The numbers that materialized before Elio defied all logic.
His mind, accustod to calculating advantages and disadvantages in fractions of a second, nearly froze at the magnitude of what he saw.
Two million resistance points. The figure seed to mock him.
Even if he used his magical power at maximum, at the SSS rank he had suffered so much to achieve, his attacks barely exceeded 20,000 points of damage.
He would need strikes five tis more powerful to pierce her defense.
And to manage to reduce her resistance...
'More than 100 tis,' he calculated frantically. 'I would need to connect more than a hundred hits with perfect amplifications, each would cost at least 16 mana points... without counting movent and defense.'
He didn't have enough mana...
The task would already be impossible in a one-on-one duel.
True Artromus Citizen (Goddess Cursed tamorphosis)
Level 100 (20)
Skills:
True Elent Magic (Wind, Fire, Water and Ground)
Mana: 200/200
Resistance: 400,000/400,000
Stamina: 198/200
Attack: 800
Magic Damage: 800
Strength: 200
Defense: 400
Magic Defense: 400
Speed: 200
Perception / Agility: 4 (A)
But surrounded by more than ninety transford artromus, each capable of hitting him with 800 damage points, it was a death sentence.
He had been lucky to get so many down in the surprise attack.
His eyes scanned the rest of the statistics.
A speed of 400. An attack power of 2000 that turned each of her strikes into a potential instant death sentence, three hits to kill him if he was lucky, just one if it struck the right place.
Your journey continues with empire
The realization hit him like a physical blow: he wasn't facing a stronger enemy. He was facing sothing that operated on an entirely different scale of existence.
The difference between them wasn't one of degrees; it was of entire magnitudes.
The gap was simply too vast to be bridged by conventional ans.
And she knew it.
In her eyes, Elio could see that she understood exactly when he had grasped the true magnitude of the difference between them.
The smile on her face made Elio think that perhaps his plan working wasn't so good after all.
♢♢♢♢
In the instant the numbers finished registering in his mind, Elio acted.
If he couldn't win now, he would escape.
Despite everything...
There was no ti for doubt; every fraction of a second was crucial. His hands moved in a practiced pattern, the iron responding to his will while he finished enveloping the soldiers in protective spheres.
The magnetic impulse he gave them was calculated with precision, strong enough to reach the barrier, but not so much as to kill the occupants.
Lucien's small flash confird they had understood the signal.
Hundreds of soldiers began pulling at the spheres with their combined magnetic power, their synchronized effort creating a web of invisible force. Zahyla's expression shifted, her fingers moving with lethal grace as she attempted to destroy the improvised prisons.
The surprise on her face when the spheres resisted her 2000-point attack was almost imperceptible, but revealing.
Without control over magnetism, she could only attempt to break them through brute force. Her smile grew predatory as her magic repeated twenty tis in rapid succession.
She managed to pierce one of the spheres with the eleventh attack, the level 10 soldier inside perishing instantly against the 2000 points of damage. His death was quick, at least, lost in the blur of magical power.
But it was too late to destroy the others; the launch velocity and combined magnetic traction had put them beyond her reach.
In the safety of the first ring.
Elio didn't stay to observe the result. The mont the spheres left his hands, he was already in motion. His impulses, enhanced by the transformation and his improved control, catapulted him to a speed of 500.
Speed: 40 ( 20)buff sum240 wind40 neon40 magne40 Beril40 Arg40
A feat he could only maintain in short bursts, the energy drain threatening to overwhelm him with each passing second.
Theoretically, he could go faster, but he hadn't yet mastered control of so many variables simultaneously. Maximum speed would require jumping, but that demanded precise points of support that he didn't have in the air.
But even with his 500 points of speed, physics and geotry were implacable.
Zahyla, with her base speed of 400, didn't need to circumvent anything.
While Elio traced an arc trying to avoid her, she simply had to move in a straight line to intercept him. The brutal simplicity of her advantage made his heart sink.
The world seed to slow down as Elio watched his escape route close. His calculations had been precise, his speed unmatched, but basic geotry had betrayed him.
Each passing millisecond brought the inevitable closer, his enhanced perception making the mont stretch like molasses.
His trajectory would lead him directly in front of Zahyla's expectant smile.
♢♢♢♢
Elio zigzagged through the air, each impulse carrying him in a new direction as he tried to escape not just Zahyla, but the artromus, and even the Locus and Dipterus that attempted to close in on him.
The transformation continued consuming ti, less than a minute remaining. His movents were precise, calculated to maintain the maximum possible distance between himself and his pursuer, though that distance grew smaller with each passing second.
Zahyla didn't even appear to be exerting herself.
Her hands moved with casual elegance, releasing waves of magical power that sliced through the air toward Elio.
Each attack contained enough power to incapacitate him with a single impact, the very air seeming to distort around her magic.
Elio's sword danced, cutting through the enemy magic. His magical power was greater, but each cut slowed him down, every defense cost him precious distance.
He traced increasingly erratic patterns in the air, each direction change more desperate than the last. The artromus moved like a living tide behind him, their transford forms converging on strategic points that limited his escape routes.
Their coordination was terrifying, each group moving with perfect awareness of the others.
A group of monsters rose to his right, forcing him to veer sharply left. Another contingent already waited there, their claws extended like a deadly net.
Each evasion brought him closer to the center, where Zahyla floated with the patience of a predator who knows their prey is cornered.
"Impressive," her voice carried a tone of genuine interest as another wave of magical power cut through the air. "Most human leaders wouldn't even try. They'd sacrifice their soldiers without a second thought."
Elio cut through the magic with his sword, but the movent forced him to reduce his speed. Three artromus seized the opportunity to approach from below, their jaws open in anticipation, teeth gleaming in the morning light.
A desperate impulse saved him by centiters, but the maneuver put him directly in the path of another group descending from above.
He spun on himself, using the montum to slice through the claws reaching for his flesh.
"Using your superior power to save them in a surprise attack..." Zahyla moved casually to a new position, closing another potential escape route. "Almost poetic for a human. But also trendously naive."
Every ti Elio found a space, it closed before he could exploit it. The area at his disposal shrank with each passing second, the net of enemies drawing ever tighter.
Another magical attack forced him to use his sword. This ti, five artromus launched simultaneously from different angles. Desperation made his impulses reach speeds he didn't even know he could achieve, but the effort left him closer to Zahyla than ever.
"But you made a fundantal mistake," she continued, her smile growing as the circle closed inexorably. "All I need is you. With you, I win the ga."
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