Asher sheathed his blade in a single, fluid motion—as the four-armed skeleton was frozen in place across from him. He turned and trotted back toward Rob and the other porters without a backward glance.
As he walked away, the four-armed skeleton's body collapsed into clean halves.
The split carcass trembled, bones clattering together in a frantic, posthumous rhythm.
In the next second, it detonated.
Boom—!
Pale white energy erupted skyward in a roaring column, splitting the air with a thunderous crack as it shot into the Sky Gate above. Kai could see the Sky Gate's edges quiver and its distortion visibly weakened.
One thread anchoring it to the Second Sky had been severed.
And all that was left behind was a white Null Gem and a pile of bones where the four-armed skeleton had stood.
Asher kept walking and picked his ear, annoyed that the detonation had rattled his eardrums.
He passed a nearby Angel from the Aegis Unit without breaking stride.
