As he counted down the breaths left to him, Lynn found himself in an exceptionally peculiar state. All pain seemed to fade rapidly as his mental acuity intensified severalfold.
For a moment, Lynn couldn't help but wonder if he had already passed into the afterlife.
Yet no, he could still keenly feel the flow of blood and oxygen to his brain being brutally cut off, his body slowly losing its vital spark.
It wouldn't be long before he truly met his demise!
But in the face of such dire circumstances, Lynn was strangely bereft of fear.
How, then, to strike back while being throttled by the neck and suffocating from lack of air?
Lynn, perceiving the endless sea of elements within the void, allowed his thoughts to wander as he used his spiritual energy to envelop and promptly extract the active oxygen molecules from their surroundings.
What would transpire if one were to breathe while in a low oxygen environment? Andrei serves as the perfect example.
Inhaling a large volume of useless gas into the lungs, blood pressure rapidly increases. Within a few breaths, the symptoms of oxygen deprivation become apparent. Lynn's sharp senses detect the hand constricting his neck losing its strength.
'This is it!'
Lynn suddenly opens his eyes, and, based on his previous memories, the positions and reactions of every person in the room become data that floods into his mind. He can even make a highly detailed analysis of the strain on his neck based on the angle at which Andrei raised his arm.
In an instant, countless complex data are organized, and Lyn constructs a fully restored three-dimensional image within his mind, deducing the optimal plan for thrusting his sword.
'Forty-seven degree angle!'
Lynn's arm shot up as his blade pierced the air, catching the man in front of him off guard and rendering him defenseless against the sudden oxygen deprivation. All he could do was watch in horror as the sword's tip penetrated his neck.
The delicate flesh of the neck proved no match for the sharp weapon, and a torrent of scarlet blood spewed forth, spattering Lynn's clothing and face.
Andrei's eyes bulged as his mouth gaped open and closed, gurgling incomprehensible sounds. He staggered back and dropped his hold of his sword and Lynn, his hands frantically trying to stop the flow of blood from the wound in his neck. A look of terror, despair and disbelief etched on his face.
Without hesitation, Lynn took advantage of the situation and, still in the low-oxygen zone, delivered a swift frontal kick to Andrei's body, sending the man towards the shocked Brenny. Lynn used the recoil to propel himself out and get some distance.
Brenny was taken aback by the sudden turn of events and a look of stunned disbelief washed over his face. It all happened instantly and fast. His reaction was late, and he reflexively caught Andrei's now dying body. He looked at his companion in his arms and realized the other man can no longer be saved, the man's pupils hazy and constricted.
The purplish-blue color of his face, the blackened and reddened lips, and the dilated pupils all bore witness to the fact that Andrei had been taken off guard and was pierced through the neck, leaving him no opportunity to defend himself!
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
How could this be possible?
Brenny stared at Lynn in the distance, disbelief etched in his face. He had just witnessed Andrei strangling Lynn's neck, yet somehow he had found himself struggling to draw a breath. Might this be some sort of spell that affected both allies and adversaries alike?
Lynn drew deep breaths, striving to restore vitality to his limbs. The suffocation he had endured for a full minute, combined with the forced manipulation of oxygen elements, had left his head throbbing with a dull ache.
Though he had succeeded in killing one of his foes through the use of oxygen deprivation, Lynn did not dare to let his guard down. The brief exchange had made it plain to him that there was a vast chasm of skill separating the two sides.
According to his recollections, the hunters were all elite fighters of exceptional physical prowess.
His own swordsmanship might have been sufficient to dispatch a few bandits, but it would prove inadequate against the hunters sent forth by the Holy See.
A multitude of thoughts flitted through Lynn's mind, and then the warning sounded.
[Warning: in overload mode, system energy is rapidly depleting. Forced shutdown in approximately ten minutes and thirty seconds expected.]
Lynn's body gave an involuntary jolt as he realized that the sudden increase in his control over the elements was a result of the assistance of his chip implant.
Well, he might as well take advantage of this and try using magic.
Lynn's gaze sharpened and he clutched the bloodied short sword tightly. His mental energy spread out once more into the air, frantically grasping at hydrogen and oxygen elements...
A sphere of water materialized in the void and quickly took form...
[Frost Blade]!
The frosty blade, exuding a freezing aura, shot forth like a released arrow, causing Brenny's expression to freeze. Rather than opting to meet it head-on, he swung his long sword diagonally, slicing the side of the frost blade and sending it off course.
But it was in this momentary lull that the necessary preparations for the spell were completed. A gray powder hovered in the palm of Lynn's hand before igniting into a searing fireball and firing it towards his enemy.
This was another first-ring magic in Lynn's arsenal - [Fireball]!
The temperature in the room suddenly rose sharply. As a single-ring magic, [Fireball] was far more powerful than [Frost Blade]!
Most crucially, there was no way to evade it in the cramped confines of the room.
Brenny could sense the scent of death in the air. He violently kicked a splinter from the broken cabinet earlier, sending it crashing towards the rampaging fireball, and then flipped Andrei's corpse over, using it as a human shield.
"BOOM!"
The next moment, the fireball struck the broken cabinet and exploded with a loud bang, filling the room with scorching light. A heavy shockwave and heat was felt through the room, fortunately, Lynn was far after he took advantage of his distance.
Lynn stared intently at the smoke and debris scattered in front of him, panting heavily. He had no accurate understanding of the power of a first-ring magic, but based on the effect, it seemed no less potent than a hand grenade equipped with both fragmentation and incendiary charges. If it were to hit him directly, he would likely suffer severe injury, if not succumb entirely...
"Raahh!"
Lynn narrowly evaded the swift strike of Brenny's long sword, which had hacked through the smoke and flame with deadly precision. The weapon was almost upon him before his enhanced reflexes and coordination, courtesy of his neural implant, allowed him to adopt a defensive stance. He wielded his sword horizontally in his right hand and steadied it with his left, lowering his body and planting his back against the scarred wall at his side.
"Hnngh!" Lynn grunted in pain as the swords clashed with a sharp, dissonant sound that echoed through the confined space. Lynn's grip stung as he felt the force of Brenny's weapon push him into the wall.
Lynn's ragged breaths rang out in his ears, his blood is boiling and his heart pounding as he focus on his opponent. His mind registered only one thing: the weight of the sword that now seemed to bear down on him with crushing force. He released his grip on the weapon and, using the momentum of the impact, tumbled to the ground. He narrowly avoided a follow-up kick by rolling frantically out of the way.
A gust of wind whipped over him, followed by a dull thud. When he turned his head, he saw that the wall had been destroyed by Brenny's powerful kick.
[A force of approximately 1.75 tons] a momentary flash of data analysis that appeared in Lynn's eyesight. He knew that, even with the most advanced training, a normal human could never have generated such a devastating blow. It was beyond the limits of the human body.