"Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!"
With a roar fierce enough to tear his throat apart, Chelast drove a fist carrying all his will and fury straight into the face of the approaching "golden deity" that radiated false glory!
There was no sensation of shattering bone, nor the impact of an energy shield.
The instant his fist made contact, the magnificent golden figure before him, the fanatical crowds, the ruined city...
Like reflections shattered by a stone striking water, they suddenly warped and disintegrated!
Every colour and sound was sucked into an invisible vortex, leaving nothing but absolute darkness and silence.
Crack!
A sharp sound, like a dry branch snapping, pulled Chelast back to reality.
He snapped his eyes open, faint system diagnostic lights flickering across his Helmet Visor.
He found himself still standing in that horrifying inner chamber, surrounded by walls of writhing flesh and "brains" hanging overhead.
What he gripped in his clenched right hand was not the face of some deity, but a dark green vine as thick as a baby's arm, tipped with a sharp bone spike and struggling to escape!
That sharp crack had come from him unconsciously using the powerful grip of his Power Armour to crush the vine that had tried to pierce his Helmet while he was trapped in the illusion!
Thick green fluid slowly dripped between his fingers.
"Chelast! What just happened to you?! You stood there like a statue for a few seconds!" Lucius's voice came from nearby, accompanied by hurried breaths and the whistle of fists cutting through the air.
Countless vines still entangled him, his legs sunk deep into the fleshy floor, but his fists moved in an impenetrable flurry, breaking each successive wave of attacks.
Several deep new gouges marked his armour. Clearly, he had endured tremendous pressure during Chelast's brief lapse.