Utopian System

Chapter 401 System's Merged World - 7

The true test arrived in the final chamber.

Four thousand ninety-six beryllium falcons awaited him, their aerodynamic forms reflecting the nature of the element they represented. Unlike the elegant flamingos of the previous level, these creatures were the embodiment of lethal speed.

Elio barely had time to register their number before the first group attacked. The falcons moved at speeds that made all previous monsters seem sluggish in comparison. Their bodies, constructed from the lightest metal he had encountered so far, cut through the air with surgical precision.

The battle quickly transformed into an exercise in movement economy.

The first fifteen mana points vanished faster than anticipated. The falcons weren't just quick; they worked in formations that maximized their collective speed. Each group moved in perfect synchronization, creating deadly patterns that left no room for error. Their attacks came from all angles.

They required no elaborate chemical reactions or reflection tricks; their power resided in the pure efficiency of their attacks. Where previous creatures had relied on complex strategies, these falcons embodied speed in its purest form.

Elio adapted, as he always did. Through careful observation, he learned to predict the formations, using the falcons' own momentum against them. But the sheer number of enemies wasn't just a statistic; it was a grueling test of endurance and strategy.

When the final falcon fell, dissolving into shimmering beryllium dust, Elio understood that the true challenge was just beginning...

The numbers were staggering.

The forty mana points spent were merely the opening act. The levels ahead would demand even more, pushing the boundaries of his mana pool to the limit.

♢♢♢♢

At level 18...

The world welcomed its eighteenth element with a unique transformation. Argon, being a noble gas, didn't react violently like sodium or potassium, nor did it create illusory structures like silicon or alter gravity like beryllium.

Instead... it created zones where time itself seemed to behave differently.

The veins extending from the mountain formed pockets where movement slowed or accelerated seemingly at random.

Each interaction between argon and the existing elements created temporal anomalies that defied conventional physics...

Potassium explosions hung suspended in mid-air.

Silicon crystalline structures appeared to flow like liquid in slow motion, though their reactions were actually accelerating.

The solidified argon mountain stood impossibly cold, emanating a soft blue light absorbed from its surroundings. Its surface created distortions that made distance perception nearly impossible, as if reality itself was being bent through a temporal lens.

The knowledge gained from level 6's tunnel proved invaluable.

Sulfur transformed the world in a way that made potassium and sodium's violent reactions seem gentle by comparison.

This new element didn't create, transform, or alter...

It corrupted.

Where its yellow veins extended from the mountain, other elements degraded and transmuted into more volatile forms.

Silicon crystals turned opaque and brittle at sulfur's touch, while argon's temporal zones filled with corrosive distortions.

Even potassium and sodium explosions acquired a toxic tinge when sulfur reached them. The air itself grew heavy with the potential for devastating reactions.

The mountain stood as a monument to controlled degradation, its yellow surface emanating vapors that transformed everything they touched into corrupted versions of themselves.

The tunnel had become a descent through increasingly intense layers of corrosion.

His experience from level 9's tunnel and protective spheres proved crucial for survival.

But the true test again waited in the final chamber.

Sixteen thousand three hundred and eighty-four Komodo dragons made of pure sulfur filled the space. Their massive bodies moved with a lethal grace that contrasted sharply with their corrosive nature.

The first attack consumed sixteen mana points instantly.

The dragons weren't just resistant; their bodies released vapors that began to corrode everything they touched. Normal defenses degraded in seconds, melting away like sugar in acid.

Each eliminated creature released clouds of toxic gas that made the air increasingly dangerous. The battlefield itself became hostile, actively trying to dissolve anything that entered it.

The battle transformed into an exercise in controlled destruction. Almost thirty mana points went into creating safe zones where Elio could maneuver without his own defenses degrading. Every movement had to consider not just immediate damage but the chain reactions that would follow.

The dragons worked as a single organism, using their corrosive abilities in perfect coordination. Where one weakened defenses, another exploited the breach. Their attacks didn't seek to kill directly; they sought to degrade, transform, corrupt everything they touched.

The final eighteen mana points were spent in a massive attack that leveraged the creatures' own elemental nature. Elio used the sulfur released by fallen dragons to create a chain reaction that consumed the remaining ones in a cascade of corruption.

One hundred and twenty mana points.

The cost kept escalating, just like the number of enemies...

And one level still remained.