The air inside the Core had become unnaturally heavy; every breath felt like a struggle, as if the space itself were pressing down on the chest. The remaining light from the cracked core pulsed slowly, casting moving shadows on the broken walls and dangling pipes. Everything around them suggested the facility was in its final throes… but the battle at its heart was far from over.
Lloyd stood facing the entity, his body taut yet unwavering. A thin vapor rose from his skin, a result of the interplay of heat and cold within his energy. His red eye gleamed like the only source of light untouched by the chaos. Behind him, Riorno slowly rose. The flames around him weren't igniting randomly; they coiled around his arm like a living ribbon, moving with deliberate purpose. Meanwhile, Mizuno wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stood up, his claws digging into the metal beneath his feet. The sharp clang of the flames shattered the silence.
In contrast, the entity stood with terrifying stillness. Its new human form gave it an even more menacing presence than it lacked. Its surface was glossy black, like dark glass, but beneath it, layers of energy churned, like deep currents in a sea that was calm on the outside but dangerous within. The cleft in its chest pulsed with a faint light… each pulse released a subtle wave that distorted the air around it.
For a moment, not a soul moved.
Then, suddenly, a faint sound… a crack.
A massive chunk of earth collapsed and fell into the void beneath them, and with it rose a torrent of cold, violent air that tugged at clothing and hair, as if the Core itself were screaming.
And at that moment
The entity stirred.
It vanished without a trace, no sound, no ripple, just a sudden disappearance. Then it reappeared directly behind Lloyd, no more than a step away. Its hand rose slowly, but the sense of danger preceded the movement.
Lloyd twisted at the last second, raising his arm to deflect the blow. The impact was a muffled but powerful sound. A small wave of energy exploded around them. The metal beneath their feet cracked, and the air suddenly compressed as if it had exploded and then recoiled.
But the blow wasn't ordinary.
Lloyd stumbled back half a meter, his feet slipping on the metallic floor. The friction left two distinct lines behind him, and his arm trembled for a moment… The force he faced was different, more precise, heavier, as if striking from within, not from without.
At the same instant, Mizuno lunged from the side. His speed made his body disappear and reappear among the shadows. His claws shot directly toward the fissure in the entity's chest, targeting the only seemingly weak point. But before they could reach it—
The entity vanished again.
Mizuno stopped abruptly, his eyes widening. A sense of danger came from above.
He raised his head But it was too late.
A blow landed on him from above, its sound like a muffled explosion. His body slammed to the ground, the metal denting under the impact, dust swirling around him.
"Mizuno!" Riorno's voice crackled, and in an instant, he raised his hand. Flames gathered rapidly, forming a dense ball of fire, deeper than before, with a white glow at its center—a testament to its terrifying heat. He hurled it directly at the entity.
The fire sliced through the air, leaving a distorting trail, but as it drew closer…
The entity reached out.
Simply.
Black energy coiled around the fire, gradually engulfing it. The flames compressed, shrank, until they vanished completely, as if they had never existed.
Silence returned for a moment.
Then the sound of footsteps.
Lloyd was moving.
Slowly this time.
With every step he took, the metal beneath him cracked slightly. His energy began to visibly gather around him. Lines of light ran beneath his skin, converging in his arm, then spreading out again, like a living network.
He stood just one meter away from the entity.
The same short distance… but this time there was no hesitation.
"You tested your power…" he said calmly, his voice steady despite the chaos.
He raised his head, his red eye burning even brighter.
"…Now it's your turn to see my true power."
At that moment, the air around him compressed, then burst forth, a wave of energy emanating from him without any apparent movement, just…willpower.
Riorno felt it immediately. The fire around him blazed even more fiercely, as if in response. And Mizuno, despite the pain, raised his head and smiled, knowing the decisive moment was approaching.
The entity looked at Lloyd silently. The cleft in his chest throbbed again, but this time faster.
It was as if the two of them…
had reached the same understanding.
And at the same moment—
They moved.
The battle had entered a point of no return.
