Karl collapsed onto the scorched battlefield, his Overburn Jet Frame dimmed to a faint cobalt shimmer. Thrusters twitched weakly, struggling to maintain balance on scorched, fractured rock. Every nanite in the Rider Frame shivered, twitching under the last reserves of Vythra and Nitro Capsule energy. He exhaled, visor fogged and streaked with grime, every movement deliberate.
Agnes' voice came through, brittle and trembling:
"K-Karl… oh god… Vythra… it's… slipping… I… I can't… keep it… everything's dry… my conduits… fraying… oh fuck… I'm… I'm empty…"
Karl's jaw tightened, exhaustion dragging him to the brink, yet he kept a hand on the waist-mounted drive regulator. "…I know, Agnes… I see it… hold on…" His voice was hoarse, low, careful. He didn't need to speak much—the weight of their shared fatigue was already there.
"I… I'm trying… Karl… everything's… slipping… lines leaking… Vythra energy: 8.4% — CRITICAL… oh god… I can't hold it… so dry… so empty…" Agnes' voice trembled, glitching with static, almost incoherent as she fought to maintain the connection.
Karl's hand tightened around the drive regulator at his waist, feeling the faint hum of residual energy running through it. "…You held me together… all the way… you're fine… rest…"
Agnes' voice wavered, moaning softly through the comm. "…Rest… oh god… Karl… I… I can't… Vythra… gone… conduits frayed… my… everything's empty… dry… so dry…"
Karl exhaled slowly, letting the Nitro Frame settle entirely on the molten rock beneath him. "…I see you… I feel you… it's alright…"
A faint shimmer in the air drew Karl's gaze, subtle but distinct—an anomaly in the continuum, bending the light around the battlefield. Agnes immediately chimed in, voice trembling and glitching:
"Karl… the crack… it's forming… the continuum… it's… pulling… oh god… Purgatory… it's opening… I can feel the first wave…"
Karl nodded slightly, voice low and strained. "…I know… I see it… stay with me, Agnes…"
The rift widened jaggedly above the battlefield. Dark, twisted forms began spilling outward, already half-formed, their shapes flickering unnaturally between dimensions. The first wave of demons poured into the mortal realm, moving with chaotic intent.
Agnes' voice trembled violently, glitching with every word: "…Karl… I… I'm… so dry… Vythra gone… my conduits… fraying… can't stabilize… can't maintain… oh god… everything's slipping… slipping…"
Karl's hand gripped the drive regulator tighter, feeling the faint pulse of residual Nitro energy. "…Just hold… rest… we made it through Sentinel… we can handle this too…"
A small, faint blue spark drifted lazily across the battlefield. Karl noticed it immediately, his hand instinctively moving to his waist. The spark hovered for a moment—delicate, harmless—then entered the drive regulator. The touch of energy pulsed gently, feeding the system just slightly. It wasn't a surge, wasn't dangerous, but a subtle reminder that life still flickered even in complete exhaustion.
Agnes' voice became a barely coherent whisper, trembling with relief and final fatigue: "…Oh… Karl… I… I'm so dry… empty… Vythra… gone… I… can't… maintain… so… so dry… oh god… Karl…"
Karl exhaled, body trembling, visor fogged with heat and dust. "…I know… I see it… I feel it too… it's harmless… just a little pulse… we're alright…"
The crack in space widened further, jagged edges slicing reality like molten glass. The first wave of demons spilled fully into the battlefield, their forms now more stable as they clawed and writhed, emerging from the Purgatory rift. Karl and Agnes remained on the ground, exhausted beyond measure, unable to muster more than just to watch.
Agnes moaned softly, digital static trembling through her words. "…Karl… I… I can't… my lines… fraying… everything's… fucking... dry… so empty… can't hold… DRY… completely dry…"
Karl's hand remained over the drive regulator, feeling the faint pulse of the blue spark, a fragile anchor amid chaos. "…Rest, Agnes… we survived Sentinel… together… we'll get through this first wave…"
Through the crack, shadows twisted and writhed, molten heat from the rift warping the surrounding terrain. The demons spilled across the battlefield in waves, clawed and flickering between dimensions, yet Karl and Agnes lay on the scorched rock, spent, watching the beginning of this next threat.
Agnes' voice, fragile and dry, quivered through static. "…Yes… Karl… empty… dry… oh god… slipping… everything… gone… I… can't maintain…I'm soooo.... fucking... DRY…"
Karl's voice, hoarse but steady, grounded her. "…It's alright… we'll survive… together… just rest now…"
The blue spark pulsed faintly in the drive regulator, harmless yet significant. Even as the Purgatory crack widened, demons pouring through, it remained steady—a quiet pulse of life, a single anchor of connection amidst the chaos.
Agnes moaned softly, trembling digitally, her systems dry, conduits fraying. "…Karl… I… I'm… done… so dry… empty… oh… oh… everything… slipping… gone…"
Karl exhaled slowly, visor streaked with molten residue, Nitro Frame dimmed to faint traces of cobalt light. "…Rest… Agnes… we'll wake… after this… the first wave is coming… but we'll manage… together…"
The battlefield trembled under the weight of the first demons emerging from Purgatory. The crack in reality continued to widen, jagged and molten, connecting the mortal realm with the otherworldly abyss. Yet on the scorched rock, both Karl and Agnes lay exhausted, barely able to move, the cobalt afterglow of the Rider Frame fading, the harmless blue spark still pulsing faintly in the waist regulator—a last anchor of hope, quiet but unyielding, as the first wave of demons began their advance.