Chapter 318: The Null Spine: Final Confrontation
Samuel's POV
Ezra stood before us like a wound in the world.
The cavern twisted around his presence — veins of obsidian cracking with voidfire, gravity warping with every breath he took. His body was a shadow-wrapped vessel of chaos: tendrils sprouting from his back, his arms pulsing with dark glyphs. And those eyes... bottomless pits, wide open to eternity.
"This is your final chance," I said, stepping forward, sword drawn, flame licking along its blade. "Surrender, or die."
Ezra laughed. Not cruelly. Not madly. Just... like a man who knew he was already beyond consequence.
"I am already dead, Samuel," he said. "You're just here to join me."
Then he moved.
The world snapped.
Ezra blurred across the cavern, shadows peeling like skin behind him. His fist struck Henry first — a wave of compressed void slamming into him, sending him spiraling into a column of shattered bone.
"Owen!" I shouted.
Already in motion, Owen transformed mid-leap — fur bursting, claws glowing with primal energy. The Beast roared as he tackled Ezra, slamming him into the ground with an earthquake punch. But Ezra melted under him like smoke — rising behind with a blade formed of despair itself and slicing deep across Owen's back.