Chapter 64: Alpha and Omega
The Alpha Sky Titan’s roar was not just a sound; it was a physical force. It slammed into Ryan like a solid wall, making the air in his lungs vibrate and his bones ache. The entire floating island shook as if it were a leaf in a hurricane.
Ryan didn’t waste a second. He knew his simple knife wouldn’t do much against a beast that used lightning as a blanket. This was not a fight he could win with strength. He had to win it with his brain.
The Titan moved with a speed that was terrifying for something so huge. It opened its massive beak, and a ball of crackling, blindingly bright lightning formed inside. It was like a miniature sun. With another roar, it blasted the lightning ball straight at Ryan.
Ryan’s mind went into overdrive. He pushed off the ground, his Boots of Alacrity giving him a burst of speed that felt like a rocket was strapped to his back.
The world seemed to slow down just a little bit. He dove to the side, rolling behind a huge, jagged rock just as the lightning ball hit the spot where he had been standing.
The explosion was deafening. The ground melted into a pool of glowing, bubbling lava. The rock he was hiding behind glowed red hot and started to crumble.
"Okay," Ryan panted, his heart hammering against his ribs. "Plan A: Don’t get hit. So far, so good."
He peeked out from behind the melting rock. The Titan was already preparing another attack, this time lowering its head to charge. It was going to flatten him like a pancake. He needed a real plan, and he needed it now.
His eyes darted across the Titan’s massive body. He saw it then. Patches of its dark, stormy scales glowed with a soft, internal light.
They pulsed in a steady rhythm, like a heartbeat. He remembered the information from his Weaver’s Gauntlet. Precursor technology... can be controlled...
The Titan was an Anomaly, a creature warped by the god’s strange energy. But maybe, just maybe, its body worked a little bit like a machine.