I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 234

“It looks like we’re caught. This is going to be bad,”  Tiffany said through gritted teeth, the pain from her abdomen apparently quite great.

I had released a few million cells into her wound, and they were quickly repairing the damage. They had already stopped the bleeding and were in the process of reknitting the tissue back together. I couldn’t move quickly, mostly because there were other, more important things to worry about, but I could at least stabilize her condition enough that I could move her.

“Don’t worry, I haven’t given up yet.” I pulled a spare mask out and put it over her face.

She looked at me with surprise as I suddenly reached out and picked her up, pulling her out from her hiding spot.

“You should listen to your companion.” I heard the voice of the elder behind me. “There is no point in protecting them. She’ll be dead soon.”

I turned around. Behind me, there were dozens of guards, their weapons all pointed my way. The Blanche family head was in the back, his arms crossed, and a smug expression on his face. However, most eyes would be drawn to the old man floating in the air, an equally mocking look on his face as he stroked his beard.

“Why are you so sure of that?” I asked, holding Tiffany closer to my body.

“The skill I delivered wasn’t aimed just at her external body, but their internal circuitry.” The elder let out a cruel chuckle. “It was a clear strike, so her mana circuitry is now destroyed. She will no longer be able to circulate or store active energy. Effectively, she is but a mortal once again.”

I looked down at Tiffany in shock. She grimaced and gave the slightest nod of affirmation. Of course, I didn’t just take the old man’s word for it. I also checked, and true enough, the pathways that energy flowed through were destroyed. She could no longer move the energy in her body. This meant that she was no longer a paragon. Not only could she no longer use mana, but she’d also never be able to evolve again.

There was a time when that might have meant very little to me, but now, I understood exactly how damning losing your mana circuits would be. Tiffany’s value within the Stride household would be practically nothing. She hadn’t just protected me from being struck. She had destroyed her entire future. Under my lingering gaze, she couldn’t meet my eyes. I couldn’t help but wonder once again why she had made such a sacrifice. That meant that I was indebted to her. I hated owing anyone anything!

I couldn’t help but give a weak sigh, my shoulder slouching. The elder, watching this, broke into a gleeful cackle. His hoarse voice echoed through the small courtyard.

“Have you finally decided to surrender? Of course, if you give up now, I’ll need to cripple you. However, based on your identities, there might be a chance for you to survive. Aren’t I kind?”

Tiffany shifted uncomfortably in my grip, but I only let out a soft chuckle. “Actually, I’m trying to figure out how to escape. I’m just buying time to break through the barrier.”

“Escape?” the elder said incredulously. “You have no chance of escaping me! Don’t you know that? This energy barrier has enough energy to last another fifteen minutes.”

“Is that so?” I tilted my head. “You know, energy is an interesting thing. For the longest time, people didn’t seem to understand what energy even was. For example, is energy a particle or a wave? To determine this, there was an experiment performed called the double slit experiment. I believe you call it the Young Paradigm.”

“What are you blathering about?” the elder snapped.

“It’s the wave part of the electromagnetic spectrum that I’m more interested in at the moment. In essence, all energy travels as waves. This includes the energy that is absorbed and manipulated with mana, but also the light spectrum, heat, and even frequencies we can’t even see.”

“I’m losing my patience. Do you have a point?”

“Just this!” I smiled. “The length of a wave, its frequency, ultimately decides whether a wave is harmless like a radio wave, or will fry you dead like a gamma ray. Its magnitude then determines how powerful it is. Your barrier uses a high-frequency, high-magnitude electromagnetic energy field to prevent matter from passing through.”

“I’m aware of how our barriers work.”

“Then, are you also aware that waves interact with each other, especially when their close in wavelength. We call this interference. Some waves interfere positively. When two waves of the same wavelength meet in the same form, they have an additive effect, increasing the magnitude of the wave. We call that a constructive interference wave. However, there is another kind of wave, a destructive interference wave. If you knew the magnitude and wavelength of a barrier, you could erect an anti-barrier.  In short, you could cancel out the energy, weakening it, if not, outright punching a hole through the shield.”

The elder glowered. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Me? Oh, I was just buying time until I figured out the frequency. I just did. Thanks for listening!”

I focused on the energy barrier surrounding us, trying to sense its frequency. It was complex, with multiple layers and frequencies, but I could feel the underlying pattern. It had taken me a little bit, but I was pretty confident now. I took a deep breath and sent out a wave of my own, matching the frequency of the barrier but with a destructive interference pattern.

My magnitude wasn’t enough to flat-out destroy the wall, but if I interfered with it temporarily. A spike of energy came out and struck the wall. A moment later, a portion of the wall flickered out. Those behind me all gasped in shock, but I ignored them as I lowered my knees and then jumped directly at the hole. It took them only a moment to realize what was happening.

“You dare!” The elder roared, perhaps recovering he quickest. “This is all meaningless! Even if you did figure out our wall’s weakness, I won’t let you leave!”

He raised his hand, and a massive bolt of white energy shot toward me. However, I had been expecting this. I spun around as the beam headed toward me. I made another wave of my hand, and this time the beam seemed to reflect like it had hit a prism. I waved my hand two more times, and the beam bent again and again. On the last bend, the beam ended up flying back the same way it had come.

As I reached the hole, the beam struck the elder in the chest. He had only just managed to erect a barrier, but he was still struck with his full might, and it was enough to throw him back onto the ground. At that moment, the barrier snapped shut just as I got through. I landed on the other side of the fence and barrier with Tiffany in my arms.

“We need to go!” Tiffany called out.

I didn’t need her to know that. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I started running. However, I barely made it a few steps when the barrier exploded, and a wave of power erupted from the center of the building. The elder was no longer hiding his strength. As the barrier shattered, I heard a furious scream behind us.

“Go after them! Kill him! I want him dead!” The elder screeched into the night, waking up countless people in nearby buildings.

However, when they saw a cloaked man with a wounded woman in his arms running while being chased by a group of armored paragons from one of the city’s main families, they quickly turned their heads to save themselves the trouble. I was able to catch a look at the figures behind me when passing a glass window, and I was able to determine that it was the Blanche family head and four allies that were in pursuit.  The scary elder had seemingly chosen to remain behind. This was for the best, as these men didn’t seem to be able to fly.

I headed outside of Stormberg, and once there were no buildings around me, I began to increase my pace. At first, I thought that this would be enough and that I would be able to shake them off quickly. However, I was quickly finding a situation not unlike when I tried to escape the mercenaries. No matter how fast I ran, these guys seemed to be hot on my trail; they even sent attacks my way, forcing me to dodge several times.

“There is no point! You won’t escape us!” The Blanche family head bellowed.

“How are these guys so fast?” It was slightly disturbing.

“Did you not know?” Tiffany asked, giving me an odd look. “The Blanche household is best known for their dominant mutations in speed. They also know numerous techniques that increase that speed, including the one that allowed the elder to fly. Did you really think you could outrun them?”

Now that he mentioned it, I seemed to recall Tyler having a similar speed mutation. I hadn’t realized it was a family attribute. The pair had implied they were the first in their line to have their respective mutations. However, I also wouldn’t have put it past Tyler for being suspicious and hiding some things. After all, we had both just met randomly in a tavern on the road and didn’t know each other.

I couldn’t help but curse to myself. Thing were getting even more obnoxious.