The Aethermimic rose from the ground, slowly, dripping black sludge, clutching the glowing seed it left behind.
It came back. Stronger.
Its shape was unstable, like something trying to remember what a body even was.
This was its true form, before copying Shichirō, before copying any of them…
But it was unfinished.
Its skin bubbled and pulsed.Bones cracked, rearranging.A heartbeat thumped inside it, but not like a human's, more like a drum.
Then.
SHLKKK.
Its left arm mutated in an instant, swelling into a massive, brutal limb, exactly like Isocrates' titan arm.
Its eyes snapped open.
Two glowing, icy-blue rings.
Rokuro's eyes.
The creature tilted its head.
Whispered, in a perfect mimic of Shichiro's
"…Focus."
The word echoed like a command.
And then.
The rest of its body surged with stolen traits.
Aegis' armored shoulder plating burst from one side.Kentarō's dagger grip formed on its fingers.Ryosen's stance imprinted on its legs.Even Ketsuki's aura flickered in its hair.
Piece by piece.
fragment by fragment.it became all of them at once.
A twisted mirror of their entire team.
Finally…
With a sickening crack, it straightened its spine.
The Aethermimic had reached its full form.
A swirling, corrupted fusion of every strength they possessed.
Its many eyes focused on Shichirō.
And it spoke with all of their voices layered together:
"We are everything you failed to protect."
The battlefield fell silent.
And Shichiro felt his heartbeat stutter.
Because this time.
It wasn't a nightmare.
It was real.