Adrian touched his ribs where James’s punch had landed before looking at the blood on his fingers.

His expression changed.

Before this moment, he’d been treating James like the weak boy from the past who used to flinch at raised voices. Now he understood James could hurt him.

Adrian’s fire became hotter and more controlled while the flames around his fists burned brighter. The street started heating under his feet until the asphalt softened and cracked. People watching from outside felt the temperature change and moved farther back.

Nobody stood openly near the fight anymore.

Some hid behind parked cars. Others ducked behind shop walls or street corners. A few retreated into nearby buildings while keeping their phones pointed toward the street.

The influencer kept filming, but from behind a parked delivery truck instead of standing in the open.

The crowd’s tone shifted from excitement to panic.

"Move back!"

"The street is burning!"

"This is getting bad!"

The livestream comments flooded in faster than anyone could read while confusion and fear dominated the feed.

[LIVE STREAM: 306,118 VIEWERS]

@IrishNews: Why is Adrian getting serious?

@DublinLocal: Move back!

@ChallengerWatch: The street is burning

@FloorFeed: James hit him but this is bad

@LocalCitizen: Someone call TRB already

@TowerGlobal: Why are two Ganners fighting?

@NewsWatcher: He keeps asking about Derek

@ConfusedViewer: Who is Derek?

@StreamWatcher: This is insane

Adrian said nothing while his eyes stayed locked on James. His tone was cold and angry without needing loud words.

He rushed forward.

James tried to keep up while using everything he had.

He drew his sword from its sheath before positioning himself between Adrian and the civilians still hiding nearby. The blade felt familiar in his hand because he’d trained with it through five floors and multiple fights.

James commanded his remaining skeletons to form a wall between Adrian’s flames and the people behind cover. The skeletons did not crawl out of bodies or rise from graves because there were no corpses here.

They formed from James’s mana.

Bone-white frames knitted together from dark mist and death energy before solidifying into skeletal warriors with empty eye sockets glowing faint green.

The skeletons positioned themselves as a barrier while flames washed over their bodies and forced the crowd to stay back without getting burned.

James kept his eyes on Adrian while Adrian burned through the first skeleton with a concentrated blast of fire.

CRACK!

The bones blackened and collapsed into ash.

[SUMMONED SKELETON DESTROYED]

[SUMMONED UNDEAD SKELETONS: 4/5]

Adrian closed the distance before James could summon another one.

James fired a Necro Blast to interrupt Adrian’s approach.

[NECRO BLAST ACTIVATED]

[MANA COST: 10]

The dark energy bolt screamed toward Adrian’s chest.

Adrian blocked it with fire while the impact forced him to adjust his footing for half a second. James used that opening to swing his sword in a diagonal arc aimed at Adrian’s shoulder.

CLANG!

Adrian caught the blade with his fire-wrapped forearm while flames seared along the steel. The heat traveled up the sword and burned James’s hand through the grip, but he didn’t let go.

James twisted the blade free before stepping back while his AGI 37 let him move faster than most Level 14 challengers. But Adrian had more experience and better reflexes from fighting on higher floors James hadn’t reached yet.

Adrian pressed forward while burning through another skeleton.

[SUMMONED SKELETON DESTROYED]

[SUMMONED UNDEAD SKELETONS: 3/5]

James realized the gap clearly.

He could fight Adrian now, but he couldn’t beat him yet.

Adrian reached James before he could retreat farther.

Adrian’s fire-coated fist slammed into James’s ribs while James tried to block with his shield.

THUD!

The impact drove through the shield and cracked bone beneath James’s armor. The force sent him sliding across the street until his back hit a parked car.

BANG!

The car’s door dented inward from the impact while the alarm started blaring.

James gasped for air while his ribs throbbed with sharp pain. He pushed off the car and raised his sword defensively, but Adrian was already on him again.

Adrian’s next punch came low toward James’s stomach. James blocked it with the flat of his blade while the heat scorched the steel and sent sparks flying. The force still rattled his arm hard enough to make his grip slip.

Adrian wasn’t fighting like a random thug throwing wild punches.

