CHAPTER 40: PRESSURE OF LIFE AND DEATH

(A/N Big thanks to everyone for the Power stones and Golden tickets, they mean a lot. As usual, please don’t hesitate to comment or drop a review. ENJOY)

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His mind tried to find a solution, yet before he could think of anything, another vision came; he was pierced clean through by three pieces of earth jutting out from both sides and his back.

The vision faded, and his body immediately responded; temporal distortion tore through his bindings, before his body shot off the ground, performing a back flip away from his imminent demise.

Barnes had a confused expression on his face, wondering where he got the strength to break free.

Orion landed, his mind finally catching up to his actions. His breath came out in large gasps, fatigue written all over his face. Still, he held a defiant look, his mind racing for his next move.

’My mana is down to about 50%, Temporal distortion is still too draining to use continuously, and I have to save it to catch him off guard. Fortunately, I don’t think he knows how I broke free, Orion thought.

Barnes shot off again in his direction, killing intent rolling off him in waves. This time around, he conjured the rocks on his hands to form a gauntlet, sending punch after punch towards Orion.

Orion continued to dodge, sometimes parrying, his spatial senses assisting him and making up for his reaction time.

The back and forth continued, sometimes Barnes would manipulate the earth, conjuring constructs that tried to take him by surprise, but Seer would alert him, Orion’s tolerance for the feeling of death rising with every escape.

The feeling of getting his head smashed in or pierced through was nauseating at first, but the pressure of life and death left no room for melancholy or depression.

His swordmanship started getting better, his predictive ability increasing, paired with his spatial senses, Barnes found it harder to break through.

He found subtle ways to strike back while still defending, his sword strikes becoming cleaner and more efficient, his trajectories no longer wide but measured.

Orion’s blade whistled past Barnes’ guard, too wide, too slow.

’Sloppy. Too much shoulder. My stance collapses the moment I swing.’ He thought, analysing.

He reset, feet digging into fractured stone. Another strike came, his senses screaming. He intercepted, steel ringing against stone-armored fists.

’He reads me too easily. My cuts are loud — telegraphed. A surgeon doesn’t slash; he incises. Precise. Measured.’ Orion thought, his mind finding ways to better himself.

His grip tightened, wrists adjusting, blade angling lower. When he swung again, the strike wasn’t wild. It was narrow, efficient, carried by his core instead of flailing arms.

Barnes’ eyes narrowed. The boy’s rhythm had shifted. Cleaner. Sharper.

Orion exhaled through his nose, body moving smoothly with each exchange.

’I don’t have to be stronger, just more precise. I can’t overpower him, but if I make each motion costless, if I can carve, not hack, then I can last.’ He thought

He felt it then, subtle but undeniable, as though something inside had clicked into place. Each strike no longer felt like guesswork. His sword fit his hand.

The two soon fell into a rhythm, man and boy trying to overwhelm the other, their duel becoming subtly enjoyable. Barnes couldn’t tell when it started, but for some reason, the boy now sported a grin on his face.

Orion was enjoying this back and forth; he tried to deny it, but for some reason, the boy’s improvement brought a sort of challenge that made this conflict all the more fascinating.

Whenever he tried to catch him off guard, the boy always found his way out, in ways that left him confused, almost like he could see the future; either his instincts are just that good or he has some guardian angel behind him.

But it was enough, he had to end this charade, his mana wasn’t unlimited, his current method clearly wasn’t effective, he had to deal with the boy some other way.

Barnes stopped, taking a step back, panting like he had just returned from a marathon. He looked at his opponent, Orion didn’t look any better, sweat soaking through his clothes like he had jumped into a river.

To think he would be struggling against a boy not up to half his age, how strong was he at Orion’s age? Truly monstrous talent, and that begged the question of which noble house the boy was from, but he would figure that out later; he would get his answer from the other two.

Orion raised one eyebrow, his stance wary, his mind contemplating what his opponent was thinking. He could tell the pedo was getting tired of their exchange and was itching to end it.

’Maybe, he’s almost out of mana,’ Orion thought.

Whatever might be his reason, Orion was also eager to end it; his mana was down to about 15%, which was enough for two more temporal distortions, considering he still needed mana for augmenting his movement and sword play.

The two stood apart, glaring at each other as though trying to rip their souls apart with their eyes.

