Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 114 - 36: The Indecisive Pannis_1

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"Aaaaaaaaahhhh!" Lina’s scream suddenly echoed out, startling not only Pannis but even the magical beasts outside.

"Are you okay?" Pannis stared at the magical beasts outside and rubbed his ears.

"No, it hurts so much. Damn it, I’m in so much pain." Lina cried out with all her might, "I’ve broken forty-eight bones, seventy-three muscles are torn, and oh my god, three organs are bleeding. Can I be okay? Bastard, what the hell did that jerk do?"

"Haha, haha." Pannis chuckled awkwardly, his mouth twitching slightly as he whispered, "I think it’s better if you don’t know, and hopefully you never find out."

"I’m going to kill her, I must kill her." Lina, limp on the ground like a puddle of mud, exhausted all her mana due to the full-body enhancement of Sacred Power in past five minutes. She couldn’t even cast the simplest recovery spell, and she just lay there moaning loudly, "Ohhhh, it hurts so much, I want to die. I don’t even have the strength to fetch a Mana Recovery Potion. Ohhhh, it really hurts."

"Endure it." Pannis didn’t dare expose his back to the enemy by reaching for Lina’s potion, so he gently reassured her instead, "I saw her drink a potion earlier, it should be a Mana Recovery Potion, if you just hang on a little longer, you’ll have enough mana to heal yourself."

"Ohhhh, I know." Lina was in so much pain she was crying, not daring to move on the ground, "Don’t worry about me, concentrate on the fight. I’m afraid I won’t be much help for a while. I’m sorry."

"You have already been very helpful, at least you eliminated half of the magical beasts, it’s made my defense much easier." Although Pannis said this, in reality, things were not at all easy. The magical beasts had finally snapped out of their fear and had resumed their attack on the entrance. Making it seem like the pressure was less due to the reduced number of magical beasts, but in reality, it hardly made a difference for Pannis’s defense because, regardless of the numbers, only a few could actually attack from the doorway. The difference between twenty-five or fifty beasts was negligible.

Lina clearly understood this as well, so her teeth gritted in silence after fighting resumed. She didn’t want to be another burden on Pannis.

Not long into the battle, Pannis found that while the number of magical beasts had decreased, the threat to the defense had increased. Initially, the beasts simply crowded at the door, struggling to squeeze in and made it easy for Pannis to repel them. Now, however, they seemed to have adapted to this rhythm of battle. They no longer aggressively forced their way in but stormed the entrance in waves, producing a relentless barrage. This gave Pannis no time to react, he could only defend passively, repelling wave after wave of magical beast, steadily wearing down his own strength.

"This is not going to work, there are still two Gold Rank spiders hanging from the ceiling. If these creatures grow any larger, they’ll give me the creeps." Pannis squinted to glance at the spiders hanging from the ceiling and then shifted his gaze to the far end of the magical beasts, "On top of that, the cavern worm, second in strength only to Bat Tiger, hasn’t moved at all. If it starts to attack as well, defending is going to take a lot of effort."

Although the cavern worm wasn’t as powerful as the Bat Tiger, for defenders, its presence was more troublesome. The cavern worm was comprised entirely of tough skin and supple, elastic muscles. It was highly resistant to both blunt and sharp attacks and was unlikely to sustain a fatal injury. In addition, they were highly prolific, and even if half of their body was destroyed, they could continue to live for a long time. A tactic like the internal explosion used against the centipede wouldn’t kill it swiftly. Fortunately, the cavern worm was simply lying at the very back, just watching the constant onslaught from the magical beasts.

Pannis was, for the first time, regretting limiting his own strength. When he was unable to awaken his Inherent Psychic Domain many years ago, he thought of a solution: if he couldn’t awaken the domain, he would retraced his growth path to identify the problem. After his last battle, feeling guilt-ridden, Pannis lived a life of self-torment. Even in his stupor, he limited his strength and started over. But his desire for self-punishment left him no energy to grow stronger, so his strength just accumulated passively. Even after a hundred years, he remained Silver Rank. Though his rich combat experience and comprehension of strength allowed him to challenge Gold Rank or even Legendary Rank through various clever means, his lack of strength was fully exposed in situations where he couldn’t cheat, like now.

Luckily, under Catherine’s influence, Pannis’ will to live began to revive, and he was finally able to awaken his Inherent Psychic Domain. Once the domain was activated, he could harness the power of a Demigod, but if he didn’t willingly lift his self-imposed restrictions, once the domain was deactivated, he was still just a Silver Rank professional.

