Kyra is still missing...

"I... I'm sorry... sob... I'm sorry... sob... I'm sorry..." Lia continued to mumble like a broken child, her words trembling in the air. She was beaten down like a child harshly by her mother... and Aether had taken on the role of that mother in this cruel scenario.

Selene, Nyx, and Ashara exchanged uncomfortable glances.

They felt a deep, sinking pity for the girl trembling on the cold ground, still reeling from Aether's brutal punishment.

The sight was hard to watch.

It had been utterly ruthless.

Even their fiercest fights with Jack were nothing compared to this. Aether had struck her without holding back, and the impact of it was evident in every tremor of Lia's body.

"Ahem!"

The trio flinched as one, instinctively snapping their attention toward Aether. He stood there calmly, dusting his hands as though he had just finished a casual task, not even slightly bothered by the aftermath of what he had done.