Cynthia kicked the kickstand up and gripped the handlebars. She didn't even look back at the chaos behind her. "Okay, Yoru. Playtime is over for me. I've got a long ride to Hydro City. Bye."
She twisted the throttle, expecting the familiar roar of the black bike's engine. But instead of a boom, there was only a hollow, pathetic click.
Gudmaro was crouched low, his three-fingered hand pressed firmly against the bike's rear exhaust. His obsidian skin was beginning to glow with a violent, pulsating crimson light.
"What the...?" Cynthia frowned, tapping the fuel gauge on her dashboard. "Why is this thing not starting? I just filled the Mana tank in the last town. How is it showing zero?"
She shook the bike, but the digital display flickered and died. The high-grade, compressed Mana that powered a Horseman-tier vehicle—energy dense enough to fuel a city for a century—was gone.
Inside Gudmaro's core, a digital counter was spinning so fast it was a blur of white numbers.
[Gudmaro's Evolution: 47.80%]
Gudmaro threw his head back, his shattered jaw re-aligning itself instantly. His muscles didn't just grow; they hardened into a polished, diamond-like obsidian. The air around him began to distort, not from mana, but from the sheer gravitational weight of his new form.
"Again..." Gudmaro whispered, his voice now a smooth, terrifying baritone. "Too much Mana. From just her bike... I can feel the Horseman's blood in my veins!"
He looked at his hands, which were now pulsing with a dark red aura that matched Cynthia's. He wasn't just a virus anymore. He was becoming a Mirror.
[Scene Shift: The Tree of Life]
Techyon was already sprinting toward the edge of the grove. "This is bad! I have to get there! They don't understand—he's not just eating the mana; he's using it as a blueprint! I'm going!"
Lapis forced himself upward, his legs shaking and his vision blurring. "Wait, Techyon. You run too slow. I'm going to teleport us all there."
The Arcon of Life rushed to support him. "Lapis, stop! You are completely exhausted! Your core is nearly empty!"
Lapis wiped a trail of blood from his mouth and gave a weak, cocky smirk. "The Gifted One... never gets exhausted. I'll sleep when the universe is safe."
[The Northern Road]
Yoru realized the trap instantly. "Cynthia! Stop! This monster is draining your bike's Mana! He's using you as a fuel source!"
Cynthia didn't look worried. "No problem. I don't need Mana Stones to recharge this piece of junk." She placed her palm on the fuel tank, and a crimson glow flooded the engine. The tank went from zero to full in a heartbeat. "I can recharge it with my own essence all day."
But as she spoke, her eyes widened. 'Wait... why does it feel like my very soul is being sucked out?'
Cynthia's face hardened. She finally looked at the obsidian wreck clutching her exhaust. "So, you're the one doing it? You want my power? FINE. HAVE IT ALL! FUSION FLARE!"
A massive spear of white-hot, Horseman-tier flame manifested in her hand. The heat was so intense the asphalt beneath her bike turned into glass. She slammed the spear into Gudmaro's chest, intending to vaporize him.
But Gudmaro didn't die. He laughed.
His body opened up like a flower of thorns, absorbing the white fire as fast as Cynthia could produce it.
[Gudmaro's Evolution: 98.56%]
"A little bit more..." Gudmaro's voice was now deep, echoing from multiple dimensions at once. "Just one more taste of the divine!"
Cynthia stumbled, her breathing becoming heavy. "Why... why is my Mana level dropping so fast? If this continues, even I will be exhausted."
"Get away from him!" Yoru screamed. She lunged forward, her hand forming a jagged edge of force. "Split Blade!"
She struck with enough power to slice a moon, but Gudmaro didn't dodge. He reached out and caught the blade with his bare hand. The physical impact was immense, but he didn't care about the pain. He sucked the "Impact" energy right out of Yoru's strike.
"It's here," Gudmaro whispered. "The end of the old world."
[Gudmaro's Evolution: 99.99%]
Gudmaro didn't just push Yoru away; he flicked his wrist with a contemptuous click of his fingers, and the "4% Goddess" was sent hurtling back like a ragdoll.
Before Cynthia could pull back, Gudmaro's hand shot out like a viper, gripping her wrist with a crushing, obsidian force. He wasn't just touching her anymore; he was merging his circuits with her veins.
"The search is over," Gudmaro hissed, his eyes glowing with a blinding, jagged light. "Now... it is mine. My Perfect Form!"
[Gudmaro's Evolution: 100.00%]
The world went silent for a heartbeat. The air turned into a vacuum. Then—POP.
A massive circle of blue light erupted in the center of the road. Techyon , Lapis , Alya, and a bloodied Neweland stumbled out of the rift.
Neweland looked at the scene—Gudmaro glowing white, Cynthia looking pale, and Yoru recovering in the distance—and his face went ghost-white. "We're late... it's over. The limit has been broken."
Gudmaro threw his head back, letting out a laugh that sounded like tectonic plates grinding together. He felt the power of a Horseman flowing into his marrow. But the laughter didn't last.
[Gudmaro's Evolution: 110.79%]
[Gudmaro's Evolution: 150.89%]
The numbers on his internal display didn't stop. They began to climb with a violent, uncontrollable speed.
"What... what is this?" Gudmaro's baritone voice cracked into a panicked screech. His obsidian skin began to turn a molten, glowing orange. Steam hissed from his joints, and his very eyes began to melt out of his skull. "My body... it's overheating! My core can't vent the thermal pressure!"
He tried to let go of Cynthia's hand, but he couldn't. Her mana was no longer being "drained"—it was invading him. Like a flood breaking a dam, the Goddess of Flame's essence was pouring into him, burning every circuit he had just "perfected."
"NO! IT CAN'T BE!" Gudmaro screamed, his body swelling like a balloon filled with lava. "I reached 100%! I am Perfect! I CANNOT BE DEFEATED BY A BATTERY!"
Cynthia looked at him, her eyes flicking with a dangerous, quiet fire. "I told you, monster. You're just a parasite. And parasites die when they eat too much."