Elio chose the path of pain.
The Artromus's words resonated in his mind: "indecisive". The mory ignited sothing inside him.
'I AM NOT INDECISIVE!'
One mana point channeled into neon with his summon's help, his body shooting forward.
Elio Mana: 21
The tunnel beca a blur around him, but it wasn't enough.
The spikes were still gaining ground, their tallic whispers growing louder with each passing mont. His enhanced senses caught every detail of their advance, the way they twisted and reached for him like hungry fingers.
The exit, his only hope, began closing before his eyes.
Through his heightened perception, he could see the individual formations interweaving, their deadly dance creating an ever-shrinking window of opportunity.
Helium joined the equation, catapulting him from his initial 18 with neon's impulse to a staggering 27.
Elio Mana: 20
He could hear the tal's screech around him, getting closer with each heartbeat. The sharp points almost brushed his body, promising death by a thousand cuts. The air itself seed to vibrate with the tension of his desperate flight.
Another mana point flowed into the wind emblem, the power surging through his body like liquid lightning.
Elio Mana: 19
The sudden acceleration to 36 made his eyes water, his muscles screaming in protest. The world beca a tunnel of pure speed and desperate hope.
Almost as fast as the Artromus.
But even as he flew toward the exit, his analytical mind had already made the ruthless calculations.
The speed wouldn't be enough, and he knew it with mathematical certainty.
He could see the spikes converging, could calculate exactly where they would catch him, where they would begin to tear his flesh. Ti seed to stretch in his enhanced perception, allowing him to map out every possible trajectory, every potential outco.
None of them ended well.
The space between him and freedom shrank with each fraction of a second. The tallic formations sang their deadly song ever closer to his ears. The opening, his only hope, was now barely larger than his body.
Thoughts crowded Elio's mind as ti ran out.
A four-point explosion might be enough, leaving him with only 15 points to face the thirty-two creatures. The numbers danced in his head, each calculation more desperate than the last.
But amid that ntal chaos, a brutal clarity erged.
He had already chosen pain.
Pain always offered options that comfort concealed. If he truly wanted to be at the Artromus's level, if he wanted to move at those impossible speeds, he couldn't back down now.
Besides, this speed would give him the surprise factor to attack the creatures, and an explosion would only slow him down.
The decision was instantaneous: maintaining maximum speed would an being shredded by the blades, but his nickel armor and the alloy he had created gave him one last card to play.
It wouldn't be the first ti he had used his own body as a conductor for violent chemical reactions.
The acid covered his armor, transforming Elio into a living corrosive projectile.
Elio Mana: 17
The pain was imdiate and intense, chemical burns devastating his skin as he tore through the last barrier like a toxic teor. Every nerve ending scread in protest, but Elio channeled the pain into focus, into determination.
The chamber entrance exploded in a shower of corroded tal and acid.
His arrival mont instantly fused with the beginning of the battle against 32 creatures floating in concentric rings around the orb that controlled the tunnel, their rhythmic dance interrupted by Elio's violent entrance.
The creatures didn't have ti to react, their perfect formations remaining intact. Elio didn't let them act.
The surprise factor was his, and despite the pain threatening to cloud his consciousness, he smiled. The final battle began now.
In the midst of his deadly flight, Elio gathered the nine mana points he needed.
Elio Mana: 17
Quick Charge: 9
The 17 mana points were all he had left, and 9 would disappear in an instant. There was no margin for error.
When he reached the orb, the creatures were still in their hypnotic dance, their rings perfectly synchronized. Ti seed to slow down.
The first acid explosion burst like a chemical supernova, the corrosive liquid expanding in all directions.
Only 4 points were enough to cover the entire area they orbited.
Elio had bet correctly… The creatures, despite having sothing like armor, were vulnerable to corrosion.
Elio Mana: 13
Quick Charge: 5
But Elio knew it wouldn't be enough. He had 58 damage points against the 100 resistance the creatures should have... The mathematics were relentless.
However, he still had 5 points charged.
That's why, when the second explosion imdiately followed the first, the effect was devastating. The acid didn't just corrode, it disintegrated.
The nearest creatures didn't even have ti to make a sound before being consud, their bodies dissolving in the toxic mist.
So, protected by their companions' bodies, managed to avoid the worst impact. The perfect formation they had maintained beca both their doom and their salvation, while so served as involuntary shields, others were completely exposed.
Elio Mana: 8
Quick Charge: 1
With his last charged mana point, Elio expelled the remains of acid still devouring his own skin, turning it into one final desperate attack.
Elio Mana: 7
When the acidic mist began to dissipate, the reality of his situation beca clear: only five creatures had survived the chemical assault.
But Elio still had enough, just 4 mana points were all he needed.
The formula was simple: two for fluorine, one for pure hydrogen, another for water.
A smaller explosion, but enough if he could land it.
'Just need to charge the mana,' he thought as the creatures began to move.
Elio Mana: 7
Quick Charge: 1
His daggers flew through the air, a desperate attempt to buy ti, but bounced harmlessly off the beasts' armor.
So he took his other weapon.
Quick Charge: 2
The spear was ready in his hands, his eyes searching for exposed points on his enemies, but the creatures had other plans. The tal began to flow around him like living rcury, serpentining through the air in hypnotic patterns.
A tal prison.
'Like the elephant,' Elio realized, but the comparison only made the current situation seem more terrifying. These creatures were faster, more precise… And there were 5 of them.
They didn't bother covering the chamber in barriers when they could simply trap Elio.
Not only that, the tal flowed over them too, creating additional layers of protection. And worse still, that protection beca a weapon.
Their bodies covered in blades floated with lethal grace while manipulating the tal to create a prison around him.
Quick Charge: 3
If his explosion wasn't powerful enough to pierce those new defenses...
But before...
The tal prison began to close. Five creatures coordinating their powers to trap him. A single error, a mont of doubt, and he would be finished.
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