The demon's fist descended.
Not with rage.
Not with bloodlust.
But with solemnity.
It fell like a mountain collapsing.
Karl's body tensed instinctively inside Erevos, even though he couldn't move a single joint. His HUD flickered warning after warning — all pointless.
Mobility: 0%
Torque: 0%
Nanite Response: Offline
Vythra: 1%
Agnes tried anyway, voice choked and shattering.
"K–Karl… I can't brace… I can't shield… I can't—"
Karl whispered back.
"Agnes."
She froze.
He smiled faintly behind the visor.
"It's been a pleasure."
Agnes trembled.
"…K–Karl—"
BOOOOOOOOOOM.
The blow hit.
The world broke.
Time seemed to split open as the demon's colossal fist slammed into Erevos' torso, crushing through armor, caving plates inward, ripping gears from their sockets. The impact cratered the entire dome floor, sending shockwaves through the fractured rails and broken support beams.
Erevos didn't fly.
It just collapsed.
Straight downward.
Like a puppet with its strings cut.
Stone cracked beneath it.
Dust erupted.
Royal Azure sparks spat out from ruptured conduits.
Agnes screamed.
"KARL—!!"
The cockpit jolted violently. Karl felt the shockwave tear through his chest, rattling his spine, shaking every bone.
His vision blurred. Red alarms drowned the HUD. The force was enough to kill him ten times over—
—but his bond with Yggdrasil grabbed him.
Held him.
Prevented his soul from snapping loose.
But only barely.
His Vythra gauge ticked down.
1.0% → 0.9% → 0.8%
Agnes panicked.
"KARL DON'T TRANSFORM—!!
DON'T EVEN TRY—!!"
He wasn't trying.
He couldn't.
If he shifted back into Rider Frame now—
With this much force—
With this little Vythra—
the transformation would eat the last of his life-support energy.
If Vythra hits 0%… Yggdrasil can't regenerate him.
He dies — permanently.
Karl coughed, blood spattering the inside of his helmet, and whispered:
"I know… I know… I won't… shift… I'm not that stupid…"
The demon's fist remained pressed into Erevos' body for a long, shaking moment, as if ensuring its blow was complete. The towering monster leaned forward, eyes trembling with a strange mix of sorrow and relief.
"I… thank you… Karl… Chosen… for the greatest… thrill… of my life…"
It pulled its fist back slowly, respectfully.
Erevos didn't move.
Couldn't move.
Steam poured from ruptured joints.
Nanites retreating, conserving the last bit of energy to keep Karl alive.
Agnes sobbed soundlessly in system static.
"Karl… Vythra dropping… 0.7%… 0.6%… If this keeps up—if anything else hits us—Karl, you're going to—"
"I know."
Karl whispered.
The demon staggered backward, staring at the blood still leaking from the massive wound Karl had carved through its torso.
It touched the wound again, winced, and laughed weakly.
"You… should have… killed me…
Your strike… was perfect…
Cleaner… than Sentinel's…
Stronger… than his…"
Karl's eyes widened.
"H–Heh… that's… something…"
The demon nodded, coughing up black ichor.
"Sentinel… never made me bleed like this…
Never… struck my core…
You… surpassed him… in kill-blow…
I… envy him… for not seeing this side… of you…"
It stumbled, fell to one knee, its massive shadow still covering Erevos' crushed form.
"I… apologize… again… for finishing… you… when you cannot move…
But if I leave you… alive…
You suffer… more…
This is… mercy…"
Karl almost laughed.
"Heh… thanks… big guy…"
His vision blurred deeper.
Vythra: 0.5%
Agnes whispered frantically: "Karl… please… stay awake…
Just… hold on—please…
You can't let it drop further… if it hits zero—"
Karl cut her off softly.
"Hey… Agnes… relax…
If I die… you're coming with me… right…?"
She glitched, then sniffed digitally.
"…O-of course I am… idiot…"
The demon braced itself again, preparing a second finishing blow — not out of cruelty, but out of respect. It wanted Karl to die clean. Quickly.
It raised its hand one last time.
"Chosen Karl…
Warrior…
Gearwalker…
You… have my gratitude…"
Karl closed his eyes.
"…Been a pleasure."
The fist came down.
Just as it reached striking range—
The orb in the demon's forehead pulsed violently.
DOOM.
A shockwave blasted out of the demon's skull.
It jerked backward, roaring in agony, clutching its head.
"NO—NO—NOT AGAIN—!!!
LET ME DIE—!!!
LET ME—DIE—!!!"
Karl's eyes snapped open.
Agnes gasped.
"Karl—something's happening—!!"
The demon thrashed violently, smashing into the dome walls, cracking gears, shattering rails. It clawed at the orb with both hands, ripping chunks of its own face to free it.
But the orb pulsed again—
DOOM.
—and locked the demon's body in place, freezing it mid-motion.
The enormous beast trembled…
…and then slowly turned its head toward Karl.
Its eyes were full of pure misery.
"…Karl…
Chosen…
Help… me…"
Then—
Its body convulsed violently.
The demon's convulsions sent shockwaves rippling through the fractured dome, each tremor pushing Karl closer to the edge of consciousness. His HUD flickered violently — Vythra: 0.4% → 0.3% → 0.2% — each tick a death sentence.
Agnes' voice broke over the comms, trembling with panic.
"Karl… Vythra critical! You can't survive another hit! You're… you're—"
Karl forced a calm tone, though his body shuddered from the trauma.
"I… know. Let it happen… Agnes. Just… watch."
The demon's voice cut through the chaos, raw and desperate.
"Karl… Chosen… help… me… I… cannot… free…"
The words didn't register as threat or command—they were a plea, a cry that resonated across every fiber of Karl's being. And then, as if reality itself had heard, the air around him trembled.
Space around Erevos began to shimmer and bend. The fractured rails, shattered support beams, and cracked dome floors dissolved into streaks of glowing light. The pulse of the demon's orb synced with Karl's own Vythra signal, thrumming like a tuning fork across dimensions.
Agnes' voice cracked, barely recognizable.
"Karl… I-I think… NDA… it's triggering… again—!!"
The world split.
Pain and vertigo gripped Karl simultaneously, yet he felt weightless. Erevos' mangled frame began to blur, the nanites inside screaming to stabilize but failing. Reality folded inward like paper being crushed and refolded, pulling him into a corridor of light and energy.
The air burned, shimmered, and twisted into impossible angles. Sparks, torn metal, and fragments of shattered gear spiraled around them, but nothing could harm him here. His consciousness, hyper-compressed by the NDA, expanded and folded across multiple dimensions at once. He could see every torn bolt, every spike of energy in infinite replication.
The demon thrashed, powerless, its colossal form locked mid-motion, eyes wide and pleading.
"Karl… Chosen… I… cannot… die… but… help… me… end…"
Karl's cerulean gaze sharpened. The Vythra ticking dangerously low felt like a metronome counting down his remaining time in the material plane. But here, in the collapsing reality of the NDA fold, the Nexus of Creation recognized him. It pulled him fully into its infinite arena.