It stepped forward. With each step, the Corrupted behind it decayed into ash.
Space warped.
Its mouth didn't move, but voices echoed in their minds.
"You who grasp false power... shall be broken beneath truth." Abbadon opened both arms, ready to greet their final two minutes of defiance.
— Time remaining: 01:49
The Replica didn't flinch when they approached again. It simply raised a finger. The sky inverted—a brilliant starlight became a dark ocean. Gravity shifted.
Ren was the first to feel it. His foot sank slightly into the stone like it turned to tar.
"Gravity manipulation... it's already compressing the field."
Raijin charged a Flashstep Burst and launched upward, clearing the pressure. His blade hummed in the void, multiple shapes splitting off from the main hilt.
"Multi-Weapon System: Active."
Ren gritted his teeth, slipping past a cluster of warping space pulses. He dashed right, then suddenly upward in a burst of lightning.
"Going high!"
"Copy that. Keep it erratic."
They split, criss-crossing in the air as the Replica watched silently.
Then it moved.
Not teleportation—it folded through space.
In one motion, it was in front of Ren. A hand already raised. A surge of darkness exploded out like a blooming flower.
Ren spun. One dagger deflected the blast, the other found no purchase. His shoulder took the edge of the hit, sending him flying.
"Ghh—still standing!"
Raijin intercepted from the side. Lightning gathered at his shoulder as he swung a blade infused with thunder.
Abbadon didn't dodge. It opened its mouth, and space around the blade collapsed. Raijin pulled back just in time, boots scraping across the air as he reset position.
"It's responding faster than the Shadow Kaiju did. This one's analytical."
Raijin wasted no time.
"Aura Slash."
The air hummed. The seals activated. Swords made of light began spiraling, North, South, East, West—diagonals followed, until the arcs of power formed a dome.
"Watch your spacing!"
Ren didn't need the warning. Raijin compressed the range, the shockwaves of Aura Slash ripped through the plane.
"We only have one shot at this. Time's burning."
Scene continuation — Nexus Plane, time remaining: 01:38
Ren exhaled, his grip tightening on the twin daggers.
The Full Sync Mode had just barely been survived a few hours ago.
His body, still burnt at the edges from the earlier overload, trembled even in Partial Sync Mode. He had been looking forward to hitting Full Sync again—to really show Raijin what he could do—but the System didn't lie: any attempt at Full Sync twice in one day would tear his body apart.
"Partial Sync Mode engaged," the System whispered in his mind.
Light surged over his spine and arms, forming circuit-like traces that pulsed blue with every heartbeat. The daggers glowed, fed directly by Raijin's active core.
Raijin hovered slightly behind him, forming a cross-armed stance mid-air as blades spun and realigned behind his back like satellites. Lightning curled off his shoulders like smoke.
"We go together. You handle speed. I'll pressure control."
Ren glanced up at the monstrous Abbadon Replica, its shadow spreading wider beneath its feet, tendrils of Corrupted energy licking at the edge of the arena.
"Let's break the limit."
And they launched.
Ren moved first, accelerating to impossible speed, leaving thunderous booms behind every dash.
Abbadon lifted a hand—time buckled slightly, enough to distort vision—but Ren pivoted upward, spinning into a vertical slice that released a shockwave.
Abbadon blocked with a single arm, its elbow shuddering slightly.
Raijin crashed in next, swinging a three-part chain blade wrapped in live current. The Replica ducked, then parried upward with a rising column of gravitational energy.
Ren rode the column up instead of avoiding it, flipping into a twisting dive that plunged one dagger into Abbadon's shoulder. The Replica staggered—only slightly—but caught his leg in retaliation.
"Gkh—!"
Before Abbadon could slam him down, a blade of lightning cut the sky.
Raijin slashed in from the right, severing the arm.
"Move!"
Ren escaped the grip just before the ground underneath imploded from a backlash of Corrupted force. He skidded beside Raijin, breathing hard.
