Ajax can't really make changes to his reflexive movements while trying to dodge more and more of the incoming attacks.

The shining sword finds purchase once again as Orin stabs in a manner that Ajax wasn't expecting. The sword breaks through his sternum, barely missing his heart while tearing apart his aorta. Luckily Ajax is still in motion backwards when he was pierced, so as Orin slashes upwards, cutting through Ajax's windpipe, carotid artery and lower jaw, he remains conscious and responsive.

He pulls away from the sword with his chest and neck cut open and his lower jaw in two pieces, his bisected tongue hanging out.

Ajax runs away in terror as he chokes a bit on his own blood. It doesn't even phase him however as the more pressing concern is his torn windpipe anyways. The pain in his chest from his shredded aorta is another mind rending sensation he needs to deal with without curling up into a ball. He needs to back off long enough for his body to restore all his injuries.

If he had moved a moment too late, the blade might have cut apart his skull and sliced through his brain. Of course, Ajax doesn't let himself freeze at the thought of being so close to death. Not while his enemy is still after him.

This time however, Orin doesn't chase him. He is truly annoyed and infuriated by Ajax's ability to continue healing. He feels like it should only be a matter of time before he's able to overtake the boy's healing and stamina, yet he cannot help but think that something is wrong.

It doesn't make sense to him how Ajax can heal so easily in the middle of battle. Healing magic should allow this to be possible, technically. He had originally thought that perhaps Ajax had some sort of artifact that was pumping his body with vitality, but that doesn't make sense to him anymore.

Something like that would eat away at his stamina and mana by now. He would have been starting to get tired, but he's only gotten faster and faster as the fight progressed. The pace at which he's snuffing out the white flames hasn't decreased either.

Is he just pushing himself to his limits? No, there's no signs of any kind of strain at all. He's not breathing heavily at all, even now.

Orin takes the time to watch Ajax heal from a few paces away. Ajax's wounds disappear so quickly and completely, leaving no trace of scar at all. Orin looks at his sword edge once and at the blood of his opponent still remaining on it. The sword itself is not burning like his body is so Ajax's blood doesn't evaporate. However…

"...What? This blood…"

Orin touches the blood on his sword edge with his fingers covered in white flames. He tries to get it to evaporate with his flames. The red blood doesn't burn away. It is still in a liquid state as well. He tries to use a small amount of blue flames solely from his index finger to get rid of it. Yet, the blood remains while the sword below it melts in one spot.

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A feeling of dread starts to creep into Orin's heart.

The boy's blood is fully separated from his body right now. It should be separated from whatever status effects are present on his opponent, whether they be some sort of healing artifact or actual healing magic. However, the blood in his hand remains liquid. Orin looks at his opponent who is standing there currently without moving.

He's afraid to be cut again… I think I should be the one who's afraid. There's something wrong here. Not even a noble should have blood like this. Even they're still human… What is he?

Ajax isn't just standing there however. He's already moved his mind into another bout of bullet time. He has to consider how he can end this. Every moment he wastes, his opponent gets closer and closer to destroying his head, an injury he doesn't know if he can recover from.

However, he also knows that Orin's fire is feeding him more and more energy. There is a significant chance that he can eventually defeat him just by steadily becoming faster than him, so long as his skull isn't bashed in or sliced apart before that.

But Ajax doesn't have the time to fight him.

He hasn't forgotten about them. He has one more building left that he has to protect. Dzan and Sigvor are still there, his new friends in this strange world. He's only lucky that he hasn't heard the sound of pillars crumbling, people screaming or walls collapsing just yet.

If I don't hurry, I won't be able to make it in time. Every single second is precious right now!

His mind flashes with images of the bodies he had seen earlier outside, the humans scorched with flames, their bodies charred beyond recognition. He imagines Dzan and Sigvor still there in that building. Will he have to pull them out of the rubble? Will he still be able to recognize them?

Can he risk that outcome because he refused to use all the power at his disposal? Can he tell their families that they died because he was too indecisive?

He was the one who told them to go there in the first place! What would Ajax tell Angelidis and Malia, Dzan's lover, if Dzan and Sigvor died? He sent his friends to fight against a terrorist group with members who could be just as strong as his current opponent. They don't have his strength at their disposal.

A wave of guilt floods Ajax's mind as he finally comprehends what he has done to them.

He threatened their lives so that they could save the lives of people who neither they nor Ajax were close to or knew personally. He sent his innocent friends to save those innocent strangers with no guarantee that they wouldn't all die in the end anyways. If he had done nothing, it wouldn't have been his fault if that building full of people were annihilated.

He did his best. He tried his hardest. He was only one man. It wouldn't be his ultimate responsibility.

But because he asked Dzan and Sigvor to intervene, it would be his fault that those two died.