The Golden Gate Bridge shook like a living beast as the crack split open wider, screaming a sound that vibrated through steel and bone.
A brutal pulse of blood-red light washed over the entire span—
—and then the demons fell.
Dozens. Hundreds. A rain of nightmares.
Berserkers hit the asphalt first, their bone-plated limbs cracking the pavement.
Nyghouls slithered behind them, dripping void-fluid.
Rendracers flickered in and out of existence, claws dragging sparks across steel.
Silencers landed silently, mouths stitched shut.
Glass Mantises skittered, blades chiming like crystal.
Crackles, malformed and twitching.
Erebions, glowing with stitched cobalt veins.
Veilspawn, teleporting in broken stutters.
Cranium Leechers, swarming like a cloud of teeth.
And above them, three Abyssal Behemoths crashed down like black meteors, the bridge groaning under their weight.
---
Karl tightened his grip on the controls.
Royal Azure heat rippled off his armor in waves, vents releasing controlled bursts of flame as he locked onto targets.
VYTHRA ENERGY: 78%
Agnes's shy hologram flickered beside him, hugging her arms to herself.
"K-Karl… incoming… seventy-three hostiles… and… um… two more behind that…"
Karl cracked his knuckles.
"Too many. Good."
His foot snapped forward—and the first micro-explosion fired from his heel.
Erevos Frame launched across the bridge like a bullet.
His first punch obliterated a Berserker's chest, the impact sending Royal Azure motes scattering behind him.
A Veilspawn blinked into existence on his right—
Karl's elbow found its skull mid-teleport.
The body hit the asphalt already burning.
Agnes squeaked, barely holding herself together.
"K-Karl, your output—y-you're moving too fast—!"
"Then catch up."
---
FLAME PERSISTENCE — ACTIVE
He backhanded a Silencer, leaving a flicker of azure on its torso.
It screeched silently—then erupted a second later, ash scattering across cables.
Karl never looked back.
He planted three more invisible flame seeds across a cluster of Cranium Leechers with a spinning kick, each touch light as a tap—
—and all three detonated from behind him as he vaulted over their collapsing bodies.
VYTHRA ENERGY: 74%
A Rendracer blinked behind him.
Karl didn't turn.
He simply snapped his fingers—
—and the seed he'd placed earlier flared like a miniature sun, vaporizing the creature in a column of blue fire.
Agnes gasped softly, awe creeping into her shy voice.
"I… I didn't know you could place that many… a-at once…"
"You didn't?" Karl smirked mid-dash. "Watch closely."
He blurred through a pack of Nyghouls like a storm, brushing each with a fingertip, a knuckle, a passing swipe.
Seven motes floated behind him like drifting stars.
He closed his fist—and all seven popped like synchronized mines.
---
The first Behemoth charged.
Its roar shook the cables.
Karl didn't stop.
He didn't dodge.
He ran straight up its arm, vents firing micro-blasts under his feet, each step leaving a trail of blue embers that clung to its obsidian hide.
Agnes's eyes widened.
"K-Karl—!!"
"Relax. I marked it."
He reached the creature's skull—
then kicked off, sending himself spinning backward midair.
With a snap of his fingers—
the seeds all detonated at once.
The Behemoth collapsed, its entire right side collapsing into glowing cobalt ash.
VYTHRA ENERGY: 69%
More demons crawled out of the crack.
Hundreds more.
Agnes's shy voice trembled.
"K-Karl… t-that… that was one Behemoth… there are two more… and hundreds of—"
"Good." His visor glinted. "I said I was getting warmed up."
---
A Glass Mantis lunged from above, blades spinning.
Karl met it with a rising knee—
spark
—blade cracks—
shatter
—he palm-struck its chest, embedding a flame seed inside its crystalline body.
It exploded midair like a firework.
Two Berserkers rushed him together.
Karl slid between them, hand brushing both their ribs in a passing glide.
He whispered, "Boom."
Twin detonations lit the bridge.
VYTHRA ENERGY: 66%
Agnes's voice softened—still shy, but something nostalgic stirring.
"Y-You're… doing it again… t-that voice… that tone… you used to sound like that eight months ago…"
Karl's grin sharpened.
"Maybe this crack brought back the mood."
---
The second Behemoth stomped forward, swinging its entire arm like a collapsing building.
Karl sprinted straight toward it.
He bent low—flames bursting from every vent—
—and slid beneath its legs, dragging his palm across its ankle.
A ring of Royal Azure motes circled the limb instantly.
The Behemoth took another step—
—and its entire leg exploded, collapsing the creature into the bridge supports.
Agnes clutched her hands to her chest, cheeks glowing cyan from flustered excitement.
"K-Karl—! You're— you're… oh stars you're insane…"
"You love it," he shot back, mid-kick as he shattered a Nyghoul's neck.
Her projection heated in color.
"N-No I— …maybe a little…"
---
One of the Erebions lunged.
This one was larger, veins pulsing bright cobalt like volcanic lightning.
Karl's fist collided with its face—
—and did nothing.
The Erebion grinned, serrated jaw twitching.
Agnes's voice cracked.
"K-Karl— it— it's ADAPTING to the Royal Azure heat—!!"
Karl slid backward, boots grinding metal.
"Perfect."
His flames intensified—
but he didn't expand them.
Instead—
he tightened the heat around his hand until it condensed into a white-hot solid flame blade, glowing like molten sapphire.
Agnes gasped.
"K-Karl… that's… that's not normal flame… you compressed it—!"
"I know."
He dashed forward.
The Erebion raised an arm—
Karl sliced through it cleanly.
The limb hit the ground already melting.
He spun—
struck—
and drove the blade through its core as it screeched.
VYTHRA ENERGY: 62%
The creature fell apart in burning chunks.
Agnes whispered, voice trembling between fear and fluster,
"Y-You made… a sword… out of fire…"
Karl shrugged while twisting another blow into a Berserker's spine.
"Adapt or die."
---
Suddenly—
the crack widened again.
A tidal wave of demons spilled out, drowning the entire bridge in shrieking chaos.
Karl tightened his stance.
Agnes's shy voice crackled—
but there was a familiar spark now.
A tone Karl hadn't heard in eight months.
"K-Karl… you better not hold back… okay~?"
He blinked.
Her voice—
that teasing lilt—
He smirked.
"You're coming back, huh?"
She flickered brightly, embarrassed but braver than before.
"M-Maybe… a little…"
The demons screamed—
And Karl launched forward again, Royal Azure flames tearing the world apart.