CHAPTER 24: THE BREAKING OF DARKNESS
The crack in Aether’s chest did not simply remain, it deepened, spreading slowly like a fracture across glass, glowing with an unstable light that pulsed against the surrounding darkness. The battlefield, once roaring with the clash of power, fell into a suffocating stillness, as though the world itself held its breath in fear of what would follow. The ruins of Chicago stood broken and silent, their shattered remains illuminated by the eerie glow radiating from Aether’s form. Kevin, Rwanda, and Rowan stood together, their bodies tense, their strength pushed to the edge, but even in that moment, none of them felt relief. They felt something far worse. The wound they had created had not weakened Aether in the way they had hoped. It had awakened somethin
