Karl's cockpit shook violently as the Sentinel's sapphire core glimmered with cruel precision. The heatwaves from its flamethrower arms still pulsed around Erevos, scorching anything that came within a twenty-meter radius. Burn marks were still forming across his neck and arms, sweat dripping freely, but he wasn't backing down. Not now. Not when a single strategic strike could finally turn the tide.
"…Blueprint Overdrive," he muttered under his breath, activating the Drive Regulator.
Immediately, the cockpit was bathed in soft, cyan-blue light. The nanites began to project massive holographic schematics in the air around him. Rails, tracks, and interlocking gear connections formed grids and arcs across the battlefield. Karl's fingers danced through the projections, "grabbing" and rotating each element as though manipulating a gigantic CAD model in zero gravity.
"…All systems… synced…" Karl muttered, eyes glinting. "…City-sized dome… in the works…"
Agnes' avatar flickered beside him, eyes wide. "…Karl… be careful… the Sentinel… it can sense everything! If it notices…" Her voice trailed off, worried.
Karl's hands moved with practiced precision, adjusting the projected blueprint. Nanites responded instantly, building the first batch of gears along the virtual tracks. Small gears grew into massive city-block-sized segments, spinning slowly at first as the Engine Soul poured energy through the Gear Drive. Metallic navy-blue and azure gears materialized, glowing along their edges. Steam vented from their surfaces, tiny nanite particles swirling like sparks in a storm.
"…Just… a little longer…" Karl whispered. "…Need it… need the dome to form…"
The cockpit trembled as he began interlocking the largest perimeter gears. Once the city-block-sized gears meshed, they formed a sphere about half a kilometer in diameter. Medium and smaller gears filled the gaps, creating a dense lattice. Karl could already feel the potential: Overburn Dash through these, ricocheting off multiple surfaces, kinetic force amplified, thermal damage layered, and the Sentinel trapped at the center of a spinning kinetic nightmare.
"…If this works… it'll be over…" Karl muttered. Vythra energy surged through his system, powering the nanites, syncing each gear's rotation to his intent. Every cog, every track, every nanite particle was ready to respond to his gestures.
But the Sentinel didn't flinch. Its glowing sapphire core pulsed like a heartbeat of molten malice. Then, almost as if aware of Karl's plan the moment it began, the Sentinel acted.
Blue-azure heatwaves rippled outward from its core, instantly incinerating the rails and tracks around the dome's perimeter. The largest city-block-sized gears started melting as they materialized, edges warping and glowing sapphire. Smaller gears vaporized entirely before they could interlock. Sparks and molten nanites droplets rained across the battlefield like deadly bullets.
"…No… no, no, no!" Karl cursed, slamming his fists into the Drive Regulator. Nanites attempted to compensate, pulling fragments together, reinforcing melting sections, but it was too late. Each massive gear collapsed under the Sentinel's preemptive heatwave.
Agnes' voice crackled urgently. "…Karl! It's… it noticed! Your dome… it's… melting! Vythra! It's draining faster than expected!"
Karl gritted his teeth, feeling the backlash immediately. Vythra levels dropped precipitously, cascading from seventy-something percent down into the mid-sixties. He could feel his internal nanites struggling to maintain even basic armor integrity. "…60… something percent… damn it… got interrupted…"
Erevos lurched as Karl scrambled to stabilize, the cockpit shuddering violently. Burn marks flared hotter across his neck and arms; sweat hissed as it contacted superheated cockpit metal. "…Gotta… gotta keep the cockpit intact… can't let the Sentinel… break me here…"
Agnes' avatar moved frantically, manipulating every auxiliary nanite flow she could muster. "…Karl! I've got you! Rails, supports, cockpit plating… everything! But… you… you have to conserve Vythra! You… you can't risk it dropping any lower!"
The Sentinel, sensing Karl's disrupted Overdrive, shifted to offensive stance. Flamethrower arms whirred, sapphire plasma glimmering like a storm of liquid heat. It advanced, the heat intensity rising exponentially. Any attempt to launch the gears—even partially formed—would meet the same fate: instant melting, instant failure.
