At Takobo's central facility, the air itself felt wrong.
Machines hummed around a massive containment sphere—an artificial core designed to enforce instant death on any designated target.
A weapon that didn't fight armies.
It erased outcomes.
Victoria stood before it, eyes cold with obsession.
Inside the core—
a sealed presence lingered.
A human-shaped anomaly.
A "death condition" given form.
Victoria tilted her head slightly.
"…So this is it."
A slow smile formed on her face.
"I'll refine it."
She stepped forward and placed her hand on the iron sphere.
Then—
she licked it.
The entire facility shuddered.
"LEVINCIA WILL NOT SURVIVE…"
Her voice dropped into something almost delighted.
"…AFTER I KILL THEIR HERO."
Meanwhile, in Elenor—
Jhonathan moved through the collapsing battlefield like a storm breaking through gravity itself.
Goja's shadow domain cracked under his Phase 2 Mastery.
Ornstien's distorted shadow form dissolved into fragments of corrupted mana.
"…It's over," Jhonathan said quietly.
He charged forward.
Straight toward Goja.
But then—
he stopped.
Pain.
Not normal pain.
Something deeper.
Something absolute.
His body froze mid-step.
Goja blinked.
"…What?"
Jhonathan's knees hit the ground.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
Like the concept of standing had been removed from him.
Then—
he collapsed fully.
Silence.
His body struck the ground in an awkward, unmoving pose.
A pose so unnatural it resembled defeat itself.
"…What just happened…" someone whispered.
Goja stepped back.
Even she hesitated.
Then—
a strange system-like voice echoed through Jhonathan's mind.
REBOOTING OVERLOAD = 1%
His fingers twitched.
45%
The battlefield held its breath.
Goja narrowed her eyes.
"…Is he… restarting?"
95%
The air cracked.
Reality bent slightly inward.
And then—
everything went silent again.