Orin won't ever get his leg or his arm back nor will he be able to return to the Twin Moons, but at least this injury won't stop him from completing his current mission. Unfortunately, his healing magic is nowhere near powerful enough to regenerate his blood. He feels quite anemic as a result.
But, he’s a battle mage and holds that designation with distinction and honor. Magic is such a wondrous thing for someone such as him. Especially in his current situation where he’s lost so many options to retaliate with.
Orin needs one last push. If he's going to do this, if he's going to go out fighting, he cannot hold back a thing. There is still some raging mana in his veins, a relatively miniscule amount, combined with his own mana reserves. Most of his personal mana was used to help control the raging mana, but there is still some left of that too.
I’m not done yet. I’m not finished. I have just enough. Let’s… do that.
He was going to use his reserves to stop his enemy right here, right now.
"A-Ah…" Orin lies on the floor while his body is enveloped with an exoskeleton of mana. This is a special spell, one that doesn't need to be used for very long. It is not uncommon in battle for mages to lose limbs. It has always been proper protocol to be aware of how to extricate oneself from a battlefield when one is unable to leave through one’s own physical strength.
Some mages are capable of powerful flight spells. Others have magical artifacts that can teleport them to safe locations. Then, there’s the “carapace”.
Orin is not perfectly adept at using this spell, but all he needs is for the structure of the carapace to make him sit and stand upright. He feels no pain as the exoskeletal appendages place him into a standing position. He has to continue to breathe heavily however in order to stave off unconsciousness, since one of his lungs is punctured.
He feels exceedingly strange because he cannot feel himself breathing. He cannot feel himself doing anything at all. Even moving his mana around, though normally attached with some sort of sensation, is purely a mental effort currently.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
It’s as if his soul is already detached from his body and what he’s doing currently is moving his corpse like a puppeteer.
He doesn't feel cold. He doesn't feel like he's dying. His opponent had sincerely tried his best to kill him, but in the end, he was unable to deal a fatality. His attacks were unable to destroy Orin's vitals or even his major veins and arteries. Though his limbs are missing and his lung is punctured, his heart still pumps, his liver is undamaged and…
I’ll bleed out right after I kill him.
He can still move enough to act but after he finishes his mission, he will truly see heaven. Furthermore, he can still see ahead of him. A wide grin splits his face. Finally, the Lord has accepted the sincerity of his efforts and given him providence.
He looks over at Ajax's mangled body. Orin is at one end of the hallway, near the opposite stairwell entrance, and Ajax is in the middle of the hallway. He doesn't understand how the boy, the young monster, wound up like this.
The boy is crying, tears running down his cheeks and snot running down his nose. His mouth is dirty with vomit. His body is completely destroyed. He's lost so much blood that it is an unbelievable sight to see the boy is still alive. He had the complete upper hand. He had the complete victory in hand. Yet, right now, he's utterly defeated.
If Orin were in his state, he would already have died. Yet, the boy…
This being… it is an abomination… while wearing human skin, while being completely smashed, it just keeps…!
Orin watches in horror as his enemy slowly heals all of his fatal injuries. The boy's jaw returns to its proper position all by itself, and his bloodied and slightly dented head starts to reform as well. He can see that he isn’t even asleep currently. He’s wide awake and if Orin were to guess, fully conscious and cognizant.
The regeneration of his injuries is far slower than it was earlier. Ajax is far slower overall. Orin is confused at what the boy had done for his body to become like this. He didn't see how Ajax had lost his footing and tumbled forward.
However, the fires in the hallway that Orin had generated, specifically the ones closest to Ajax, dissipated. Orin notices the boy's body healing slightly faster as soon as the fires disappear, although he still cannot pick himself up off the ground. Even in that state, he can wipe away the fire as if he were commanding it to disappear.
It makes Orin shiver at Osva and his hosts having to face this grotesque creature. A creature with true power, though still a fledgling.