Online In Another World
Chapter 285 Instinct Triumphs

A wicked smile stretched across his lips as he found his nefarious, unrefined plan bearing fruit as the blood painted the body of his foe, giving a rough idea of its height, physique, and inhuman features.

It was slender and tall, with a lengthy, thick tail stretching from its back; likely a demi-human, a beastly, savage one at like, just like his previous foe.

Invisible…a tail…rough scales–I'm fighting a reptile demi-human of some sort, he racked his brain in thought, I think I've got it…

"You're a chameleon, aren't you?" He asked audibly with a bloody smirk.

Of course, there was no verbal response, but he already knew he was correct in his assumption as there weren't an abundance of animals with the ability to camouflage themselves.

For better or worse, the aching of his internal organs and throbbing of his compromised bones was dulled as the adrenaline surging through his veins only seemed to increase in the midst of the second deathmatch, causing that smile that lusted for victory to persist on the young man's lips.

Despite being inferior both in physical prowess and abilities at this time, there was a reason for Emilio Dragonheart's performance that seemed to rise despite him becoming more hurt and exhausted:

["The Zone"]

That state in which his entire mind honed itself towards surviving, thriving, and winning once more found itself surfacing in the face of a life-or-death battle.

Instincts sharpened, reflexes kicked into overdrive, and the adaptability of the mind awakened to the highest level. The fear of death drew everything from himself–all thoughts, all energy, all will–straight into overcoming the obstacle before him.

The switch in his mind had flipped; it was kill-or-be-killed. All shackles were off and all doubts had vanished.

As footsteps rapidly approached from the invisible figure, he was able to see the direction it came from the blood that painted a portion of its animalistic form.

This time, he chose to meet his foe halfway with weaponized reckless abandon, leaping in as he sucked in another breath before spitting out another spray of blood in the direction of the chameleon demi-human.

"Puh-!" He happily spit out.

The blast of blood managed to directly splash against the reptile's face, revealing part of its inhuman face to the young Dragonheart while also causing the creature to flinch.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed with a wild smile.

Use anything as a weapon–that applies to blood, too! He thought.

He swung his dagger downward, leaving a cut that stretched from the scalp of the scaly reptile down to its lip, causing it to yell out in pain.

Though not a lethal blow, missing just short of having dug into the reptile's skull, it was a significant advancement, one planned by the Dragonheart as he smiled wide: purple blood spewed from the gash on the chameleon humanoid's face.

"--!"

Using the dagger with such unrefined technique caused the rusty blade to break before bouncing out of the young man's grip, leaving him devoid of a weapon.

The spray of blood from the wound was a continuous signal, screaming out from the invisible fiend's position "Hey, I'm right here!"--it practically did away with the transparency entirely.

Even weaponless, the Dragonheart couldn't help but smile as he exhaled, catching his breath as his opponent, once untouchable by the sense of sight being deprived, was now before him.

It was something he had seldom done, always relying on his blade or magic: he cocked his fist back, readying it as he amped it with everything he had, swinging his fist with all of his body weight behind it.

"--This is for you!" He yelled out as a taunt.

Even with a measly body of a teenager, he was able to output the entirety of his strength through the adrenaline surging through him, slamming his knuckles against the chameleon's face with a "crack' sounding out. It wasn't clear if it was just the creature's scales breaking, its bones cracking, or both.

As a result of the reckless blow, his knuckles busted open, squirting blood out, though this didn't stop him from continuing as he threw his fists relentlessly against his opponent.

Each time his knuckles crashed against the head of the reptilian warrior, the skin on his fists became blistered and bloody, scraping away and becoming swollen as the flesh beneath was visible.

"Come on! Come one!" Emilio taunted.

A mix of violet blood from the chameleon and crimson liquid from his fists trickled in the air, splashing against them both as he didn't relent in his continuous blows.

–Intercepting his maddened barrage of fists, the bloodied and bruised reptile spuna round, whipping its solid, sharp tail against him.

It was both a bludgeoning blow and a cut, slicing his cheek partly and cutting across his chest diagonally down from his right shoulder to his left pectoral.

"Ghh–!" He briefly winced.

Before the beast could retreat from its successful counterattack, the young man grabbed onto its tail with both hands, stopping it in its tracks as he squeezed with every ounce of strength in his body.

As it hissed out, attempting to swipe at him with its claws, he yanked on the humanoid reptile's tail, causing it to trip and fall with a heavy thud against the sleek, silver flooring. What was once clean, metal tiles now became stained in the mix of human and chameleon blood.

"I'm going to live! I won't stay dead–It's not my time yet!" He yelled out.

Almost as if justifying his actions, those words left in heated passion as blood spit from his mouth as each word left his lips.

He dropped down onto the tail-sporting, beastly demi-human's back as it tried to get up, wrapping his legs around its sides and his arms around its throat, squeezing with everything he had.

"--It's nothing personal, but I need to live! I need to get out of here–so die!" He yelled.

With adrenaline pumping through his veins like an exhilarating caffeine of life-or-death, he squeezed his bicep against the throat of the reptile, pressing his skin against its rough scales as it coughed out, gasping.

It was a new feeling; he could grasp the fleeting life of the sentient creature–it struggled, flailing against him as he stayed attached to its back, only tightening his hold on its neck as it fought back. Each passing moment, the gargles became more rough as it choked on its own saliva, having its throat crushed as the strength it resisted with weakened.

I! Will! Win! He decided.

He squeezed so hard he thought his muscles might burst right out of his skin, pushing them to his limit as his complexion shifted to a red from the strain he put himself in through overpowering the ravenous reptilian.

"Nnnraaah–!" Emilio let out.

"Grrrk–!" The chameleon spewed out in a struggle.

After a painful struggle with the camouflaging lizard clawing at his arms, leaving deep, bleeding cuts in them and thrashing at him with its tail, he finally managed to put the figure to sleep, but he didn't stop there.

There was no choice of mercy for him; zero room was left to be merciful when his own body was on the verge of shutting down. Even as he held the chameleon's neck in his arms, squeezing like a serpent, he could feel his own consciousness flickering.

"…Come on…!" He struggled.

It was difficult summoning his own strength, especially enough for what he planned to do as he squeezed the creature's neck, listening to its own heartbeat growing more faint as he held on.

More and more quiet the resonance of the reptile's life became before even the struggled breaths that left its lips stopped,

"…Hff…"

Emilio slowly exhaled, having finished off his opponent at last as he could no longer feel any signs of life with his arms pressed against its neck.

For a minute, he laid there after unwrapping his arms from the creature's neck, letting its limp body roll over lifelessly. His biceps aches after forcing so much strength from them, stinging from the strain.

As he finally decided to pick himself up, he exhaled as his exhausted lungs felt as though they were exuding embers.

He set his sights on the corridor left open from where the chameleon had come from, which he already planned on going down beforehand.

"…Alright, time to get out of here," he muttered, wiping blood from his chin.

The young Dragonheart limped his way through the blood-stained room, each of his weakened footsteps echoing through the now lifeless chamber. His own crimson fluid of life leaked from his multiple wounds, dripping dome onto the floor as he shuffled into the dark corridor.

Nearly stumbling over from the fleeting strength in his body, evaporating from his pores like a past rain, he leaned his shoulder against the left wall of the metal hallway for support.

I'm not in good shape…Gotta replace somewhere to rest soon, he thought.

It felt more like he was pulling each of his legs forward rather than taking steps, leaving a slippery tail of blood behind him as he finally found the door at the end of the hall.

There was hardly any part of his body that wasn't aching or caught in visceral pain.

"…Nngh…" He groaned.