Chapter 167: Sarin
Jack’s eyes opened to chaos.
He was running. His legs pumped beneath him with a strength and speed that felt too powerful.
He was running too fast. The ground blurred beneath his feet as he sprinted across stone that cracked under the force of his weight.
Voices shouted around him. Words he couldn’t quite make out at first, muffled as if he were underwater.
But he knew they were talking to him. Calling to him. Warning him.
"Sarin! Keep up!" A male voice, crackling with energy and barely contained laughter.
’Sarin?’ Jack thought, panic spiking through his chest. ’Who the hell is Sarin? What’s happening?’
He glanced down at his arms as he ran. They weren’t his arms. Too large, too muscular, covered in what looked like golden armor that gleamed even in the dim light.
His hands, when he caught sight of them, were massive things that could have crushed stone.
This wasn’t his body.
Behind them, something roared.
The sound was so deep, so vast, that Jack felt it in his bones. It shook the air itself, making the ground tremble beneath his feet. He risked a glance backward and immediately wished he hadn’t.
A titan.
Easily a hundred meters tall, its massive form moving with terrible speed despite its size. Its skin was gray stone, covered in blue crystals that jutted from its flesh like jagged teeth.
The crystals pulsed with an eerie light, casting shadows that danced across the titan’s features.
Its eyes, when they found Jack’s group, burned with rage.
"Move!" A voice shouted from Jack’s left. Male, commanding, but filled with an excitement that seemed completely at odds with the danger they were in.
Jack’s head snapped toward the sound. A figure ran beside him, wreathed in white electricity. Lightning danced between his fingers, arced across his armor.
This man commanded storms with the casual ease of breathing.
And he was grinning. Actually grinning like this was the most fun he’d had in years.
’Draven?’ Jack thought, recognizing his face, but he was much younger.
"Sarin!" Draven called out, his voice practically singing with amusement. "Are you having fun yet? Because I’m having a fantastic time!" He laughed, the sound bright and genuine despite the titan literally trying to kill them.
"This isn’t fun!" A female voice shrieked from behind them. "This is terrifying! We’re all going to die!"
Jack glanced back to see a woman, the one surrounded by plants that erupted from stone to propel her forward.
Her face was pale with fear even as vines wrapped around her arms, ready to be used as weapons. She was powerful, that much was obvious, but she looked like she was one second away from panicking completely.
"We’re not going to die, dear sister." another female voice said, calm and authoritative. This one blazed with pure light, her entire form radiating divine authority. "Keep moving. Panic helps no one."
"Easy for you to say!" She shot back, her voice pitching higher. "You’re not the one who almost got stepped on five minutes ago!"
"That’s because I’m actually paying attention," the light-wielding sister replied without a trace of humor.
To Jack’s right ran another male figure, this one surrounded by swirling water that defied gravity. A trident materialized in his hands, three prongs that gleamed with power.
Ice formed in the air around him, freezing the moisture into deadly shards that orbited his body like protective satellites.
His expression was severe, focused, completely unlike Draven’s manic grin. "Save the banter for when we’re not running for our lives," he said, his voice cutting through the chaos.
"Oh, come on, brother!" Draven laughed again, electricity crackling brighter around him. "Where’s your sense of adventure? We’re fighting a titan! When was the last time we got to do something this exciting?"
"Two weeks ago," he replied flatly. "When you nearly got us all killed challenging that hydra."
"And we won, didn’t we?" Draven’s grin somehow widened. "Besides, Sarin’s got our backs. Right, brother?"
Jack’s mouth moved before he could stop it, words coming out in a voice that wasn’t his but somehow felt natural. "I’d have your back better if you stopped treating this like a game!"
"But it is a game!" Draven spun mid-stride, running backward now, his lightning building between his hands as he faced the pursuing titan. "The best game! The only game that matters!" He hurled a bolt of lightning that struck the titan’s chest, leaving a scorch mark but barely slowing it down. "See? Fun!"
"You’re insane," the brother with ice muttered, but Jack caught the faintest hint of a smile on the serious man’s face.
The third sister, the one wielding white-gold flames, hadn’t spoken yet. She ran with quiet grace, her sacred fire leaving no smoke, only radiance.
Her expression was serene, almost meditative, as if running from a titan was just another form of prayer.
The titan’s footsteps shook the ground. Each impact sent tremors through the stone, cracking it, breaking it apart. It was gaining on them. Despite its size, despite its speed, it was getting closer.
"We can’t outrun it!" She shouted, her plants writhing around her arms. "It’s too fast! We need to fight! Or hide! Or I don’t know, maybe dig a hole and pray it doesn’t find us?"
"We’re not hiding," she said, her light intensifying. "We’re gods. We don’t hide."
"I’d really like to start hiding right about now!" Her voice cracked slightly.
"Keep moving!" Thalion commanded, his trident spinning as he prepared to strike. "We need more distance before we engage."
But the titan was too close now. Jack could hear its breathing, feel the heat radiating from its massive body, and sense the raw power that made even the air around it dangerous to inhabit.
It reached for them with one massive hand.
"Oh, now it’s getting interesting!" Draven’s laugh was almost manic. "Sarin, are you seeing this?"
She turned mid-stride, her voice rising in a chant that resonated with divine authority. "By oath and bond, by vow and word, I bind this moment, I seal this power!"
Golden chains erupted from nothing, wrapping around the titan’s wrist. They held for a moment, slowing its reach, buying precious seconds.
"Nice one, sister!" Draven called out. "But I think we can do better!"
The titan roared and shattered the chains with casual strength. Its hand swept toward them, fingers the size of houses reaching to crush them all in one motion.
"See?" Draven’s grin never wavered even as death reached for them. "This is what makes life worth living!"
"You have a deeply concerning definition of ’living,’" he said, water and ice gathering around his trident.
Jack felt something build inside his chest. Not fear, but power.
It started as warmth, spreading through his veins like molten lava. But beneath it, around it, was something else. Electricity. Lightning that crackled in his blood, that made his muscles spasm with barely contained energy.
His siblings were still running, still trying to escape. But Jack’s body had stopped moving forward. Instead, it turned to face the titan, both hands rising without his conscious command.
"What are you doing?!" He shouted, genuine concern breaking through his serious demeanor. "Sarin, run!"