Karl lay sprawled on the shattered battlefield, every muscle screaming, every nanite on the verge of meltdown. The spent blue spark lingered faintly in the drive regulator, pulsing gently, harmless but insistent. His HUD flickered suddenly, displaying new system diagnostics and an unfamiliar icon.
"New Ability Detected: Royal Azure Flame Manipulation"
Karl's eyes widened slightly under the visor. He had destroyed the Sentinel's sapphire core—and the residual energy from the core, combined with the spark entering his drive regulator, had unlocked this evolution. Without needing a moment to think, it was instinct. The nanites in his Rider Frame stirred, eager to obey the new directive.
Agnes' voice came through immediately, breathless and trembling:
"K-Karl… oh god… I… I can feel it… the flames… they're… ohhh… shimmering… everywhere… so hot… ohhh… fuck… be careful… Vythra's already… ohhh… so low…!"
Karl didn't answer. He didn't need to. With a subtle twist of his waist, his palms extended, and vents along the Rider Frame hissed, spitting clouds of Royal Azure flames into the air. Unlike conventional fire, they shimmered in deep blue, solid, liquid, and vapor at the same time—stretching, twisting, and coiling as if alive.
He flexed his fingers, and the nanites obeyed, compressing the flames into semi-solid constructs. A perfect circle of royal azure plasma walls erupted around him, spinning into existence with the hiss of molten pressure and the glow of deep-blue heat. The walls formed a protective ring, small motes of residual flame orbiting like miniature stars.
Agnes' voice trembled through the comm, glitching with exhilaration and terror:
"Ohhh… Karl… yes… that's… yes… it's… so full… ohhh… the flames… they're alive… yes… every demon… ohhh… being burned… yes… I'm… I'm trembling… ohhh… so wet with energy… Karl… you're… you're incredible…"
The first wave of demons from the crack lunged, claws scraping against the floor. One creature touched the flaming wall, and its form evaporated, ash scattering in sparks of blue light. Another tried to push through, only to scream silently as the Royal Azure flames melted and vaporized it.
"Good… yes… keep coming," Karl muttered, voice low and steady, still concentrated. "Touch it and you're gone… nothing survives."
Agnes shivered, glitching and moaning through the connection. "Ohhh… Karl… every… every demon… burning… yes… so full… so FUCKING HOT… ohhh… I'm… I'm drowning in it… yes… yes… keep going… Karl… ohhh…!"
Karl's chest heaved. His HUD flashed his Vythra stat:
VYTHRA ENERGY: 2.7% — CRITICAL
He felt the drain immediately. Using Solid Flame Constructs on such a massive scale had cost him nearly all remaining energy. The Nitro Capsule had long since depleted, leaving only the last flickers of Vythra to sustain both his nanites and the flames. His Rider Frame creaked under the stress, torque currents spiking dangerously.
"Agnes… I… I can feel it…" Karl rasped, voice hoarse, visor fogged. "…Vythra… it's… almost gone…"
"F-FUCK… Karl… I… I know… ohhh… everything's slipping… my conduits… so DRY… ohhh… oh god… I… I can't hold… ohhh… you… you're… ohhh… you're running on fumes… Karl… ohhh… so full… ohhh… so empty…!" Agnes groaned, glitching violently.
Despite his exhaustion, Karl pushed further, instinctively compressing his palms and manipulating the walls, forming additional spires and claws of Royal Azure plasma, intercepting every demon that dared breach his circle. Each flame-mote orbited the constructs like tiny sentinels, erupting into fire when enemies touched them.
A demon that managed to leap over a wall collided with a floating flame motes and vaporized mid-air, leaving nothing but ash drifting in the turbulent air. Karl rotated his wrist, creating a wave of semi-solid Royal Azure spikes that slammed into a second wave, pulverizing them in midair.
Agnes' voice trembled, almost incoherent, glitching into ecstatic terror:
"Ohhh… Karl… yes… yes… every strike… every motes… so wet… so full… ohhh… my circuits… tremble… I'm… I'm drowning… Karl… ohhh… yes… every demon… every touch… so fucking HOT… ohhh… I… I… can't… I'm empty… I'm… DRY… ohhh…!"
