Chapter 33: The Final Confrontation
Without another word, he launched himself from atop the tank, dropping into the ground. Lynn exploded towards the exhausted creatures in a blur.
Activate [Gemini Soul]!
Lynn’s consciousness immediately shifted to his other soul.
In the form of his previous life, he was observing the scene from above.
The chaos and danger below seemed distant. Lynn could analyze every detail with perfect clarity and detachment, his emotions fading away. Time itself appeared to slow as Lynn's perception expanded.
His gaze turned to his physical body below. With a thought, he activated the skill [Cell Proliferation]. Lynn could perceive every cell and fiber of his body in intricate detail.
Remembering the first time he used this skill in battle. It was simple, disordered, and inefficient.
“It can be improved!” At the moment this idea emerged, Lynn’s mind started calculating rapidly.
He began manipulating targeted groups of cells, accelerating their division and growth. Lynn's muscles swelled and bulged as he pushed the cellular manipulation to its limits.
Veins strained against his skin, which took on a reddish hue from the sudden increase in vascularity.
Although this process seemed to unfold very slowly in Lynn's mind while in the [Gemini Soul] state, not even a second had passed in reality.
In a span of a second, his ordinary looking body transformed into a hulking, muscled man.
His mind processed the changes precisely, calculating the effects. "Ninety seconds," he muttered to himself. "That's the maximum duration before this transformation causes permanent damage."
But ninety seconds would be more than enough time to deal with these exhausted creatures.
Lynn turned his attention back to the scene in front of him. The tentacled aberration had started draining the hulking stitched monstrosity, which now hung limply speared by dozens of tendrils.
As he charges towards the two creatures, the ground shatters under the force of his feet, creating deep cracks. His speed, which was already beyond that of an ordinary human, increased exponentially under the influence of his transformation.
In the blink of an eye, Lynn's body flickered, reappearing an instant later next to the two creatures.
Before either creature could react, Lynn's blade sliced through the air, hacking through the tendrils speared into the stitched monstrosity. The unexpected attack made the tentacled aberration shriek in surprise and rage. It turned its attention onto Lynn.
But Lynn was already in motion. With the other hand that was not gripping the sword, the swollen muscles tensed before delivering a devastating punch into the aberration's torso. The explosive impact launched the creature clear across the underground floor, smashing it forcefully into the far wall.
The hand that unleashed the strike did not stop its motion, carrying forth with an unstoppable momentum. Lynn swiftly pivoted, delivering a powerful blow to the stitched monstrosity, knocking it back in the opposite direction.
Everything was precisely calculated - Lynn needed to separate the two exhausted creatures to focus on eliminating the nearly drained stitched monster first.
The stitched creature slammed into the ground dozens of feet away. Too weakened to rise, it could only release a faint groan.
Lynn dashed to close the distance in an instant, his blade piercing through the monstrosity's chest in a precise stab that speared what remained of Dr. Stein's head.
The stitched creature convulsed violently before falling still, the grotesque form of Dr. Stein now truly lifeless.
Lynn didn’t stop his movement, his attention refocused on the tentacled aberration.
A thunderous impact shook the ground as the tentacled aberration tore itself free from the cracked wall, barreling towards Lynn in a maddened rage.
Dozens of spear-tipped tendrils lashed violently towards him. But Lynn's enhanced reflexes and perception allowed him to weave through the forest of strikes and approach the creature. His empowered muscles propelled his body with uncanny speed and fluidity.
Lynn's sword whirled through the air, neatly severing some of them before they could reach him. The dismembered ends fell writhing to the floor.
The aberration skittered towards Lynn, unleashing another flurry of spear strikes. But Lynn continued evading them with graceful movements, his sword striking out in precise counter blows aimed at vital areas on the creature's body.
The creature's regeneration was still stalled, leaving gaping wounds where Lynn's blade sliced through. Without energy to consume to regenerate, the aberration could not keep up with Lynn's current power.
In a desperate move, the fleshy tentacular creature’s body suddenly expanded and separated into endless fleshy tentacles, trying to attack Lynn from all direction, in the process, losing completely its humanoid form.
Seeing this dangerous situation, Lynn decisively used all his senses to perceive every information in his surroundings.
On a daily basis, the human brain is bombarded with a vast amount of information. To prevent the brain from becoming overwhelmed and burn out, a natural defense mechanism filters out certain unimportant details.
Under the state of [Gemini Soul], Lynn becomes a conduit for the usually ignored and filtered fragments of information. Temperature variations, air quality, scent molecules, luminosity, auditory signals, vibrations, and even the subtlest sensations are meticulously gathered by Lynn's senses and channeled into the depths of the mind for analysis and processing.
His eyes lit up: "I've got you..."
By processing all this sensory data, Lynn could perceive a subtle pulsating rhythm coming from the writhing mass of tentacles. There was a central node buried deep within.
With perfect precision guided by his enhanced perception, Lynn's blade sliced through the air in a whistling arc aimed directly at that hidden node.
The sword pierced deep into the mass of tentacles which froze instantly, the spear tips going limp. An earsplitting shriek of agony escaped the creature as Lynn's blade struck true.
With a sickening churning noise, the tangled mass of tentacles began retracting rapidly back towards the central point Lynn had struck. Within moments, the humanoid form reemerged, hunched over with Lynn's blade still embedded deep within its torso.