Utopian System

The change in the artromus was so sudden that anyone else might have hesitated, but Elio not only maintained his assault, he intensified it.

If the monster wanted to offer itself as a target, he would turn each second into a torrent of attacks.

But his eyes, glowing with that crimson radiance of enhanced perception, missed no detail.

The gleam in the Artromus's gaze betrayed its true intentions; this wasn't surrender, it was calculation.

With each connecting blow, with each falling point of resistance, that light in the monster's eyes intensified.

Realization struck Elio like lightning: the Artromus was waiting for frenzy.

Its resistance must have been multiplied by ten thanks to metamorphosis, Elio had been correct. Now the monster sought to combine both states.

Should he stop? Wait for metamorphosis to end?

But that moment of doubt never came. The memory of Micah burned in his memory, along with the promise he had made to himself.

'Never again,' he thought while his scythe cut through the air with renewed fury. 'No more doubts.'

If the Artromus wanted to play with fire, Elio would show it what it meant to get burn.

If the Artromus wanted to combine both power increases, Elio would let it and ensure it experienced the same desperation it had provoked in its predecessor, he would make it lose all hope.

The same way they had forced Micah to feel in that fateful moment.

♢♢♢♢

The last thirty seconds approached when the Artromus's body began to glow.

Frenzy activated, catapulting its speed to 80 points and its attack to 200. This was the moment it had been waiting for, sacrificing its defense to reach this precise instant.

The crimson radiance in Elio's eyes intensified to match the supernatural glow in the Artromus's gaze.

There was no margin for error: the monster would bet everything on this last desperate attempt to escape through his death, or Elio would stop it here and now.

It was all or nothing for both. Experience exclusive tales on мѵʟ

For the Artromus, it was its last chance: kill the leader and escape, or perish in the attempt.

For Elio, it was the moment of truth: contain the monster until time ran out, or end it before it could use its combined power to escape.

Elio's smile widened while maintaining his relentless assault.

♢♢♢♢

It had succeeded.

Arterro felt the combined power of metamorphosis and frenzy course through every fiber of its transformed being.

These next thirty seconds, which to its enhanced perception would feel like more than 2 whole minutes, would be enough to show this insolent parasite why one should never underestimate an Artromus.

Or that was the plan.

Twenty seconds.

But something changed.

'Impossible!'

The glow in the human's eyes intensified until becoming a crimson inferno. Blood began to flow, tracing red lines down his cheeks, and his body... his body began to transform in a way that defied all comprehension. Muscles expanded beyond what any living being should be able to endure.

Fifteen seconds.

Arterro's claws cut through the air where Elio had been a fraction of a second before. The human didn't just dodge, he moved as if the battle were a rehearsed dance, each step calculated with impossible precision.

And he was matching its speed.

'How?!' Incredulity began mixing with something darker in Arterro's mind.

Yes, the human needed occasional impulses to maintain the pace, but even so, the situation was absurd. This shouldn't be happening.

Twelve seconds.

Another failed attack. The human's smile had become something predatory, something that awakened primordial instincts Arterro didn't know it had. Its claws desperately sought that neck, that head that would mean its salvation.

But the cursed one moved with supernatural precision, as if he could read each of its movements before they happened.

It just needed one hit, one moment of carelessness.

Ten seconds.

Sweat poured from the human's forehead, mixing with the blood flowing from his eyes, but his speed didn't diminish. If anything, each movement seemed more precise than the last, as if pain only drove him to surpass himself.

Seven seconds.

Desperation began growing in Arterro's chest. Time, which moments before seemed to expand infinitely, now slipped through its claws like water. The human wasn't just resisting, he was cornering it.

Five seconds.

'No... this can't be happening.'

Elio's bleeding eyes seemed to see through it, anticipating every movement before it even thought of them. It wasn't just speed or strength, it was as if the human had transcended normal perception limitations.

Three seconds.

'No... I can't. I have to escape!'

The mask of confidence Arterro had maintained finally shattered completely. For the first time since awakening in this chamber, true terror drew itself on its face.

The smile that formed on Elio's bloodied lips was something that would haunt the nightmares of any being that witnessed it. It wasn't a human's smile, it was the expression of a predator that had cornered its prey.

Arterro launched itself toward the crater's edge with all its remaining strength. The Locus, the sea of monsters, salvation was so close...

But it would never reach it.

The impulse from Elio's legs, combined with his winged salamander's power, catapulted him in front of the Artromus in a blink. His bleeding eyes glowed with anticipation while savoring the moment.

The scythe had been a blessing, allowing him to conserve enough mana for this final instant.

One last impulse kept him suspended in the air while his hands wove steel bands around the monster. It was a luxury he could afford, a final reminder of his prey's impotence.

Arterro, desperate, concentrated its forces to break the prison while still maintaining the power increases. But it was too late, metamorphosis vanished, leaving it vulnerable.

Elio raised the scythe, a macabre smile drawing itself on his bloodied face while observing the pure terror reflected in the Artromus's eyes.

The muscles of his arms grew larger than ever.

With a fluid movement, he spun the weapon to not strike with the edge...

Arterro didn't understand the gesture until it was too late. The scythe's blow connected with its head, its now reduced defense unable to protect it.

The chitinous armor cracked under the impact, leaving it stunned and with its resistance at critical levels, the loss of metamorphosis had divided what resistance remained by ten.

Arterro fell to its knees.

For a moment, it expected to be thrown into the acid cauldron.

Instead, it felt Elio's hands close around its head and his foot rested on its shoulder.

Power began flowing through Elio's body, his muscles expanding beyond all natural limits while a roar of pure fury escaped his throat. It was the culmination of all his rage, all his pain, all his hatred.

With one last burst of superhuman strength, Elio ripped Arterros' head from its shoulders.

'Revenge sure is sweet,' Elio thought.