"Factor Mimicry: Gunrock Cheval!!"
As Cheval Shadow slammed both hands onto the pavement, a massive shadow loomed over me. A titanic hand made of solid rock erupted from the ground behind me, swinging down with enough force to grind me into the asphalt.
"Factor Release: Bomb Kaijin Dynamine."
As the massive hand of stone plummeted toward me, I simply reached up and held my open right palm toward the sky. The moment the rock made contact with my hand, a thunderous boom shook the air. The giant limb shattered from the inside as if packed with dynamite, disintegrating into a rain of jagged debris.
"Factor Release: Gale Kaijin Tatsumaki."
The stones—ranging from tiny pebbles to massive boulders—hung suspended in the air for a fraction of a second. Using my wind ability, I gathered the scattered rubble and launched it all back at Cheval Shadow like a localized meteor shower.
"Factor Mimicry: Iron Cheval!!"
Facing the hail of stone, Cheval Shadow turned its entire body into hardened steel. It swatted away the largest, most dangerous chunks with its fists, one after another. It ignored the smaller fragments, letting its metallic defense take the hits, until a final boulder—large enough to block its entire line of sight—came hurtling toward it at high velocity.
Cheval Shadow smashed the massive mass with a steel fist without missing a beat. But as the rock shattered and its vision cleared, I was already there, inches from its face.
"You made the wrong choice!"
"Factor Release: Bomb Kaijin Dynamine."
"Gah!?"
I slammed my palm into Cheval Shadow’s chest and triggered the ability. An explosive blast erupted from my hand, driving the full force of the shockwave and destruction into its torso at point-blank range. Even with its body hardened into steel, the impact was too much to negate; the shockwave sent Cheval Shadow hurtling backward through the air.
"Factor Release: Rock Kaijin Gunrock!!"
Before it could recover, I activated another ability and slammed my fist into the ground. I turned its own trick against it, manifesting a massive stone fist directly beneath the flying monster. The pillar of rock surged upward, catching Cheval Shadow mid-air and launching it high into the sky.
"Factor Release: Gravity Kaijin Grey Hole!!"
As Cheval Shadow reached the apex of its arc, a crushing weight suddenly fell upon it. Gravity, intensified several times over, seized the monster and slammed it back down into the earth with terrifying speed.
"Gah...!?"
A point-blank explosion, a blunt-force strike from below, and a high-velocity fall under localized gravity. Any ordinary Kaijin would have been dead or incapacitated, but this was the Syndicate’s secret weapon. Battered and broken, it still managed to drag itself back to its feet.
"What's the matter? Is that all you've got?"
"Not... ye... t!!!!"
The difference in our mastery was absolute. Because we possessed the same arsenal, long-range exchanges were a stalemate. Every attack I threw was countered or neutralized, and every trick it tried was turned back against it. Since it had no hope of winning at a distance, it did the only thing it could: it closed the gap for a brawl.
Cheval Shadow lunged forward, fists raised.
"Fine. I'll play along."
Kaijin against Kaijin. We traded blows with physical strength that far exceeded the limits of any human being.
"Aaaah!!!!"
"Haaah!!!!"
Our fists collided, the impact ringing out like a hammer on an anvil. In terms of raw power, we were evenly matched.
"Aaaaaah!!!!"
It unleashed a desperate flurry of blows. It was a storm of pure violence, an attempt to overwhelm me with sheer physical specs without leaving any room for thought. I raised my own fists to meet the assault. We parried, clashed, and struck, neither of us yielding a single inch. In a fight like this, the winner would be determined by whoever could weave their abilities into the exchange more effectively.
"Factor Mimicry!!"
Cheval Shadow was the first to blink.
"Dynamine Cheval!!!!"
It infused its punch with an explosive ability. If I met that hit head-on, the blast would shatter my stance and leave me wide open for a finishing blow.
"Factor Release: Steel Kaijin Iron."
I opted for the steel ability. It was a reversal of our earlier situation—steel versus explosion—but the roles were swapped. Our fists collided.
The moment they touched, Cheval Shadow’s fist detonated. Even with my arm hardened into steel, the explosion should have blown me back.
"Be blow... n awa... y!!"
"Naive! Factor Release: Superstrength Kaijin Muscular!!"
As the fire and impact tried to repel my arm, I stacked the superstrength ability on top of my steel defense. The sudden surge in my arm's muscular power allowed me to shove right through the explosion, overpowering Cheval Shadow and knocking its guard aside.
"Wh-!?"
"Begone."
I drove my left fist into Cheval Shadow’s exposed midsection. Reinforced by both steel and superstrength, my arm buried itself deep into the monster's gut, sending it flying through the air until it crashed into the heart of a nearby ruined building.
"Ngh... ah..."
Cheval Shadow managed to crawl out from the wreckage, but it was clearly on its last legs. I, on the other hand, was virtually unscathed. The gap was clear.
