Due to the blue flames Orin emitted, he only has maybe four or five percent of that raging mana remaining in his body. Even if he somehow gets away from his enemy, he barely has enough reserve left to carry out the collapse of this building’s foundations. He crawls through the stairwell door to the new floor and looks back.

He regrets the choice. He only sees his imminent end coming at him in a blur.

Ajax is about to reach him. His face is twisted in panic because he's nearly out of time to get the finishing blow on his enemy. The man just won’t seem to die. He knew that his fiery opponent had more cards left to play but he’s not sure if he’s actually played them yet or if he’s lived so far because of dumb luck.

He can see the bruises on the man's body that were caused by his body flying around haphazardly. He can see the true fear in the man's eyes as well. Ajax's body will weaken as soon as his energy runs out, returning to, most likely, his pre-Omicron human strength. He doesn't think of anything other than killing Orin.

His opponent sees a blur moving towards him, his eyes wide and trembling, and raises his sword to block.

That fucking sword!!

With mere moments of reserve power to spare, Ajax lands a blow. However, Orin can just barely see the attack coming due to his understanding of Ajax's predictable fighting style. Perhaps it is nothing more than the reflexes of a trained warrior, but it works. Orin uses his still intact right leg and back to roll his body to the left and out of certain death. As a result, he is able to just barely dodge the full brunt of Ajax's right straight. 

Orin's still alive. However, he isn't unphased.

Ajax's attack reaches his left shoulder. He had wanted to grab the shoulder and clutch it tightly, but Orin was able to get away with only glancing contact. However, the attack is enough to rob him of his arm and the use of his sword.

Orin's shoulder freezes. His shoulder is frozen completely solid while his left arm as well as his neck are nearly frostbitten. The mana blade held in his arm is clutched tightly because his left hand is kept in place.

Yet, before he can react in any way, Ajax reaches out with his other arm and grazes his chest with the tip of a single claw. He's able to freeze a portion of Orin's chest. Ajax is about to continue his assault but his attack to his opponent's chest caused some unintended consequences.

The attack forced some of the blood in Orin's chest to solidify and expand as water does when frozen. The right side of his rib cage is shattered as a result and one of the blood shards that formed in his chest punctures his right lung.

The only solace is that the freezing did not hit his major arteries or heart. In fact, there wasn't any internal bleeding either. There was only external bleeding. The solid block of his chest detached easily from the rest of his torso and with it came another flow of blood, along with a partially exposed lung.

The bleeding is minimally blocked because of the blood shards within his chest but the half liter of blood that does flow out ignites nearly instantly upon contact with the air. This sudden combustion causes Orin to be pushed away from Ajax, into the midpoint of the hallway.

Once he finally comes to a halt, his body is bruised and his mind is slightly discombobulated, though he's still alive and fully conscious. His body enhancement spell kept his skin and muscle from tearing apart through the force of his own blood exploding. 

Ironically, the moment he vomits from the dizziness of accelerating so quickly, he feels like a weight was lifted off of him. 

Of course, Orin feels nothing but torment. But only physically. Spiritually, he feels euphoric. He feels like this is the moment of his life that matters the most. It might be because of the blood loss, the tremendous soul-rending agony, as well as the slight concussion he has right now, but this feeling is crystal clear to him.

He views the fact that he is still awake and breathing as a sign from God to not stop here. He wants to fall asleep, but now he knows in the depths of his being that he cannot. 

He needs to continue to fight, even if he is fighting a monster. 

The fact that he has survived through this entire ordeal means everything to him. It means that God is on his side against an evil foe, an enemy of heaven. It means that his compatriots are watching him from their lofty place up high. How can he stop now when God has continued to tie his life to this world?

I'm not going to die… I'm going to kill him. Without any doubt, I'm going to kill this evil beast… God… Lord Osva is… on my side…

He cannot lose focus. He can handle pain but right now most of all he cannot allow his body to transform into a fire bomb. He needs to gain control over his raging mana. Of course if he can’t do that, he has to get rid of it and fight with the power that God gave him.

This time, Orin uses his blue flames consciously. His body erupts into a blaze and fire fills the hallway around him. Ajax, who was running to reach Orin, is surprised for a brief moment and pauses for a tenth of a second. Orin forces blue fire from his body once again to propel him towards the stairwell door and into the hallway.

However, this is all of the blue fire at his disposal. The sudden force of it is enough to blow his frozen shoulder off leaving his left arm and mana blade lying on the floor in the midpoint of the hallway. He uses the propulsive fires, not as a means of escape alone, but as an attack. Perhaps the last attack he can truly manage before he is killed by this unholy beast.