The crack pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then it tore wider.
A sharp, screeching sound ripped through the air as the space itself split open, the edges of the crack glowing faintly like burning glass. The humming turned into a violent vibration, shaking the ground beneath their feet.
Mira stumbled back. "Aiden, we need to run—"
"Too late."
Aiden's voice was calm.
Too calm.
Because now—
Something was coming through.
A claw emerged first.
Long. Dark. Twisted.
It pushed against the edges of the crack, forcing it wider with unnatural strength. The air distorted violently around it, as if reality itself was rejecting its presence.
Mira froze.
"Aiden…" her voice trembled. "…what is that?"
Aiden didn't answer.
His eyes were locked on it.
Watching.
Analyzing.
The creature forced its way out.
Its body flickered between shapes—sometimes solid, sometimes like smoke. Its limbs were too long, its movements unnatural, like it hadn't fully adapted to this world yet.
Two glowing eyes snapped open.
And locked onto them.
Silence.
For one second.
Then—
It screamed.
A high-pitched, distorted sound that didn't belong in any world.
Mira covered her ears. "Ahh—!"
The creature moved.
Fast.
Faster than anything she had ever seen.
It lunged straight toward them.
Mira couldn't react.
She didn't even move.
But Aiden did.
In a blur, he stepped forward—placing himself between her and the creature.
His hand shot out.
And caught it.
The impact cracked the ground beneath his feet.
Dust exploded outward.
But Aiden didn't budge.
His grip tightened around the creature's arm, stopping it mid-attack as if it weighed nothing.
The creature struggled violently, its form glitching, distorting, trying to break free.
Aiden's expression didn't change.
"…So you're real," he said quietly.
Mira stared at his back, her eyes wide with shock.
"Aiden… what are you doing…?"
But he didn't answer her.
He couldn't.
Because at that moment—
Something inside him snapped into place.
The energy.
That power he had been holding back his whole life.
It surged.
Not slowly.
Not gently.
Violently.
The ground around him cracked as an invisible force exploded outward. The air trembled. The very space around his body warped slightly under the pressure.
The creature froze.
For the first time—
It hesitated.
Aiden looked up.
His eyes…
Glowed faintly.
"…You picked the wrong world," he said.
And then—
He punched it.
The impact was devastating.
A shockwave blasted outward, flattening the grass and shaking the nearby trees. The creature was launched backward like it had been hit by a falling mountain, its body distorting violently before slamming into the crack behind it.
For a split second—
Everything went still.
Then the creature let out a final screech—
And shattered.
Breaking apart into fragments of dark energy that dissolved into the air.
Silence.
The crack flickered violently, unstable now.
Aiden stood there, his fist still extended, breathing steady.
Behind him—
Mira's voice trembled.
"…Aiden…"
He didn't turn around.
"…I was going to tell you," he said quietly.
"Tell me what?"
Aiden slowly lowered his hand.
"…That I'm not normal."
The crack pulsed again.
Stronger.
More violently than before.
Aiden's eyes snapped back to it.
"…Wait."
Something was wrong.
The crack wasn't closing.
It was growing.
The edges stretched wider—
Far wider than before.
The air screamed.
And from deep within the darkness—
Multiple glowing eyes opened.
Mira's voice broke.
"…There's more?"
Aiden's expression hardened.
"…Yeah."
The ground trembled harder now.
The crack expanded—unstable, wild—like something had forced it open from the other side.
Not one creature.
Not two.
Dozens.
Aiden took a step forward.
This time—
His aura didn't stay hidden.
The air around him bent.
Power radiated off him like a storm about to erupt.
"…Stay back," he said.
Mira didn't argue.
She couldn't.
Because for the first time—
She was seeing the real Aiden.
The creatures began to crawl out.
One after another.
The world trembled.
And Aiden smiled slightly.
Not out of joy.
But resolve.
"…Guess I don't have to hold back anymore."