Chapter 73: Harmonizing Victory
Ryan moved through a world of frozen chaos. The Apex War Golem was a giant, unmoving statue of rage, its two cannon arms pointed at a slow-motion Jennifer who was gracefully diving out of the way.
Scarlett was a frozen comet in the air, a bolt of energy halfway between her pistol and the Golem’s massive head. The air itself was thick with shimmering, slow-moving distortions. It was like running through a photograph of a hurricane.
But inside his personal bubble of normal time, Ryan was a whirlwind. His feet ate up the distance to the central pedestal. The Spatial Harmonizer, the beautiful orb of pulsating white light, hung in the air just ahead of him.
It was so close he could almost feel its strange, calming energy.
He was just a few feet away when the Golem’s giant red eye, which had been locked on Jennifer, twitched. Even with its focus completely on her, its advanced systems sensed a new, fast-moving threat. It couldn’t turn its body or change its main attack, but it could use its secondary defenses.
A small panel on the Golem’s shoulder slid open. A thin, red beam of light shot out, not at Ryan, but at the space right in front of him.
The air warped violently. It was like a piece of the world had been crumpled up like a piece of paper. A wall of twisted, broken space appeared directly in his path. It was a dead end.
Ryan’s mind didn’t even have time to panic. His instincts, honed by countless battles, took over. He couldn’t go through it. He couldn’t go around it. So, he would go over it.
He planted his feet and jumped, pushing off with all the strength in his legs. He sailed into the air, right over the top of the shimmering, broken wall of space. For a heart-stopping moment, he was flying, suspended above the deadly trap. He could see the artifact just below him, so close.