Varyss Draemir stopped just a few meters away, his cloak fluttering in a breeze he seemed to generate himself for dramatic effect. He extended his arms, and the Nexo threads around him vibrated at a deep, almost funerary frequency.
"Can you feel it?" Varyss began, closing his eyes as if addressing an audience of thousands. "The Shadow is not the absence of light, but the truth that remains when hope is consumed. You, the supposed Chosen of this era, are nothing more than a vessel for the void that will devour this world. Our meeting was inevitable, Kei. It is the convergence of shadows that—"
Kei stared at him with his head slightly tilted. A streak of blood on his cheek had begun to dry, itching faintly. A ringing filled his ears, making Varyss's voice sound like it was coming from inside a metal can.
Behind him, Arata crossed his arms, frowning. Here comes the monologue again, his expression seemed to say.
Yuto sat on a chunk of rubble, spinning his sword between his fingers like he was shuffling cards.
Eirene rested one foot on a rock and leaned casually against it, watching the scene with an amused smile.
"…because within the fabric of the Nexo, your existence is the knot that must be cut so that true darkness—"
"Alright, you done yet?" Kei interrupted, his voice flat, completely devoid of epic tension.
Varyss froze mid-gesture. One eye opened. He blinked.
"What?"
"If you're finished," Kei repeated, letting out a long, tired sigh as he adjusted his grip on his sword. "You've been talking about fabric, knots, and shadows for three minutes. Everything hurts, I'm starving, and your stone giant still owes me a rib. If you're going to try to kill us, just do it. But skip the monologue. I'm really not in the mood for metaphors."
The silence that followed was heavier than any shadow Varyss had mentioned.
Eirene let out a muffled laugh, quickly disguising it as a cough.
Yuto rolled his eyes. "So dramatic…" he muttered.
Arata leaned on his sword and exhaled slowly. Again…
"Well…" Eirene murmured. "And here I thought you were the dramatic one, Kei."
For the first time that night, Varyss looked… slightly ridiculous.
His jaw tightened. The red glow of his Nexo threads shifted from elegant to violent and erratic. The humiliation weighed more than Eirene's magic. It was obvious in the tension of his face—his carefully rehearsed moment had just been ruined.
"Ridiculous?" he hissed.
The ground beneath his feet cracked—not from weight, but from sheer pressure of energy.
"I'll give you the silence you want. But it won't be the silence of conversation… it will be the silence of your graves."
With a violent pull of his hands, the stone colossus and the humanoid didn't just move—
They launched forward in a coordinated assault.
"Watch out!" Arata shouted, immediately snapping back into combat stance.
Kei didn't move at first.
The pull in his chest returned, but he remained calm. The ringing in his ears deepened into a dull roar, drowning out the sound of breaking asphalt.
"Much better," Kei muttered. His voice sounded hollow, even to himself.
"Less talking. More hitting."
Eirene jumped back, raising her hands. A barrier of compressed wind burst into existence just in time to deflect a massive chunk of stone hurled toward them.
"Well, I think you broke him, Kei," she said. This time, her smile carried a trace of concern. "He's losing control."
The colossus and the Nexo humanoid advanced in perfect synchronization, like twin hammers striking an anvil. Each step sent dust clouds into the air.
Arata and Yuto moved with precision.
Kei moved with something else entirely.
Calm.
The humanoid raised its massive arm to crush him, but Kei stepped onto a fragment of debris, spun through the air, and slashed across its side. Metal shrieked. A section of armor fell away.
Yuto followed immediately, sending a wave of fire across the street, forcing the colossus back.
Varyss's teeth clenched. His threads pulsed violently.
They shouldn't be able to hold this long...
Kael's vines intercepted falling debris and redirected it toward the humanoid, disrupting its balance.
The pressure was constant.
But the team's synergy was becoming undeniable.
Varyss leaned back slightly, arms still crossed, irritation mixing with calculation.
The colossus raised its arm again.
Kei was already gone from its line of sight.
He appeared behind the humanoid and struck precisely at the weakened points Eirene had created. The Nexo threads vibrated violently as Varyss tried to compensate.
Kei smiled.
For the first time since the battle began, there was no fear.
So... the end is gettingclose.
His movements grew sharper. More decisive.
[65%]
The battle continued. Every strike measured. Every motion controlled.
Then Kei felt something shift at his wrist.
He glanced at the chronograph.
The Slowdown subdial had moved.
His eyes returned to the colossus.
He ran straight toward it.
[71%]
Kei accelerated toward the weakened leg, sword crackling with focused energy.
Eirene compressed the air beneath the giant's foot.
Movement slowed.
Yuto unleashed a torrent of fire at the knee, amplified by oxygen flow.
Arata anchored the opposite shoulder with Nexo threads.
The colossus staggered.
Kei leaped and drove his blade deep into the weakened point.
Stone cracked.
For the first time, the giant lost its rhythm.
Varyss's expression darkened.
[77%]
Kei checked the chronograph again.
The Slowdown dial rotated steadily.
Every fraction mattered.
He adjusted his stance and synchronized his movements with the flow of time itself.
Eirene increased air density beneath the giant.
Yuto struck again with fire.
Arata locked its balance.
The colossus wavered.
Kei jumped, spinning, and drove his blade deeper.
The internal energy structures began to fracture.
[80%]
The giant roared.
But to Kei, it was slow.
Too slow.
Yuto struck the opposite knee.
Kael's vines locked its legs.
Varyss's threads pulsed frantically, trying to restore balance.
Kei inhaled.
Now...
He activated the chronograph.
Time slowed.
He unleashed a precise series of strikes, empowered by the team's accumulated momentum.
For a moment, time nearly stopped.
Then it surged back.
The colossus collapsed to its knees—
—and then forward, crashing into the street in a thunderous impact.
[83%]
The giant lay motionless, its stone face pressed against cracked asphalt.
Kei landed in front of it, breathing steadily.
He closed his eyes.
Then opened them.
And drove his sword into its neck.
The colossus fell silent.
Eirene exhaled, her smile finally free of mischief.
"Well… that was more satisfying than I expected."
"Wind, fire, and steel," Yuto muttered, wiping sweat away. "Who knew?"
Arata nodded, but his eyes were already on the remaining enemy.
The Nexo humanoid was still approaching.
Varyss stood with arms crossed, aura rippling.
One pillar had fallen.
One remained.
"Interesting…" he murmured. "The broken toy… can still play."
Kei raised his sword.
This time, the next strike had to be just as precise.
Eirene stepped beside him, Ether gathering around her hands.
"Alright, everyone. No distractions this time. No drama."
The wind swirled around the group.
For a moment, the world felt still.
Behind them, in the shadows—
Varyss watched.
Calculating.
Preparing.
The fall of the colossus wasn't the end.
It was only the prelude.
[85%]