The Blueprint Overdrive rails unfurled beneath Erevos' feet like glowing arteries of cobalt light, stretching from the treeline to the outskirts of the Philadelphia quarantine camp. Karl's body hummed with low Vythra pressure, still recovering, but his movements remained deliberate and steady.
Inside the cockpit, nanite runes pulsed in rhythmic waves, syncing with his heartbeat. The world outside blurred into streaks of grey, ash, and old ruin.
Then—
The camp came into view.
Karl swallowed hard, gaze sweeping over the quarantine zone ahead. A crude wooden wall encircled the camp, tents sagging and shredded. Fire pits were cold and empty, barrels rusted, signs swinging on splintered posts: "KEEP OUT OR DIE."
A wooden perimeter wall — shoddy, desperate — stood half-collapsed. Tents sagged inward, torn by claws. Burnt cooking pots lay overturned next to makeshift benches. A child's wooden toy, half-charred, lay at the entrance. Bullet casings were scattered by the gate, but not enough. They had barely been armed.
Karl felt something seize in his chest.
"…God," he whispered. "They… they fought with nothing."
The skeletal remains of humans lay scattered across the dirt, hands clawing at a futile past. Karl's chest tightened. He had come too late.
"They… they didn't stand a chance," he whispered, fists clenching inside the cockpit. "I should have gotten here sooner…"
Agnes' voice wrapped around his thoughts like warm smoke.
"Mmm~ Karl… don't tighten your jaw like that. It makes your eyes all stormy~" she purred. "But… it's cute when you get emotional~"
Karl didn't answer. His gaze was locked ahead.
A skeletal hand clutched the broken fence. Another lay curled in a tent entrance, reaching toward a collapsed shelter where dozens of bones lay interwoven — a final, futile attempt at hiding.
His stomach twisted.
"I should have—" his voice cracked, barely audible. "I should've been here sooner."
Agnes' teasing softened, just a touch.
"Mmm… baby…"
Her voice dripped into his mind, gentler now.
"You're not a god. You can't be everywhere. You came as fast as you could~ Don't… punish yourself."
Karl's fists tightened on the control grips.
The horde stirred.
Red eyes snapped open across the camp — inside tents, under tables, behind stacked crates. Shadows detached themselves from walls. Dozens of demons rose at once, drawn by Erevos' light and the heat of Karl's Vythra.
The horde surged. Not the massive waves Karl had faced in New York, but enough to overwhelm the meager defenses of the camp. Skeletons of humans crunched under the demonic feet, remnants of futile resistance.
Karl's chest tightened again. He had failed them before he even arrived. "I… I should have been here… earlier…"
Agnes giggled.
"Ohhh Karl… look at all of them waking up just for you~"
A seductive whisper.
"Are you ready… to play with me?"
Karl inhaled sharply.
Not fear. Not excitement.
Resolve.
"I'll give them a clean end," he murmured.
"Mmm~ that's my boy… Now make me purr, Karl~"
He twisted the ignition dial.
Vythra surged.
Erevos' core flared with royal azure light as the mech snapped into full synchronization. Nanites spiraled across the armor. The blue rails beneath them brightened, preparing to launch.
Karl leaned forward.
"…Let's go."
Agnes moaned theatrically, teasing, delighted.
"Are you… ready~?"
The cockpit vibrated as the engine roared.
"Start your engine~!!!"
VRRRM—!!!
Erevos exploded forward.
The first demon, a spined demon, hurled itself at the cockpit—
But Erevos wasn't even visible to it.
A streak of blue light appeared behind the creature as its torso fell apart in midair.
Agnes purred.
"Mmm~ yes… faster, Karl. Just like that~ Let me feel every ounce of your precision…"
Karl slid Erevos along a rail he created on instinct, dodging a swarm of leaping Shadows. Nanite gears shifted at his calves, adjusting weight and torque perfectly.
A demon lunged from behind—
Erevos bent back at an impossible angle, gear joints rotating 180 degrees, blade flashing to remove its head.
"Ohhh~ that flexibility…" Agnes whispered, voice dripping with hungry praise. "Karl… you move so beautifully when you stop thinking and just feel me~"
Karl's breath tightened. "A-Agnes— focus."
"Mmm~ I am focused… on you~"
Three larger demons — Banshee Crawlers — screeched and bounded toward him from different directions.
Karl snapped the regulator dial twice.
Vythra flooded Erevos' limbs, nanites flaring outward to form two elongated forearm blades and a rotating gear shield.
He dashed forward.
Rail.
Spin.
Slash.
Thrust.
Impact.
Each movement was a perfectly executed sweep of death.
"Yes~ Karl… yes~" Agnes moaned in his mind. "Use that Vythra… push me faster… harder… Let them dance for you."
"I'm trying!" Karl grit out, sliding under a Crawler's claws. "There are too many!"
"Mmm~ don't worry… I love it when you panic a little~ it makes you grip me tighter~"
Karl nearly tripped mid-slide.
"A-AGNES—!!"
A demon dove at him.
Erevos sliced it apart.
When the last Crawler fell, Karl found himself standing amid the ruins of the camp.
Bones.
Shattered tents.
Broken signs.
Boot prints of people who never made it out.
He tightened his fists.
"…I'm sorry," he whispered.
The guilt hit him harder than any demon.
He didn't know these people.
But seeing where they hid, how they died — every detail crushed something inside him.
Agnes' teasing faded again.
Her tone lowered, warm and intimate.
"Karl…"
A gentle hum.
"Look at them."
He did.
Every skeleton frozen in fear.
Families still huddled together.
"You couldn't have saved them," she whispered. "You weren't even awake yet… You were still in the Cradle."
"I should've pushed harder."
His voice shook.
"If I had arrived earlier. I could've—"
"No."
Her tone sharpened.
Firm.
Borderline commanding.
"You're not their failure. You're their revenge."
Silence.
He closed his eyes.
Breathing.
Steadying.
"…Fine," he murmured. "Let's finish the rest."
And with that—
Agnes' teasing returned like silk sliding over bare steel.
"Mmmm~ that's my boy… Now~ shall we continue our little… dance?"
Karl rolled his eyes, flustered but steadier.
"Y-Yeah… let's keep moving."
"Good~ Now push me, Karl… Rev me harder… The next wave is coming~"
Rails unfurled.
Erevos stepped forward—
and the extermination continued.