"…So… they all melt… huh?" Karl muttered, gritting his teeth. He ran simulations in milliseconds, recalculating angles, forces, and nanite reinforcement strategies. "…I can't rely on long-range… I need to rethink… use what survives…"
Agnes' voice softened, tense but determined. "…Karl… just… just focus! You… you still have your projection gears! Maybe… maybe you can use them differently… a smaller formation… controlled… precision… just hold out…"
Karl nodded, sweat dripping into his gloves. The cockpit continued to groan under heat and weight. "…Yeah… smaller… precision… can't waste… Vythra…"
The Sentinel's heatwaves now began enveloping Erevos, forcing Karl to constantly adjust along rails and collapsing beams. Each movement required overlapping projection gears, nanites welding molten edges as quickly as they warped. Burn marks on Karl's skin grew deeper with each second. The cockpit interior smoked, and molten shards of vaporized metal skittered across the control interface.
"…If the dome had worked…" Karl muttered under his breath, "…I could've… trapped it… ricocheted through… every gear impact… kinetic energy… thermal layering… multiple ricochets… maximum damage…"
Agnes' avatar tilted closer, voice quiet but full of hope. "…Karl… it would've worked… if the Sentinel hadn't noticed… but… you… you can still fight… you're… you're still alive! I… I'll keep the cockpit safe… Vythra or not…"
Karl exhaled sharply, letting the holographic remnants of the Blueprint Overdrive flicker around them. "…Yeah… alive… just… need… new approach…" He flexed his hands on the Drive Regulator, gears already beginning to re-align in smaller, more manageable arrays. "…Vythra… fifty-something percent… can't waste it… gotta… strike smart…"
The Sentinel's flamethrower arms pulsed, glimmering sapphire, as if mocking him. Every movement he tried, every gear he projected—even partially—was met with instantaneous incineration. It was as if the creature had learned, anticipated, and countered before the battle even reached its first major maneuver.
"…Okay… okay…" Karl muttered. Sweat stung his eyes. Burn marks on his neck and forearms sizzled, sending pain signals through his nerves. "…Need… integrate… smaller gears… Gearstorm Nova… precision strikes… not mass-scale… not Blueprint Dome…"
Agnes' voice was firm now, urgent. "…Karl! I'll… I've got the cockpit, the rails, everything! Focus… focus on precision! Vythra… conserve… just hold… we… we can do this!"
Karl's eyes narrowed. He retracted Erevos slightly, sliding backward along a warped rail. "…Precision… yes… not mass… just… timing…" He rotated the smaller projection gears, preparing them for the next assault. "…Sentinel… you're not ending this yet…"
The cockpit groaned under the lingering heat. Molten nanites dripped along the outer hull, sizzle of scorched plating echoing like distant firecrackers. Sweat and scorched skin mixed inside the gloves. Vythra readout blinked—59 percent.
"…Gotta… work with what survives…" Karl muttered, eyes locking on the Sentinel's sapphire core. "…Blueprint Overdrive… maybe just a blueprint… foundation… build… something smaller… something fast…"
Agnes' avatar hovered close, almost touching the cockpit glass. "…Karl… I… I believe in you! Blueprint… smaller… just… adapt! You… you can beat this! I… I'll handle the rest…"
The Sentinel pulsed again, flamethrower arms spinning, heat radiating in waves. But Karl had already begun recalibrating the projection gears, nanites weaving molten fragments together into compact, reinforced projectiles. Each one was smaller, faster, controlled, integrated with Gearstorm Nova's micro-armor systems.
"…Yeah… that's it…" Karl muttered, teeth clenched. "…Precision… timing… smaller… fast…"
Erevos shifted along the rails, adjusting in real time. Nanites welded molten debris into temporary shields. Burn marks flared, sweat hissed, but Karl remained locked in, mind and body synchronizing with every nano-segment. The Blueprint Overdrive may have been interrupted, melted mid-formation, but it had taught him one key truth: the Sentinel would react, anticipate, and preempt mass-scale attacks.
"…No mass… just… smaller strikes… timing… integrate… Gearstorm Nova… and fight…"
Agnes' voice trembled, but was filled with warmth amidst the chaos. "…Karl… you… you'll do it! I… I'll hold everything else… just… survive… just survive…"
And Karl's eyes glinted through the visor. "…Yeah… survive… fight… Sentinel… not done yet…"
The cockpit trembled violently as the Sentinel prepared another pulse of sapphire plasma. Vythra 63 percent. Burn marks searing. Blueprint Overdrive failed—but survival, adaptation, and precision became his new path forward.