The Devourer's face changed.
Its one visible eye narrowed while the ruined mouth slowly closed over the broken rings of teeth. For a second, everything around us became still except for the pulsing sac hidden behind the layers Chenghai was holding apart.
Then the Devourer stopped trying to defend its heart.
The cords feeding into it released at once.
They tore themselves away from the walls and snapped back toward the sac, dragging concrete, pipes, and several unlucky zombies with them. Chenghai lost his grip when the flesh around his hands ripped free, while Lingyun's flames disappeared beneath the collapsing mound.
Yuche pulled me backward as the entire mass contracted.
"What is it doing?" Zhenlan demanded, forcing the debris away from Chenghai before it could bury him.
I didn't know.
That was never a reassuring answer when dealing with something whose last successful idea involved turning downtown Rongdu into an extension of its digestive system.
The tether went slack.
