Back inside, the room was quiet except for the faint crackle of fire around Adrian’s hand and the muffled voices outside.

James stood across from him while forcing his breathing to stay even.

Adrian noticed the fear in James’s eyes before smiling because he remembered it from the old days when James used to flinch whenever he approached.

"You know me well enough to know I hate repeating myself," Adrian said while the fire around his hand intensified. "You should also know that if I came here personally, it means I’ve already done my findings. So I’ll ask one more time." He paused while letting the silence stretch. "Where is Derek?"

James said, "I don’t know where Derek is. Stop asking stupid questions."

The answer was dangerous, but James refused to lower his head like before when Adrian had made him apologize for existing.

Adrian’s expression changed slightly because the old James would never have answered him like that or called anything Adrian did stupid.

"Interesting," Adrian said while stepping closer. "The Tower really did change you." The fire around his hand flickered. "Or maybe you’re just better at pretending now."

James didn’t move.

Adrian didn’t reveal everything he knew yet about Roman, Dock 7, or the lackey he’d tortured and killed. He only pressed James with his presence and the weight of their past while letting the fire around his hand burn brighter until the heat became uncomfortable even from several feet away.

"Derek came to me weeks ago," Adrian said. "Asked me for help looking into someone. Then he disappeared. Roman disappeared. Everyone who went with them disappeared." He tilted his head. "You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?"

"No," James said.

"No?" Adrian laughed once. "Just no? Not even going to ask who Roman was or where Derek went looking?"

James stayed quiet because answering would only dig the hole deeper.

Adrian stepped closer. "You think one Floor 9 clear means you’ve changed?"

James said nothing.

"Clearing one floor and getting famous doesn’t erase the old days, James." Adrian’s voice was cold. "I still remember the boy who couldn’t look me in the eye. The one who ate alone because nobody wanted to sit with him. The one I shoved into lockers whenever I felt like it."

James remembered those old days clearly.

Adrian used to find him during lunch and knock his tray out of his hands before walking away laughing. He used to corner James in empty hallways and ask him questions he knew James couldn’t answer without getting mocked. He used to light small fires near James’s desk during class when teachers weren’t looking just to watch him flinch.

The worst part wasn’t the bullying itself but the way everyone else acted like it was normal because the Ganners were untouchable and James was nobody worth defending.

James had no strength back then. No money. No one to protect him when Adrian decided he was today’s entertainment.

For a brief moment, James felt like that boy again while his body remembered the fear before his mind could reject it.

But this time, his hands didn’t shake.

This time, he’d survived worse than school bullies because he’d faced monsters that wanted to tear him apart, death floors where one mistake meant permanent death, corrupted ogres that could crush skulls with their fists, and dark magic that tried to consume entire teams.

"You don’t know me anymore," James said.

Adrian laughed because he still saw James as the same weak boy who used to flinch at raised voices and apologize for things he didn’t do.

James decided not to give Adrian the fight he wanted inside the building because too many people were outside recording and too many phones were pointed at the glass. If James fought carelessly here, it would become public evidence, public scandal, and possibly a problem for Team Zero when the media started asking questions about why the Necromancer was fighting a Ganner heir.

James turned before starting to walk toward the exit. "I’m done answering."

For a second, Adrian let him pass while watching him walk away.

Then he grabbed James by the shoulder before James could reach the door.

The grip was familiar because it reminded James of the old days when Adrian would stop him like this in school hallways before shoving him into lockers, mocking him in front of others, or forcing him to listen to whatever insult came next while other students pretended not to see.

Adrian leaned closer while his breath was hot against James’s ear. "Clearing a floor doesn’t mean I can’t beat the shit out of you like I did in the old days. You’re still that scared little boy who couldn’t fight back. The Tower gave you powers, but it didn’t give you courage."

James’s jaw clenched.

"Nothing to say?" Adrian asked while tightening his grip until his fingers dug into James’s shoulder hard enough to bruise. "Where’s that famous Necromancer confidence now?"

Adrian channeled fire into his other hand while the flame wrapped around his fist until it burned bright and violent. The heat between them intensified as the air shimmered and distorted.

The temperature in the room spiked.

James could feel sweat forming on his skin even from several feet away because Adrian wasn’t holding back the power anymore.

James turned while ready to summon his skeletons or activate Death Chain, but Adrian moved first before James could react.

His burning fist slammed into James’s stomach.

The punch was brutal.

Fire and force exploded through James’s body at the same time while the impact drove the air from his lungs instantly. The heat seared through his shirt and burned his skin where the fist connected. His feet lifted from the floor as the blow drove into him with enough power to crack ribs before the force sent him flying backward through tables and chairs that splintered beneath him.

Outside, people screamed.

"OH SHIT!"

"He actually hit him!"

"JAMES!"

The influencer’s livestream shook as the crowd stumbled back while the viewer count spiked to 15K and climbing. Someone was crying. Someone else was calling emergency services. Most people just stood frozen while watching through their phone screens.

Adrian’s burning fist drove into James’s stomach.

BOOM!