The tension in the plaza didn't just break; it shattered.
Apollo raised his hand, and the light that erupted from his palm was no longer the soothing, rejuvenating glow of a healer. It was a lance of compressed divinity, a concentrated beam of reality-warping force.
The strike slammed into Rex's stone armor with the sound of a mountain splitting. The force was immense, enough to crater the ground beneath his feet and slide his heavy frame backward a half step.
Rex's eyes narrowed behind his mask. He felt the vibration of the impact rattling his very marrow, but he didn't even flinch.
The armor held and the anchor also held.
"Is that everything?" Rex asked, his voice dripping with a casual, almost insulting nonchalance.
The mask hid his expression, but the sheer arrogance of the question was palpable. "Because if so, this is going to be over a lot faster than I expected."
Then, the predator moved.
