Adapts to snapped neck

The final blow struck. It wasn’t enough to sever the tail. It wasn’t enough to free me. Leviathan gave no sign it bothered him, not even a flinch. Instead, he simply squeezed tighter, trying to snap my neck again.

Dark, vindictive pleasure curled in my gut when it failed.

That won’t work on me twice!

With my punching hand, I took hold of his tail — just below where I had been punching him. Then, with one hand above the wound and another below, with muscles bulging, chest heaving, lips curled into a snarl, I pulled.

It took longer than I thought it would, and every second, it just made the furious blaze in my gut burn hotter.

But even though it took several seconds — several long seconds where Leviathan glowered at me, ignoring the lasers being fired into his body, and tried futilely to crush my throat again — eventually, inevitably, even the impossibly strong material that made up his body gave with a snap.