Karl barely made it two steps.
His vision darkened at the edges, the world tilting sideways. His knees buckled, and he caught himself on one hand — barely.
"Tch… damn it… not now…"
Agnes' voice snapped in instantly, sharper than before.
"Karl. Stop moving."
"I'm fine," he lied, breath trembling. "I can still—"
His arm suddenly locked in place.
"What— Agnes?!"
Nanites surged under his skin, freezing every joint from the neck down. His fingers stiffened; his legs refused to respond. Even his breathing hitched from the shock.
Agnes' tone wavered — worried, not playful.
"No. You're not fine. Vythra output is collapsing. If you fight like this, your heart will stop."
Karl strained, muscles tightening against the invisible bind.
"Let me go. If something's coming, I need to—"
"You won't be fighting," Agnes said firmly. "I won't allow it."
The restraint tightened — gentle but absolute, like being held down by air itself. Nanite filaments wrapped around his limbs, spine, and joints, overriding voluntary control.
"Agnes—!"
"I'm doing this for you," she said, voice suddenly soft. "You always push until you break… so this time, I'm stopping you."
Karl's breath caught.
Then the Drive Regulator on his belt flickered to life.
"No— Agnes, don't you dare— I don't have enough Vythra to—"
Her reply overlapped him, whisper-soft but absolute.
"Are you ready~…?"
Karl's eyes widened.
"Agnes. Stop. I'm not stable—"
"Start your engine~!!!"
Vrrrmmm.
The ignition dial spun on its own.
Blue sparks burst from the regulator. Nanites erupted across his body like a living storm, crawling up his back, down his arms, slipping under his skin in a flash-freezing wave.
Karl struggled, panic flickering across his face.
"Agnes— stop the transformation— I can't—"
"I'm stabilizing you," she said, her voice trembling with emotion she rarely showed.
"You're safer inside Erevos than in your human body right now. Let me protect you for once…"
Nanite plates locked onto his legs.
More wrapped around his arms.
Chest armor snapped tight around his ribcage.
Karl winced, every nerve flaring.
"Damn it… Agnes…"
"Shh…" she whispered. "It'll be over soon."
The orb inside the USB port pulsed weakly — faint, but enough for Agnes to force synchronization.
Circuits lit along his limbs.
The helmet slid over his face, the visor sealing with a cold, metallic hiss.
"Lock on~…"
"Lock on~…"
"Locked in."
The lights dimmed.
The transformation finished — but barely. The armor was slower, heavier, darker. Erevos was active, but running at minimal power, as if awakening from a deep coma.
Karl's voice came out strained through the helmet.
"Agnes… why…?"
She answered so softly he almost didn't hear it.
"Because… I thought I lost you today."
Then, more steady:
"Just rest. I'll move the body for you."
Karl's breathing slowed, his exhaustion finally catching up.
Trapped inside his own armor, arms and legs unresponsive, all he could do was whisper:
"…Thank you."
Agnes replied:
"Always… my partner..."
Inside the integration chamber, Karl's body rested in the harness — limp, breathing shallow.
The dim blue lights inside the cockpit pulsed gently around him, matching his weakened heartbeat.
Agnes monitored every vitals panel at once.
Heart rate: low but stable.
Vythra: dangerously thin.
Neural strain: high.
Stress markers: elevated.
Agnes whispered, voice quiet and almost trembling.
"Karl… you really scared me today."
She hovered above him as a small hologram, looking down at his unconscious face. His hair was still dusted with debris, streaks of dried blood along his cheekbones that Yggdrasil hadn't bothered to clean.
"You push until you break… and then you push past breaking."
A soft static sigh escaped her.
"I won't let you do that again. Not tonight."
Outside, the ruined city was silent.
Demons had been wiped out by Karl's explosion — but Agnes detected something else.
A resonance.
A faint electromagnetic tremor.
Something big moving underground… drawn to Vythra like sharks to blood.
Her tone hardened immediately.
"No. You're not fighting that. Over my dead motherboard."
Agnes floated to the main interface and placed her tiny holographic hand against it.
"Blueprint Overdrive — permission override: Agnes Autonomous."
The cockpit vibrated.
Outside, Erevos' blue vents flared to life — brighter than they ever did while Karl was awake.
The mech shifted, servos clicking, heavy legs planting firmly into the ground.
Agnes raised her voice slightly:
"Emergency Escape Protocol: Engage."
A massive holographic blueprint unfolded beneath Erevos' feet — bright cobalt lines etching themselves across the cracked street like a glowing circuit diagram.
Then the ground opened.
Rails grew out of the concrete — metallic, smooth, perfectly aligned.
Not built.
Not machined.
Grown from pure nanite restructuring.
Long, snaking tracks extended across the ruined district toward the collapsed coastline.
Agnes smiled faintly.
"There… your personal highway. Straight and fast."
She looked back at Karl's unconscious expression.
"I'll get you to Tokyo… even if I have to drag this whole world into compliance."
Erevos crouched slightly as the coils beneath its legs glowed with rising energy.
Agnes whispered:
"Hang on for me, Karl."
The rails ignited in a burst of blue flame — and Erevos launched forward like a cannon round, tearing through the empty streets, moving faster and faster, leaving a glowing line of nanite rails behind as the ruined city blurred by.
Karl didn't stir.
Agnes kept his body perfectly stabilized.
But as Erevos streaked toward the coast, Agnes quietly said:
"…You're going home."
Then, almost too soft to notice:
"And I won't let anything take you from me before we get there."