Looking at Aria's corpse lying motionless before him, Bruce exhaled softly, his expression unreadable.
"What a boring fight…" he muttered, his tone flat, disappointed even.
The words hung in the air, carried by the faint wind. Yet behind that calm voice, something else lingered. A dull, unfamiliar heaviness.
Honestly, the fight could have been interesting, should have been. Aria had skill, intelligence, the kind of tactical sharpness he rarely saw among recruits. But everything changed the moment she said it…
'Monster.'
He wasn't going to lie to himself. Those words stuck.
Bruce's gaze fell to his hand, the same one that had ended her life so easily moments ago. It still faintly glowed with residual light from his last skill, the faint warmth of [Holy Rupture] fading slowly.
'Monster, huh…' he thought quietly, flexing his fingers. The knuckles cracked softly. 'Is that what I'm becoming? Or was I already one long before this?'