"Tactical note," Raijin said, spinning another blade into place. "Its limbs regenerate unnaturally fast, don't waste energy on dismemberment. Aim for destabilization."
Ren replied, "I see…so we go straight for it kill rather than inflicting damage."
They split again, moving like mirrored blades around a singular storm.
Aura Slash flickered around them now in tight arcs—the dome had re-engaged, but with tighter focus. The cardinal slashes began syncing with Raijin's hand gestures, slicing diagonally to create attack windows.
Ren dashed through one of those slashes, barely a breath ahead of it, and stabbed upward. Abbadon deflected, and for a moment, all three stood locked at the center.
Then the Replica's wings burst open.
A void pulse screamed across the plane.
Raijin dragged Ren back, crashing them both through a line of broken spires as gravity reversed mid-air.
"Its energy field just tripled. It's adapting—"
Ren cut back, "So are we."
He wiped blood from his lip, eyes glowing stronger now. He stood up slowly, nodding.
"Let's finish this in the next sixty seconds. We can't waste another minute."
Raijin activated another tier of his Multi-Weapon System. Now eight blades hovered behind him, each with a different elemental channel flickering across the surface.
"Final Assault Sequence active. Syncing with your current tempo."
Ren nodded. Sparks burst from his boots as he pushed forward again.
"Tempo locked."
"Then let's raise hell."
Scene continues — Time remaining: 01:01
The Corrupted skies rippled violently above a shattered horizon. All around, reality flickered between stable Nexus code and decaying fragments of Abbadon's Thronefield. Suspended high above the arena was the 28% Power Replica of Abbadon — a monstrous, hollowed shadow layered with gravitational rings and ancient glyphs that shifted and burned like celestial embers.
Beneath it, Ren crouched low, eyes focused and locked. His aura was unstable, lightning flickering around him like a solar storm caged in skin. Cracks formed across his arms from Kaivor overload, but he didn't flinch. Partial Sync Mode was active. It's all he could afford. His body couldn't handle Full Sync twice in one day.
Above, Raijin hovered mid-air, spinning his Multi-Weapon arsenal. Dual glaives crackled at his side, reforming every few seconds into spears, greatswords, and twin sabers. He was locked in. Focused.
Abbadon Replica's core pulsed.
An unseen force launched downward. Gravity condensed into a black sphere that ripped through the field. Everything in its radius began folding inward—the sky imploded, terrain fractured, and nearby Corrupted beasts were crushed into dust.
Ren's voice cut through the chaos, "Now, Raijin!"
Raijin replied, "Go!"
They split like thunder splitting sky. Ren vanished into a blur, zigzagging between gravitational rifts. Each dash released a shockwave. He launched upward in a flash, daggers in reverse grip. He pierced through Abbadon's shoulder, carving a lightning path through its upper back. Energy bursts.
Raijin barreled through next, spear-first, slicing clean across Abbadon's side. Sparks ignited across the abomination's ribs. Its gravitational rings spiraled wildly, malfunctioning from damage.
> Abbadon Replica (Unleashing Frequency Pulse): "⟟⨀⟒⌰⟟⨁⨁!!!"
Reality bent around them. Time dilated. The Replica released a reality-crushing roar, warping the field with a directional void beam. Ren responded instantly:
System: [Kaivor Override: Storm Scatter initiated.]
From his position mid-air, hundreds of electric dagger echoes formed around Ren, spinning like comets. He vanished.
He reappeared behind the Replica, stabbing twice, disappeared.
Appeared again below it, dragging both daggers upward through its torso.
The electric echoes followed suit, slamming into the Replica like storm hammers, one after the other, overwhelming its regeneration.
Ren's hair had danced with flickers of white electricity, each strand outlined by the faint shimmer of untapped power. Faint glows had clung to his eyes like twin storms waiting to be unleashed, while thin streaks of glowing blue energy had etched themselves across his arms and cheeks—scars made of lightning.
