Riot’s arm stuck out from underneath the truck. Blood dripped from the grill, and a puddle of blood quietly spread from underneath it.

There was only silence within the room. No one dared to speak. The audience was still processing what had happened. Dalton was just as dumbstruck as everyone else.

How had he won?

He literally only played monster cards and somehow he won? His move luckily summoned some lovercraftian creature and devoured all ten thousand of Riot’s Heartpoints? That seemed like bullshit to him.

Nikolai seemed to agree with that point as well.

“You!” Nikolai rose from his throne and pointed his little finger at him. “You cheated! There is no way that you could have won fairly against Riot!”

The sentiment spread from the shell-shocked crowd. They started to yell in unison, throwing cups and food at Dalton. A wrench almost hit him but ricocheted off the chair and bounced off the truck above him.

“I didn’t cheat!”

Those words were drowned by the yells and boos. He was actually unsure if he did.

Dalton rose his hands, but it did not block the onslaught of things being thrown on him. He tried to pull away, but the chain made him stay in place.

He was at the mercy of the angry crowd.

A gunshot rung through the air. Malcolm stepped forward, holding up his beloved revolver.

“He didn’t cheat. He won….fair and square.” Blood was dripping from his eyes, his face twisting in excruciating pain from uttering those words. The hand holding his betting ticket trembled.

He was more upset about his ticket than him winning.

“So, you did try to set me up!” Dalton leapt at him, but chains stopped him in place. These cursed chains!

“Riot had ten thousand heart points! He didn’t even attack him directly!” Nikolai point out.

“I don’t know, I’m not an expert in Dark Monsters.” Malcolm shrugged, motioning to the arm sticking out of the truck. “He should know.”

“Oh, okay then I guess that explains everything. You guys can go home now.” Nikolai slammed his hand on the armrest. “Like I would just believe you! You killed my best dueler! Do you know what his isekai package is like? It’s gonna bleed me dry! No. I think all of you here are going to die tonight!”

Nikolai rose a hand. Some men in black suits pushed forward from the crowd, armed with guns.

“Put the gun down Malcolm! Put it down, and I promise I won’t toss your corpse in the Goblin Hole!”

Malcolm turned his head. “Goblin Hole?”

“We have a problem with goblins right now-” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, just know that your corpse littered with holes will be a plaything hundreds of goblins.”

Dalton rose a hand “Can I go home?”

“In a body bag!” He spat.

“Enough of this.” Malcolm aimed his gun at Dalton.

“The fuck?” Nikolai gave Malcolm a strange look.

Dalton agreed.

“If you think killing your little champion is going to stop me from turning you into a sex toy for goblins, well I have a terrible surprise for you.”

“Malcolm.” Dalton kept his eye on Malcolm. Instinctively he grabbed his tacky tie. “Put the gun down, don’t shoot-”

He saw a flash come from Malcolm, and a sharp crack resounded in the air. Time moved slow and he could feel his breath leave his throat. His hands felt his body to see if there was a hole. Instead, as his arms moved, the chains around him slipped from his body and fell to the floor.

A scream cut through the air. Dalton looked up to see Nikolai holding his arm. Dalton still wasn’t sure what had happened, but he had realized that he was free right now. He took a step forward but stopped in place when he heard a metal groan above him.

He turned his head to look above him. Whatever held up the truck snapped and fell.

#

Malcolm didn’t aim when he shot Dalton, because he knew for a fact that the bullet wouldn’t harm him. It worked out, his chains fell, ricocheting from the lock, then to the truck above Dalton, and then it hit Nikolai square in his right shoulder.

He couldn’t have asked for a better result.

As Dalton took a step forward like a baby taking its first step, the truck fell on him.

At least…he had been sure that he wouldn’t die.

Just as he felt like he would have to report another death to Eira, Dalton came lumbering out of the dust unscathed. He was in deep shock, and nearly tripped on his on feet if Malcolm hadn’t caught him.

“Come on boy!” He didn’t respond. “We gotta go before Nikolai orders his men to shoot at us.”

Gun shots rang. That was the signal to get going.

Malcolm led Dalton by the arm out of the warehouse.