Ssshhh~
A calm, lingering hiss slithered across the deadly silent battlefield.
The metallic hunters froze mid-motion.
As the blinding light gradually softened, faint silhouettes began to form within its glow.
There, before Aether's broken and blood-drenched body, stood a pure white spear embedded in the ground with quiet authority.
Its surface gleamed with an otherworldly sheen, flawless and untouched by the carnage beneath it.
Not a stain of crimson marred its length.
The spear had pierced straight through the metallic figure from head to toe, locking it in place like an insect pinned for display.
Sparks burst weakly from the machine's fractured frame as the rotating saw on its arm slowed, shuddered, and finally died with a fading metallic whine.
"Heh... heh... ehe~"
A broken, chilling smile echoed across the ruined land, crawling through the still air like a whisper that did not belong to any living thing.
For a breathless second, nobody moved.
