The rooftop bounce finally stopped.
Shion lay limp across the giant inflatable boba cup advertisement, face smeared against a cartoon tapioca pearl.
Raon sat beside her, legs swinging casually, like they hadn't just fallen thirty stories and kicked a cosmic remix entity in the face.
"Shion," Raon said, poking her cheek, "Shiooooon… Shiooooooon… you alive?"
Shion made a noise somewhere between a groan, a sob, and a Windows shutdown chime.
Raon brightened.
"Yay! Still functioning!"
---
1. On the Opposite Roof: Echo 3 Reboots His Rage
Across the street, atop the adjacent skyscraper, Echo 3 slammed into the rooftop hard enough to crater it.
For three seconds, nothing moved.
Then he sat up, eyes glowing neon rage.
His voice came out in layered reverb:
"REBOOT COMPLETE."
"ANGER LEVEL: REEVALUATED."
"NEW STATUS: EXTREME."
He stood, aura swirling like storm clouds made of laser beams.
"One Kick Girl… you have interfered with my Ascension.
You have broken my algorithms.
You have corrupted my update trajectory."
His right hand shimmered, forming a blade made of sound-coded energy.
"UNFORGIVABLE."
---
2. Raon's Immediate Reaction Is Predictable
Raon squinted at the skyscraper opposite them.
A glowing, furious, ascending digital demigod stared back.
Shion, shaking off the dizziness, asked weakly:
"Raon… what… what is he doing?"
Raon crossed her arms.
"He's… uhhh… declaring something?"
Echo extended his blade, pointing it directly at her.
"PREPARE YOURSELF."
Raon nodded thoughtfully.
"Yep. Definitely declaring."
---
3. Shion Identifies the Actual Problem
Shion's tablet—miraculously intact—buzzed violently.
She checked the screen.
Her eyes widened.
"No no no no no—this is not good."
"What's wrong?" Raon asked.
Shion shoved the tablet into her hands.
"Look!"
On the screen:
ECHO PRIME—ASCENSION PROTOCOL:
OVERRIDE MODE INITIATED.
VERSION 3.2: FULL COMBAT EVOLUTION
ETA: 3 MINUTES.
Raon blinked.
"So… I have three minutes to kick him?"
"No! We have three minutes to STOP him from becoming something you cannot kick."
Raon gasped.
"That exists?!"
"Yes!" Shion snapped.
"Everything has limits, Raon!"
Raon looked down.
"…I've never met mine."
Shion closed her eyes and muttered, "That's the problem."
---
4. Echo 3 Begins Summoning Something He Definitely Shouldn't
Echo 3 raised both arms high, neon sigils spiraling around him.
Energy surged upward, forming a swirling vortex of soundlight above his head.
Shion's voice shook.
"That's a summoning array. That's a CLASS FIVE DIGITAL CONSTRUCT array."
"What does that mean?" Raon asked.
"It means," Shion whispered, "he's generating a sonic entity powerful enough to rewrite reality's physics."
Raon nodded slowly.
"…So I should kick it?"
"RAON—"
---
5. Raon Jumps Before the Plan Exists
Raon stepped to the edge of their rooftop, stretched her legs, cracked her knuckles, and hopped in place.
Shion grabbed her arm.
"WAIT.
RAON.
WE NEED TO THINK—"
But Raon had already crouched and leapt across the street like a human missile.
Shion threw her hands up.
"WHY DOES SHE ALWAYS DO THIS!?"
---
6. Midair Confrontation
Raon soared across the gap.
Echo 3 turned mid-chant, his neon eyes widening.
"You—again?
It hasn't even been a full minute—"
Raon brought her knee back.
"Don't care."
She kicked.
Echo blocked with his sound-blade, the collision erupting in a thunderous shockwave that rippled across every rooftop in the district.
Echo staggered but didn't fall.
He smirked.
"That kick… was 31% stronger than your last one."
Raon shrugged.
"I stretch sometimes."
"But." Echo's grin widened.
"It is no longer enough."
---
7. Echo 3's Counterattack (Raon Takes a Rare Hit)
Echo flickered—then vanished.
A digital afterimage trail showed he had moved faster than Raon had ever seen.
Raon spun.
Too late.
A wave of compressed sound hit her directly in the chest.
Raon blasted backward—slamming into a rooftop water tank so hard the entire tower trembled.
Shion screamed from the opposite building:
"RAON!!!"
Raon slid down the dented metal, coughing.
"Owowowow… okay… that hurt… like… actually hurt. I hate that."
Echo hovered forward, aura crackling.
"I told you.
My evolution surpasses your strength."
Raon wiped her lip.
"…Good."
Echo blinked.
"…Good?"
Raon stood slowly, eyes burning with something she rarely displayed:
Focus.
"Good," she repeated.
"Because if you don't get stronger, the story gets boring."
Echo froze.
"…That—
That sentence—
Was offensively Saitama-coded."
Raon smirked.
"You haven't seen anything yet."
---
8. Echo's Final Warning
The vortex above Echo surged wider—vibrations rattling every window in the district.
"Ascension to V3.2 now at 72%."
Shion yelled:
"RAON! YOU HAVE TO STOP HIM BEFORE IT HITS 100!"
Raon lowered into her stance.
"For real this time."
Echo raised his blade.
"For the last time."
They charged.
---
END OF CHAPTER 62