Novel Full Chapter 1554: When No.25 joined the dance: Part-1
Chapter 1554: When No.25 joined the dance: Part-1
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.
Something about Aether felt different… His back, though as broad as ever, seemed heavier, straighter, as if an invisible weight had settled into him and transformed his very presence.
The air around him pressed down, thick and sacred.
“Sweet dreams, my precious children.”
His voice flowed gently through the chaos, soft yet unbearably painful, as warm water poured over fresh wounds.
It did not shout. It… just carried quiet finality.
Aether held the half-cut woman carefully in his arms, his eyes closed as if shielding himself from the sight, yet his focus never left her face.
His lips curved into a fragile, broken smile as he leaned forward and pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.
The instant his lips touched her skin, her body began to dissolve. White particles shimmered outward, delicate as falling snow.
The severed flesh that had fallen moments before broke apart as well, scattering into countless luminous fragments.
Every remaining piece of her form turned into drifting snowflakes that rose slowly above his head, swirling in a quiet spiral.
The battlefield watched in stunned silence.
The flakes did not fall from the sky… They flowed from his arms, ascending instead of descending, as if the heavens had reversed their laws.
Aether lifted his face slightly toward the floating snowflakes. His expression softened further as he nodded slowly, once, then again, as though listening to words only he could hear.
And then,
Shhh~
White flames flickered to life around his body, subtle at first, then brighter.
They licked across his torn flesh without smoke or heat. The burns, the charred skin, the blood-soaked wounds ignited in white fire. Instead of consuming him, the flames devoured only the damage and healed his body rapidly.
The high priests dropped to their knees the moment their eyes fell upon the sacred blaze.
Some pressed their foreheads to the ground, unable to endure the sight directly.
Aether’s blasted right leg, which had been mangled beyond recognition, began to mend before their eyes.
Muscle fibres wove themselves together. Bone reformed with quiet cracks. Flesh sealed seamlessly under the steady glow of white fire. The flames clung to him like a holy mantle, forging him whole.
When the healing was completed, he stepped forward slowly with his newly formed leg. The ground did not tremble, yet the movement felt monumental.
He approached the impaled metallic figure without haste.
Though his eyes remained closed, his face turned toward the machine with unmistakable precision, as if sight had become unnecessary.
The other metallic figures signalled to one another with sharp, mechanical gestures, their heads snapping toward Aether in synchronised alertness.
“A-Aether…” Helena muttered, relief and fragile happiness trembling across her lips as she tried to step forward.
Sera blocked her path instantly. Her gaze remained fixed on the figure ahead, her voice cold and steady.
“That’s not… Aether.”
Aether’s head twitched slowly from left to right, then right to left, his eyes still closed, his expression disturbingly serene.
BURRFFFF!!
A violent surge erupted from his body, white flames bursting outward like excess gas igniting in a confined chamber.
The explosion flared brilliantly, swallowing his silhouette for a heartbeat before settling into a controlled blaze that wrapped around him.
From within that sacred fire, new garments formed. Threads of flame wove themselves together across his skin, knitting seamlessly into white robes that draped over his frame.
The fabric did not burn… It shimmered like living light, settling upon him as though forged by divine hands.
Aether slowly raised his right hand toward the metallic figure’s chest. His motion was gentle, almost affectionate, as his palm hovered inches from cold steel.
The metallic figure suddenly ignited, engulfed in roaring white flames that spiralled around its body like a wild inferno.
Sssshhhhh!
The fire did not melt the metal. It did not scorch or deform it. The flames only surrounded it, tightening like a luminous prison.
The remaining metallic figures lifted their weapons in unison, barrels aligning with mechanical precision.
Something about this ’being’ before them felt wrong.
They could not process it, but their systems calculated one conclusion.
Eliminate the anomaly before it escalates.
They spread outward, forming a tightening circle around him. Blue energy gathered within their weapons, humming violently as power accumulated.
At the exact same moment, they pulled their triggers.
The guns released a torrential rain of blue beams, streaking across the battlefield from every direction, converging upon Aether in a crossfire meant to erase him entirely.
