Amid the Aftershocks

The night sky was like a flattened iron curtain, pressing down over the ruins. After the light of Zero Hand faded, all that remained was a heavy darkness. Tattered bands of cloud drifted away in the distance, and a few stars struggled to emerge through the cracks, only to be blurred by smoke and dust. The air was still scorching, thick with the pungent smells of blood and burning.

The enormous crater continued to sink. Layers of earth peeled away from its edges bit by bit, and the rumbling echoed underground. Every collapse sent clouds of dust billowing up, blanketing the entire battlefield in gray. Hot mist surged from the crater's heart like a tide, rolling back into the sky along the wind and making the night flicker between light and shadow.

Netero remained steady high in the air, both palms pressed tightly together before his chest. His back looked like an iron shadow nailed to the sky, unmoving in the wind and untouched by the swaying dust. Gray rain struck him, only to be scattered by the aura he released, as though it had hit an invisible barrier. Not even a trace remained.

When the smoke cleared, Meruem's figure finally emerged.

He stood straight at the center of the crater, his ankles buried in the shattered stone. Cracks compressed into a ring spread around his feet. Blood streamed from his shoulder armor and ribs, dripping down his calves into the crater, where the heat turned it into white mist. His armor had fallen away in chunks, exposing muscles that looked as though they had been carved by blades, their clear texture terrifying to behold. Every breath sent a cloud of blood mist from his chest, which the hot wind carried away. His fists remained clenched, the veins on the