Vance threw his full body weight backward. The rusted iron mechanism finally yielded with a terrifying, grinding snap. The analog connection broke. A surge of unquantifiable energy flooded the iron handle.
The cosmic flash-fire ate Vance alive. His necrotic tissue and yellowed bone flash-vaporized. The blast consumed his entire cellular structure in a fraction of a second. There was no heroic final monologue. The Game Master simply turned into falling white ash.
The localized vacuum created by the leyline snap ripped the remaining air out of the room. Will dropped to the carpet. He covered his head as the three-billion-credit bulletproof glass shattered outward. The air shredded into ribbons. The temperature plunged into a biting, unnatural frost. The remaining jaundiced light from the dead monitors died, plunging the ruined office into pitch blackness.
"Don't breathe the ash," Don coughed, spitting out the taste of vaporized bone.
