Elio was already moving through the air at 40 points of speed.
The world beca a blur while his spear, reinforced with the iron and carbon alloy he had discovered in his last trial, described a lethal arc toward the Locus's neck.
'This is different,' he thought as his weapon cut through the air.
His new perception didn't just let him see better; it granted him an almost instinctive understanding of space and movent. Each of the Locus's actions projected its next move like a shadow in his mind.
The spear, its surface gleaming with the characteristic dark tone of the alloy, descended toward its target with surgical precision.
The observers held their breath, aware they were witnessing sothing extraordinary. This wasn't the sa Elio from just days ago. This was soone else, soone that was beginning to brush against the limits of what they believed possible.
For an instant, a crimson flash illuminated Elio's eyes. It was barely a blink, a mont of absolute clarity where everything seed to slow down even more. His concentration reached a peak he had never experienced, as if sothing inside him was responding to his focus.
His muscles also responded in a strange, different way, as if the mysterious "A" in his statistics was awakening to the intensity of the mont.
The spear, charged with his 60 points of magical damage, found its mark.
The impact overca the Locus's defense, but...
"Too small," Elio murmured, noting how the edge, although powerful, was insufficient to completely section the creature's massive neck.
"Watch out!" Lila shouted when the Locus rose, ripping the iron stake from its body with a violent movent.
But Elio had already landed several ters behind the monster.
Right after landing, he turned to perform his next test.
His hands moved in a complex pattern while iron responded to his will, the stake transforming and expanding into a massive blade. Advanced magnetism flowed through the tal, guiding the weapon with lethal precision.
Elio: 90 mana
The cost was considerable, but the result was imdiate. The blade cut through the air like a dark lightning bolt, finding its target with devastating precision. The Locus's head finally separated from its body, falling heavily to the ground with a thud that resonated throughout the chamber.
"Did he do it?" Kriz stepped forward, but i stopped him with a sharp gesture.
Elio maintained his position, his senses alert.
His three attacks had consud 180 points of the monster's resistance, barely a fraction of its 1000 total, but without a head...
The decapitated body swayed for a mont and then, in a movent that froze the observers' blood, launched forward with blind fury.
"Impossible!" exclaid Brok, his muscles tensing instinctively.
The Locus's resistance continued dropping, but after a few seconds it stopped.
Lvl 10 Locus: 640/1000
But Elio didn't retreat.
His eyes, still glowing with that strange reddish gleam, studied every movent of the headless monster. Even in this state, his new perception allowed him to anticipate its actions, as if he could read the will that still animated that decapitated body.
'Interesting,' he thought while preparing his next move. 'Seems I'll need more than decapitation to stop these abominations.'
The headless Locus charged toward him with uncontrolled violence, its speed increasing without the weight of its head.
The battle, apparently, was far from over.
♢♢♢♢
The bright particles that marked the disintegration of the Locus's head still floated in the air when the body continued its blind charge.
Elio, with his enhanced perception, barely needed a fraction of a second to dodge.
A lateral impulse was enough.
Elio: 89 mana
The movent was so fluid it almost seed casual, as if the monster's attack had been telegraphed minutes in advance.
CRASH
The impact against the chamber wall resonated with a crack that made everyone present involuntarily wince.
"Ouch," Kriz murmured, "that must hurt... well, if it could still feel pain without its head."
Elio remained motionless, observing with scientific interest while the Locus staggered, disoriented. His eyes, still with that subtle reddish glow, processed every detail of the phenonon before him.
'Interesting,' he reflected, his analytical mind working at full speed. 'The initial damage was 180 points, but...' His eyes narrowed while observing the numbers on the crystal in the ceiling. 'It doubled to 360. A critical hit that took a few seconds to register.'
The headless Locus began moving erratically, like a puppet with tangled strings.
Without vision, its movents had beco purely instinctive.
"Isn't Elio going to...?" i began, but stopped upon seeing Elio's concentrated expression.
"Now let's see what you do," Elio murmured, his fingers moving subtly while regaining control over the massive iron blade floating nearby. "There's sothing I need to confirm."
Advanced magnetism flowed through the tal like invisible currents. With a precise movent, Elio directed the blade toward the Locus's center.
Elio: 87 mana
The cut was clean, precise. The blade went through the monster's body at waist height, separating it into two halves.
"What is he doi...?" Brok started, but i silenced him with a gesture.
Everyone could see this wasn't just combat; it was an experint.
Elio studied each reaction with the ticulousness of a researcher, his eyes fixed on the monster's two halves.
'Which will disappear first?' he wondered, his mind cataloging every detail of the phenonon. 'The torso with its arms or the abdon with its legs? The answer could reveal sothing about these beings' true nature.'
The silence in the chamber was absolute while they waited for the result of this macabre test.
Even Kriz, normally unable to keep his mouth shut, watched with morbid fascination...
The Locus's legs and abdon disintegrated into a shower of bright particles, the damage registering as another 360 points.
Lvl 10 Locus: 280/1000
But what remained of the monster was far from surrendering.
The torso, using its four arms as legs, rose in an image that made more than one observer retch. The fluids dripping from the open wounds left a viscous trail that disappeared as the creature moved unnaturally, like a grotesquely mutilated spider.
"For all the..." Kriz covered his mouth. "That is..."
"Fascinating," Elio murmured, though his eyes reflected a mixture of scientific interest and revulsion. The scene was grotesque, but every detail provided valuable information about their enemies.
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