For a moment, time seemed to slow.
Henry saw the sharp claws glint under the moonlight as they came down on him, the seconds stretching into an eternity.
His life flashed before his eyes.
'I have to prove Dad wrong... I have to prove everyone wrong. No—this can't be how it ends!'
He pushed himself with everything he had, falling backward onto his butt. Raising the gun to eye level, he fired on instinct.
BOOM!
A sleek mana-forged bullet tore from the barrel, splitting the air with a sharp crack.
The force of it shook the ground, distorting the space it moved through.
It raced toward Amaya, who was still mid-air.
'Attacking while I'm airborne?' she mused, watching the bullet come.
To anyone else, it was impossibly fast.
But to her…
'Too slow.'
She vanished from sight in a blur.
The bullet blasted past where she'd just been, crashing into a thick tree trunk behind her.
CRACK!
It bored through like a hot knife through butter, shredding the wood with a sharp scream.
