The world held its breath for a single, beautiful, and utterly silent second.
Then the universe screamed.
Michael was already moving.
His legs pumped, his lungs burned, and the cold, hard ground of the Great Lawn flew beneath his feet.
He was a sprinter, and the finish line was the stunned, twitching, half-buried god-monster at the end of the world.
"Go, Spooky, go!" Jax's voice was a ragged, pain-laced cheer in his ear. "Run like you just stole the last slice of pizza from Jinx!"
"He wouldn't dare," Jinx's voice grunted back, a low, deadly promise.
The Umbraxis shook its massive head, a motion that sent a shower of dislodged boulders cascading from its obsidian scales.
It was recovering.
Way too fast.
Okay, Michael, his inner monologue panted, his thoughts a frantic, desperate scramble. This is it. The DPS phase.
The boss is stunned. Time to use your ultimate ability and get all the glory.
He drew the Reaper's Fang, its matte black surface humming, hungry.