Suddenly, Orion felt it, his attunement giving him a clear picture; mana coalesced within Barnes like air being compressed into a medium. He was preparing another attack.

’Is this his final attack?’ Orion thought, a frown appearing on his delicate face.

He was confused about whether to approach and disrupt whatever Barnes was planning, but he knew enough not to jump headfirst. So far, all he had done was optimally react and counter; he had never gone on the offensive. Barnes was still far stronger than he currently was.

Barnes raised his hands, earth swirling around them like molten chains, fusing into a jagged gauntlet.

’Another gauntlet,’ Orion thought, perplexed.

He expected something better, but still, he didn’t let his guard down; the amount of mana radiating from that gauntlet was enough to increase his wariness to the maximum.

"I will forever carry this shame with me, that I resorted to using an ultimate attack against a boy your age, truly a disgrace. I have no idea what family you are from, but I can tell you would have been a very talented mage or swordsman, in fact, but alas, fate is fickle." Barnes said with a somewhat remorseful expression.

"Before we say our goodbyes, I would love to know your real name." He asked.

Orion looked at Barnes like he had gone senile. His assurance of his victory was unsettling to Orion, as he knew Barnes wasn’t exactly foolish; whatever he was planning was definitely going to be devastating.

But his personality change to someone who was remorseful of his actions disgusted Orion, and the pedo had the audacity to request his real name.

"Two words, Fuck &Off," Orion said with malice in his voice.

"A pity," Barnes replied.

He brought his two gauntlet-coated hands together and shouted, "Nature’s madness."

Orion watched as the mana that had once saturated his hands simply vanished. No, it didn’t vanish, it moved, mana couldn’t just vanish like that, it had moved somewhere, but it was too fast for his perception to detail and realize.

Then he heard it, a rumble from deep beneath the ground. His first guess was the earlier seismic attack, but Barnes wasn’t foolish enough to deploy such an attack if he knew Orion had a counter. Besides, he couldn’t read the mana below; it was there, he could feel it, but he couldn’t read it. This attack was different.

Mana flowed into his legs, his mind prepared for anything; he never took his eyes off Barnes, for all he knew, it could be a trap.

Barnes just looked at Orion’s actions and sneered, "Pointless," He said.

BOOM!!

A shadow, that was the first thing Orion noticed, an overwhelming shadow covered him; the moonlight that had illuminated their surroundings enough for visibility was blocked.

He looked to his sides, and what he saw made cold sweat run down his head; bile rose in his throat from the fear he felt.

Two large hands had risen on both of his sides, the size of the hands leaving no hope for escape; he could tell, no matter what direction he ran, there would be no chance of escape. The two hands closed on him at a speed that should be impossible for something so immense.

"Goodbye, boy."

He heard Barnes’ voice far ahead of him, his mobility on the ground leaving him out of the reach of the incoming doom.

Orion’s stance dropped; he stood upright, his sword lying lazily at his side.

’Temporal distortion can’t cut its way through it; the thickness is impossible to pass through,’ Orion thought, despair threatening to overwhelm him.

’Is this how I die?’ Orion thought. His spatial senses scanned his environment, optimism trying to shine through. Maybe his father was somewhere nearby, but he felt nothing; nobody was here to save him.

The realization settled on him like a dark curtain. At this point, darkness had completely covered him, the large hands seconds away from crushing him.

’No, no. I refuse to die here. I’m not dying now, I have so much to accomplish, so much to do, I’m not going to die to some pedophile bastard’ Orion thought, his gaze hardening and hands clenching around his sword, the little amount of mana he had left boiling in his veins.

"I am Orion Chronos, space and time literally run through my blood. I will not die here."

His spatial senses locked onto Barnes, analyzing him, the gloating expression on his face, increasing the anger that burned in him.

He brought the sword in his right hand, holding it horizontally, eyes unwavering and gaze locked onto Barnes beyond the rock hands.

He closed his eyes and whispered.

"Space, it isn’t empty. I can feel it, threads pulling, pressure shifting. Fabric. If it’s fabric, then it can fold.

Distance isn’t fixed. Two points apart can touch if you bend what’s between. Like folding paper. Like stitching skin in surgery, the gap vanishes when the edges meet.

I don’t need to fly across the world. Just a step. A single breath out of place. A cut through the middle, from here... to there.

Pull it closer. Collapse it. Skip what’s between. Temporal distortion"