The Stalker didn't hiss. It lunged with a precision that rivaled a human swordsman. Its top two blades swung in a horizontal arc aimed at Aden's neck, while the bottom two thrust toward his gut.
Aden didn't retreat. He stepped *into* the strike, his body twisting in a mid-air spiral that defied the laws of physics. The State of Equilibrium hummed around him, the air itself thickening to catch the serrated bone-blades. He parried the top two with a flick of his wrist and redirected the bottom thrusts into the ground.
In the opening, Aden's palm hit the Stalker's chest.
*Harmonic Pulse: Shatter.*
A ripple of blue energy exploded from his hand. The Stalker's obsidian chest-plate didn't just crack—it disintegrated into fine black sand. The creature was hurled backward fifty feet, its heavy body smashing through a dozen of its own kin before it hit the canyon wall with a sickening crunch.
"Eren! Advance!" Aden shouted.
