Florida Man in Magus World: Unleashing Liberty and Freedom

The shockwave cracked the ATV's barrier and sent both the vehicle and Felix flying 300 yards across the battlefield. When the ATV crashed into the ground, its power shut off with a hiss, and the barrier collapsed. Black smoke billowed from the engine, which sputtered and groaned before falling silent.

Felix tumbled from the wreckage, rolling on the wet, muddy ground. His aura automatically dried the mud, turning it into hardened soil that clung to his skin. Dazed and disoriented, his vision blurred, and his ears rang from the deafening explosion and violent impact. He lay motionless, stunned, unable to move or make sense of his surroundings.

The napalm fire spread across the field, indifferent to the rainstorm pouring down around them. The roar of the flames muffled everything else, blanketing the battlefield in an eerie silence beneath the storm.

Felix tried to move, but nothing responded. His fingers, arms, and legs felt like they were made of lead, completely numb. He attempted to lift his head to assess his condition, but his neck refused to cooperate. Something felt horribly wrong with his back—like parts of his body were no longer where they should be.

His mind, however, remained sharp enough to receive Jessica's mental message.

<Felix, whatever you see or feel, do not panic. Close your eyes and keep breathing. We'll handle this. Do not circulate your aura or mana. Just breathe and stay awake.>

The urgency in Jessica's voice sent a chill through him, but Felix complied, closing his eyes and focusing on his breathing.

In a flash, Jiji emerged from the system's subspace, rushing to Felix's side. Jessica synchronized with her, allowing Jiji access to Felix's inventory system. The small princess wasted no time, quickly retrieving one of Felix's special cigars and a powerful healing potion.

When Jiji looked at Felix's battered body, her heart sank. His left leg was twisted in an unnatural way, as if he had four extra joints. Worse still, his right leg was completely severed from the knee down. The missing limb was pinned beneath the wrecked ATV, where shrapnel from the engine explosion had sliced it clean off.

Blood continued to pour from the open wound, staining the soaked ground beneath him.

His arms were in no better shape—both shoulders were dislocated, and his right elbow bent at an impossible angle. His fingers were locked in grotesque, backward positions, stuck in place by the force of the impact. His chest wound, worsened by the earlier misfire, had widened so severely that his stomach was on the verge of spilling out.

Gritting her teeth, Jiji worked fast. She uncorked the healing potion and poured the liquid into the gaping wound on Felix's chest. Then, crouching over him to shield him from the rain, she cut the tip of the cigar and carefully lit it, holding her breath as she did so.

With precision, she placed the cigar between Felix's lips.

<Puff it, Felix. Don't think. Just breathe. Stay awake for an hour and trust us.>

Felix remained numb to the world around him. He kept his eyes shut, focusing solely on the rhythm of his breath, puffing the cigar in slow, deliberate pulls. A warmth spread through his chest, the familiar calming sensation of the cigar helping to anchor his consciousness. His body was broken, but his mind clung to the fragile thread of life.

Jiji, still holding her breath to avoid inhaling the cigar's potent fumes, worked swiftly. She cut through Felix's shredded shirt, exposing his torso. What she found made her stomach twist. Two deep gashes marred his abdomen—one just above his belly button, and the other on his left side, where his abs had been split open.

His intestines were partially exposed, glistening in the dim light, dangerously close to spilling out.

Without hesitation, Jiji poured more of the healing potion directly onto the wounds. The liquid fizzled as it met his torn flesh, rapidly mending the severed arteries and regenerating the damaged tissues. Within moments, the bleeding slowed, and the gashes began to close.

The potion was working, but Jiji wasn't fully at ease. Rain continued to pour down around them, drenching everything in cold water. She knew that treating such grievous wounds in these conditions could lead to complications later—infection was a serious risk. But there was no time to worry about that now. Saving Felix's life was the only priority.

Had the bleeding continued unchecked, Felix would have died for real this time. Not even his phoenix bloodline could prevent that. She glanced at the cigar still nestled between Felix's lips, understanding the only chance he had. The cigar's magic, combined with the dormant power of his phoenix bloodline, was the key to his survival.

Jiji clenched her fists. If Felix couldn't hold out long enough for the potion and cigar to do their work, they'd have to rely on a more desperate plan. His phoenix bloodline granted him the ability to rise from his own ashes, but only if he could endure the excruciating process of being burned alive and self-resurrecting.

It was a brutal method of survival, but one that had saved Felix more than once.

*GRRRRRRR*

A deep, guttural groan from the megalith dragon echoed through the rain, startling Jiji. She whipped her head toward the crater, where debris and fallen objects lay concentrated. Despite the distance, over 400 yards away, her sharp eyes pierced through the darkness and the relentless curtain of rain.

The dragon was still alive.

However, it was in a dire state. Three of its four massive wings had been torn away, reduced to smoldering stumps. Its severed spiked tail lay twitching on the scorched ground like the dismembered limb of a gecko. The dragon's once-imposing belly had split open, its innards spilling out in grotesque detail.

Green, viscous blood gushed from the wounds, dripping onto the earth and causing the soil to sizzle and dissolve. The napalm flames continued to consume its flesh and scales, feeding on the dragon's own bodily fluids as if using them for fuel.

But that wasn't the end of it.

