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"Damn it! How did it come to this?!"
Erik tightly gripped his knuckle gun with both hands, barely managing to defend himself against Faiz's attacks.
Faiz's twisted laughter pierced right through the IXA suit and slammed into Erik's brain like a hammer.
"So this is what real power feels like? It's freaking amazing!"
Faiz's right arm turned into a sharp blade, and he slashed Erik hard—shattering IXA's arm armor with one blow.
He followed it up with another strike to the same spot, sending Erik crashing to the ground.
"Tehehehe... Don't worry, Erik, I'm not gonna kill you just yet. I'm gonna take my time. Slowly. Tear you apart until you wish you were dead—but you won't die. Not yet!"
Faiz roared, his dark Blood God energy flaring violently. He transformed again into a grotesque monster. His body and mind were now both twisted beyond recognition.
"Damn it! I can't— I won't go down like this!"
Erik, barely able to move, struggled to stand up again.
But Faiz slammed a thick hand around his neck, holding him in place.
"Erik, tell me—why are you doing this? You could've embraced power like we did. Had unlimited wealth, total control! But look at you now!"
With that, Faiz hurled Erik into a stone pillar, still gripping his throat.
"Look at you! Groveling for human approval by butchering your own kind. But the humans? Do they accept you? No way. To them, you'll always be a freak. Face it—you're a damn outcast!"
Faiz punched Erik square on the helmet. The blow rattled his brain, his vision went blurry. Before he could recover, another punch landed.
Blow after blow, Faiz kept pounding on the now defenseless Erik while yelling:
"You're an outcast, Erik! Whether it's humans or vampires—they'll never see you as one of them!"
His arm, as thick as a tree trunk, rose high. Bone armor covered his fist. He brought it crashing down onto Erik's face.
CRACK!
A sharp sound rang out—IXA's mask shattered. Erik's blood-soaked face was exposed, along with his fierce, unwavering gaze.
That look only enraged Faiz more. That defiant stare—it disgusted him. Made his skin crawl. Like a thorn stuck in his throat.
"Erik! You belong behind that fake mask! Forever!"
He lifted Erik high above his head with both hands and slammed him down onto his knee.
CRACK!
The sound of a spine snapping.
"Erik!"
Dan's face went pale with despair. A broken spine?! Could anyone survive that?
"You still got time to worry about someone else? Worry about yourself first, kid!"
The giant wolf Jonas growled and swung a massive claw toward Dan's head. Dan barely blocked with his sword, but the blow drove his feet deep into the floor.
"Die!"
Jonas lunged, jaws wide open, aiming to bite down on Dan's head. Trapped, feet locked in the ground, Dan couldn't move at all.
SCREEEEECH!
Fangs scraped against Drive's armor, filling the air with an awful screech.
Jonas grabbed Dan in his jaws and started violently shaking him, tearing into the armor like a chew toy.
"Dan! Let me drive!"
Just when things looked hopeless, Krim's voice rang out.
"Mr. Belt?! You're gonna take over? But I thought only the Type Tridoron form had that feature!"
"That's true. Back when I partnered with Shinnosuke, it only worked because I was reborn. But since I got here, after all the upgrades and tweaks, I've made it work for every form!"
Dan was surprised. Of course the genius behind Drive could pull that off. The warning lights flashing inside the helmet told him—any more delay, and the armor would fall apart.
"Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Belt!"
"Alright, Dan! I got this! Now let's go for a spin together!"
Dan closed his eyes and handed over full control to Krim.
Drive's bright red compound eyes dimmed for a second. Dan's body froze—then, in a flash, the red eyes lit back up.
"Let's go, Funky Spike!"
Krim called out, and a green miniature car dropped into his hand.
He pulled out the Wild car and switched back to Speed form. Dan immediately felt Jonas biting down harder—but Krim stayed calm and slotted the new car into the wrist device.
"Tire Koukan! Funky Spike!"
The engine roared. The tire on Drive's chest transformed into a green one covered in spikes.
"Finishing move: Spike Tornado!"
Krim hit the shift lever again. The spinning spike tire crashed directly into Jonas's jaw, clashing with his sharp fangs.
"What the hell?!"
Jonas realized something was off—Drive's color had changed again!
"Heh... if this is all you've got, I'm not letting go. I'll crush you in my jaws!"
He bit down even harder, determined to kill him on the spot.
"Then let me help you pull some teeth!"
Krim sneered. The spinning speed cranked up even more.
"Spike Tornado!!"
BOOM! The spikes on the chest tire shot out all at once, stabbing straight into Jonas's mouth—like he'd just taken a huge bite of a cactus.
"AWOOOOOO!"
Jonas howled in agony and flung Krim away.
"Time for my show."
Krim twisted in midair and landed smoothly on the ground. He raised a hand.
"Come here, City Hunter!"
With the sound of sirens, a police-car-shaped Shift Car dropped into his hand.
"Tire Koukan! Justice Hunter!"
The spiked tire vanished, replaced by a sleek police tire. A gate-like iron weapon materialized in Krim's hand.
"Go!"
He threw it straight up. The gate expanded above Jonas's head—
"What the hell is this?!"
—then shot out a barrage of steel bars, pinning Jonas to the ground. The crisscrossing spikes locked him in place. Jonas struggled hard—his brute strength almost tore the cage apart.
Krim wasn't done. He called out again:
"Spin Mixer, let's go!"
HONK HONK!
A cement-mixer Shift Car appeared, and Krim swapped tires once more.
"Tire Koukan! Spin Mixer!"
The police tire transformed into a concrete one. Krim hit the lever.
"Finishing move: Cannon Cleat!"
The tire spun rapidly, spraying out wet cement over the steel bars. It hardened instantly.
Caged in reinforced concrete—Jonas couldn't break free this time.
"It's over."
Krim saw Jonas locked tight and switched back to the Speed tire.
He twisted the dial on his belt and pulled the Shift Car lever.
[Finishing Move! Full Throttle! Speed!]
"No! NOOO—!"
Jonas screamed in despair. He had nowhere to run.
"....."