Ethan watched the streak of white lightning vanish into the horizon, and his gaze sank.
He hadn't expected the man in white to be hurt that badly—badge cracked, core unstable—and still move that fast.
When that white light cut over the canyon, it left a glowing scar through the air itself. By the time Ethan lifted a hand to chase, the figure was already out of the canyon and shooting toward the distant mountains.
The transparent lightning beneath Ethan's feet had only just flared—
When a sound crawled out of the space between heaven and earth.
It wasn't thunder. It wasn't a birdcall.
It was like sharp flame grinding against something deep inside the world—high, abrasive, wrong. The energy gemstones embedded in both canyon walls trembled at once. Soldiers who'd still been pressing the Stone Golem looked up, faces shifting one after another.
The sky dimmed.
A gigantic bird dove from the upper air.
