Shinobi, Titan, and the rest of the hero squad arrived just as the Strix Temporalis began its grotesque transformation.

  "What the hell...?" Shinobi was the first to react, his eyes widening.

  "Since when can monsters transmute on the fly?" Titan growled, bracing himself.

  The giant Strix shrieked, but it didn't lunge for Allen. Instead, it began to indiscriminately demolish every structure in its sight.

  "Never, Titan... no monster has ever done this. Change of plans! All present heroes, fall back immediately!" Shinobi’s voice cracked with urgency. The new beast had rattled him, but he thought of Allen and how he’d neutralized the Gigax Leo. If he could convince Allen to use the yellow suit, victory was guaranteed—despite the collateral damage it might cause.

  Every hero except Titan and Shinobi retreated. Once the perimeter was clear, Shinobi ordered Titan to draw the monster’s aggro while he tracked down Allen.

  The Strix Temporalis let out a final, bone-shaking shriek as its mutation finished. The sound was so intense it made Allen’s vision swim; he collapsed to the pavement, blood trickling from his ears.

  "Allen! Catch!"

  Allen managed a grin as he caught the staff Shinobi threw from a nearby roof. The moment the wood touched his palm, the stones previously held by Shinobi materialized in a flash of light. Allen scooped them up, his confidence returning.

  "Round two. Let's go."

  Allen leaped, his body erupting in a dense, blinding white light. He reappeared before the monster in his Knight Style, his staff already shifted into a blade. He slashed across the monster’s beak, leaving a jagged diagonal wound that reached its right eye. To Allen's horror, the flesh knit back together in seconds.

  He landed hard, struggling to stand upright. "Increased gravity? Fine. You're not giving me a choice."

  Allen knew exactly what was happening to the beast. There was only one way a creature could jump categories that fast, and he hated to even think about it.

  "Style Shift."

  He slammed the yellow stone into the ground. The sword reverted to its staff form. As the stone shattered against the asphalt, it released a golden dust that was instantly sucked into the Prism. Suddenly, pillars of solid earth erupted around Allen, encasing him in a perfect, jagged dome. The structure held for a heartbeat before exploding outward, revealing Allen in a suit of burnished, elegant gold.

  "Knight of Will Style."

  Titan and Shinobi watched in awe. Seeing him in the yellow suit confirmed it: he was the one who had taken down the Gigax Leo.

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  On another rooftop, Crimson Shadow watched through binoculars, a grin hidden beneath his mask. Behind him, ten hackers worked feverishly on laptops.

  "Listen up! Allen is using the same form he used against the Gigax Leo! The Heroic Federation must not get a single frame of this fight! Scrub the satellites and local feeds!"

  "Yes, sir!" they replied in unison. But even as they worked, everyone—Shadow, his team, Shinobi, and Titan—felt a crushing heaviness settle into their bones the moment Allen transformed.

  Allen sighed, looking at the Strix Temporalis with a pitying shake of his head. "You jumped from Category 3 to 5, but you lost almost all your versatility. All you have left is gravity manipulation... a hell of a side-effect from the Onyx."

  Allen lifted his left foot and took a single step. The impact triggered a localized earthquake, rattling nearby buildings. Titan stumbled, but Shinobi caught his arm.

  "Weapon of Earthly Will."

  Allen stomped again, dislodging a massive chunk of the street. He jammed his staff into the debris and kicked it, shattering the stone to reveal the weapon beneath—a long-handled warhammer, coated in dust and ancient earth. Allen gripped the handle, and the surrounding stone surged toward the head of the staff, forming two massive, perfectly symmetrical cubes.

  He swung the weapon once, clearing the excess dust to reveal a hammer of brilliant, almost liquid gold. He hoisted it onto his right shoulder and glared at the monster.

  "You’ll have to forgive me. I have zero control over my strength in this style."

  The monster shrieked, and Allen felt the gravity intensify again. The ground beneath his boots buckled and cracked under his own weight as the gravitational pull multiplied.

  "Weak."

  The man in purple sighed, watching the Strix's performance with utter boredom. "Losing all its skills just to keep the newest one... it might as well be a Category 1. A total waste."

  He held an Onyx gem up to his eye, looking through it at Allen with a twisted smile. "Has he matured his emotions? Or is he still the same little boy?"

  The man laughed, propped his foot on the edge of the roof, and hurled the Onyx into the distance as hard as he could.

  "What happens if a human picks up the Onyx? Let's find out!" He spread his arms wide, his laughter bordering on insanity. "Come on, Allen! Entertain me!"

  It was a move that placed the entirety of City F in mortal peril.

  Allen walked toward the monster, step by agonizing step. Each footprint sank deep into the asphalt, churning the road into rubble. Every few seconds, the monster screeched, adding another few kilograms of gravitational pressure, but Allen didn't even flinch.

  "This should be close enough."

  He stopped a few yards from the monster’s talons. He gripped the long handle of the hammer with both hands and slammed it into the ground. The resulting shockwave was a miniature earthquake. Buildings groaned and several smaller structures collapsed, but the monster was finally knocked off balance.

  As it stumbled, its wings tangling in the ruins of a skyscraper, Allen seized the opening. He hurled the golden hammer. The weapon tore through the air and smashed into the building, bringing the entire structure down on top of the monster.

  Allen raised his right hand to the sky, preparing a finishing move, but he hesitated.

  He remembered exactly why he’d avoided the Topaz of Will for so long. The Topaz represented Will and the element of Earth. While he could master the Ruby (Fire), Sapphire (Water), and Emerald (Wind) through the Prism, the Topaz was different. It was too powerful. When he tried to cause a small tremor, he’d trigger a cataclysm. When he wanted a massive impact, he’d barely scratch the surface.

  Over the years, he’d learned his gems grew stronger when surrounded by their natural element. In the middle of the ocean, his Sapphire was unstoppable. In a forest fire, the Ruby was a god.

  On solid ground, the Topaz was in its peak environment. It was almost impossible to control.

  A screech snapped Allen out of his thoughts. He watched as the rubble burying the monster began to glow and float. The Strix was using its gravity to make the debris weightless, slowly hauling itself out of its grave.