Teeth clenched, he muttered under his breath, "Too fast... but not faster than me."
A blade-like limb had come within inches of slicing his temple—missing only because his body had ducked a heartbeat before impact. In the same motion, his momentum had been converted into a spiral kick—Storm Spiral Kick—released mid-air with a snap of his leg. Paralyzing shockwaves had blasted outward upon contact.
The Replica had absorbed the strike, faltered for less than a second... then vanished.
It had reappeared behind him.
A faint sound, a glitch in reality itself.
Ren's breath had caught. Tch—
From the edge of the battlefield, Raijin had been there in stillness—unmoving, unreadable.
Then—
CRACK—ZHHMM!
Both palms had slammed together with sudden force, triggering a detonation of lightning that had erupted between them. Dragging his palms outward, the energy had arced outward, twisting unnaturally through the charged air—alive, wild. It had snapped and writhed like a chained beast until Raijin had shaped it, bent it, and forced it into form—a bow of pure lightning held steady between his arms.
The weapon had radiated with enough heat to warp the air around it. Sparks danced around his fingers, and yet his expression had remained infuriatingly calm.
"Yo, Ren—MOVE," he had said, with a smirk in his voice.
Without hesitation, Ren had responded. "—Say less."
He'd launched himself into the air, flipping over the Replica in a single fluid motion, trusting his partner completely. The moment his body had cleared the target, the arrow had begun to form—massive, unstable, alive.
A storm compressed into a single point.
SFX: ZZZZRRRMMM—BOOM
Raijin's fingers had released.
The air had been split with a sound that had echoed like the sky being torn in two. The lightning arrow had surged forward, a blur of fury and raw voltage. The Replica had been pierced dead center—straight through its chest, the arrow driving deeper, into the pulsating, barely visible core beneath its shell of writhing shadow.
A shriek had been loosed—not a sound, but a cacophony—glitching, distorted, falling in and out of human comprehension. It had sounded like reversed screams, twisted whispers, deep abyssal bellows.
Then silence.
The Replica had imploded inward—its form collapsing like a dying star—until nothing remained but particles of shadow and fading light, drifting like dark ash across the cracked earth.
The battlefield had fallen into eerie quiet.
He had looked on for a second. His gaze then shifted toward Raijin.
They glanced around the darkened Nexus, the flickering remains of the battle echoing like ghosts in the void. Ren wiped his blade clean as the static hum of dissipating Corrupted energy finally quieted. Raijin floated down beside him.
Both breathed hard.
Ren: "We good?"
Raijin: "We're golden."
A beat passed. The air was still.
Then both of them glanced upward, waiting… expecting the System to flash the return sequence.
It didn't.
The silence lingered.
"Uh… we're done, right? Where's the recall?" A confused and tired Ren asked.
Raijin's eyes squinted. He flicked his hand, checked the timer. And then—his expression fell blank.
Raijin: "…No way."
Ren: "What?"
Raijin: "We didn't calculate it right."
Ren walked over, peeking at the projected System HUD.
Four minutes.
Not inside.
Outside.
Raijin: "Four hours here is one minute out there…"
Ren's eyes widened.
Ren: "…And Infernia gave us four minutes…"
Raijin slowly facepalmed, dragging a hand down his face as the weight of the realization crashed in.
"…That's sixteen hours." Raijin had said with a held-in laugh, the sound coming off as a snort.
Then he couldn't hold it, he started laughing. Uncontrollably. Like that manic post-deadlift, post-war, "we-messed-up-bad-but-it's-hilarious" kind of laughter.
"Yo… then we didn't spend to a second." Ren had said with an innocent realization.
Raijin: "Heh, I wonder what her face will be like when she turns back just to see us again."
Ren sighed, looking up at the void sky of the Nexus.
Ren: "Yeah... I can already imagine that."
Raijin turned toward Ren as the void in the Nexus plane dimmed.
