30 Full Power

As soon as the pain from the knife in his side hit him, Amon felt the world slow down. It was as if everything was swimming in a thick syrup. He could see every muscle on The Lion's face change from a determined expression to a shocked one when he saw Amon's action.

He could see every individual part of The Lion's two swords and the electricity that was flowing through the metal wires holding them together. For a moment, he was distracted by a small dent in one of the swords. He wondered what could have caused it, what sort of battle had resulted in the sword being damaged.

The dent was small and probably unnoticeable at first glance, but at that moment, Amon couldn't help but wonder if one of his fallen comrades was the cause, or if it had occurred during training.

With the world slowing down to a crawl, Amon felt like everything was within his grasp. However, despite his mind working at such an insane speed, the rest of his body couldn't follow. His arms felt like they were traversing a thick screen of molasse as he moved to parry The Lion's upcoming blow.

He felt bored as he waited for what seemed like an eternity for the two blades to hit each other. Amon saw the metal slightly bending as it absorbed the impact of the blow when the swords made contact. It eventually regained its original shape as the blades drifted apart.

Despite time slowing down and his perception of the outside world being magnified, Amon could still feel the pain digging at his sides. In fact, it was even worse with time slowing down as every second that passed for the others was hours of excruciating agony for him.

Even the sounds lingered in the air far longer than they should. Amon could almost feel every individual vibration as the noise of blade clashing with each other entered his ear canal.

This state of enhanced perception was a result of Amon's enhancement. With this superhuman perception, Amon was able to see even the minutest details. Furthermore, since he had all the time in the world to think, he was able to take his time analyzing the information he was perceiving.

Once he was done analyzing, he could make a decision based on a variety of factors that others couldn't even think about since things were ordinarily moving too fast.

Amon saw the muscles on The Lion right upper arm bulge slightly, and based on the way they did, he knew that he was preparing for an overhead slash. It seemed that The Lion was aware of his predicament and wanted to use his superior strength to overwhelm Ven and him.

Since Amon saw through his plan, there was no way he was going to allow it to happen. Because his body was still moving at its regular speed, however, he couldn't do something too outrageous. He lifted his sword and parried the blow. Amon was slightly annoyed by the way the fight was going.

Although Amon could predict The Lion's moves, the latter still had an airtight defence, making it really hard to defeat him without using overwhelming strength. While he was musing his annoyance, Amon saw from the corner of his eyes the eyelids of Stormbringer twitch.

The unusual movement left him startled and he divided a portion of his attention to the lightning-wielding Holy Knight. After a while, the latter opened his eyes and Amon could see unconcealed joy within them. Had he not been in this state of enhanced perception, he would never have noticed it, and it seemed that Ven didn't either, as she was trying to break The Lion's guard.

Amon immediately had a bad feeling, and that feeling was validated when he felt a slight static in the air. At that moment, he realized that Stormbringer had succeeded in amplifying the electrical current in the train's engine.

If he allowed him to continue agitating the electrical current, they might all die on this accursed train. In a desperate bid to save his and Ven's life, Amon decided to push the power of his enhancement to the limit. He had been reluctant to do so earlier as the backlash was simply too brutal.

If he only used his enhanced perception, he would feel a splitting headache for nearly a week after, but that was leagues better than his full power. He gritted his teeth and bulged his muscles.

His body was still as slow as ever but he tried the break the syrup-like consistency that the air seemed to have. At first, there wasn't much difference, but after a few moments, he felt like he was breaking through the air with increased velocity.

His arms were slowly reaching a speed approaching that of his perception. Amon could see the surprise colouring The Lion's face when he felt Amon's sword moving faster and faster as if it wasn't restrained by the laws of physics.

In truth, Amon was using the power of muscles to their very limit, tearing them apart in the process. After using this enhancement, he would most likely be hard-pressed to move for a while.

Eventually, Amon's sword reached the maximum speed that his muscles would allow, and for the first time since the fight had begun, he felt truly in control. Merely having enhanced perception always felt like torture to him, as he could not influence this new-found world in any way he saw fit. He was like a kid that could only look at toys without ever getting to play with them.

However, when he ignited his muscle using his enhancement, Amon felt an exhilarating rush of adrenaline. He was completely in control of everything that was going on around him. The tight guard of The Lion was merely a joke to him now.

With a bloodthirsty grin, Amon slid his sword under The Lion guard and hacked at his leg. With a disgusting sound of flesh being mangled, the blade sliced through the Holy Knights' knee. A look of shock and horror flashed in The Lion's eyes and he fell to the ground.

Amon didn't wait for his opponent to reach the ground before he readied his sword again. He lifted his sword again, and with a sideways slash, he amputated The Lion of his left wrist and a large part of his right arm.

With the Holy Knight's swords out of the way, Amon was now free to deliver the final blow. He pulled back his sword and stabbed straight through the old man's heart.

To Ven, the last two seconds went by in a flash. All of a sudden, Amon stabbed himself and started to push back The Lion into a corner. Without warning, Amon had erupted with mind-bending speed and she could barely see his blade moving.

Before she knew it, The Lion's knee exploded in a mess of blood, bone and cartilage. His arms were severed, and his heart pierced. She couldn't process anything that had just happened, but she knew that the once steadfast protector was now falling amidst a cloud of his own blood and bones.

Ven was smart and she knew that regardless of what had happened, this was still a golden opportunity to finish off Stormbringer in one fell swoop. She had barely taken a step towards him when she felt a massive force stealing her breath.

She realized that it was Amon who had grabbed her by the waist and was forcefully taking her away from Stormbringer. At first, she felt confused and angry, but she soon realized that something was wrong.

Amon was fast, and he was able to reach the door to the locomotive in a moment. It was still open and he hurried to reach the next car.

Barely a few seconds after Amon had unceremoniously killed The Lion, Ven felt a huge explosion that blew the both of them further in the car they were in. Her mind was reeling from the shock and she couldn't fully process what had happened.

Amon looked at the dazed Ven still in his arms and felt a foreboding sense of dread. Thanks to his enhanced perception, he had been able to dodge the brunt of the explosion, and they were only sent back a bit.

However, this meant that the locomotive of the train was now detached from the rest of it.

Through the gaping hole in the front of the car left by the explosion, Amon could see the locomotive slowly drifting apart from the rest of the train.

Amon cursed Stormbringer in his mind, as the latter had succeeded in overloading the electromagnets which cause the massive explosion.

Stormbringer had a very low chance of survival, but the two Ravens weren't fairing any better. With the locomotive now gone, the magnetic train would derail at any moment. At the speed they were going, Amon wasn't sure they could survive, and he could only pray.

His predictions were right, and as his enhanced perception drew to a close, he felt the train leaving the track. He readjusted himself to protect Ven, who was still dazed from the explosion and braced himself for impact.