Just as Aeralon was about to fly down and claim the roc's crystal core, a figure suddenly streaked toward them from the distance.
"Aerisara?!" The instant he recognized her, Aeralon's face lit up with shock and joy. "You're alive! That's—this is perfect!"
Then, in the next breath, his expression hardened.
"No… something's wrong." His brow furrowed. "Why can't I sense your soul fluctuations? What is this?"
The other Winged Clan experts were confused too, eyes flicking back and forth.
"I get it!" A Winged Clan expert—one of the ones who'd participated in the earlier siege against Ethan—blurted out in horror. "That human… he created Captain Aerisara into a soulless thrall!"
"Soulless thrall?" Aeralon's face dropped into pure darkness.
"Yes." The expert swallowed. "We fought his soulless thrall before. This is exactly what it looked like."
That was all it took.
Aeralon's rage detonated.