The moment they moved, the sound vanished completely… as if the world itself had held its breath. Lloyd surged forward, but this time it wasn't just a surge; it was a smooth glide through the pressure, his body cutting through the air without resistance, the glowing lines beneath his skin gleaming in a steady rhythm, as if guiding him. The ground beneath his feet cracked in a circular pattern with every step, and with each approach, the heat and cold of his energy collided, creating visible ripples in the air.
The entity reacted immediately, but instead of a direct attack, it vanished and reappeared at multiple points around Lloyd—black shadows moving with terrifying speed, striking from different angles, precise blows targeting joints and points of balance. Lloyd turned his body fluidly, blocking one blow with his arm, dodging the second with a slight bend, and the third passed by him mere centimeters away, its wave slicing through a piece of metal behind him as if it were paper.
At that moment, Riorno entered the battle from above, his body encased in a concentrated aura of fire. The flames didn't spread; they were compressed around him like a living shield. His eyes were fixed on the entity, reading its movements before they were even completed. He raised his hand, and a fiery streak shot out—not in an explosion, but in the form of a long, sharp spear that silently pierced the air.
The entity reached out to stop him… but this time, the fire didn't cease entirely. It collided with the black energy, generating violent friction. Red and black sparks scattered through the air, and light reflected intermittently off the shattered walls, as if the place itself were collapsing to the rhythm of the battle.
From below, Mizuno reappeared, his movements more ferocious now. His body was almost entirely in the form of a predator, his muscles taut, his breath coming out like a cold exhalation. His claws dug into the ground, and he propelled himself upwards with rocket speed, targeting the fissure in the entity's chest once more.
This time, the blow landed.
His claws pierced the surface layer. A sharp sound escaped—not a scream, but the friction of energy against a deeper layer. The light within the fissure vibrated violently, a subtle tremor coursing through the entity's entire body.
Just a moment… but it was enough. Lloyd was there.
He appeared directly in front of the entity, so close he could see the ripples within the black energy. He slowly raised his hand, all the light in his body concentrated in it, the heat and cold reaching a precise equilibrium, then he thrust it forward.
The impact wasn't a simple explosion.
It was a collapse.
The point of contact between his hand and the entity's body transformed into a tiny void. The light was compressed inward instead of exploding outward, as if the energy itself were collapsing upon itself. Then suddenly—
FWOOM!
It exploded inward and outward simultaneously, a wave of suction and expulsion, drawing dust, sparks, even remnants of metal toward the center, then hurling them away.
The entity recoiled backward, this time a considerable distance. Its body arched for a moment, the rift in its chest widening, the light within becoming clearer… but unstable, flickering and returning, as if on the verge of extinguishing.
The Core reacted violently, its pulse racing dangerously. The broken rings began to move erratically, striking each other. Metallic sounds screamed in every direction, and the void beneath them expanded further, revealing an endless, dark depth.
But before they could seize the opportunity, the entity stopped.
Slowly… it straightened.
A hand rose to its chest, touching the rift, and the energy around it began to gather again, but this time more precisely, as if rearranging itself on a deeper plane.
"Analyzing…" he said in a low voice, but every word seemed to shake the air.
The light within the rift began to subside… then stabilized.
His eyes gleamed brightly once more.
"The malfunction… has been corrected."
Silence returned for a moment… but this time it was heavier than before. Lloyd felt it instantly. A small step back escaped him instinctively, not out of fear… but realization.
"Adapt."
Rioorno landed beside him, the flames around him flickering for a moment. Mizuno stood on the other side, his breath heavy, but his eyes still sharp.
The entity looked at the three of them, then… smiled.
But this time, the smile was clear.
"Now… we truly begin."
At the same instant, all the energy in the space went out for a split second.
Total darkness.
Then it erupted again.
But not from the entity…
From every direction.
The walls, the ground, even the air… began emitting black energy, thin strands emerging and wrapping around the entity, gathering within it, multiplying its presence instead of merely replacing it.
The Core was no longer just a space…
It had become its weapon.
Lloyd clenched his fist, his red eye glowing intensely. He said in a low but sharp voice,
"…Then we destroy the entire space." Riorno smiled faintly, the fire reigniting: "I was waiting for that line."
Mizuno bent down slightly, ready to charge: "A simple plan… I like it."
The ground beneath them shook with renewed force.
And the battle… entered another level.