章 78: Flee or Fight

James's POV

I couldn't move. My body refused. Every instinct screamed at me to run, but my legs felt like lead. The air was thick, suffocating, as though the weight of the world pressed down on my chest.

The god-beast loomed before us, its massive form framed by the molten glow of its body. Veins of liquid fire pulsed through its obsidian skin, casting eerie flickers of light across the shattered ground. Its molten eyes were locked on us—watching, waiting. It didn't attack. It didn't need to.

"Why is it just standing there?" I whispered, barely able to hear my own voice over the pounding of my heart.

No one answered.