The violet mist completely covered the improvised fighting ring. Thick. Dense. Nearly impossible to see through.

The entire area was swallowed by a supernatural purple haze.

The crowd reacted instantly.

"HEY, THAT’S CHEATING!"

"I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING!"

"GIVE US OUR MONEY BACK!"

"YOU RUINED THE SHOW!"

But even without being able to see...

The sounds were still there.

THUD.

THUD.

THUD.

The repeated impacts of the giant orc slamming Neros into the ground echoed through the fog.

"..."

Max tightened his grip on the hammer.

"Yeah, that definitely does not sound healthy."

He raised the weapon and pointed forwards.

"Boys."

His three skeletons lifted their heads at the same time.

"Time to attack."

The skeletons let out some deeply unimpressive bone noises and charged forwards.

CLACK CLACK CLACK CLACK.

They ran straight towards the giant orc’s silhouette and jumped onto him.

One clung to an arm. Another to the other arm. The third latched directly onto his back like a parasite unusually dedicated to its job.

The orc let out a deep grunt.

Neros used that moment to shield his face better with both arms.

"Appreciate the assistance!" he shouted from the ground.

Then received another smaller impact anyway.

"But are you planning to do anything yourself, or are you only sending skeletons?!"

Max raised an eyebrow.

"I’m waiting for the right moment."

He smiled.

"Also known as the moment where I don’t get flattened alongside you."

The orc finally released Neros and started trying to rip the skeletons off himself. But they climbed all over his body like particularly irritating skeletal insects.

One even attempted to bite his ear.

It didn’t have a functioning jaw, but the effort was there.

Then...

New sounds started emerging around them.

Shouting.

Punches.

Insults.

Another THUD.

A CRASH.

And someone screaming something about stolen bets.

Max frowned.

"What...?"

Just as he prepared to throw his hammer at the giant orc, he sensed danger to his left. He turned on pure instinct.

SWISH.

A dagger sliced past his face.

"What the hell?!"

A hooded orc tried to stab him again.

But before he could, another orc lunged at him from the side.

"THAT WAS MY TARGET, IDIOT!"

Both crashed to the ground and immediately started beating each other senseless.

Max stared at them for two seconds.

"...This feels poorly timed."

He ran towards where he remembered seeing the giant orc. Struggling through the mist.

And when he arrived...

He froze for a second.

His skeletons were gone. Completely gone. Probably destroyed.

But now, instead, two other orcs were fighting the giant on the ground.

One was trying to bite his arm. Another was hitting him with a chair.

Max blinked.

"Well, at least someone is keeping him occupied."

TWANG.

An arrow shot through the mist.

Max reacted instantly and raised his shield.

CLANG!

The arrow bounced off.

"MAX!"

Neros’ voice emerged nearby.

Max turned immediately towards the sound.

"On my way!"

He sprinted in that direction.

Pushed through another layer of fog and finally found the cat man.

Neros was currently fighting two orcs significantly smaller than him, both unarmed.

He blocked one punch with his forearm. Took another hit on the shoulder. Then responded with a direct punch to the first orc’s face.

CRACK.

The second tried to attack him from behind. Neros turned and punched him too. Then grabbed both by the heads. And slammed them together.

CLONK.

Both collapsed unconscious.

"Very efficient," Max commented.

But then he noticed movement behind Neros. A small goblin armed with a dagger was charging at him from behind.

Neros hadn’t seen him.

"Behind you!"

Max threw his hammer. The weapon spun through the air like a demonic boomerang.

WHOOOSH.

It struck the goblin directly in the forehead.

The tiny attacker dropped like a sack of potatoes.

The hammer spun back towards Max, who caught it smoothly.

Neros turned and spotted the unconscious goblin. He blinked.

"...Thank you."

Max shook his head.

"Not the time for gratitude."

He opened his cloak again. More violet mist violently poured out, spreading even further.

Now it was completely impossible to see anything. Not even your own hands.

"We need to leave now," Max said.

"This stopped being our fight about ten minutes ago."

He pointed off to the side.

Through the haze, they could just barely make out a deeply absurd scene. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Two elderly orc women were fighting each other viciously. One wielded a broom like a legendary spear. The other was defending herself with what looked like a wooden walking frame used as a blunt weapon.

"GIVE ME BACK MY POT!"

"YOU’LL TAKE IT FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS!"

Neros observed the scene. And smiled faintly.

"...I’m starting to think this is how everyone here entertains themselves daily."

Max let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, well."

He adjusted his grip on the hammer.

"We did not come here to die in a neighbourhood brawl."

Neros nodded.

"Fair observation."

The two exchanged a quick glance. Then started running.

Dodging punches, rocks, stray arrows, broken bottles, one flying chair, and at least two completely random stabbing attempts.

Behind them, the chaos remained utterly out of control.

"LET GO OF MY ARM!"

"THAT’S MY SHIELD!"

"SOMEONE STOP THAT GRANDMA!"

CRASH.

"Just keep running," Max said between breaths. "The more distance we put between ourselves and that fight, the better."

Neros nodded while running beside him.

"For the first time in quite a while, I completely agree with you."

And then, suddenly, Neros tripped over something metallic protruding from the ground.

"—!"

He lost his balance and fell forwards onto his knees.

Max stopped immediately.

"Neros!"

He turned towards him at once.

"Are you alright?"

Neros weakly raised one hand from the ground.

"...Yes. My pride, however, is not."

Max let out a small laugh and finally looked down at what he had tripped over.

A hatch. Half-open.

Dark metal, embedded into the dirt and partially hidden beneath old crates and accumulated rubbish.

Before Max could say anything, the hatch opened a little further from below.

Finn poked half his body out, observing the violet smoke-covered chaos above while listening to the distant commotion.

"...What the hell is happening up there?"

He looked around.

"And what is all this purple smoke?"

Max immediately smiled. Almost relieved.

"Oh, don’t worry about it."

He waved a hand dismissively.

"Normal black market business, I assume."

Behind them, a distant explosion sounded.

BOOM.

Max didn’t even react.

"The important thing is that we found you."

Finn narrowed his eyes.

"I was starting to wonder where you two had gotten yourselves."

His gaze lowered towards Neros, still half-sprawled in front of the hatch.

"And why is the cat taking a break on the floor?"

Max laughed.

Neros slowly raised his head.

"I am not resting."

He stood up with visibly wounded dignity.

"I had a minor disagreement with the ground."

Finn smiled faintly.

"Naturally."

He fully opened the hatch and stepped aside.

"Alright. Follow me. This way."

He gestured downwards.

A narrow staircase descended into a dark tunnel, dimly illuminated by fireflies and red markings painted along the walls.

Max looked at the entrance, then glanced back.

They could still hear shouting, impacts, and what sounded suspiciously like someone singing while fighting.

"...Yeah."

He put away his hammer.

"I definitely prefer going underground with you."

Finn smiled proudly.

"Wise decision."

He began descending the stairs as casually as if nothing had happened.

Max followed right behind him.

Neros let out one final sigh, adjusted his wrinkled clothes, and descended after both of them.

The hatch closed above their heads.

Max slowly exhaled.

"...I never thought I’d be this happy to climb back into a suspicious tunnel."

Finn let out a small laugh ahead of them.

"Trust me."

He lifted the lantern slightly higher.

"We’re only getting started."