Karl's visor glowed cerulean as the city's darkness stretched before him. Hundreds of glowing eyes reflected in the twisted metal and cracked concrete streets. He clenched his fists, feeling the relentless surge of Vythra coursing through the Drive Regulator. The eight primary gears hovered, spinning in deadly precision, but the real work had just begun.
"Alright… Agnes," Karl muttered, shifting Erevos' stance. "Let's make sure we're ready."
"Yes~ Karl, we're ready!" Agnes hissed, feral and electric in his mind. "Keep them dancing, keep the torque perfect… but don't hold back! Every gear, every spin… KILL THEM ALL~! Vrrrmmm~!"
Karl sent the first pair of floating gears forward, but this time he had a plan: he layered the nanites along their edges to shape razor-sharp spikes. One gear slammed into a nyghoul, catching it between spinning teeth and grinding its limbs, the nanites reinforcing each strike to maximize damage. The creature screeched, its body twisting grotesquely as Karl's Vythra-driven torque pulsed through the gear, amplifying every millimeter of force.
"Good~ yes, Karl! Keep it flowing! Vrrrmmm~!" Agnes growled, now fully untamed but utterly precise. "Don't let them touch you! Control the torque… perfect, perfect… keep the nanites steady! Push me harder—give me all your energy!"
Karl spun another gear in his palms, testing a new method. The disc expanded slightly mid-flight, splitting into multiple interlocking teeth, forming a cage around two berserkers. The nanites wrapped along the outer edge, reinforcing the rotation. Slowly, the cage closed as Karl adjusted the Vythra percentage through Agnes' guidance, ensuring maximum compression without breaking the gear constructs.
"Ahhh~ yes, yes!" Agnes' voice rumbled like a predator's purr. "That's it~ Keep compressing! Grind them down! Vrrrmmm~! Don't hold back, Karl—feed me your Drive!"
Karl stepped forward, spinning a gear at his forearm. He angled it into a cluster of nyghouls rushing at him. The gear's edges were jagged, razor-sharp with nanite reinforcement, cutting through the creatures' limbs and tossing them back. Another gear spun beneath Erevos' feet, flat and turbine-like, boosting his speed. He dodged a berserker's claw, pivoted, and kicked forward, nanites transferring rotational energy into another flying gear.
"Vrrrmmm~! Karl~ yes~ every spin, every rotation, I feel it!" Agnes purred, wild but focused. "Adjust the torque… perfect… now hit them with full force! Vythra, Karl! Give me all of it~!"
Karl smirked, letting the nanite-gear blasters fire in rapid succession. Each projectile had its own rotational rhythm, nanites constantly adjusting edge sharpness and flight path. He caught a berserker between two spinning gears again, this time layering the nanites to grind down flesh and bone with agonizing precision. The creature twisted in a grotesque ballet, and Karl shifted his stance to maintain perfect control.
"YES~ KILL THEM ALL~!" Agnes roared, her feral growl echoing in his mind. "No mercy, Karl! Every gear, every strike—spin them, crush them, tear them apart! Don't stop until nothing moves!"
Karl grinned beneath the helmet. "Got it… let's see how far this goes." He sent another gear spinning straight up, letting it arc and slam down on a berserker, the impact amplified by nanites shaping a sharp edge along the gear's underside. The creature was shredded, limbs twisted in impossible angles, as Karl adjusted the Vythra flow, keeping the system stable under the strain.
Agnes hissed, delighted and savage:
"Perfect~ yes~ every hit, every rotation! Vrrrmmm~! Feel it, Karl! Control it… command it… but DESTROY THEM~! Don't hold back! Give me the city~!"
Karl's eyes scanned the horizon, hundreds more demons still waiting in the dark. He tightened his grip on the Drive Regulator, feeling the torque, the spin, the hum of Vythra. He knew they could take it, that the nanites, the Gearstorm Nova projections, and Agnes' feral precision would keep them alive—for now.
But the city was alive with danger, and Karl smiled grimly beneath the visor. "Then let's show them exactly what we're made of."
The first wave of monsters screamed as spinning, jagged gears rained down, the streets alive with mechanical death, all orchestrated by Karl's hands and Agnes' untamed feral guidance.
Karl's cerulean visor flickered as the spinning gear projections began to dim, their hum softening, and the mechanical whirring gradually losing its intensity. One by one, the jagged, razor-edged discs flickered like dying embers before vanishing entirely.
"What the—?!" Karl muttered, stepping back inside Erevos, eyes scanning the suddenly quieter battlefield. His fingers clenched the Drive Regulator. The once overwhelming storm of gears had gone almost ghostly. "Why are they fading? They were fine a second ago…"
Agnes' voice slithered into his mind, low and feral, dripping with both urgency and excitement. "Karl~! Can't you feel it?! They're… slipping away… the Vythra, it's draining too fast! You need to push me—rev me… harder, harder than ever~!"
Karl's hands twitched over the ignition dial. "Harder…? You mean—now?!"
"Yes~ NOW, Karl!" Agnes practically roared, no trace of her usual teasing softness. Her tone was feral, almost desperate, a predator urging its hunter onward. "Vrrrmmm~! Push me! Drive your Vythra into me! Feel it flow through the gears, the nanites… through EVERYTHING! Don't stop—don't even THINK of stopping!"
Karl gritted his teeth, twisting the ignition dial faster. The kinetic hum of Vythra surged violently through the nanites, sending tremors along Erevos' armor plating. Steam hissed from the drive regulator as it absorbed the sudden overload, pumping it into the still-dormant gear projection circuits.
"Yes, yes~! That's it, Karl~!" Agnes' growl filled his mind, hot and wild. "Vrrrmmm~ yes! Faster! Harder! Every rotation, every pulse—feel it! You can make me sing, Karl! Rev me all the way to the red line! DON'T STOP~!"
Karl's visor glowed brighter, his limbs tightening in synchronization with the sudden surge of Vythra. He could feel the nanites responding instantly, reshaping, reinforcing, and priming the Drive Regulator for the next phase. The ghostly hum of the disappearing gears returned faintly as the circuits began to pulse anew.
"Alright… alright!" Karl hissed through gritted teeth, twisting and revving the dial with precision and force. "Let's see if you can handle this!"
Agnes' voice deepened, predatory and commanding, every word laced with power and fury. "YES~ KILL THEM ALL~! Vrrrmmm~ PUSH ME, KARL! FEED ME YOUR DRIVE! FEED ME VYTHRA UNTIL NOTHING STANDS IN OUR WAY! MAKE THE GEARS SING AGAIN!"
Steam hissed violently from the USB port, clouds of vapor obscuring the edges of Erevos. Karl felt it—the nanites' hunger, the gears' need to spin, the Vythra surging through the integration chamber. The fight wasn't over; it was only escalating.
Karl's jaw tightened. "Then… fine. Let's go." He twisted the ignition dial harder, faster, feeding every ounce of energy into the Drive Regulator. His mech shuddered as the first faint sparks of the returning Gearstorm Nova projections shimmered in the smoke-laden air.
Agnes purred feral and victorious in his mind. "YES~! THAT'S IT, KARL! REV ME HARDER! KEEP THEM ALIVE! KEEP THEM MOVING! KILL THEM ALL~! Vrrrmmm~!"