Chapter 21: 21 - Archimedes
[Warning:
Energy remaining at only three percent, the system will forcibly shut down in fifteen seconds...]
"Disable overload mode!" Lynn said without hesitation, upon hearing the warning in his mind.
It had been five days of complete silence since the last shutdown of the AI brain. Lynn had no intention of going through that again, and the previous battles had depleted nearly ninety percent of his magical power.
However, despite the daunting difference in power, a faint smile graced Lynn's lips. He had gained the upper hand in this battle!
White phosphorus, a forbidden weapon in modern warfare, had a terrifying quality apart from its ability to burn everything—it was its insidious toxicity!
This was precisely why he had sent Dove and Jenny away and instructed everyone to hold their breath during the fight. It was to prevent them from succumbing to the poison.
However, the situation was different when facing Archbishop Anluke. The widespread use of White Phosphorus - [Fireball] and [Flame Demon's Hand] aimed to fill the enclosed space with toxic gas.
Close-quarters combat would exhaust Anluke's stamina and manipulate the air, forcing him to inhale the poisonous gas more intensely.
It had been about the right amount of time, and even a genuine humanoid dragon would find it extremely challenging to endure until now.
As Lynn had expected, Anluke, who was hiding in the "Turtle Shell," had noticed the weakening sensations throughout his body. He felt dizzy and feverish, and his vision was gradually blurring. It seemed like his strength was being gradually sapped away.
What kind of magic was this?
In an instant, Anluke thought of a Tier-4 Magic known as the [Harvest of Death] This terrifying magic could turn an area into a forbidden zone for the living in a matter of seconds.
But if the opponent was a great wizard capable of using tier-4 magic, it meant that he would already be dead during their confrontation!
So it could only be poison!
Anluke immediately realized this possibility. For example, the Tier-3 Magic [Toxic Domain] could create a large area of yellow-green poison mist with very distinctive characteristics.
Now, it was too late to cast the dispelling magic for the poison.
Lynn was not about to let go of the most vulnerable moment of his enemy. He immediately pushed all his remaining magical power into it.
[Magic Missiles]
In an instant, thirty-six "Magic Missiles" floated in the air. Lynn even reactivated the three-second overload mode, quickly adjusting their trajectories.
Facing Anluke's turtle shell-like tactics, Lynn had no intention of confronting it head-on. Instead, he chose to evade the most challenging "Holy Barrier" using the flexibility of the "Magic Missiles." He attacked from the weak points and sent this Nordland leader and Archbishop straight to hell!
After twenty-five years, Anluke once again felt the impending sense of death.
At this life-or-death moment, Anluke appeared strangely calm. He did not doubt that he would die today, but before that, he could do one last thing—send this devilish wizard, who was young but already a Tier-3 Wizard, straight to hell!
"Great Lord of the Stars, Goddess of the Moon, Creator of the Earth and Life, your humble servant prays here and offers up this body. I beseech the projection of the Supreme Lord to descend upon this place..."
Anluke chanted fervently, and with each verse, his face aged by a year. His skin became wrinkled, white hair hung down from his forehead to his eyes, and his voice grew lower and more hoarse.
In a trance, it was as if a sacred hymn resonated in the enclosed underground space, gradually overshadowing Anluke's voice. In no time, the entire space began to shake violently.
"God... Summoning... Ritual?" Lynn exclaimed, barely managing to utter the words through clenched teeth.
Upon arriving in this otherworldly place and discovering that the priests of the Church possessed true divine magic, the thing that Lynn was most worried about and least willing to face was the God-Summoning Ritual!
The beings referred to as gods were not to be underestimated, even if it was just a projection that couldn't carry much power. A single gesture from it could flick you to death!
Shaking the gods when you can't beat them... Is this still a human?
Lynn inwardly cursed and launched the pre-set Magic Missiles without daring to look back at Archbishop Anluke's fate. He promptly jumped into the swift underground river behind him.
More than thirty Magic Missiles followed their original path, avoiding the sturdy Holy Barrier, and hit Anluke directly, colliding with a mysterious force.
The successive explosions were like the last straw that broke the camel's back. The underground space, which had endured countless trials, quickly disintegrated!
Huge, multi-ton stones continuously detached from the ceiling, crashing down to the ground and into the river, engulfing everything in rolling smoke and dust.
At this moment, Lynn had been swept into the turbulent water...
Being a land dweller who had lived in the central region of the Federation for years, Lynn had no experience in swimming. His nearly depleted magical power and physical strength had stripped him of any chance to struggle. He could only allow the strong current to pull his body downward relentlessly.
However, there was not a trace of worry on Lynn's face. In his previous life as a data archivist, he knew very well how a non-swimmer could survive in fast-flowing water.
First and foremost, he needed to remain calm; that was the foundation of everything. Then, he needed to make full use of the buoyancy of the water itself.
As everyone knows, the density of the human body is greater than that of water, and the gravitational force exerted on it is greater than the buoyancy, which is why people gradually sink when they fall into the water.
However, before he jumped, Lynn had already taken a deep breath. Then, he relaxed his body as much as possible, adjusted his center of gravity, and increased the contact area with the water's surface by lying on his back.
This way, as long as he held his breath and reached a slightly calmer area in the water, he would naturally float on the surface.
Based on this theory, Lynn maintained a very standard supine posture. Even as his body slowly sank, he paid it no mind, thinking it was just the influence of the water current. But as the depth of his descent increased, a hint of panic crept into Lynn's heart.
Could it be that my backstroke posture isn't standard enough?
"071? What's going on?" Lynn couldn't help but shout in his mind.
The AI brain's prompt tone sounded immediately.
[According to Section 32, Article 7 of the Federal Diving Safety Guidelines, beginners practicing diving should not carry heavy objects, sir...]
Lynn glanced down at the steel longsword hanging from his waist and then continued sinking to the riverbed...
TL/n -
Archimedes' principle states that an object submerged in a fluid experiences an upward buoyant force equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces. This principle helps explain why objects float or sink in water and is fundamental in fluid mechanics.
In simpler terms, if you put an object in water, it pushes some of the water out of the way. The weight of that displaced water is what pushes back up against the object, which can determine whether it sinks or floats.
For example, a large ship floats even though it's made of metal because its shape allows it to displace a large volume of water, creating enough buoyant force to support its weight.