She collapsed.
Mid-strike...
All that force...
All that control...
Gone.
Her body fell forward...
Right into Elric.
He caught her...
Barely.
The remaining energy discharged harmlessly into the air.
Fizzling out in broken sparks.
Silence hit.
Heavy.
Real.
Mii gasped,
"…she stopped…"
Pix didn't smile.
Didn't move.
"…No," she whispered.
"…something else did."
Elric looked down at Elen.
In his arms.
Her breathing...
Uneven.
Shallow.
"…Elen?"
No response.
Just a faint tremor.
Like something inside her...
Still settling.
Lyra stepped forward carefully.
Blade lowered.
"…Status."
Kaida-9 scanned immediately.
"…Control signal... absent."
Sera added,
"…Interference source disrupted."
Pix's eyes snapped toward the figure.
"…Yeah."
"…disrupted."
Because it was still there.
Standing.
But...
Different.
Not calm anymore.
Not composed.
Its form...
Flickering.
Not like the masks.
Not like the crowd.
Breaking.
"…you…" it said.
Its voice...
Distorted.
Layered.
Multiple tones overlapping.
"…you were not supposed to..."
The sentence cut...
Glitched...
Restarted.
"…ANOMALY CONFIRMED."
The air tightened.
Hard.
Like pressure building...
Everywhere.
Sera stepped forward.
"…It's escalating."
Pix grinned again...
But sharp this time.
"…Good."
Lyra raised her blade.
"…We end it now."
Elric didn't move.
Still holding Elen.
"…wait."
They all paused.
"…that's not the real problem."
Silence.
Pix glanced at him.
"…oh?"
Elric looked up...
At the figure.
"…you're not in control anymore."
The figure froze.
Just for a second.
"…incorrect," it said.
But...
There was hesitation.
Tiny.
But there.
Pix's eyes lit up.
"…Oh."
A slow grin spread.
"…OH."
Sera caught it instantly.
"…The signal dropped."
Lyra's eyes narrowed.
"…Meaning..."
Pix finished it.
"…it lost priority."
Silence.
That realization...
Hit hard.
Because if it lost control...
Then something else...
Had taken it.
The figure's body glitched violently.
"…override…" it said.
"…denied…"
Its form...
Cracked.
Like earlier.
But worse.
Much worse.
Fragments of code...
Visible now...
Raw.
Unfiltered.
"…higher access…" it whispered.
A pause.
"…detected."
Pix's smile faded.
"…wait."
Slowly...
She turned.
Toward Elric.
Still holding Elen.
Still standing there.
"…no way," she whispered.
Mii blinked.
"…what?"
Sera's eyes narrowed.
"…it's reacting to him."
Kaida-9 confirmed.
"…Correlation: 98.7%."
Lyra looked between them.
"…Explain. Now."
Pix didn't answer immediately.
Because she was staring at Elric...
Like she was seeing something new.
Something dangerous.
"…you didn't break it," she said slowly.
A beat.
"…you overrode it."
Silence.
Elric blinked.
"…I did what now?"
The figure screamed.
This time...
Fully distorted.
"UNAUTHORIZED ROOT"
The sentence shattered.
Its form collapsed inward.
Compressed.
Like something was crushing it.
From above.
From beyond.
From something...
Stronger.
Then...
Gone.
Erased.
Not defeated.
Deleted.
Silence.
Complete.
The crowd resumed instantly.
Faces shifting.
Voices returning.
Like nothing had happened.
Like it never existed.
Mii looked around wildly.
"…WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"
Pix exhaled slowly.
"…we just got upgraded to a bigger problem."
Sera nodded.
"…Confirmed."
Lyra lowered her blade...
But didn't relax.
"…Explain."
Pix looked at Elric again.
Then at Elen.
Then back.
"…he's not just breaking the system," she said.
A pause.
"…the system is recognizing him."
Elric frowned.
"…that's not better."
Pix gave a small, sharp smile.
"…no."
A beat.
"…it's worse."
In his arms...
Elen stirred.
Just slightly.
Her fingers...
Weakly gripping his jacket.
"…Elric…" she whispered.
Soft.
Faint.
Real.
He looked down.
"…yeah," he said quietly.
"…I'm here."
Her eyes opened...
Slowly.
Clear.
No distortion.
No control.
Just her.
"…you didn't run," she said.
He smirked slightly.
"…you told me to."
A weak breath of something like a laugh.
"…you're bad at listening."
Mii sniffed loudly.
"…SHE'S BACK!"
Pix grinned again.
"…yeah."
Sera relaxed... just slightly.
Kaida-9 stepped back.
Threat level lowering.
Lyra turned away.
Scanning the crowd again.
But Elric...
Still looking at Elen.
"…you good?" he asked.
She didn't answer immediately.
Just looked at him.
Longer than usual.
Then...
"…not yet."
A pause.
"…but I will be."
And this time...
No one doubted it.
Far above...
Deep beyond the visible system...
Something shifted.
Not reacting.
Not observing.
Aware.
[ROOT ACCESS DETECTED]
[SOURCE: UNKNOWN]
[STATUS: UNCONTAINABLE]
And beneath it...
Something older...
Answered.
[WELCOME BACK]