

"Good."

He looked at the others.

"We’ll handle the rest."

And ran off.

Max watched him for barely a second before following alongside Chloe.

The three of them started sprinting through the warehouse corridors and side rooms at full speed.

Max ran from cage to cage, ripping locks apart with his hammer or simply smashing them open.

"Get out! Quickly!" he shouted.

He pointed toward the building’s entrance.

"This whole place is about to go up in flames!"

Chloe followed behind him, helping break doors open with her fists and shove aside heavy curtains.

They freed centaurs, small demons, two very confused harpies, a gigantic reptile with far too many eyes, and something Max deliberately chose not to identify for the sake of his own mental health.

"Move, move, move!" Chloe shouted, clearly much more energetic after the healing.

Meanwhile, Neros took a completely different route.

He climbed the stairs toward the building’s main hall.

The scene upstairs was total chaos.

Customers running. Merchants screaming. Open cages. Escaping creatures.

The cat-man appeared in the middle of the hall like a particularly aggressive legal threat.

He pointed his broken sword at everyone.

"I am a royal knight!" he announced in a powerful voice.

Everyone froze for exactly one second.

Neros pointed at the crowd.

"All of you are officially under threat of arrest, so leave immediately!"

He paused briefly.

"...Except for the idiotic cult members."

A massive grin spread across his face.

"You’re staying."

And he launched himself into battle.

"WHAT?!" shouted a hooded orc before taking a sword slash to the shoulder.

CRASH.

Another one dropped after a direct kick to the chest.

A third received the hilt straight to the jaw.

Neros was very clearly enjoying this far too much.

"WHERE IS VASHA?!" one cult member shouted.

"WHERE’S SKAR?!"

"GROLL, WE NEED SUPPORT!"

No one answered.

Neros smiled even wider.

"I’m afraid they’re all occupied."

He stabbed what remained of his sword into another cultist’s leg.

"Permanently. Though I can send you to join them."

The normal customers didn’t need much convincing.

The moment they heard "royal knight" and saw an internal massacre quite literally breaking out, they immediately began sprinting toward every possible exit.

"WE’RE LEAVING!"

"I DIDN’T PAY TO DIE TODAY!"

"GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!"

One goblin lady even stole a decorative lamp before fleeing.

There were priorities.

Downstairs, Max and Chloe kept freeing creatures.

Max smashed open another cell.

Some kind of furry six-legged beast bolted out.

"Perfect," Max muttered.

He pointed ahead.

"Run toward the exit or wherever you want. Honestly, I’m not your supervisor."

The creature screeched something incomprehensible and ran off.

Max shrugged while smashing another lock.

"Looks like the plan is working, but I don’t think we have much time left."

More creatures started flooding the corridors.

The entire warehouse quickly transformed into absolute chaos filled with footsteps, roars, flapping wings, breaking chains, and doors violently bursting open.

Dorian had officially begun his emotionally motivated criminal arson project, and orange flashes could already be seen in the distance.

"I think we’re doing pretty well," Max commented.

A small undead sprinted past him.

Chloe watched the distant fire grow even larger.

"...Your friend is really committed to the cause."

Max sighed.

"Yeah." He glanced at the ceiling.

"Therapy probably would’ve been cheaper."

Another roar echoed nearby.

More creatures escaped.

More customers fled.

More cult members screamed desperately for help that was very clearly not coming.

While Seraphine continued helping the creatures escape from the corridor before Dorian burned down the entire building and its warehouses.

Finally, after freeing the last wave of creatures, Max, Chloe, and Neros managed to reach the building’s main exit.

They practically jumped through the doors.

The cool night air hit their faces immediately.

Max let out a long sigh.

"Ah..." he muttered. "I genuinely thought I was going to die smelling like an illegal warehouse."

Chloe bent forward, resting both hands on her knees while catching her breath.

"I still don’t understand how I somehow got dragged into all of this again."

Neros stepped out behind them with a rather concerning level of calm.

His clothes were splattered with other people’s blood.

What little remained of his sword was still in his hand.

Max turned to look at him.

Then glanced inside the building behind him.

Cultists scattered everywhere.

Some unconscious.

Others very clearly never getting up again.

Broken furniture. Overturned tables. Blood. Shattered glass.

Max raised an eyebrow.

"...Looks like you had fun."

Neros smiled broadly.

"It was probably the best thing I did all day."

He put away what remained of his broken sword.

Max let out a small snort of laughter.

"Yeah, that was pretty obvious."

But then something caught his attention.

The fire.

At first, just small flames in the windows.

Then black smoke pouring out through cracks in the building.

And finally, one of the inner curtains caught fire completely.

The flames were spreading fast.

Max frowned. His smile slowly faded.

"...They still haven’t come out."

Neros also looked at the building.

No sign of Dorian.

Or Seraphine.

No trace of the creatures Seraphine was supposedly helping escape either.

Just smoke.

Fire.

And increasingly concerning cracking sounds coming from inside.

Chloe looked at the burning building.

Then at Max.

Her expression grew more serious.

"Do you really think they’re getting out of there?"

Max took a second before answering.

He stared at the flames reflecting in his eyes.

Doubt clearly appeared on his face.

Just for a moment.

"...I trust them," he finally replied.

His voice sounded less certain than he would’ve liked.

"Seraphine is absurdly powerful."

He looked toward the burning entrance.

"And Dorian..."

He paused slightly and gave a faint smile.

"...Well. Dorian is way too stubborn to die today."