Chapter 31: Mysterious Force, Wake-Up Call
Through his enhanced perception, Elias could observe it, a foreign energy signature writhing through his hand and attempting to travel the veins in his arm like a parasitic worm. It was neither flame nor pure mystical energy, but something far more insidious.
—This was the secondary wave of attack woven within Damien’s seemingly harmless strike.
This mysterious assault unleashed by Damien had bypassed his protective suit entirely, slipping through his defenses like water through a sieve. The advanced detection system in his protective suit was rendered useless as it didn’t even register the energy’s existence.
The moment it made contact with his hand, it had begun to wreak havoc on his nervous system, causing his muscles to seize up and his motor functions to temporarily fail. The invasive, mysterious force paralyzed his arm and caused him intense pain, but Elias had maintained his composure under such conditions.
A dual-layered attack. The flame was merely the visible component. This invasive, mysterious energy seemed to operate on a different principle than the flame attack.
Elias realized with a grim expression.
He recalled the moment when Damien had tried to pull his fist away but couldn’t. At the time, everyone, including Damien himself, had assumed it was because of Elias’s terrifying strength rendering his effort useless.
Even if the spies could see through the facade, Elias was certain Damien had likely interpreted his inability to release his grip as a display of overwhelming strength. In reality, it had been the complete opposite.
The truth was that the paralysis inflicted by Damien’s flame attack had caused his muscles to tense up, frozen by the invasive force. This made it impossible for Elias to let go of Damien’s fist even if he wanted to.
As he examined himself, Elias could observe that the foreign energy continued to ravage his arm from within, causing damage that his protective suit couldn’t prevent or heal. He had to find a way to halt its advance, or he would be in extreme danger.
This world’s power system is more complex than I initially understood.
Elias realized, massaging his still-aching hand.