Then Ryzen exclaims: "Ahhh my head, what the hell is happening?!" as he breathes heavily. He panicked, beads of sweat forming on his brow.
Umatsume grabbed his arm. "Ryzen, are you okay?!" He groaned, clutching his head in agony. His eyes flickered white as his voice trembled. "I-I don't know…" he muttered.
Then his eyes widened as a vision flashed through his mind he saw himself summoning a scythe from his palm, standing beside a shadowed figure as they fought in perfect sync. Then the vision faded as reality snapped back in a rush of pain and confusion.
He lay on the ground, breath ragged, as Umatsume's panicked voice pierced through the haze.
"Ryzen! Ryzen!!! Wake up please, I need you! He's getting closer!!!" she cried, her voice trembling with fear and desperation.
Suddenly, a deep, echoing voice thundered inside his mind Konoke's.
"Something else is out here…" the voice rumbled, dark and foreboding. "Something… sinister. I can help you, but I'll need to take control."
Ryzen's eyes widened. "W–What?! I don't even know who-"
"There's no time!, I'll explain later!" Konoke interrupted, his tone sharp and urgent. "Trust me, or everything will fall apart!"
Ryzen gritted his teeth, heart pounding. "Tch… fine! But on one condition..."
He pointed toward Umatsume, his voice burning with resolve.
"PROTECT THE GIRL!"
Konke replied, "Mmm… understood."
In the next heartbeat, Ryzen's eyes blazed white. Energy rippled around him, cracking the ground beneath his feet. He vanished in a blur of light and in the same instant, collided with Zaid.
The impact erupted into a massive shockwave, tearing through the air like thunder as sparks of power lit up the night. The shockwave tore through the streets debris flying as light and shadow danced violently around them.
Zaid slid backward, grinding against the cracked pavement. His eyes widened. "What… the hell was that speed?! He wasn't like this before!"
Ryzen stood in the haze, head lowered, aura flickering between his own and something darker a burning white laced with faint black streams. His breathing was heavy, yet his voice carried an otherworldly calm.
"Focus, Ryzen," Konoke's voice echoed within him. "Don't fight me. Channel it."
Ryzen clenched his fists as power surged through his veins. "Tch… easier said than done" he groaned, clutching his head. His reflection in a shattered window flashed one eye glowing pure white, the other dark and fractured like crystal.
Zaid smirked, cracking his knuckles. "Heh. Whatever trick you're pulling, it won't save you!"
He charged, energy roaring around him.
But Ryzen was already gone.
In a blink, he appeared behind Zaid his movements almost instinctual, as if guided by another will.
"Now!" Konoke commanded.
Ryzen's hand shot forward, engulfed in radiant energy.
"Phantom Drive...Burst!"
The strike connected. A blinding explosion erupted, swallowing the area in light. Zaid was thrown across the street, crashing through a wall as the shockwave sent dust spiraling into the air.
As the light faded, Ryzen dropped to one knee, panting as konoke said.
"You're pushing your body too far," Konoke warned. "Even with my help, you're not ready for full sync."
Ryzen smirked weakly, looking up through the smoke. "Guess we'll just have to make it work… together."
The dust slowly settled.
Chunks of debris clattered to the ground as the golden light faded, leaving a crater where the two had clashed.
Zaid stumbled out of the rubble, breathing heavily, half his coat torn away. His eyes burned with rage.
"That power… That wasn't yours!" he spat, sparks of crimson energy crackling around his arm. "Who are you really fighting with, Ryzen?!"
Ryzen stood motionless amid the wreckage, aura still pulsing erratically. One half of his body shimmered with a white, crystalline glow the other dimmed with dark streaks of shadow.
His head lowered, voice strained but steady. "Does it matter… who's fighting… as long as she's safe?" Zaid growled, slamming his fist into the ground.
"Tch! You're not the same kid I fought before. You've got a monster in you now!" Zaid exclaimed.
"He's not wrong,"
Konoke's voice murmured inside Ryzen's mind, deep and resonant.
"But I'm the reason you're still alive." The air trembled. The ground cracked beneath her feet as a blinding light flared across the street.
Umatsume shielded her eyes, wind whipping through her hair as fragments of debris floated weightlessly in the glowing haze.
"R-Ryzen…?" she whispered, voice trembling.
Through the dust, she saw him no longer just as Ryzen.
His body shimmered with radiant, crystalline markings. White flames coiled around him like threads of energy, while faint shadows pulsed at the edges alive, almost sentient. His hair flowed upward, his eyes glowing with a piercing light that didn't feel human anymore.
Umatsume's chest tightened. She took a hesitant step forward.
"That energy… it's not the same as before…"
"Stay back!" a voice roared Ryzen's, but layered with something else.
She froze, eyes wide. "That… wasn't just him…" Zaid staggered up from the crater, panting, wiping blood from his lip. "He's fused with it… whatever's inside him, it's not human!"
Umatsume shook her head, her voice cracking. "No… that's still him. I know it is." But even as she said it, she wasn't sure because the aura she felt now wasn't just power. It was rage… despair… and something ancient.
Ryzen's eyes flickered, his body trembling as if fighting within himself.
"Umatsume… get out of here…" he gritted, barely holding on.
"If I lose control..."
She stepped closer, tears glinting in her eyes. "No! You promised you'd protect me… but I'm not leaving you!"
For a moment, the white glow faltered as if her voice reached him through the chaos.
Inside Ryzen's mind, Konoke's voice echoed, almost… conflicted.
"Her will… it's stabilizing the link. Hmph. Interesting."
Back in reality, Ryzen's energy steadied his aura shifting from chaotic bursts to a pulsing rhythm, fierce yet controlled.
He looked up, eyes burning bright.
"Konoke… let's finish this."
"Heh. About time."
The ground cracked once more as Ryzen launched forward his movements faster, sharper, and more precise than ever before.
Ryzen's vision blurred. The world distorted around him. Suddenly, he wasn't standing on the battlefield anymore, he was inside his mindscape.
A dark void stretched endlessly, illuminated by fragments of glowing crystal floating in the air.
Before him stood Konoke a tall, spectral figure, his eyes burning like twin moons.
Ryzen took a cautious step forward. "So… this is what you really look like."
Konoke smirked faintly. "A reflection of what you fear and what you could become." He crossed his arms, aura rippling. "Our link is unstable. If you resist me, you'll burn out. But if you let me take more control…"
He extended his hand. "We could end this fight in seconds." Ryzen clenched his jaw, sweat dripping down his face. "If I give in to you, I lose myself… right?" Konoke's grin widened. "Or you find who you're meant to be."
The crystals around them pulsed light and shadow intertwining. Ryzen could feel his heartbeat syncing with Konoke's presence, his power surging beyond his limits. Back in reality, Zaid raised his head, eyes widening.
"What the?! His energy's rising again?!"
Ryzen's body glowed brighter, markings etching across his skin.
His voice echoed a mix of his own and Konoke's.
"This ends now."