The lightning finally died down.
It wasn't fading away naturally, and the thing wasn't running out of power. Instead, the giant finished eating it all up.
The glowing lines of energy snaking across its armor slowly faded, sinking into its body like the monster was inhaling the last bits of light. Then, its core gave a deep, rumbling pulse that shook every broken window in the gym. The air seemed thick. It felt heavy, like stepping into a place with super high air pressure. Luna stumbled backward, her eyes wide as the giant raised its head, its power fully restored. It felt even more like a monster now
Then, something weird started to happen.
The monster twitched violently, like an electrical shock ran through its entire body.
The hands holding Riko and Kaze suddenly opened.
Both boys fell.
Kaze twisted in the air and landed in a crouch, sliding across the cracked gym floor. Riko wasn't as lucky. He hit the ground hard, rolled a couple of times, and coughed as dust flew up around him.
But they were free.
The giant wasn't paying attention to them anymore. It was too busy shaking, glitching, and seizing up like the electric overload was messing up its whole system from the inside.
Luna hurried to Riko's side. "Are you okay? Did that thing crush your lungs? Do you still have all your… internal stuff?"
Riko coughed. "Define… okay…"
That's good enough Luna said, dragging him up by the arm.
Kaze brushed off his uniform, ignoring both of them. He was watching the giant, watching the twisting armor, the vibrating core, the flickering pixels running down its limbs like tears. He mumbled something too quiet to hear.
Then—
The Level Screen screamed.
A loud, static-filled shriek cut through Riko's view. It felt like someone ripped a hole in the screen on purpose. The whole thing shook, jittering back and forth, symbols overlapping and breaking apart. Warnings piled up on top of each other in a mess of hard-to-read red symbols.
Riko grabbed his head. "Stop— slow down!"
The screen didn't slow down.
It broke.
Pieces of the screen blinked, disappeared, and reappeared in different places, scrambled like puzzle pieces. The usual blue glow was replaced by harsh red streaks running across it like bleeding wires.
Kaze's eyes narrowed. "Your system is breaking down."
"No kidding!" Riko yelled.
The screen flashed again—
So bright, Riko almost fell.
Symbols twisted. Letters faded away. Words flickered like they were being translated by a broken machine.
Finally, the static cleared just enough for one line to show up:
USER APPROACHING LIMIT.
Bright red.
Sharp letters.
It was almost like the system was panicking.
Riko's chest tightened. "Limit…? What limit? What does that mean?"
Kaze stepped closer, his voice calm despite the chaos. "It means you've pushed your stats too far, too fast. That thing sucks up your system's power. The more you fight it, the more stress your body takes."
"That doesn't make sense!" Riko shouted, grabbing his arm. "I'm not even— I haven't—"
His words broke apart as another wave of static burned across the screen.
The system showed a new warning right in front of him:
STABILITY: 12%
SYNCHRONIZATION ERROR.
BIO-OUTPUT OVERHEATING.
Luna looked at the floating text as it flashed in front of Riko. "Uh… that sounds really bad."
"No," Kaze said, his jaw tight. "It's worse."
The giant roared then, a loud, messed-up howl that shook dust off the ceiling. Every light in the gym flickered. The floor shook under their feet. Its armor plates shifted again, becoming thicker, darker, and sharper. The electricity it absorbed pulsed inside the creature like a second heartbeat.
"Great," Luna muttered. "It changed again."
Kaze didn't answer.
He was staring at Riko.
Or, more exactly, at Riko's right arm.
Riko's arm was glowing.
Not system-light.
Not avatar-light.
Something else.
A heat shimmer, red-orange, like metal just pulled out of a furnace. Sweat dripped down Riko's face. His breathing turned rough. The glow got brighter, veins lighting up like hot wires under his skin.
Riko stumbled, grabbing a broken bench to stay on his feet. "What… is… happening…?"
The Level Screen flickered again, this time showing nothing but code.
Lines and lines of messed-up script scrolled in front of him, too fast to read, glitching like the system was rewriting itself. Sparks of red and blue burst around his hand.
Kaze took a step forward. "Your body can't handle the power levels you've triggered. The system is forcing power through something that can't take it."
"I didn't want any of this boost!" Riko said through gritted teeth.
"But," Kaze said, "your survival instincts did."
Luna grabbed Riko's shoulder. "Can you turn it off?!"
Riko shook his head, his eyes wide with panic. "I can't! It's not listening! I can't stop it!"
The giant stomped forward, each step shaking the gym floor. Dust fell from the ceiling as it leaned toward them, its face opening in a jagged, glitch grin.
But Riko couldn't focus on it.
He couldn't focus on anything.
His right arm was boiling.
The heat crawled up his wrist, his elbow, his bicep, burning from the inside out. It felt like fire trying to escape his skin. He grabbed his arm with his other hand, trying to stop the shaking, but it only got worse. His fingers twitched and curled into a fist without him trying.
The Level Screen began to twist again, bending like someone was pulling it apart.
STABILITY: 9%
MELTDOWN RISK: HIGH
USER LIMIT BROKEN — CRITICAL
Riko gasped as pain shot through him.
"Riko!" Luna shouted.
"Stay back!" he yelled, his voice cracking. "I can't— I can't hold—"
His arm flared.
Like hot metal.
Like skin tearing.
Like something inside was trying to get out.
Riko screamed—
—and the glowing veins in his arm surged brighter.
The system's last warning flashed across his vision:
BIO-OUTPUT MAXIMUM REACHED.
And then—
Riko felt his arm burning as if it was going to explode.