Grey stood to his full height, exhaling a slow breath. The blood blades surged back into his palms. They were the only weapons that he could use right now anyway, but no need to waste the stamina to keep them active.

He looked down at Thi Lan’s broken leg and shook his head.

"Just stay here." He said. Then he looked at Nebb. "What’s the situation here exactly—."

BOOM.

A Dormaji fell from the skies above, crashing into the earth. Its eyes seemed filled with completely and utter rage, but as it calmed, its gaze gained more intelligence, and then that wild rage became a smoldering one instead.

As it looked around, its gaze became brighter and brighter until...

It saw Grey.

"You..."

It was clear that the Dormaji didn’t expect to see Grey here. He wasn’t able to easily make it to Grey’s zone, so he had settled for this one instead in revenge. What he didn’t expect was for the one they held the most hatred for to be right here.

BOOM.

A second Dormaji landed.

Grey frowned.

So many of them? Were they moving faster than he thought? Or...

Grey’s heart skipped a beat and he recalled something that he had completely missed. He was calculating things based on a mostly neutral and unknown situation, but this time things were completely different.

His mind flashed to a single thought.

The scythe.

He had tried to take a scythe from the Syrn, but it disappeared in his hands. He vaguely realized back then that it must have been some sort of odd, timed sponsorship item. Meaning, as weak as the Syrn was, actually making it to Zone 234 would have been difficult without outsized help.

But those sponsors were just taking a casual jab at the dark.

This situation was completely different.

A war between the Cracked World and the alien worlds were absolute cinema to these people. They would be chomping at the bit to benefit from the viewership.

Not only would they act far more aggressively, but they would be willing to invest far more into getting them here quickly.

Probably even more so after they realized that Grey was coming here from his feed.

’They did this on purpose.’

Grey met the gazes of the two Dormaji as their brains seemed to flicker on from a dormant state.

"Thi Lan, tell me the truth about one thing." Grey said slowly.

Thi Lan was already looking away, almost like she could feel that this would be a question she didn’t want to answer.

"Did you accept a sponsorship to put up the barrier?"

Thi Lan bit her lip so hard blood trickled down from it, dribbling down her chin to the ground. She lay there a bit helpless.

"Did that sponsorship tie you to this zone?" Grey asked, his voice deepening again.

Thi Lan, once again, didn’t answer.

Grey’s eyes churned with a raging heat.

They were playing both sides. They sponsored the alien races, and then they went behind their backs to sponsor Thi Lan as well.

What fun would there be if Thi Lan died too quickly or if she escaped? Wouldn’t that ruin all their fun?

But if they skewed things too far in favor of the humans, then they might end up offending a race they couldn’t afford to offend. So, of course, while the barrier "helped" Thi Lan, it also restrained her greatly, restricting space.

Which was not only a large portion of her abilities, but would also restrain Grey from using his mechs once he arrived.

"What is the name of the corporation," Grey asked, his gaze steely.

"... I’m not allowed to say." Thi Lan said softly.

Grey laughed, but it was a laughter that seemed to bring the temperature down several degrees.

"Is that so?"

"We will kill him together." The Dormaji began to speak to one another when their brains recovered completely.

"I agree. There is no need to take risks."

"We will restrain one another, then."

"Will you enter full combat mode, or will I?"

"Your lateral dorsi are slightly larger than my own. It will be you."

"Agreed."

The moment the words were released, the speaking Dormaji’s body revved like an engine. Steam plowed out from the cracks and crevices in his stone-like skin, his body reddening.

All the intelligence faded from his eyes. But the second Dormaji didn’t undergo the same changes. Instead, he only casually stood behind the first as though planning to observe everything in silence.

But this wasn’t actually what happened at all.

Grey could feel the ground shaking as an underground connection was formed between the two of them.

The steaming Dormaji roared, his jaw unhinging until his head looked almost twice as large.

"Grey, I will—!" Nebb was going to speak, but Grey held up a hand.

"Stay back. I’m here to prove a fucking point."

Grey looked down at his hands, a pair of white gloves covering them. He hadn’t been able to store them properly, and it seemed that was going to be a great benefit today.

As his hair blew back under the furious rage of the Dormaji, his heart only grew colder and colder.

The puzzle pieces the Great Udon was moving was more than just a few subtle messages, and the chess board Grey was looking at had been way too small compared to what was actually happening.

The Great Udon’s words didn’t just influence the alien races, but also the sponsors, and the audience watching from home.

Everything was tightly interconnected in a web that was trembling wildly.

All the while, the mother tarantula at the center of said web was feeling every shift and change.

Rage that he had been controlling well for the last couple of days began to pour into his veins like molten lava, a torrent of heartbeats echoing from him continuously.

He snapped a finger and a line of white gold descended from the skies, piercing into Thi Lan’s body.

For a moment, she thought she was dead. But then... her leg began to rapidly heal.

The Dormaji charged for Grey.