"Move," Liam ordered, his voice calm but firm.
The girl didn't hesitate. She sprang into motion, following right behind him like her life depended on it—which it did. Her footsteps were clumsy, but her survival instinct took over. She didn't look back, didn't question. She just moved.
Then came the sound.
A grunt. Deep. Guttural. Animalistic.
The burning man fell forward slightly, his body crackling and glowing with violent pulses of green fire. His eyes rolled back in his skull. His jaw unhinged. The heat around him surged.
Then—BOOOOOM.
The explosion tore through the floor with a sickening roar. A wall of green fire burst out from the room, obliterating everything in its path. The shockwave thundered outward with brutal force, flattening furniture, ripping steel fixtures from the walls, and turning support beams into projectiles. It wasn't just an explosion—it was an eruption. Unnatural. Violent. Alive.
Outside, the effect hit almost instantly.