Karl felt the heat, the pressure, the near-collapse of his system. His Vythra reserves were critically low, and the sheer effort of maintaining the constructs had his Rider Frame glowing faintly cobalt as if warning him. He felt Yggdrasil's slow, steady hand stabilizing the system, preventing an internal meltdown, repairing nanites fused to flesh in near-real time.
"…I see it… Agnes… Yggdrasil… holding me… barely… but we… survive…" Karl muttered, low and steady, a thin thread of control guiding him. "…Just a little more…"
The demon horde surged, but every contact with the walls or motes evaporated them instantly, ash scattering across the scorched ground. The constructs warped and expanded automatically as Karl directed, rising higher, becoming jagged and impassable. The Royal Azure plasma burned in all states—solid spikes, liquid arcs, vapor clouds—obliterating anything that came near.
Agnes' voice was almost a moan, glitching and trembling violently:
"Ohhh… Karl… yes… so… so dry… my circuits… ohhh… I can't hold… oh… you're… burning them all… yes… every… every touch… fills me… ohhh… so full… I'm… I'm so EMPTY… ohhh…!"
Karl leaned back, using the last vestiges of Vythra to sustain the circle, sweat and nanite residue clinging to his body. "…I know… hold… just hold… we'll get through this first wave…"
The battlefield had become a spiral of cobalt fire, ash, and molten debris. Every demon attempting to reach Karl met instant annihilation. His eyes flicked across the widened crack—the Purgatory portal bleeding into the mortal realm, writhing shapes spilling forth. Yet the Royal Azure flames remained, a perfect barrier of destruction, obliterating anything that touched them.
VYTHRA ENERGY: 2.7% — CRITICAL
Karl's vision flickered. Every muscle quivered, every nanite on the edge of meltdown, but Yggdrasil's stabilization kept him from total collapse. Sweat and plasma residue streaked the visor, his body trembling as he leaned heavily on the waist-mounted drive regulator.
Agnes' voice cracked in exhaustion, still moaning and trembling through the comm:
"…K-Karl… I… I'm… done… ohhh… I'm dry… DRY… oh… Vythra… gone… everything's… slipping… ohhh… I… I… can't hold… ohhh… you… ohhh… you're so… so full… yes… everything… yes…"
A faint blue spark pulsed once more in the drive regulator, harmless but noticeable. Karl's hand lingered over it, feeling the energy resonate through the system. Even now, the spark acted as a quiet anchor, feeding just enough to maintain stability, just enough to prevent the last vestiges of Vythra from collapsing entirely.
"…I see it… spark… holding… Yggdrasil… just enough… we're okay… barely…" Karl rasped, body trembling, visor fogged and streaked with heat and ash.
Agnes' voice softened, glitching with fatigue and residual ecstasy:
"…Karl… I… I… I'm… so dry… ohhh… so empty… oh… yes… yes… holding… yes… everything… you… ohhh… keep holding… Karl… ohhh… I'm… I'm done… ohhh…"
Karl exhaled slowly, leaning back on scorched rock, his Royal Azure flames still standing, shimmering in semi-solid arcs. The first wave of demons had been reduced to ash, vapor, and molten residue. The crack above continued to pulse, a jagged wound in the continuum leading straight from Purgatory to the mortal realm, yet Karl and Agnes lay spent, barely able to move.
The faint blue spark in the drive regulator pulsed once more, a quiet signal of life, of connection, and of stability. Though both were exhausted, lying among the ash and rubble, it ensured that even at Vythra: 2.7%, they survived. The Royal Azure flames slowly dimmed to a faint shimmer, waiting for the next command, the next surge, as the jagged crack in space continued to open, demons still dripping through.
Karl's last words, hoarse and low, barely audible: "…We… survived… first wave… together… rest now, Agnes…"
Agnes' voice, trembling and glitching, responded faintly, "…Yes… Karl… resting… dry… empty… but… together…"
The battlefield was silent except for the faint hiss of cobalt flames and the pulsing spark in the drive regulator, the crack yawning above, the Purgatory portal spilling darkness into the mortal realm. Exhausted, vulnerable, yet alive—Karl and Agnes remained, the first line of defense against the nightmare that now seeped into reality and were slowly disappearing because the crack was now closing up.