EGO: Explore Game Online (LAMBDA)

The arena buzzed with anticipation. The crowd roared with excitement, their voices blending into an overwhelming tide of sound. At the center of it all stood Knox and Sherry, their gazes locked.

Knox expression calm but serious. "Sherry, since I can use all Axion Class abilities, it wouldn't be fair if I fought you unrestricted. For this fight, I'll only use the Requip Axion Class," he declared.

Sherry smirked. "How noble of you," she replied, her tone teasing but with an edge of respect.

Knox continued, a faint grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "But don't think that limits me. I'll use one of my strongest Requip Gears—Fragman."

The moment he said it, a ripple of astonished murmurs coursed through the crowd. "Fragman?!" someone exclaimed.

Another voice echoed, "Isn't that the gear you get after taming The DIGIMANE!"

Whispers of disbelief and awe spread. DIGIMANE was a name steeped in legend—an untamable, unrelenting beast with a Mystique Level of Nought. The fact that Knox had not only defeated but tamed it was almost unfathomable.

Sherry arched an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "Fragman, huh?" she mused. Her gaze flickered briefly toward the crowd, sensing their reaction.

 "Well, if you're pulling out something that incredible, then it's only fair I do the same."

Knox tilted his head slightly. "What do you mean?"

Sherry's smirk widened. "I'll be using Axel—a gear I obtained after defeating the Calculator Mank on floor 70," she announced proudly.

The audience erupted once again, this time with equal shock. Axel was known as a gear that embodied precision and control, obtained by defeating a cunning, calculation-driven monster.

Knox nodded, clearly impressed. "Looks like this fight just got a lot more interesting," he said.

"Interesting doesn't even begin to cover it," Sherry replied confidently.

Knox took a step closer, his eyes narrowing. "Just so you know, the Fragman Requip Gear is extremely powerful. You should be careful," he warned, his tone sincere.

Sherry's expression turned steely, though her smirk remained. "And you shouldn't underestimate Axel. You have no idea how powerful it is," she shot back.

 Then, as if by unspoken agreement, they stepped back, their hands glowing as they prepared to Requip their gears.

The crowd fell silent in anticipation. The moment of transformation was about to begin.

Knox took a deep breath as he raised his hand. The crowd held their breath, the anticipation thick in the air. Then, his voice boomed across the arena.

"Requip! Fragman!"

The moment the words left his lips, a wave of glitch-like energy rippled through the air. His hand began to flicker and distort, as though caught between dimensions. The crowd gasped, watching intently as the glitches spread across his body.

Knox's form began to transform, his silhouette breaking apart into pixelated fragments before rapidly reconstructing into something entirely new. His armor shimmered into existence, black and silver with streaks of glowing green running along its edges, giving it the appearance of a living digital construct. The energy pulsed rhythmically, as if in sync with Knox's heartbeat.

The transformation wasn't just visual—it was visceral. The air grew heavier as an aura of raw, unpredictable power emanated from him. Glitching symbols floated around his figure, shifting and rearranging as if defying logic itself.

When the transformation completed, Fragman stood tall, his eyes now glowing with a faint green light. The back of his armor crackled with distorted binary patterns, flickering erratically, as if daring anyone to comprehend its complexity.

The crowd erupted in a deafening roar of excitement and astonishment.

"Unbelievable!" one spectator shouted.

"That's Fragman? It's incredible!" another exclaimed.

Above the noise, the announcer's voice cut through, filled with awe. "Ladies and gentlemen, presenting Knox's legendary Requip Gear—Fragman! The gear obtained by taming the untamable DIGIMANE, the beast of floor 90!"

Fragman raised his hand, flexing his fingers as he adjusted to the raw power surging through him. He turned his glowing eyes toward Sherry, his voice calm but commanding.

"Your turn, Sherry."

Sherry stood tall, her gaze unwavering as she addressed him. "You asked for it. Requip! Axel!"

A sudden burst of radiant light surrounded her, glowing red with streaks of yellow energy crackling like lightning. Her armor began forming piece by piece, starting from her chest and expanding outward. The gear's design was sleek and mechanical, resembling a futuristic mecha suit. Panels of metallic red armor snapped into place over her body, each piece adorned with intricate markings resembling measurements, radii, and circular patterns.

As the transformation progressed, a pair of advanced goggles materialized over her eyes, glowing faintly with streams of data flowing across their surface. These weren't ordinary goggles—they were an advanced heads-up display (HUD), analyzing and calculating every detail in real-time.

