The final moment stretched like eternity.
Lucy flew toward the Leviathan's gaping jaws—those glassy, venomous fangs open wide to crush him. His body screamed from overexertion, mana blazing through every vein, wind magic roaring behind him like a jetstream. He was moving faster than he ever had in his life.
And yet, it all felt… slow.
Time bent around pain and purpose. Bones knitted themselves back together with brutal speed, nerve endings flaring like fireworks. He barely registered the pain anymore. Not when his entire body was locked onto the single goal of ending this thing.
Its snake eyes fixed on him—cold, furious, intelligent.
It hated him. It loathed that a human had managed to scar it, burn it, poison it. If those eyes could speak, Lucy imagined they'd say something like:
'How dare you crawl into my domain? How dare you bleed me?'
And weirdly enough… that's what he was thinking too.
'How dare he? How dare he survive all of this?'
