Elio, Lucien, and Selene stood atop the city wall.
Before them, a sight that would have been unthinkable just weeks ago: 100 level 3 summoners, lined up in perfect formation, their rabbits shimring with an ethereal blue glow.
This group represented a small fraction of the city's new power.
Elio felt a shiver run down his spine. Never before had he seen so many high-level summoners gathered in one place. Each of them possessed enough power to have toppled the previous regi... and likely the new one as well. It was a sobering thought.
Beyond the summoners, stretching as far as the eye could see, the sea of monsters roiled and churned. An endless mass of writhing creatures, their collective roar a constant, terrifying backdrop to the scene.
Lucien's voice cut through the tension, "shall we begin?"
Elio nodded, his throat suddenly dry. "Let's see what they can do."
"Very well," Lucien's voice resonated, breaking the tense silence. "Begin!"
As one, the hundred summoners raised their hands. Their rabbits responded in perfect unison, eyes glowing with an intense blue light. Suddenly, the sky was filled with icy projectiles, a hail of destruction aid at a specific point in the sea of monsters.
The impact was imdiate and visually stunning. A cloud of ice and dust erupted into the air, accompanied by flashes of light indicating the elimination of so monsters.
It seed they had made a significant dent in the endless mass of creatures.
However, the initial euphoria faded quickly.
Barely a second after impact, the sea of monsters closed in on itself, erasing any evidence of the attack. All that remained was a small dust cloud that dissipated slowly.
"Again," Selene ordered, her voice taut with tension.
The summoners obeyed, launching volley after volley. Elio watched, his heart sinking with each attack. Ten successive strikes, each with the power of 100 level 3 summoners, and the result was barely perceptible.
A slightly larger dust cloud that persisted a few seconds longer, but vanished in less than five seconds.
"It's... it's as if we've done nothing," Elio murmured, the reality of the situation hitting him hard.
Lucien nodded gravely, his frog croaking softly as if in agreent. "And this represents more power than our city has ever wielded. The sea of monsters... it's simply too vast."
Selene turned to them, worried. "We need more. Much more."
Elio nodded, his mind racing. "Let try sothing," he said, stepping forward.
He summoned his Elephant, the mana creature materializing beside him changing places with Ember. Elio then created 10 enormous spheres of burning carbon in rapid succession.
The summoners stepped back, awe etched on their faces, as Elio hurled the spheres one after another towards the sea of monsters.
The impact was spectacular. Explosions of fire and carbon illuminated the point of impact, and for a mont, it seed they had managed to open a significant breach in the mass of creatures.
But as the smoke cleared, reality hit them hard. The sea of monsters remained, as vast and relentless as ever. The breach they had opened, though a bit larger than those from previous attacks, was already being swallowed by the endless tide of creatures.
Elio frowned, his voice barely above a whisper. "Even if the entire city reached level 3 and attacked simultaneously, we'd barely manage to make a temporary hole in the sea of monsters... Everyone at level 5..."
"Even then," Lucien added, his tone somber, "we'd need more than level 5 to have a realistic chance of pushing back the sea of monsters in a sustained manner."
Elio looked at the summoners below them. He could see the sa realization dawning on their faces. The initial pride and excitent had transford into awe and fear.
"If the barrier were to fall..." Elio began, but couldn't finish the sentence. The idea was too terrifying to put into words.
Lucien, however, verbalized what they were all thinking. "We'd be consud in a matter of... minutes, at best," he said, his voice heavy. "Our entire city, with all our summoners and all our power... would be nothing more than a morsel for the sea of monsters."
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the distant roar of the monster horde.
Elio broke the silence. "So, what options do we have left? We can't simply resign ourselves to the idea of sacrificing people."
Lucien nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps the key isn't brute force, but discovering the origin of the monsters, or finding so weakness we can exploit."
Selene nodded, her gaze fixed on the horizon where the sea of monsters lded with the sky. "We don't know where they co from. For every monster we eliminate, it seems ten more appear."
Elio observed the sea of monsters, feeling for the first ti the true weight of the task ahead. It was more than vast; it was a seemingly infinite enemy, a force of nature that seed to mock their efforts.
"Well... I'll inform the summoners," Selene said, her voice soft but resolute. "I'll explain that, although the experint didn't yield the expected result, their participation has been invaluable to our understanding of the challenge we face."
As Selene stepped forward to address the summoners, Lucien turned to Elio. "What's our next move?" he asked, his eyes searching Elio's face for any sign of hope.
Elio stared at the sea of monsters, his mind traveling back to that mont when he was subrged in its depths. "There's sothing we're not considering," he said slowly, his eyes narrowing in concentration.
Lucien looked at him, intrigued. "What would that be?"
"When I fell into the sea of monsters," Elio continued, his voice taking on a distant quality as he recalled the mory, "I noticed sothing. The monsters below, the ones in the depths, they didn't move. They were just there, still, supporting those using them as stepping stones."
"You want to go back there?" Lucien asked, his voice betraying his concern.
"Yes," Elio confird, his eyes eting Lucien's with fierce resolve. "I need to go back down there."
"It's madness!" Lucien exclaid, his frog croaking loudly as if in agreent. "What would you hope to achieve? How would you even survive?"
Elio took a deep breath, his mind already formulating a plan. "The book. If I arm myself with 10 daggers and the resistance cloak that Fathoran left behind, I'd have the maximum equipnt. I could enter the book while falling. The book would descend to the bottom like last ti, and I could absorb cores again... there were tens of tis more than what I have now."
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