Grey stood suspended in the air, circuits flashing across his pale body. Every line of muscle along his abdomen, back, and shoulders was tightly drawn together, as if forged by some unseen cosmic hand. The circuitry spreading across his flesh shimmered like a star-filled sky, making him appear less like a man and more like a god that had descended upon the mortal plane.
"You broke it?" the Abyssal Mistress's voice rang out, disbelief bleeding into her tone.
"How could that be?"
Her thoughts raced as she tried to grasp the reason behind his sudden surge in power. There was no external amplification, no catastrophic resonance, no forbidden sacrificial technique she could sense. The only visible difference was that the circuit-like patterns across his body had grown sharper, more complete, as if they had finally reached their intended form.
At this moment, Grey no longer looked human. He looked like a cosmic entity wearing flesh as a vessel.
Yet he did not reply.