At her back, circular mechanisms emerged, resembling giant drawing compasses with sharp, rotating edges. The mechanisms hummed with energy, spinning slowly as if preparing to draw the boundaries of her control.

Finally, Sherry stretched out her hand, and her weapon began to take shape. A gleaming blade materialized, its hilt resembling the handle of a drafting compass, while its blade curved in a perfect arc, embodying precision. The weapon pulsed with an ominous glow, as if it held the power to command the very laws of measurement and geometry.

The crowd erupted into cheers and gasps of astonishment.

"Unbelievable! This is Axel!" a spectator exclaimed.

"She's never used this gear before! One of her legendary Requip gears finally revealed!" another added, their voice brimming with excitement.

Sherry's transformation completed, her suit radiating power and precision. She adjusted the goggles on her face, a faint smile playing on her lips. Her voice carried a calm confidence as she addressed Knox.

"I think this fight will be over very shortly," she said, her tone sharp yet controlled.

Axel gripped the Compass Blade tightly, a smirk curling her lips. With calculated precision, she lowered the blade's tip to the ground, etching a perfect circle around herself in one smooth motion. Sparks of radiant energy traced the path she created, glowing brighter as she tapped the blade's tip at the circle's center.

The circle expanded in an instant, swallowing both her and Fragman into its luminous boundary.

Fragman, cocked his head. "Before we start, this Requip of mine... It's a bit unstable. If I go all out, the audience might get caught in the chaos. Let me fix that."

He raised his hand, his hand pulsing with distortion.

"Reinforce."

The edges of the arena flickered and warped as glitching patterns spiraled outward, reinforcing the barrier.

"Rewrite."

The arena trembled as the glitched patterns smoothed into a seamless flicker, locking the battle inside. Fragman let out a satisfied sigh, lowering his hand. "There we go—no collateral damage. Now it's just you and me."

Axel arched a brow. "So considerate. But you should be more worried about yourself than the spectators."

Fragman chuckled, "Oh, I'm not worried. This fight? Easy peasy, lemon squeezy."

Sherry's eyes narrowed. "You'll regret mocking me."

---

Axel swung the Compass Blade in a sweeping motion, carving a glowing arc through the air. "Circumference Arc!"

The energy shot toward Knox at a speed impossible to track, a razor-thin slice of light aiming to bisect him.

The arc cleaved through Fragman's torso, severing him in half. His upper body toppled backward while his legs remained firmly planted.

Axel smirked triumphantly. "See? Mock me, will you?"

But her expression faltered as the flickering halves of Fragman shimmered with glitching energy. Pieces of his fragmented form twisted and snapped back together, as though rewinding through time.

Fragman's voice echoed, smug and amused. "Did you forget? I am a glitch. Slice me all you want—I'll just reassemble myself."

Axel gritted her teeth, her grip tightening on the Compass Blade. "Impossible...!"

---

Her eyes burned with resolve as she slashed the Compass Blade in swift, intersecting motions. "Cross Radius!"

Four blazing lines shot outward in a cross shape, the energy rippling with deadly precision.

"Radius Line!"

Fragman didn't flinch. Instead, he raised his hands, its tip sparking with chaotic energy forming a blade.

"Glitch Blade," he said calmly, tapping the oncoming attack.

The radiant lines flickered, distorted, and unraveled into a mess of pixelated fragments before being drawn into Fragman's form like a whirlpool.

Knox smirked as the energy settled within him, his aura pulsing brighter. "Thanks for the snack."

"Impossible! Within this circle, I control everything. So how did you—" Axel's sharp voice faltered as she sensed something behind her.

Fragman's distorted voice echoed in reply, "Glitch Step."

In a moment, as though space itself had been torn apart, Fragman appeared behind Axel. His massive, glitching form loomed, and his Glitch Blade rose, poised for a swift and decisive strike.

---

But just as Fragman swung the blade, Axel smirked. "Ha! You fell for it."

Her Compass Blade gleamed as she traced a precise motion in the air. "Diameter Frame!"

Reality twisted within the confines of the circle. The positions of the two combatants flipped in an instant, space itself folding to Axel's will.

When the distortion cleared, Fragman now stood frozen mid-motion, split in half by Axel's Compass Blade.

Fragman's glitching form staggered, pieces of his body flickering as they struggled to reassemble. His distorted voice crackled with confusion. "What the... What just happened?

 CHAPTER END.