"This is over."
"Not... yet...!!"
Despite its state, Cheval Shadow wouldn't quit.
"Factor Mimicry: Hellflame Cheval...!!"
Flames ignited in its hands.
"Factor Mimicry...!! Tatsumaki Cheval...!!!!"
With the flames still active, it attempted to trigger a wind ability as well. It was a Multiple Activation, the same technique I used to combine fire and wind for devastating results. It was preparing to unleash everything it had in one final blast.
"With... thi... s...!!"
But at the exact moment it tried to fire, Cheval Shadow’s body went into a violent spasm, and both abilities flickered out into nothingness.
"Wh-Why...!?"
"It’s a difference in design specs."
The Kaijin Factors developed by Dark Matter grant immense power to those who are compatible, but they bring only ruin to those who aren't. I am a Singularity—I have perfect compatibility with every single Factor. But even with that compatibility, a body cannot survive the strain of these powers without extensive human modification. Integrating every Kaijin Factor into a single organism is a feat that normal modification simply cannot achieve.
My body is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, built using every scrap of technology Syndicate Dark Matter possessed.
"You could copy my power, but you couldn't copy my body. It's as simple as that."
Cheval Shadow’s body was only designed to mimic the output, not to withstand the recoil. Attempting a Multiple Activation was a death sentence for its internal systems. My power only reaches its true potential because I have the flesh and blood to contain it.
"Damn it! Damn it!! Damn iiiiit!!!!"
Cheval Shadow couldn't even trigger a basic ability anymore. Its mangled body was barely holding together just by trying to suppress the copied powers. Even now, the rampaging energy was likely eating it alive from the inside.
"Tch!! If it must end like thi... s...!!"
Sensing Cheval Shadow’s defeat, the Doctor suddenly broke into a sprint. He was heading straight for Sora, who was still slumped on the ground, unable to move after her transformation had ended. He was going to take her as a consolation prize.
"Factor Release: Plant Kaijin Greenrosen."
I wasn't about to let him touch her. Thick, thorny vines erupted from the ground at the Doctor's feet, coiling around his limbs and pinning him in place.
"You're not going anywhere."
"Ka...!?"
I lunged forward and buried my fist in the Doctor's abdomen. The sensation was wrong—not the give of human flesh, but the unyielding resistance of a mechanical, steel frame.
"I suppos-E there is no help for i-T...!!"
"Tch!"
The Doctor’s expression shifted. He wasn't looking at me anymore; his eyes were fixed on Sora. He was going to try something desperate. I grabbed him by the face and hurled him across the battlefield toward Cheval Shadow, like a shot-putter throwing a heavy weight.
"Doctor!!"
"Guh...!!"
Cheval Shadow managed to catch the Doctor as he came flying in.
"Howeve-R, you are naiv-E!! I shall take this entire area with m-E at the cost of this bod-Y!!"
High-energy readings began to spike from within the Doctor’s frame. He was going to self-destruct.
"Like hell you will!"
If he blew himself up here, I might survive, but Sora was still in her human form. There was only so much I could do to shield her from a blast of that magnitude.
"Factor Release: White Light Kaijin Holy x Black Darkness Kaijin Darkness!!"
I fused the powers of light and shadow. The two contradictory forces swirled together, manifesting as a sphere of grey annihilation.
"Now, if you pleas-E!!!! Open the Gate!! Hurr-Y!! At onc-E!!!!"
Before the Doctor could finish his countdown, I unleashed the destruction.
"Begone! Chaos Impact!!"
"Ngh!! Doctor!!!!"
The strike, a fusion of two High-tier Kaijin abilities, hit home. The moment the grey orb impacted the Doctor, his mechanical shell detonated in a massive, self-destructive burst. The two opposing forces of destruction collided, grinding against each other until they eventually neutralized in a blinding flash.
When the smoke cleared, all that remained were charred mechanical components that had once been part of the Doctor. There was no sign of Cheval Shadow.
"...Did they escape? Even from that?"
The clash had been massive, but it hadn't been enough to vaporize Cheval Shadow completely. It seemed that while the Doctor's self-destruction was neutralizing my attack, they had used some kind of Gate to flee. I’d had to hold back the output to ensure Sora didn't get caught in the blast, and that restraint had given them the opening they needed. Someone on the outside must have assisted them with a Gate ability.
Still, the hit had landed. Even if they escaped, Cheval Shadow had been at the very center of the blast. It wouldn't be walking away from that unscathed.
"It wasn't perfect, but..."
The ringleader's body was destroyed, and Sora was safe. While a section of the city was a wreck, the human casualties were miraculously low.
"I suppose that's the bare minimum."
I had protected what I set out to protect. Lately, it felt like I was losing everything I cared about, but this time... this time, I had managed to see it through to the end.