Utopian System

Chapter 417 System's Final Boss - 3

"He's not here," Zara looked up from her papers, a slight smile curving her lips at seeing the tray. "He should be with Lucien, they had to review those population reports he forgot yesterday."

Mei and Lila exchanged a look, an unspoken concern passing between them.

"Let's go to Lucien," Zara decided, putting down her documents on the couch and closing the door. "If anyone knows where Elio is when I don't, it'll be him."

♢♢♢♢

They found him organizing several scrolls, his concentrated expression softening at seeing them.

"Elio?" Zara asked without preamble.

"He went to the wind deposit a while ago," Lucien responded. "Diana came to get him, apparently they found something important..."

He didn't finish the sentence.

The first explosion shattered the air.

They ran toward the parapet, their hearts beating in unison with growing terror.

There they saw it...

The sky, normally clear above the first barrier, was plagued with dark silhouettes. Dipterus, hundreds, thousands of them, their shadows reflecting against the clouds like a living nightmare.

"No..." Mei whispered, her hand covering her mouth. "The barrier... how?"

Beyond, where the second barrier should be, an endless tide of monsters poured toward the city. The roar of battle already began to fill the air, screams and explosions mixing into a cacophony of horror in the distance

"ELIO!" The cry of the three girls seemed to tear the air itself.

"The deposit!"

Zara and Lila were already running toward the stairs.

"We have to reach the deposit!"

Lucien moved with surprising speed, reaching them before they got to his office door. He opened it and extracted three vials that glowed with a familiar radiance.

"Some of the transformation potions we've been gathering, also take a million mana each," he explained quickly, pressing the items into their hands. "Find Elio, but split up, find and feed the missing deposit. I'll organize the defense, we'll try to save everyone we can."

"But you won't come with..." Mei began.

His eyes fixed on Zahyla, studying the subtle changes in her posture. "The first ring weakens you. Your resistance... it's only one million now, isn't it?"

A flash of irritation crossed Zahyla's face before she could hide it behind her usual predatory smile.

The restriction had left her at level 10, half the power she had grown accustomed to in the second ring.

"As perceptive as always," she responded, floating with a casualness that didn't quite hide her tension. "But does it matter? You're alone, trapped, and even with my power halved, I have an army."

Elio let his gaze sweep the chamber, evaluating. Nearly a hundred artromus, each with resistance comparable to their first encounter.

Zahyla still had a million resistance; it was a lot, yes, but no longer invincible.

'Only 47 hits, 752 mana points... I have enough.'

Dangerous, but not invincible. Not anymore.

A laugh escaped him, sharp and with uncanny humor. The sound made several artromus shift uneasily.

"You know what's truly ridiculous about all this?" he asked, his voice carrying an edge that made even Diana look up. "After everything, the planning, the manipulation, the betrayal, you've actually given me exactly what I needed."

Power coursed through his body like electricity, making the air itself seem to vibrate with its intensity.

"A chance to face you at your weakest point, in an enclosed space, with no one I need to protect."

Diana, still trapped in her metal prison, couldn't contain a tear that slid silently down her cheek. Elio's words resonated with additional meaning for her, she was no longer someone he considered worthy of protection.

He had discarded her, like the traitor she was.

Zahyla's smile faltered slightly. "You can't possibly think you can..."

"I don't think," Elio interrupted, his sword igniting with a cold blue flame that reflected in his eyes. "I know."

"It's time to end this... You also know, I only have 5 minutes."

Diana held her breath, recognizing the expression on Elio's face. It was the same one she had seen when he threw everything into delivering the final blow. It was the look of someone who had calculated all the probabilities and was willing to bet his life on an impossible move.

Elio's eyes released a blue glow as they bled.

The moment stretched like crystal about to break, each instant charged with the weight of lives and destinies hanging on a knife's edge.

And then, Elio moved.