He targeted James’s ribs, shoulder, legs, and stomach with calculated strikes meant to break him down systematically. He wasn’t trying to kill James yet because he still needed answers about Derek.

Adrian grabbed James by the collar before slamming him into the damaged car again.

CRASH!

The window shattered while glass rained down around them.

Adrian’s face was close enough that James could see the fury in his eyes while fire flickered between his fingers near James’s throat.

"Where is Derek?" Adrian’s voice was quiet and dangerous.

James coughed while tasting blood. "I told you. I don’t know."

Adrian tightened his grip until the heat from his hand started burning through James’s shirt.

James added through gritted teeth, "Maybe Derek finally annoyed the wrong person."

That line made Adrian snap.

Adrian lifted James off the ground before slamming him down onto the car’s hood.

BOOM!

The metal buckled beneath James’s weight while the hood caved inward and the car alarm screamed louder.

The crowd screamed from behind cover.

"OH MY GOD!"

"He’s going to kill him!"

"WHERE’S TRB?"

Amelia watched from behind a shop wall while trembling with one hand pressed against the burned mark around her neck. Her voice shook when she whispered, "Stop. Please stop."

Mia held her back. "Don’t go out there."

The livestream spread fast while clips of Adrian burning Amelia, threatening civilians, and punching James through the wall circulated across social media.

More viewers joined every second because the footage was too shocking to ignore.

The public didn’t know the full story about Derek or Dock 7 or Roman. They only knew Adrian had attacked first, burned a woman’s neck, threatened a room full of people, and was now beating James in the middle of the street.

[LIVE STREAM: 612,704 VIEWERS]

@GlobalNews: Adrian burned that girl

@WitnessAccount: James is defending himself

@LegalWatch: Why is TRB not here?

@IrishFeed: He keeps asking about Derek

@TowerNews: Is Derek missing?

@ConfusedViewer: Who is Derek?

@DublinCitizen: Adrian is going too far

@LocalWatch: This is assault

@ChallengerFeed: Someone stop him

Ethan and Mark weren’t smug anymore.

They hid behind a parked van while their faces were pale with fear. Earlier they’d wanted to see James humbled after he’d showed up at the gathering looking successful, but now they realized Adrian wasn’t just bullying James.

He could burn the whole street down.

Mark’s voice shook. "We need to leave."

Ethan nodded but didn’t move because leaving meant running past the fight.

Adrian dragged James up from the destroyed car while James’s legs barely held his weight.

James’s face was bloodied and bruised. His ribs were broken or cracked. His shoulder burned where Adrian had gripped him earlier. But his eyes were still clear when he looked at Adrian.

Adrian noticed that pain wasn’t breaking him fast enough.

"You used to know when to lower your head," Adrian said while fire danced around his free hand. "You used to apologize when I walked past. You used to make yourself small."

James spat blood onto the street before saying nothing at first. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Then his voice came out quiet and steady. "That boy is dead."

The line wasn’t shouted. It wasn’t dramatic.

It was just cold fact.

Adrian’s expression darkened.

James tried one more counterattack while summoning his last skeleton between them as a distraction. The skeleton lunged toward Adrian’s left side.

Adrian burned through it without looking.

[SUMMONED SKELETON DESTROYED]

[SUMMONED UNDEAD SKELETONS: 2/5]

James fired a Necro Blast low toward Adrian’s feet to break his footing.

[NECRO BLAST ACTIVATED]

[MANA COST: 10]

The blast hit the ground and exploded upward in a spray of dark energy and broken asphalt.

Adrian stumbled for half a second.

James closed the distance while driving his fist into Adrian’s jaw with all the strength his STR 34 could deliver.

CRACK!

The hit landed clean.

Adrian’s head snapped to the side while blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.

But Adrian had expected this counterattack because James was predictable when desperate. Adrian grabbed James’s arm before it could pull back, then channeled fire directly into James’s shoulder.

James gasped in pain while the smell of burning fabric and skin filled the air.

"Ahhhh!"

Adrian leaned close. "Where. Is. Derek."

James didn’t answer.