The wind howled through the shattered skyscrapers of post-apocalyptic New York.
Billboards hung half-torn, streetlights flickered sporadically, and rusted cars lay abandoned like fossilized corpses of a forgotten age.
Karl stood in the middle of the street, Drive Regulator faintly glowing against his waist.
He could hear it — the low growl of creatures crawling beneath the city's skin.
The asphalt cracked.
From the shadows of an overturned bus, a cluster of weak-class demons emerged — lean, sinewy things with obsidian hides and jaws that split too wide. Their eyes gleamed faintly red, reflecting the cobalt shimmer of Karl's ignition core.
Karl sighed.
"Figures. First day back on Earth and I already get a welcoming party."
His hand reached for the ignition dial.
Vvrrrmmm... vvrrrmmm…
The Drive Regulator responded immediately, the sound echoing through the empty street like a mechanical heartbeat. Then, that familiar voice purred inside his head — smooth, teasing, confident.
Agnes: "Are you ready~?"
Karl: "…You again."
Agnes: "I am integrated into your neural frequency, partner. You can't exactly mute me."
Karl (smirking): "Guess I'll get used to it. Let's see what you can do."
Agnes: "Correction: what we can do. Start your engine~."
Karl twisted the dial.
VVVRRRRMMMMMM!
Blue light erupted around him.
Nanites surged from the regulator, spiraling into geometric formations before fusing into cobalt armor plates across his body. A visor folded down over his face as the last of the nanite energy locked in, sealing him within the Erevos Rider Frame.
Agnes: "Drive synchronization complete. Erevos Frame: operational."
Karl: "Alright then… let's get this show on the road."
The demons shrieked and charged.
Karl took a single step forward — and vanished.
The air snapped, and a shockwave rolled through the street.
He reappeared mid-spin, landing behind the first demon as it collapsed, sliced cleanly in two. His right arm shimmered, transforming into a sleek, blade-like nanite edge.
Agnes: "Reaction time: perfect. Kinetic output at 112%. Shall I adjust the torque regulators?"
Karl: "Nah. Let's see how much they can take first."
Three more demons lunged.
Karl ducked under a claw swipe, drove his blade upward, and split the creature's torso in a spray of glowing ichor. Without pausing, he twisted the ignition again — the blade along his arm glowing brighter as it reconfigured into a Vythra-Charged Punch Unit.
He slammed his fist into the ground.
BOOM!
The resulting kinetic blast sent a ripple of energy through the pavement, hurling the remaining demons backward like ragdolls. One crashed into a lamppost, another through a broken storefront.
Agnes: "Not bad. You've still got it."
Karl (panting slightly): "You're damn right I do."
A remaining demon tried to crawl away, screeching weakly. Karl approached slowly, armor hissing steam with each step. He raised his arm — then stopped.
Karl: "No point wasting charge on trash."
Agnes: "Efficient and stylish. You're growing on me already."
Karl (snorts): "I'm not here to impress you."
Agnes: "You already did."
The final demon disintegrated as nanites crawled off Karl's armor, burning away its body like living acid. The silence that followed was thick, heavy, broken only by the faint hum of the Drive Regulator winding down.
Karl looked around the ruined city, visor dimming slightly.
Karl (quietly): "So this is what's left of Earth…"
Agnes: "Debris, decay, and dormant hostility. But perhaps… a perfect place for a rebirth."
Karl: "Yeah… maybe you're right."
He turned toward the horizon — where the skeletal outline of the Statue of Liberty lay half-buried beneath rubble.
As the wind swept across the ruins, he rested a hand on the ignition dial again.
Karl: "Alright, partner. Let's find the others."
Agnes: "Acknowledged, Karl. Destination — Earthwide scan initialized. Beginning the hunt."
Blue nanite light flared behind him as Erevos' drive engine roared to life once more, and Kurogane Karl — Hephaestus' Chosen — disappeared into the wasteland, leaving only the faint sound of revving engines echoing through the dead city.
The cracked, flickering skyline of New York shimmered as Karl revved the ignition dial slowly, testing his connection to the Trinity Core. The first Erebion lurched forward, its limbs twitching unnaturally as it closed the distance.