"Time to head back," he muttered, activating the Portal Matrix behind him. Just before the energy swallowed Ren, Raijin added, "I've got a blade to start fixing—the one that Replica of Abbadon mangled."
The light from the portal pulsed.
Then silence.
In the real world, barely a heartbeat had passed.
Infernia turned toward Mika, then glanced at the clock mounted on the nearby wall. Her gaze shifted back to the couch where Ren had been—only to see him standing there again, slightly battered, slightly steaming, and visibly confused.
Her eyes widened.
Ren blinked. "...Hey."
Infernia narrowed her eyes. "How are you—? Never mind. Just—bed. Now."
She whispered more gently, brushing past the confusion. "I don't really care when you come back... as long as it didn't exceed my four minutes. C'mon. Back to sleep. You need rest."
As Ren approached the bed, Infernia added with a sly smirk, "Oh, and Mika said your name in her sleep. Wanna know what she said?"
Ren raised a brow, intrigued.
She turned away dramatically. "Well, you missed it. I'm not telling you."
Ren chuckled, shaking his head slightly. He looked at the scene—Mika softly breathing, curled on the couch—and silently decided. Without a word, he leaned down, lifted Mika carefully in his arms, and laid her gently onto the bed, pulling the covers over her.
"Ohhh? Romantic much?" Infernia teased from the corner, arms crossed with a glint in her eyes.
Ren sighed. "It's not like that at all. I can't sleep on her bed while she sleeps on the couch."
He turned and moved toward the couch, but before he could sit—
Infernia groaned. "Right when I thought you were my saviour—you got Mika off the couch, now you wanna occupy it yourself?"
She planted a hand on his chest. "Nope. You can sleep in the bed. I can't. Leave this one to me. I don't wanna sleep on the floor anymore."
She pouted with an exaggerated grumble and pushed him lightly back toward the bed.
Ren gave in with a sigh, sliding back under the sheets beside Mika, careful not to wake her.
Infernia curled up on the couch with a blanket she conjured with a flick of her flames, whispering to herself, "Men... always needing directions."
Silence finally settled.
Night stretched onward. But for the moment—peace had found them.
The next morning's light bled softly into the room, golden streaks stretching across the wooden floor and the corners of the bed. Mika stirred first. Her eyes fluttered open, only to widen in a second. There was Ren, still asleep beside her, his face peaceful, unaware of the situation that was about to erupt.
She blinked rapidly, face turning a deep red.
"Wha–?!" she scrambled up, throwing the covers off and storming to where Infernia lay curled on the couch. "Hey?! YOU DID THIS?!"
Infernia groaned, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. "Wha... no yelling so early..."
Mika grabbed her by the shoulders and began shaking her back and forth. "Hey?! Hey?! YOU PUT ME IN BED WITH HIM, DIDN'T YOU?!"
"Ughh... it wasn't me!" Infernia flopped back and forth loosely like a ragdoll in Mika's grip. "It was Ren! He carried you there. I just begged him to stay in bed. I didn't wanna sleep on the floor anymore. It's cold and my body's stiff!"
Mika paused, then slowly let her go. Her face was still bright red.
"Tch, fine."
"Whatever," Infernia muttered, rubbing her temples.
Minutes after the morning drama, Mika moved through the kitchen area in an apron that was way too big for her, sleeves rolled and hair tied, trying to make something edible. Infernia, half-asleep on the couch and wrapped in a blanket cocoon, peeked one eye open with growing concern as she walks up to meet her at the kitchen. Ren sat quietly at her room, as Mika stirred something with intense focus.
"You're really serious about this, huh?" Infernia mumbled, squinting at the suspiciously bubbling pan.
Mika glanced over her shoulder. "It's just breakfast. I figured after yesterday, he could use a proper meal."
Ren yelled from her room. "Is that smoke!?"
Mika flinched. Infernia groaned. "I KNEW it. Oh nooo... You're doing this again."
