"I'm sorry, what was that?" Alwin said. "I couldn't hear you over all of that metal clanging. And also the groaning beneath me."

"Get off me, Al-loser!" a metallic shout echoed out from beneath him.

"Yeah, pardner. If you wouldn't mind."

"Oh, hey guys," Alwin said, looking down at Flintlock and Bion. "What are you doing down there?"

"Get off me!" Bion roared, whipping Alwin with his dark tentacles.

The Yin-Yang Slime was tossed towards the ceiling, squishing flat like a pancake. Gravity got its grubby little fingers on him, slowly peeling him loose until it lay claim to him and threw him to the ground. By then, Bion and Flintlock had already gotten up and well out of the way, the pair dusting the splinters off their bodies.

"Alwin!" Uchronia shouted.

She squeezed through the door, going around the MOD, and checked up on the black-and-white puddle on the floor.

"Are you okay, Alwin?" she asked.

"Never better. Although I think I'm a bit deaf. And whatever the equivalent is for feeling temperature. Is it me, or is it cooler in here? And also less deafening—or if I'm growing deafer by the second, does that make it more deafening? "

"Enough with your nonsense, class clown," the MOD said. "I turned off the forge. Now tell me how you cheated. If you do, I'll guarantee you a painless death."

"Then, what guarantees me a painless life?"

"That's it. I'm ending you."

Stone Hands appeared from within the office, carrying a thin plate of metal. Unlike chainmail, the metal had been forged whole, rather than linked together. A faint scent of Mana leaked out of it, but there wasn't a visible glow of runes. The Stone Hands slid the surprisingly flexible sheet of metal over the Wooden Fence. Behind them, another set of Stone Hands carried little caps that looked like inverted funnels. One by one, they fitted them on top of the MOD until he was completely covered.

"Ha!" Bion scoffed. "Good job, Al-loser. You messed up and now you're dead."

The Wooden Fence turned, glaring at the Mourning Bell. "All of you are done."

Bion's already dark face turned even darker as realization dawned on him.

"Wait!" Uchronia shouted. "Minister, sir. You don't have to be my master. I'll tell everyone that I cheated. You can just drop it, and we'll never disturb you again. Please!"

"It's not even about that anymore. For the sake of Monsteria, I must remain the Minister of Defence. Losing in a Forge-off and Enchant-off because of a cheating student is nothing. Laying a hand on a Core student isn't something that can be tolerated. Without me, Monsteria will fall to the humans. And without all of you, my position is secured."

"You can't be serious!" Bion shouted.

"Now calm down, pardner," Flintlock said. "Surely, if we just keep our mouths shut, you'll let us off, right?"

"And why would I leave an obvious vulnerability for someone to exploit?"

The Wooden Fence walked towards them, his metal armor clanging against the floor with every step. Above, Stone Hands hovered next to him. They grasped various tools—mostly hammers—as they inched forward.

Bion, Flintlock, and Uchronia slowly backed up, eyes peeled on the MOD in front of them.

Meanwhile, Alwin still laid flat as a puddle on the floor.

"So, there's no world where we get out of here alive?" he asked.

"Class clown is finally wising up. The answer is yes. The only difference is whether I end you painlessly or painfully. And that will only happen if you tell me how you cheated."

"Hmm. That's certainly an interesting proposition," he said, rolling himself back into a squishy sphere and staring at the MOD.

The Wooden Fence stopped, while the Stone Hands continued to float forward to his friends—and Bion.

"And you'll make it painless for everyone?"

"On my word as the Minister of Defence, I will."

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"Then I accept your proposition!" Alwin yelled.

"What?" his three friends shouted.

"You heard me. This is the best option for all of us."

"There's no way I'm dying!" Bion yelled. "Especially not because of Al-loser!"

"Umbra—"

Before Bion could even yell out the name of his skill, a pair of Stone Hands zoomed forth. One whacked the Mourning Bell's bell with a hammer, sending an awful ringing sound on par with the deafening sound of the forge reverberating through the air. They all winced, everyone but the MOD.

The other Stone Hand operated a pair of tongs by itself. Using the tool, it clamped the squirming mass of black tentacles, locking Bion in place.

The Mourning Bell couldn't even scream. The impact from the hammer left a dent in his bell and knocked him out cold—but still alive.

"So, class clown," the MOD said. "Are you going to tell me or not? The more I ask, the less patience I have."

