Kunter didn't retreat.
He ran toward the skybound figure, teeth bared in anticipation. Lightning tore through the air around him, striking the ground again and again as if the world itself had lost balance. The pressure alone felt apocalyptic.
Far beyond the HQ, alarms began screaming.
News channels across the world cut to emergency broadcasts—
unidentified lightning storm,
potential high-level seismic activity,
mass panic.
Back at the ruins, Tema stood frozen, staring upward, as if she was witnessing a scene out of a dream—until something struck her mind like ice.
Her shield.
Her eyes widened.
"NO—"
She turned and sprinted.
The place where she had sealed the non-combatants lay in ruin. The telekinetic barrier was shattered, fragments of invisible force still fading in the air. Inside, bodies were scattered everywhere—heroes were unconscious, unmoving, as if a massive blast had passed straight through.
Tema helplesly fell to her knees.
She clutched her head, breath uneven.
"What in the world...has happened here?"
A hand weakly grabbed her boot.
Tema looked down.
Bandri.
Barely conscious, eyes unfocused, lips trembling.
"…Bandy…" she whispered.
Her grip loosened.
Bandri passed out.
Tema's blood ran cold.
High above the ground, the truth revealed itself.
Bandy hovered in the air.
His body was stiff, arms stretched unnaturally outward, trembling violently—almost like a broken puppet held up by invisible strings. Tears streamed from his eyes uncontrollably, evaporating into sparks before they could fall.
A faint, broken cry escaped his lips.
"Please… no…"
Lightning erupted around him like a living storm.
Not controlled or aimed.
Protective. Destructive. Absolute.
Buildings shattered. The ground cracked. The air screamed.
Even Kunter hesitated.
His instincts screamed danger.
"If he's left like this…" Kunter muttered, eyes narrowing, "…he'll become unstoppable."
He pushed his speed further, leaping upward, arm drawn back to strike.
Then—
SCHLK.
Something tore through his remaining arm.
Blood sprayed all over.
Kunter's body twisted violently as a razor thin scythe pierced clean through him, dragging him forward through the air.
The weapon didn't stop.
It flew straight....
into Bandy's grasp.
Suddenly the lightning collapsed inward, Bandy's trembling stopped and his feet touched the air as if it were solid ground.
He tilted his head downward.
The crying stopped.
When Bandy looked down at Kunter, there was no fear left in his eyes.
His pupils were gone, swallowed by a pale glow, thin threads of lightning leaking from the corners like cracks in glass as if something inside him had awakened.
Only fury and rage.
Something far older than a child should ever hold.
It wasn't Bandy who was controlling his body but someone else...
Kunter smiled—wide, feral, bleeding.
"…So that's how it goes ?," he breathed. "Finally ! This would be one heck of a fight !."