After a minor food incident and a lot of fanning the smoke alarm, Infernia settled for instant noodles and toast. She had one leg hanging over the dinner table, happily chewing while Mika quietly looked at the kitchen disaster she caused.
Ren stood to clean the plates, brushing past Mika. She turned at the same time—and stumbled right into him. His hands caught her by the arms instinctively. They stood still for a moment. Her face flushed immediately.
"S-Sorry!" Mika stammered, trying to back away.
"You okay?" Ren asked, tilting his head.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good—!" She tripped again on the mat, only for Ren to catch her again, now much closer.
Infernia leaned over the chair at the dinner table with a mischievous grin. "Ohhhh? Twice in a row? Ren, you dog."
"Huh?" Ren turned back, confused. Mika's face was on fire.
After all the cleaning, Mika went into the kitchen again. Stubborn as she was she wasn't letting Ren go hungry that morning.
"Ren, Eat something," she said once the instant noodles she attempted to make again was done, setting the tray beside him.
Infernia peeked at the plate, then winced. "Oh nooo..."
Mika turned, spoon in hand like a weapon. "Wanna have a taste of this spoon?!"
"...No ma'am," Infernia mumbled, sinking back into her seat.
Then Infernia stood up offering the sit she was just ate at, "...here Ren, sit sit.", hands lacing at the edges of the top of the seat.
Ren blinked slowly as he sat down, sniffed the food, then looked at Mika.
"You made this?"
"With my own hands," she said, pride covering the nerves on her face.
He took a bite. Paused. Nodded slightly.
"It's... food."
"Hey!"
Infernia cackled.
After Ren successfully gulped the last of Mika's "good" cooking, he looked sick, "T-thanks f-for the f-f-foo-d", he managed to mutter.
"A-arrrrrgggghhh! Just—let's go, we should check up on the others! Right?!" she barked quickly, brushing past then grabbing her jacket.
Some time passed. Ren stood outside by the steps, stretching. His body still ached faintly from the night before. Mika walked out beside him, tying the straps of her boots. Infernia followed behind, groaning about leaving the comfort of a couch again.
The sky was hazy, faint blue clashing with streaks of violet from the portal's lingering energy overhead. The city was quiet but charged—power lines buzzed, the air held a light tension.
They split up briefly in the district. The goal was simple: regroup. Find the others, check on them. Then discuss the next action to take on the portal above them.
Mika glanced toward the plaza ruins. "Think Haru's around there?"
"He'd go somewhere wide open, probably to train," Ren replied.
"Kaede might be at that busted stadium again," Infernia added.
"Let's head there after. Eiji's usually near the highway or the bridge."
They kept walking, footsteps echoing against the half-cracked pavement, the silence of the city broken only by distant rumbles and gusts of portal wind swirling through the alleys.
Still, none of them said it, but the same feeling loomed—whatever was coming next, it was going to be worse than anything they'd faced so far.
The city streets now looks somewhat different as the morning light filtered to purple through the hole torn damaged skyline. The group—Ren, Mika, and their ever-present third wheel Infernia—are moving through the cracked roads and debris-covered walkways.
Mika walks beside Ren, her arms crossed and cheeks slightly puffed. Infernia trails a few feet behind them, clearly amused, hands behind her head, tail flicking playfully.
As the group passes a collapsed overpass, Mika stumbles over a loose piece of rubble. Without thinking, Ren instinctively catches her by the waist, pulling her close to steady her. Their faces are suddenly inches apart.
Mika blinks rapidly, frozen.
Ren just looks at her blankly. "You good?"
"Y-yeah... totally fine," she says, voice cracking slightly. She pushes off him a little too quickly, brushing invisible dust off her clothes. Her face is red. "That was nothing. I'm agile. Super agile."
"You're still trembling," Ren says casually.
"AM NOT."
From behind them, Infernia makes a dramatic coughing noise.