"C'mon, Karl… slow doesn't win the race," a sultry voice purred in his head. "Rev me harder~ You'll feel the Vythra pulsing more if you push me. Don't be shy."
Karl froze, startled. "Agnes… I—what do you mean?"
"I mean," she teased, tone dripping with amusement, "that the faster you rev the dial, the more energy flows through your frame. Don't hold back, baby engineer. I love it when you get all… kinetic."
Blushing slightly, Karl gritted his teeth and twisted the ignition dial faster. Nanites hissed and surged across his armor, forming articulated panels over his arms and legs. The horde lunged, and instinctively, Karl fired a kinetic pulse from his gauntlet.
"Good… very good!" Agnes cooed. "Ohhh, yes… keep going, Karl. Don't just fire—aim where I tell you. The blue ones first, their veins carry energy! Hit those and you'll really see me purr."
Karl's visor flickered, tracking the glowing cobalt veins. He fired again, this time targeting the Erebion with the brightest pulse. One staggered and screamed, the sound horrifyingly human—but Agnes chuckled.
"Heehee, nice! You're already learning~ You know, if you push me just a little harder, I can enhance your reflexes too. Come on, rev me harder, Karl~ I love it when you struggle under pressure. Makes the victory sweeter."
Karl's pulse spiked as he twisted the dial faster, the Trinity Core humming louder. Nanites raced over his armor, forming reinforced gauntlets, knee plating, and segmented shoulder armor. An Erebion lunged from the shadows.
"Left! Left, Karl! Don't just stand there staring! Use your spin—twist me, baby!" Agnes sang in his mind, almost purring with delight. "Ohhh yes, just like that! The faster you rev, the more Vythra floods your frame. Don't stop now~"
Karl dodged instinctively, nanites flexing as the mech frame moved like water, and fired a concentrated Vythra pulse into the creature. The blast staggered it, but it reformed almost immediately, the veins of his own nanites creeping across its body.
"Uh oh," Agnes whispered teasingly, "look what you did. You just gave it a taste of your flavor… and now it's trying to copy you. Naughty, naughty Karl. Guess you're just too irresistible!"
Karl clenched his jaw. "Agnes… can you stop teasing me and help me focus?"
"Oh, I am helping, silly~!" she giggled. "I'm literally guiding your attacks. You're not noticing, but I'm analyzing their movements, predicting their strikes, whispering exactly where to fire your Vythra pulses. But—ohhh Karl—you have to listen to me~ And don't forget to keep revving, the faster, the hotter, the stronger…"
He twisted the dial faster, feeling Vythra surge through every fiber of his being, flowing into the nanites forming his mech frame. The horde attacked from all directions, but he moved with uncanny precision, guided by Agnes' voice.
"Yes, yes! That's it! Ohhh Karl, don't just block—twist your torso while you fire, yes~ Feel the energy! I can feel it racing through you! Make me moan, Karl, with the way you channel your Vythra!"
Karl's hands shook as he sent a concentrated pulse, hitting three Erebion at once. Their forms shimmered and distorted as his nanites clashed with their adaptive flesh.
"You see? That's what I mean~" Agnes cooed. "Push me harder, Karl! Faster revs, faster pulses, hotter strikes. That's my boy~ I love watching you work your skills."
Karl smirked despite himself, adrenaline roaring through his veins. With each twist of the ignition dial, each precise Vythra pulse, the horde staggered back. The nanites forming Erevos' frame seemed to pulse in rhythm with Agnes' teasing guidance, almost alive in sync with her voice.
"And don't forget," she added, voice low and seductive, "even when you're fighting, I'm here. Whispering… guiding… making sure you're perfectly in tune with me. You're doing so well, Karl… my perfect little forger~"
Karl's grin widened as he twisted the ignition dial faster, feeling the Trinity Core resonate with every pulse, every surge of Vythra. The horde lunged again—and this time, he dodged, struck, and overwhelmed with precision and flow, Agnes laughing and cooing in his mind like an electric symphony.