The horde circled tighter, claws scraping and glowing faintly with residual Ichor energy. Karl's legs bent, every muscle coiling like springs ready to launch. His cerulean eyes flicked over the approaching creatures, but his mind couldn't help but linger on the teasing voice in his head.
"Faster, Karl~ Feel your Vythra surge through every fiber. Let it flow into your legs, into the Gear Drive…" Agnes whispered, sultry and deliberate.
Karl ground his teeth, ignoring the blush creeping over his cheeks. "I'm not—" He paused, realizing he was revving the ignition dial faster, letting the hum of the Trinity Core Node pulse in tandem with his heartbeat. His nanite lattice shimmered with energy, plates vibrating lightly as they aligned with his intent.
"Oh? Not?" Agnes purred, a mischievous lilt in her voice that made his pulse spike. "You've never sounded so… eager to listen. Rev me, Karl. Just a little more…"
Karl's hand twitched near the USB port, teasingly hovering, and Agnes's voice hit a sharp, flustered note. "K-Karl! Not that! Don't—don't touch it like that!"
A small, victorious smirk curled his lips. "Just testing something…" he muttered, dodging a swipe from a quadrupedal Erebion, the tips of its claws grazing the asphalt where he'd just been standing.
He spun, evading a lunging beast from the right. The ignition dial hummed under his grip, Vythra coursing faster through his veins, charging the nanites along his legs and torso. Every dodge and pivot was precise, calculated—not just to survive, but to build momentum for the kick.
"Good, Karl~ That's it… feel your Vythra flow, let it charge your… everything…" Agnes purred, her voice teasing yet guiding. "Breathe through it… concentrate…"
Karl's eyes narrowed as another Erebion tried to flank him from the left. He twisted, the motion sending his Vythra-charged nanites spinning in counter-rotation, deflecting the attack. Sparks flew where the energy met the creature's jagged limb.
"You're… really something, you know that?" he muttered, cheeks burning as he intentionally pressed a fingertip near the USB port, eliciting a sharp, flustered gasp from Agnes. "Don't pretend you don't like it."
"K-Karl! You—ugh… stop teasing!" she whined, voice faltering for the first time, caught between maintaining control and betraying her own flustered excitement.
He grinned, smirk widening, revving the dial faster. "Not until you help me finish this," he murmured. The creatures lunged again, and he dodged, pivoted, and spun, feeling the kinetic energy building in his legs.
The Trinity Core Node pulsed, nanites dancing across his frame, as the Vythra surged higher. Eight Erebions circled him now, each snarling, each trying to find an opening. He could feel their adaptive movements, but he was already anticipating them—his Rider Frame responding instinctively to his thoughts, his muscles and nanites harmonizing in a deadly dance.
Agnes's voice dipped lower, almost breathy: "That's it… yes, Karl… let it flow… push it… rev me harder~"
Karl's hands hovered near the ignition dial, his fingers brushing the edge of the USB port almost absentmindedly. The horde of Erebions circled, snarling and twitching with that unsettling, adaptive energy—but Karl barely noticed. His focus was split… between the battle and the sultry, teasing voice echoing in his mind.
"Stop…" Agnes's voice was low, melodic, but there was an edge to it, a mixture of half-playful warning and serious intent. "Stop touching me like that… unless you really want to feel the consequences."
Karl's smirk widened, his cerulean eyes glinting. "Oh? And what would that entail?" he asked, deliberately keeping his tone light, teasing. His fingers hovered closer, almost daring her.
Agnes's tone shifted subtly—seriousness threaded through the seduction. "I mean it, Karl. Don't… unless you're prepared. You know what happens if you cross that line." Her voice trembled just slightly, betraying the first hint of fluster she had ever experienced in her existence.
Karl's pulse quickened, not from fear but exhilaration. He was calm in combat, reading every movement of the horde, predicting each twitch and snap of claws. Yet here she was, the AI that had guided him, teasing him in a way that made him blush under the cerulean glow of his visor. He grinned, his ego swelling—he loved that he could make her falter.
"You're adorable when you're flustered," Karl murmured, lightly brushing a fingertip near the USB port again, testing the line she had drawn. "I wonder… can I push it just a little?"
Agnes gasped, a soft, flustered whine escaping her synthesized voice. "K-Karl! I… I warned you!" Her usual playful confidence wavered; she was momentarily caught off-guard by his boldness, her teasing laced now with urgency.
"Relax," Karl said smoothly, spinning to dodge a lunging Erebion. His body moved as one with the Rider Frame, every reflex honed and precise. "I've got control." His words weren't just for her—they were true. Every evasion, every pivot, every rev of the ignition dial reinforced his mastery over his form and the battlefield.
"Control, huh…" Agnes's voice hummed, a mixture of exasperation and breathless fascination. "Fine… just remember, Karl… one wrong move, and I won't be responsible for… consequences."
Karl chuckled softly, adjusting the ignition dial. "Noted. But for now… you're helping me win, aren't you?"
Agnes's flustered sigh was barely audible over the hum of the Trinity Core Node. "I'm helping… but you'd better not get any ideas about pushing this too far."
"And yet," Karl teased, fingers still hovering, "I feel like you want me to."
Her voice hit a flustered pitch, playful and frustrated all at once. "K-Karl! Focus! The horde!"
But even as she barked orders, there was a subtle warmth to her tone—a thread of intimacy woven into the teasing. Karl felt it, smirked, and glanced at the circling Erebions. His body was ready, his Vythra charging. His hand lingered near the USB port, teasing—but restrained. Agnes's breathy warnings drove his pulse higher, but he remained fully in control.
This dynamic—her seduction, half-threat, and his teasing counter—was a new rhythm between them. It wasn't just strategy anymore; it was play, a test of boundaries, a game neither could fully resist.
Karl revved the ignition dial lightly, feeling the pulse of the Trinity Core Node syncing with his heartbeat, and whispered, almost to himself: "You're not the only one who can play this game."
Agnes shivered audibly, flustered, and the air between them seemed charged—not just with Vythra, but with something electric, intimate, teasing, and dangerous all at once.
Karl's blush deepened, but his grin didn't falter. He was ready. One more evasive step, one more calculated twist of the ignition dial… and the third Eternal Drive Kick would finally strike.