Logically, after awakening his domain, Pannis had no reason to continue restricting his own power and could lift the restrictions at any time. But he instinctively felt that if he continued on this path, he would reach unprecedented heights when he regained the power of a Demigod. He might even become the most powerful Demigod in human history, or possibly surpass combat-type Guardians to become the most powerful being under the gods in the Yarran World.

As a result, Pannis never actively lifted his power restrictions, remaining a Silver Rank professional to this day.

But now, Pannis was having second thoughts. He couldn’t decide whether to lift the restrictions or not. He had to decide whether to expose his identity in front of Lina and activate his Inherent Psychic Domain to easily kill all the magical beasts, or to just partially release his strength. Any of these options would mean losing years of accumulated power.

Pannis knew that, anyway, he needed to make a decision quickly. Faced with the relentless onslaught of the magical beasts, all his tricks for defense were wearing thin. If it continued like this, the defensive line at the entrance would collapse in half an hour. Without the terrain advantage, he could survive surrounded by the magical beasts due to the effects of the reversed Death Curse. But Lina would definitely die under the siege of the magical beasts.

What should he choose? Expose his identity? Release his strength? Or both... Just continue like this, let the defensive line break down and watch as Lina dies?

"Haha, a despicable sinner can never change their despicable nature," Pannis laughed at himself, "Who would have thought I’d even consider this? Sadly, a mistake, a sin, once is enough, I won’t bow to my instincts ever again."

"Pannis." Behind him, Lina, who was lying on the ground, seemed to sense Pannis’s hesitation and suddenly asked in a painful voice, "Are you okay? What are you hesitating about?"

"Nothing." Pannis smiled faintly, waving the sword in his hand, repelling another attack from the magical beasts. He then said softly, "Rest easy. It won’t be long now. Everything will be resolved."

Lina fell silent, saying nothing. The control room echoed with the roars of the magical beasts and Pannis’s heavy panting. After fending off two more attacks from the magical beasts and driving them away from the door, Pannis managed to buy a brief respite. He took a deep breath, his left hand abruptly pressed against his heart, making a final decision.

"Wait a second." Lina’s voice unexpectedly rang out close behind Pannis, interrupting his attempt to unseal his power. To his surprise, Lina, whose bones were broken in places, making up nearly a quarter of her body, had somehow managed to drag herself to his rear, using a leg that wasn’t completely broken to support herself and stand up.

"Don’t do it." Lina was uncharacteristically serious. Even though she knew that Pannis couldn’t see her, she still shook her head vigorously. "Don’t continue."

"Do you know what I’m about to do?" Pannis asked, confused.

"I can guess. You’re not just a simple Silver Rank professional, are you? You’ve restricted your own power in some special way, haven’t you?" Lina said softly. "And I can also reason that if removing the restrictions is what’s making you hesitate, it must have a significant impact on you."

Pannis closed his mouth and started to deal with the magical beasts at the door again without a word.

"It will greatly impact you, and you will pay a great price, right?"

"Actually, if you left me behind, you could easily escape by yourself, right?"

Lina smiled gently, as though quite pleased. "See, you are indeed a reliable person."

"A reliable person wouldn’t be so indecisive." Pannis finally spoke. "A reliable person wouldn’t hesitate in the face of a comrade’s danger."

"Haha." Lina laughed even more happily. Though her body still quivered in pain, she was smiling. "You’re human, not a deity. Have you forgotten what big sister said? No one is perfect. Your hesitation is just a normal creature’s reaction. I’m already very happy to see your determination."

"It would make me happier if you didn’t stop me," Pannis replied. "Besides, haven’t you always been curious about my real self? You’re about to see it now, so why are you stopping me?"

"Everyone has a past they don’t want to mention, things they don’t want to do." Lina gently shook her head. "Although I’m inherently curious, I wouldn’t force someone to go against their will just to satisfy my curiosity."

"You’re not forcing me." Pannis once more punched a magical beast that charged toward him, sending it flying. "It’s the situation that compels me, it has nothing to do with you."

"Who says you have to do it?" Lina opened her eyes wide, proudly raising her head. Her face wore a smile, but her voice was full of contempt. "You, a mere Silver rank professional, dare to say that the situation compels you to act in front of a Gold rank professional like me? Do you dare to look down on me, a Gold rank professional?"

Pannis forgot about the fight for a moment, gaping at Lina in disbelief. He was brought back to reality by the scratches the magical beasts had left on his body.

"Move aside, and let me show you the might of a professional."

With that, Lina unleashed a new Divine Spell, the Requiem of Death.