The white hot belly of the bronze cauldron split open with a sound like tearing leather, unleashing a blinding spear of compressed volcanic fire into the open air.
Three jagged shards of jagged metal broke away from the ruptured casing, screaming through the rising heat as the kinetic shockwave began to expand across the marble platform.
Then, the universe stopped.
The deafening roar of the three thousand spectators in the mountain tiers died in an instant, cut short as if a colossal hand had clamped down over the throat of the world.
The howling draft sweeping through the suspension chains ceased to blow, and the crackle of fire across the western workstations froze into total, dead silence.
Ye Chen tried to draw breath, but his chest remained locked in place, his lungs immobilized w