Amidst the wreckage, 77 strange objects had landed along with the dragon. Five wedge-shaped capsules, each about 10 feet tall, were embedded in the dragon's back. One had lodged itself directly into the creature's spine, rendering it immobile despite its feeble attempts to move. The dragon's body convulsed as it tried to roar, but its efforts were futile.

On the ground, 37 of these strange capsules had successfully landed, scattered across the battlefield. Silent and still, they seemed to wait, as though preparing for some unseen command. Meanwhile, 40 large crates, which had descended with parachutes, were strewn haphazardly across the area, their contents scattered by the earlier explosion.

The shockwave had blown many of the crates open, sending mysterious objects tumbling across the scarred landscape.

Jiji swallowed hard. The dragon was incapacitated but still very much alive, and with the arrival of so many unknown elements on the battlefield, the situation had taken a more unpredictable turn. Her heart raced as she considered what to do next.

Glancing at Felix's inventory screen, she reached for one of his creations—the M1 Garand loaded with mana-piercing rounds. It seemed like the perfect weapon for the situation.

<Don't bother, Jiji. The guns are unstable. If it misfires and injures you, you'll be out for weeks. You can't recover as fast as him.>

Jiji hesitated, hearing Jessica's voice in her mind. Though silent, she nodded in agreement. Jessica was right. The risk was too great. Unlike Felix, she couldn't afford to be incapacitated in this battle, especially since her recovery rate was far slower.

This fight was beyond her capabilities. The dragon was an earth-type creature, a natural counter to her abilities as a water mage. Water mages excelled in healing and support magic, but their offensive spells were limited, and their destructive power was inferior to other elements.

To face a creature like the megalith dragon—whose unique abilities centered on physical durability, rapid recovery, defensive magic, and self-enhancements—was foolish.

Jiji refocused on what she could do best: supporting Felix. She closed her eyes, circulating water mana within herself before erecting a blue magic circle around Felix. The purifying energy shimmered in the air, casting a gentle glow over his battered body. This spell would cleanse his system of harmful microorganisms and pathogens that might have entered his body during their desperate treatment.

The blue circle flashed to life, spinning slowly as it hovered over Felix. Viruses, bacteria, grime, and harmful substances from the rainwater dissolved into nothingness, purged from his system.

Jiji wasn't done yet. She retreated into the system subspace for a moment, taking a deep breath to avoid inhaling the noxious smoke from Felix's cigar. Refreshed, she returned and prepared her next spell—regeneration. It was the same spell she had once used to heal her own missing eyes, and now she applied it to Felix's mangled leg.

The second magic circle appeared, small but precise, forming just beneath Felix's severed knee. Slowly, the torn flesh began to twitch, tiny muscles knitting together like wriggling worms. Millimeter by millimeter, bones, tendons, and muscle fibers began to regrow, steadily closing the wound.

Although the regeneration was far from instant, it was a critical first step. Every second she bought Felix was vital. With his life slowly piecing back together, Jiji's efforts gave him precious time to recover. But even as the wound healed, the ominous presence of the dragon lingered, and Jiji knew they couldn't rest easy just yet. The battle was far from over.

As Jiji had anticipated, the dragon mumbled something unintelligible to itself, and a massive magic circle formed above it, spinning ominously. Moments later, a healing spell showered the dragon, restoring its stamina and vitality. The foreign objects lodged in its back were ejected as its wings rapidly regenerated.

The gaping wound on its belly sealed itself within seconds, though its severed tail still lagged behind in the recovery process.

The megalith dragon stood back on all four legs, glaring at Jiji with burning hatred. Its eyes radiated fury as it absorbed the energy it had spent earlier to shield itself from the devastating explosion. In its mind, the humiliation it had suffered at the hands of Felix and Jiji was unforgivable. The dragon silently vowed to tear them apart for what they had done.

Jiji met the dragon's murderous gaze, her face resolute. She decided to try her petrification ability, channeling her power into her stare. Earth mana flowed from her eyes, attempting to paralyze the beast.

But the dragon didn't flinch. It stared back at Jiji without a hint of fear or hesitation. With a casual flicker of its own dragon mana, it expelled the earth energy, rendering her attempt futile. The creature even seemed to scoff at her efforts, as if amused by the failed attack.

Jiji frowned in frustration. Her powers were ineffective against this behemoth. Ignoring Jessica's earlier warnings, she reached into Felix's inventory and withdrew one of his new weapons—a firearm he'd created himself. Mimicking Felix's technique, Jiji took aim at the dragon, her finger hovering over the trigger.

But just as she was about to fire, the entire battlefield shifted. The seemingly inactive capsules scattered across the field suddenly whirred to life. One by one, the hatches of the 30 remaining capsules opened, revealing mechanical lifts inside. From each capsule, a humanoid figure emerged, armed with machine guns.

Each figure had an eerie, unnatural physique. Their bald skulls were metallic, with red, glowing eyes powered by artificial lenses that emitted a menacing light. Their bodies were framed in the same silver material, encasing the mechanical components in their chests and limbs, giving them a cold, unfeeling appearance.

Jiji's eyes widened as the 30 humanoid robots stood at attention, weapons aimed at the dragon. What had started as a desperate attempt to survive had suddenly turned into a new phase of the battle.

All battle robots started talking.

"Target acquired! Terminating!"

THIS CHAPTER UPLOAD FIRST AT NOVELBIN.COM