The inferno began to dissipate, not because it was running out of fuel, but because the fire itself seemed to be losing intensity in the face of something far more terrifying than heat.
The flames pulled back from Jack as if they recognized him as something beyond their capacity to harm. His presence was draining the inferno's power simply by existing within it.
Jack continued to advance closer to the Herald.
His movements, while primal in execution, were strategically calculated, a predator employing precise, efficient hunting methods.
The Herald was already reacting, trying to overcome its paralysis and move away from the advancing threat.
It was too slow.
Everything it attempted was occurring in slow motion compared to Jack's speed. Every muscle contraction the Herald attempted to make was already anticipated and countered before it fully formed.