“AETHER!!” Helena screamed, horror tearing through her voice as her legs moved instinctively toward him.
Sera seized her arm firmly and held her back.
“ARCHPRIEST!!”
The high priests and surrounding people cried out in fear as the countless blue beams tore through the air, closing the final distance with devastating speed.
Just as the beams were about to strike, Aether’s lips parted slightly. White, curling smoke flowed from his mouth, drifting upward like a sacred breath.
“These children… are to be pitied.”
His voice was calm, almost compassionate, yet it resounded like a verdict spoken by the heavens themselves.
In the same motion, his fist pressed forward and struck the metallic figure’s chest.
PUfff!!
The machine disintegrated instantly into thick black smoke, its armoured body collapsing into nothingness. Within a single second, Aether’s hand closed around the white spear.
Crack…
The eternal chains coiled around his right wrist fractured further, splintering like fragile glass under unseen pressure.
With one fluid motion, he swung the spear horizontally. A crescent wave of white flame burst forward, colliding head-on with the incoming blue beams.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Like explosive firecrackers igniting in rapid succession, each blue beam shattered against the violent surge of white energy. The battlefield flashed repeatedly with blinding detonations as he spun the spear effortlessly with one hand, controlling the storm around him.
Then, in a single decisive motion, he drove the spear downward toward the ground.
BOOM!
The ground beneath him fractured violently as a radiant white shockwave exploded outward in every direction.
Stone plates lifted and split apart, cracks racing like lightning veins across the battlefield. The remaining blue beams shattered into drifting particles upon contact with the expanding wave, dissolving into harmless sparks before they could reach him.
The metallic figures staggered, their heads jerking toward one another in visible confusion as their sensors struggled to recalibrate.
Aether’s black ring splintered with a sharp crack before bursting apart under the pressure of the white flames.
His dark hair gradually drained of colour, strand by strand turning pure white. It lengthened steadily, flowing down his back and swaying with slow, regal weight, illuminated by the surrounding glow.
The flames around him did not flicker wildly… They breathed with him.
Thud!
Across the battlefield, the people of the Aurora Empire fell to their knees almost in unison. Tears welled in their eyes, not merely from being saved but from something deeper that pressed against their chests like overwhelming faith.
“A-Archpriest…”
The name trembled from their lips together, fragile and reverent.
Aether’s voice flowed outward, cold yet gentle, steady as an oath carved in stone.
“It won’t happen again. Not while I stand.”
The metallic figures equipped with circular saws roared to life and charged him in coordinated arcs, attempting to flank him from three directions.
Aether yanked the spear free and rolled it across his palm, the shaft sliding between his fingers with flawless control. He stepped forward instead of back. The spear spun around his torso, tracing luminous circles that lingered briefly like afterimages.
Each rotation shifted his stance, repositioning his weight with calculated fluidity.
The first attacker lunged. Aether lowered his centre of gravity and pivoted. The spear’s butt end struck the metallic knee joint with a sharp crack, forcing the machine off balance. In the same motion, he reversed his grip and swept the blade upward, slicing cleanly through the circular saw’s mounting mechanism. The detached blade flew spinning into the sky before disintegrating midair under lingering white heat.
The second metallic figure swung downward toward his shoulder. Aether leaned aside just enough for the saw to graze the air beside him. The spear twisted horizontally, catching the machine’s wrist assembly. With a short pull and torque, he dislocated the entire arm, sparks erupting violently.
He did not pause.
The spear rotated behind his back and reappeared over his opposite shoulder, the blade thrusting forward in a controlled burst. It pierced through the chest core of the third attacker. White light surged inward rather than outward, and the machine collapsed silently into black vapour.
The remaining two metallic figures crossed their attacks simultaneously. Aether stepped between them. His spear spun low near the ground, carving a bright circular arc. For a moment, nothing happened.
Crack!
Then both attackers split cleanly at the waist, their upper halves sliding apart before collapsing into segmented fragments that toppled in sequence like falling dominoes.
All that was left was black smoke, no blood, no metal… just black smoke!
