The night sky was on fire.
Columns of black smoke reached toward the heavens, where the crimson rift pulsed like a bleeding wound in the sky. From it, the demons poured — shrieking beasts with wings of ash and claws that cut through concrete like paper.
Amid the chaos, a thunderous roar tore through the air — followed by a streak of blue light.
Erevos descended like a meteor, slamming into the streets below. The shockwave blew debris aside, scattering demons like leaves in a storm.
Inside the cockpit, Karl's pulse synced with the mech's core — every thought, every heartbeat mirrored through the nanite frame. His mind burned with data streams; radar pings, heartbeats, heat signatures of survivors.
"Target acquisition… confirmed."
He saw them — people trapped beneath rubble, cornered in burning alleys, running from shadows that weren't human.
For a moment, Karl froze — his hands trembling over the controls. He could have left them. He could have just fought. But his parents' voices echoed in his head.
> "We're going to save this country from a nuclear war…"
"Grow up big and strong, Karl…"
He clenched his teeth. "Not this time. Not another damn person dies."
He surged forward.
The Erevos Mech charged through the inferno, its nanite armor rippling and adapting mid-sprint. A demon lunged from a rooftop — Karl raised his left arm, the forearm splitting open to reveal an energy cannon. A flash of blue — and the creature vaporized.
Another demon struck from behind, claws scraping against the nanite shell. Karl twisted the mech's torso and crushed it with a single backhand, the impact shaking the street.
Then, a faint signal flickered on his sensor — a group of survivors, huddled in a collapsed subway entrance.
Karl sprinted forward, tearing through debris with the mech's arms. With careful precision, he reached into the wreckage and lifted the survivors into the mech's palm. His voice resonated through external speakers, calm but firm.
"Don't panic. I'm taking you somewhere safe."
The woman among them looked up, tears streaking down her soot-covered face. "Who… who are you?"
Karl paused for a moment. Then, softly —
"Just someone trying to make things right."
He boosted into the air, the blue flames from Erevos' thrusters illuminating the burning city below. The mech soared across miles of destruction, heading toward the distant silhouette of Providence Headquarters — the last bastion of order amidst chaos.
Below, demons turned their gazes upward, screeching as the blue streak vanished beyond the smoke.
When Karl reached the HQ, massive anti-air cannons turned toward him — but upon scanning his signal and seeing the survivors in his grasp, the defenses disengaged.
He descended into the Nuclear Chamber Bay, where dozens of refugees were already being sheltered. Medical staff and soldiers ran forward as Erevos knelt down, placing its massive hand upon the reinforced floor.
The nanite shell dissolved slightly at the fingertips, creating a soft bridge of energy for the survivors to walk down safely.
"Get them treated," Karl said, his voice echoing through the comms. "There are more out there."
"Wait—who the hell are you?" shouted one of the soldiers, staring up at the towering machine.
Karl paused, looking down — the neon glow of the cockpit faintly illuminating his face through the mech's chest plate.
"…Name's Karl Kurogane. Tell your commander I'm joining this war."
Before anyone could respond, Erevos' thrusters ignited again — a torrent of blue fire lighting up the underground chamber as the mech rose back toward the burning surface.
As Karl broke through the smoke, hundreds of demons turned toward him.
He smiled faintly, resting a hand on the mech's control lever. "Alright… round two."
The sky erupted in light.
The city burned. Streets Karl once knew by name were now only outlines of fire and ruin. Screams filled the air — not distant, but everywhere.
Every corner, every collapsed building hid a life waiting to be erased.
Inside Erevos, Karl's breathing was heavy but steady. Sweat rolled down his forehead beneath the neural crown, each pulse syncing with the mech's nanite heart.
> "Life signatures… five meters below surface level," the onboard system reported.
Karl knelt the towering mech beside what used to be a subway station, now a crater of twisted steel and shattered glass.
He extended an arm; the nanites along Erevos' forearm shifted, forming drills and reinforced claws. Carefully, like a surgeon, he began digging through the rubble. Every motion was precise — a single wrong move could crush the very people he was trying to save.
Dust clouded the air as the last concrete slab was lifted away — and there they were.
A mother clutching her daughter, both covered in dirt, trembling in the dim light.
Karl opened the comm channel, lowering his voice.
"It's alright. You're safe now."
The little girl whimpered. "A-Are you an angel?"
Karl froze. The question hit something deep inside. He thought of his parents — of Ayaka's final words. 'Grow up big and strong, Karl…'
He smiled faintly, though his voice cracked.
"Not quite, kid. Just a man trying to be better."
He reached down, nanites reshaping into a smooth ramp for them to climb onto. The mother hesitated — until a shriek echoed from behind.
A demon, gaunt and skeletal, crawled over the rubble, saliva dripping from its fanged jaws.
Karl's mech spun with inhuman speed. The nanites along Erevos' shoulder formed a plasma cannon, which roared with light — and in a blink, the demon was gone, reduced to dust.
The child buried her face in her mother's shoulder. Karl whispered through the comm:
"Eyes forward, not back. Let's go."
He rose into the sky once more, using the mech's thrusters to vault across the burning skyline. Below him, hundreds of demons scoured the ruins, chasing survivors like prey.
Karl didn't hesitate.
Each time his sensors caught a heat signature, he dove — demolishing walls, scattering debris, pulling survivors from collapsed homes.
Sometimes he fought; other times, he shielded them with Erevos' body, taking the blows himself.
With every life he saved, the ache in his chest grew — because he knew he couldn't save them all.
Hours passed. Smoke darkened the sky until even the stars vanished.