The Bloomcrawlers didn't hesitate. All three surged forward, limbs crashing through brush, mandibles clacking. One launched itself high, aiming to flank.
Aether didn't blink.
He activated his
His claw traced a line in the air — no glow, no theatrics. Just a ripple, like heat haze, warping a ten-meter stretch directly in the path of the charging creatures.
One second passed.
The rift collapsed with a thunderclap.
Silence.
Then — reality screamed.
The lead Bloomcrawler slid apart, severed at the torso. The second had been caught mid-lunge; its upper body remained suspended in air for a breath before crashing down in halves. The third, just outside the core cut, howled — a jagged line cleaving into its flank.
Then came the shockwave.
The rift's implosion birthed a pulse of compressed space. Air imploded, then exploded — a violet ripple tearing through the clearing.