The battlefield trembled again as heavy hammer-wielding metallic figures rushed him from behind. Their footsteps cracked stone… Blue energy gathered at the heads of their weapons, amplifying the weight of each swing.
Aether exhaled slowly. White mist curled from his lips.
He dashed forward.
The spear extended straight ahead as he vaulted over the first hammer strike. His foot landed briefly on the descending weapon’s shaft, using it as leverage to propel himself higher. While airborne, he twisted his torso and hurled the spear downward.
The blade struck the ground between three advancing metallic figures.
Light erupted upward in a spiralling column.
The column did not explode outward violently. It rotated, tightening like a vortex. The hammer-wielding machines were dragged inward, their limbs pulled off piece by piece as though dismantled by invisible hands.
The white vortex dissolved them into smoke before fading.
Aether landed lightly and retrieved the spear with a simple gesture. It flew back into his grasp, aligning perfectly with his palm.
Aether continued walking toward the gun-bearing figures, but his pace gradually increased.
One step became two, then three, until he was moving with fluid acceleration.
The beams converged directly toward his body. Without hesitation, Aether raised the spear and spun it effortlessly between his fingers. The white blade sliced through the incoming beams as though cutting through fragile threads.
Sllnnng~
Slllnngg~
The parted energy split behind him, redirecting into the hammer-wielding metallic figures charging from the rear.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The redirected beams struck them head-on, blasting their bodies backwards in violent detonations.
In the same motion, Aether leapt into the sky. He descended moments later in a controlled fall, landing with a burst of white flames that cracked the ground upon impact.
BOOOMM!
The shockwave launched nearby metallic figures upward, suspending them in midair.
For a fleeting second, time itself seemed to pause.
While the metallic figures hung frozen above him, Aether’s spear rotated around his finger at blinding speed, faster than any eye could follow.
In the next heartbeat, the suspended machines erupted into black smoke, their forms erased entirely.
Gasps rippled through the battlefield.
Eyebrows lifted in disbelief… Aether was dismantling them without drawing upon Arcane energy.
The spear in his grasp radiated something deeper, something ancient.
It did not feel like a weapon of destruction.
It felt like protection made manifest.
And even more unfolded before their eyes.
Sera noticed something strange.
Wherever Aether moved, wherever his bare feet touched the shattered battlefield, the blood soaking the earth and the fallen bodies of her people began to change.
The crimson stains, flesh, and bodies dissolved into fine white snowflakes, lifting gently into the air as though purified by his presence.
It was not fire that followed him now…. It was cleansing.
Each step he took left behind a faint trail of shimmering particles, like a star crossing the night sky and scattering quiet glitter in its wake. The ground he passed over no longer looked like a bloody nightmare.
She did not know how he was doing this. She did not even know if the being standing in that battlefield was truly Aether anymore.
But in that terrifying uncertainty, something fragile ignited within her chest.
Hope.
They had found hope…
“There is but a single hope among you…” Helena murmured softly beside her, her gaze never leaving Aether.
Sera flinched slightly and turned toward her. Helena was smiling, though tears clung to her lashes.
“Is that… what Mother was trying to tell us?” Helena whispered. “Is it… Really him?”
Sera had no answer.
When it came to trials, nothing was ever straightforward.
Considering Aether and Mother were not exactly on good terms with each other… she highly doubts Mother meant him.
But even in her doubt, she wanted to believe.
Her eyes returned to the battlefield. Aether was moving faster now, weaving through the remaining metallic figures.
His spear danced through the air in controlled arcs, bodies dissolving into smoke wherever the blade passed.
Killing?
Was he even killing them?
There were no corpses left behind. No ruined machines littering the ground.
Each one simply unravelled into black smoke, erased as though they had never existed.
/…Aether?/
She tried to reach him through their connection.
The link was blocked.
It was as though something vast stood between them, something that did not allow interference.
Sera’s chest tightened… She could not feel his emotions. It was like reaching for someone across a wall of white flame.
There was so much they still did not understand.
So much is hidden beneath him.
Sera forced herself to breathe steadily. This was not the time to freeze. Not the time to drown in questions.
“A-Anyway, get everyone to safety now!” she shouted sharply, her voice regaining command.