The only good thing about what Daisy had said was that the system had not been hijacked.
If that had happened, then it would have been difficult to trust any quest the system would have given because it could very well be the entity manipulating him to an uncertain end.
"The system was temporarily affected, so the last quest was altered… Give me a second," Daisy said, her hands frantically running over the keys.
Kyle sighed tiredly. "What is even the system? Who created it?"
He had always avoided these questions because he was sure that Daisy would never answer.
The system was an advantage no other person had, so he didn't really care about the source, as long as it was useful.
But now, things were different.
Daisy shook her head, her eyes still locked on the screen. "You know I can't tell you that."
"Figures." Kyle paused for a brief moment. "Can you fix it?"
"Yeah, the system isn't so weak that it can be tampered with easily."
It took less than five minutes for Daisy to finish maintenance, and then the original quest returned, although this time, Kyle chose to avoid asking anything about the penalty for failure.
He already had as much information and a clear path to escaping it. He had to grow his army and ascend to the Dark Sovereign.
Daisy's body began shimmering, and then her body began breaking down into golden particles from bottom to top.
"I'll upgrade the security of the system. It is going to take a while."
Kyle nodded as the very last golden particle shimmered into nothing.
"I guess I'm done here."
Kyle left the room and walked into the corridor, about to find a closet to change back into his clothing when his phone buzzed in his pocket.
He pulled out the phone, his crimson eyes gleaming from within the golden mask as he stared at it.
'Nejire? What is she calling about?'
Kyle quickly found a closet, then tapped a button on his shirt.
Immediately he did, the entire leather suit suddenly came off and was sucked into a small round orb, about the size of an egg.
'Superhero gadgets are so convenient…'
He had gotten this specifically for this day since he could not simply carry a change of clothes around.
When he was finally back in his regular clothing, Kyle answered the call.
"Nejire, what's up?"
"Where were you now?"
'Why is she asking?'
He pushed the closet door open to make sure the sound entered into the phone.
"I'm just leaving the toilet. I think I ate too many sweets."
Nejire's laugh came from the other end. "Well, if you're done, meet me at the first snack truck."
"Is something wrong with the drinks there?"
"Oh no, nothing like that. We have finished our matches, so I was wondering if you wanted to hang out."
"Ahh, alright. I'll be right there."
Kyle ended the call and stuffed the phone into his pocket, and then he zoomed out of the area, his body blurring as he accelerated.
'Oh yeah, I almost forgot…'
Mentally, he recalled Cyno just before he left the stadium.
•••
Meanwhile…
BANG!
Cyno's feet slid to a halt as his fist met Mirko's feet, his bones rattling from the impact.
'She's getting faster…'
Blood was dripping from the side of her face, yet Mirko was smiling, her eyes locked on him.
She placed her hand on the floor and then she jumped, the ground cracking underneath her feet.
Mirko's body blurred as she bounced from wall to wall like a loose ball, her body spinning so fast that it was hard to keep track of her.
Then she suddenly appeared right in front of Cyno, both legs coming down at his shoulders with a resounding bang!
The wind around them picked up; a net of web-like cracks spread through the room.
From the dust, Cyno's body was pulsing with electricity, his raised staff sparking on contact with Mirko's feet.
If he had not lifted his staff in time, then both his arms would have been broken right then.
"Not bad!"
Whoosh!
Cyno swung his polearm; the staff whistled through the air, carrying a wave of deadly force.
Mirko jumped back as fast as she could, her eyes widening as the staff brushed past her face, nearly ripping into her eyes.
She had managed to dodge it, yet just the wind from being so close to the attack bruised her nose.
The moment her feet touched the floor, she bounced back like a frisbee, the wind rushing past her like a flood.
Then she rotated her body, spinning around so fast just before launching a drop kick that carried every single bit of momentum she had gathered.
Cyno, on the other hand, changed his stance, drawing one foot backward and pushing one forward.
Btzzzz!!!
Currents formed around his muscles, his gaze sharpening as he took notice of every single movement.
And then the electricity surged, his staff cutting forward to meet Mirko's kick.
The explosion was deafening.
BOOM!
The door to the room was blown open by the resounding shockwave; the steel robots groaned just before they were sent back.
Mirko smirked as she met Cyno's impassive gaze, and then they separated.
"Now we're talking!"
But before Mirko could launch another attack, Cyno vanished into thin air, leaving her alone in the fragments of what used to be the infirmary.
Mirko hissed. "He ran away again."
It was just like the last time they had fought, and yet… she smiled.
'That was a good fight.'
Their battle had completely destroyed the infirmary; even the high-tech robots UA had provided were unable to withstand the shockwaves from their blows.
And still, Mirko knew that he had not used his full strength. He was still reserving it…
'I'll get you next time.'
The next time they would meet, she would be undoubtably stronger, a little more experienced and several times more deadly.
As the adrenaline wore off, Mirko found it difficult to even walk, her muscles suffering from the strain of overexertion.
'I hope they took care of things at their end.'