"I already said yes," Alwin said. "I'm just trying to think of how best to phrase it so that it makes sense. I'm just worried that I'll lose my train of thought the next time there's some loud interruption. And I already know the potential culprits. You mind if I roll over and tell them to keep it down? Maybe even throw in a rousing speech to calm their nerves?"

"Yes, I mind," the MOD said. "You can do it from here. And just in case anyone decides to do anything funny."

Wooden fences sprouted from the floor right behind his two friends and one Bion. Another set emerged right behind the MOD, effectively trapping them. To make matters worse, the remaining Stone Hands hovered around Bion, Uchronia, and Flintlock, brandishing their forging tools.

Well, that made things a lot harder.

"Tell them to shut up, then tell me how you cheated."

"Okie dokie!" Alwin exclaimed, spinning around to face his two conscious friends. He shot them a huge, beaming, black and white smile, while they gave him looks of pure terror.

"Don't worry, guys, I'll make sure it's painless for all of us. Or at least me. Uchronia, I know you get scared easily and turn to religion at the drop of a hat, but could you please keep it down during your prayers. And make it fast, like really fast, because me and the MOD are going to have a speedy conversation."

Uchronia nodded, softly muttering to herself.

Alwin turned to face Flintlock. "Sorry, Flint. I know we never really hung out much, and sorry for dragging you into this. I was really hoping you'd give me some pointers on how to be a better shot, but I guess I blew it. It was a shot in the dark, and I'm sorry for leaving you hanging."

Then he turned to face Bion. "Well, he's already quiet, and I don't even like the guy, so nothing to say to him. Oh yeah, here's a tip. When it's time, remember to keep your eyes shut; that way, your face isn't caught in terror forever, just like him. Now, where were we?"

"Explain to me how you cheated!"

"Right, right. You mind if I pace a bit? It helps make the brain juice flow better."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Fine," Alwin sighed. "Party pooper."

"You have one minute before I give you all the most painful death reserved for only the most heinous of criminals that threatens the security of Monsteria."

"Oh, Cor! A time limit. Okay, okay. So, basically, the way I cheated was by trying to make you mess up when you were forging. Remember when I started sneezing? Or I tried to go inside the forge? That's how I cheated."

"What are you talking about?" the MOD said, staring at him. "You were being a nuisance, but that didn't affect the chainmail I forged or the enchantments I applied. I know! I checked a hundred times! So, how did you cheat? How did you break my chainmail but not the girl's beyond amateur one?"

"Oh, that? You don't need to cheat to do that? If you want to break it, you just target the weakest parts of the link. And if you don't want to break it, you just target the strongest ones and maybe your own attacks."

"That's it?" the MOD yelled. "That can't be it. Tell me how you really cheated!"

"That's pretty much it." Alwin nodded. "Like I said, the only cheating that I did was by trying to distract you. So, did it work?"

"NO!"

"I'd beg to differ. Now!"

"Greater Haste!" Uchronia yelled. Her leaves glowed, and she touched Flintlock, imbuing the Powder Chimp with the buff.

"Gun!" he yelled.

A musket appeared in front of him as he took aim, shooting a bullet straight through the closest Stone Hand, shattering it into pieces and the hammer it carried, clattering to the ground.

The other Stone Hands closed in as Flintlock started to reload.

A musket ball materialized in front of him. He grabbed it with his tail and jammed it down the barrel of the gun.

"Powder Puff!" he yelled with his tail still stuck deep within the barrel of the gun.

A soft pop of powder echoed from within the chamber as he removed his tail from the gun, a trail of gunpowder spilling out before he took aim and fired again. Stone Hands collapsed in record time as Uchronia's Greater Haste allowed him to reload miles faster than before.

In an instant, all of the Stone Hands lay crumbled on the floor, their forging tools surrounded by shards of rock slowly dissolving into magical particles.

"Get ready, pardner!" Flintlock yelled, pointing the gun straight at him.

"No, you!" Alwin yelled.

Flintlock tilted his musket toward the ceiling and fired. It destroyed the crystal light, shards dropping to the ground and sending the entire boxed off corridor into darkness.

"Hey, MOD!" Alwin yelled.

Before the Wooden Fence even got the chance to respond, there was a flash of light that lit up the entire boxed-up corridor. The point-blank luminance caused the MOD to yell out in pain as his corneas were singed.

Black-and-white jelly stiffened into a hard shell that blazed with fire and lightning, providing much-needed illumination around them.

Winal the Crimson Gold King Ant was here, but his mouth was piloted by Alwin.

"Go! Go! Go!" he yelled at his friends and the still unconscious Bion, mandible clacking as he dashed toward the fence that the MOD had erected.

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