The air was already wrong.
Mahoraga stood in the center of the shattered street like a natural disaster that had learned how to breathe.
Uro hovered backward instinctively, her sky bending tighter around her as if trying to protect itself.
Ryu cracked his neck once, grin gone but eyes sharp.
Yuta stayed still, reading everything.
Takeru, however, looked almost relaxed.
Then he raised a hand slightly toward Mahoraga.
"…Mahoraga."
A pause.
"…go easy on her, kay?"
Silence.
Even Uro blinked.
"…You're giving instructions to that thing?"
Ryu muttered under his breath.
"…This guy's not normal…"
Yuta didn't respond. He just watched Mahoraga's wheel slowly turn.
It didn't acknowledge the request.
It didn't reject it either.
It simply existed, as if "easy" was not a concept it was built to understand.
Then Takeru turned.
Slowly.
Casually.
Toward Ryu.
Ryu tilted his head slightly.
"…Me?"
Takeru nodded once.
"…Here is a cherry on top—"
A pause.
Then his stance shifted.
Energy sharpened.
Focus locked.
"…COMIN' RIGHT YOUR WAY!"
The moment the words finished—
the battlefield exploded into motion.
Ryu moved first.
A burst of raw cursed energy detonated from his fist, compressing air into a cannon blast aimed straight at Takeru.
Uro, mid-air, instantly widened distance again.
"…I'm not dealing with that thing and this guy at the same time…"
Yuta stepped in—but didn't commit yet.
He was watching for timing.
Watching for intent.
Mahoraga turned slightly.
Not toward Ryu.
Not toward Uro.
But toward everything.
The wheel clicked once.
Adaptation beginning.
Takeru vanished.
A frame shift.
Then another.
Then another—
Ryu's blast hit empty air.
The ground behind it collapsed instead.
Ryu grinned again despite himself.
"…Fast."
He swung again—
this time directly into Takeru's reappearance point.
BOOM.
Impact cracked the ground—
but Takeru had already shifted again.
Hand grazing debris mid-motion.
Learning the rhythm.
Uro narrowed her eyes.
"…He's reading Ryu too…"
Yuta finally moved.
Fast.
Controlled.
Cutting into the space between Ryu and Takeru—
forcing separation.
"…Don't let him control the pace," Yuta said quietly.
Ryu laughed.
"…Too late for that."
Mahoraga stepped forward.
One heavy step.
Then another.
The ground broke beneath it.
Its presence wasn't attacking yet—
it was deciding.
Uro felt it first.
"…No way…"
Her expression tightened.
"…It's adapting to all of us now…"
Takeru landed briefly on a broken structure.
Looked once at the battlefield.
Then smiled slightly again.
"…Good."
Ryu narrowed his eyes.
"…What's 'good' about this?"
Takeru's answer came calmly.
"…Everyone is serious now."
A pause.
Then—
he moved again.
Straight back into the chaos.
Mahoraga followed.
Ryu followed.
Yuta followed.
Uro hesitated—
then rejoined, sky bending violently again.
And just like that—
the "cherry on top" wasn't an addition anymore.
It was the beginning of a full-scale collapse.