"Awwwwwkward," she drawls with a smug grin. "You two wanna hold hands while you're at it? Should I walk *way* slower so you get more accidental tripping chances? Should I pretend I didn't see that little head-tilt moment?"
"Infernia!" Mika hisses, whirling around. "It wasn't like that!"
Ren scratches his head, confused. "Like what?"
"SEE?!" Mika throws her hands up. "He doesn't even—! Ugh, never mind."
Infernia leans forward with a sly grin. "Hey, I'm just the third wheel. I *live* for these spicy misunderstandings."
Ren ignores both and keeps walking. "Let's go. We still haven't found Haru or Eiji."
Mika sighs and follows. Infernia grins behind them, pulling out her phone to "check the map," but mostly just typing notes to herself: *Mika: crushing. Ren: dense. Infernia: icon.*
As they round a corner into the shopping district—now a ghost town—Mika casually shifts a little closer to Ren, not quite touching, but clearly aware. Ren notices and tilts his head.
"Are you limping?"
"No!" she snaps, almost jumping. "Why would I be?!"
"Just looked like you were drifting. Like, sideways."
Mika groans and speeds up.
Infernia, snorting to herself, follows. "Oh yeah," she whispers, "this is gonna be a long, fun day."
As they strolled through the remnants of the city, purple light slipping behind distant rooftops, Ren and Mika walked side by side—close enough for their shoulders to occasionally brush. Each time it happened, Mika stiffened slightly, then quickly masked it with a stretch or an exaggerated yawn. Ren, ever oblivious, just kept talking about the differences between training in the Nexus and real-world movement timing.
Infernia, trailing behind them like a sleepy third wheel, flicked a stray piece of rubble with her toe and muttered under her breath, "You two are the slowest-burning bonfire I've ever seen..."
"Did you say something?" Mika asked, glancing over her shoulder.
"Yeah," Infernia said, grinning. "Why haven't we checked the base yet? Kind of important, don't you think?"
Ren blinked. "...We haven't? Huh. I thought we were heading there."
"You were heading to a date spot, maybe," Infernia muttered with a grin. "Anyway, let's move."
Soon, the trio walked through cracked sidewalks and past shattered windows, approaching the reinforced compound that served as their team's hideout. The base, despite being surrounded by chaos and wreckage, stood firm—shielded by layers of tech barriers and Kaiju-forged reinforcements.
As they entered, a sudden burst of voices and familiar energy signatures filled the air.
Inside, Aqua sat cross-legged on the central table, calmly sipping from a water bottle, her eyes closed as if meditating. Haru leaned against the wall nearby, adjusting the wrappings on his arms while occasionally shooting wary glances at Eiji, who was trying (and failing) to balance his oversized warhammer upright. Titan, massive even in his reduced human form, stood behind Eiji like a looming statue, arms crossed.
Zephyr floated lazily mid-air, twirling in a lazy spin as she traced patterns in the air with her finger, clearly bored. Kaede stood by one of the worktables, her calm, sharp eyes locking onto the incoming trio.
She tilted her head slightly and said flatly, "Took you long enough, Ren. Enjoy yourselves, huh, Mika?"
Mika instantly turned pink, hands shooting up defensively. "W-we were just—!"
Infernia stepped forward, cutting her off with a sly grin. "Ouuu, Kaede, I have so much to tell you. You're not gonna believe the night we had."
Kaede raised a brow but didn't respond—just gave that cool, calculating deadpan look that said she already knew more than she let on.
Ren scratched his head. "So... everyone's here already, huh?"
Haru gave a half-smirk. "Welcome to the club. What took you guys so long? We've already done some recon."
"Recon?" Ren asked.
Aqua opened one eye. "Yes. And we made a list of potential attacks. Figured we'd do something productive while you were busy… bonding."
Mika looked like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. Infernia just grinned wider.
Zephyr, still twirling, called out, "So what's the plan now, lovebirds and ghost girl?"