Utopian System

"Did you think physical combat was all there was?" Zahyla's dual voice carried a note of genuine amusement. "That millennia of existence taught me nothing but how to swing a sword?"

The chamber itself seemed to come alive with deadly potential as Zahyla demonstrated why she had survived countless iterations of this eternal game.

♢♢♢♢

Zahyla increasingly dominated the field with magic control, Elio struggled to cut through magic that appeared in increasingly complex forms, and Lila...

"Sorry that I can't return your feelings the way you deserve... But I truly like you!"

Elio's revelation resonated in Lila's heart like a war drum. It wasn't rejection, wasn't contempt, but confirmation that in another world, under different circumstances, they could have been something more. For now...

That was enough.

Gorgita responded to her invoker's renewed determination. The summon grew, its form expanding to reach imposing dimensions. Its skin glowed with a radiance that defied Zahyla's elemental manipulation, stealing oxygen and hydrogen from her control.

Simultaneously, Elio's scorpion and salamander took their elements under control. Where before Zahyla had dominated the air with her newly acquired chemical control, now she found tremendous resistance.

"That's fair," she murmured while trying to manipulate the oxygen around Elio, only to find that Emberg and Gorgita dominated it without giving her the slightest chance to control it. "Well, but I still have 15 other options."

Elio didn't respond with words.

Experience tales at empire

His fingers traced patterns in the air, and the magic of his summons' dominion began to counter Zahyla's.

Gorgita moved like liquid creating barriers that negated Zahyla's attacks. Each attempt at chemical manipulation found a wall of power that countered it. It's form rippled with energy, its translucent body becoming an impenetrable shield against Zahyla's increasingly complex attempts at elemental control.

Elio even began canceling control of some elements that Zahyla was starting to form, based on the reactions in his inner world. His enhanced perception allowed him to see the patterns forming before they fully manifested, giving him precious seconds to counter them.

At one point, he even copied some of Zahyla's simpler manipulation techniques, turning her own methods against her with devastating efficiency.

"You're learning," Zahyla observed while retreating from a coordinated attack. "Seeing the patterns, understanding how elemental manipulation really works... Your perception is indeed too high."

Elio and Lila moved in perfect synchronization, their summons amplifying each attack. Where Gorgita created a barrier, the scorpion absorbed any counterattack, and Emberg pushed Elio to complement his speed. Their coordination was like a deadly dance, each movement perfectly timed to support the others.

Zahyla found her dominion over the elements diminishing with each second. Her attempts to separate molecules were countered before they began. Her more complex manipulations unraveled before Elio's growing understanding of her methods.

The breaking point came when she tried to create a chain reaction and Elio replicated the exact pattern she had attempted to use, but in reverse.

"Impossible," she whispered, watching her own technique disappear.

Emberg emerged then, its form wrapped in flames that danced around it. The fire wasn't chaotic as before; each flame moved with purpose, following the same principles that Zahyla had been using.

Elio's blade found its mark for the first time since Diana's transformation. The cut wasn't deep, Zahyla's resistance remained monstrous, but the blood that flowed was proof she wasn't invulnerable.

"First blood," Zahyla's dual voice mixed surprise and amusement. "Only 95 more of those big ones to go..."

But something had changed in her posture.

The blow hadn't just wounded her body; it had damaged her aura of invincibility. Where before she had moved with absolute confidence, now her movements betrayed newly discovered caution.

The power that had made Zahyla seem invincible moments before found itself increasingly limited, contained, understood.

♢♢♢♢

The coordination had to be perfect.

Each of Lila's movements needed to be covered, each opening protected.

She still couldn't draw out her transformation's maximum potential.

Her potential damage of 7,296 points in the SSS range still hadn't reached its maximum, and the hits she managed to connect barely surpassed Zahyla's defense by little more than 1,000 effective points.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Elio found himself more concerned with keeping her alive than maintaining the offensive.

The next exchange was a demonstration of the advantage of 2 versus 1. Lila launched a sequence of strikes that forced Zahyla to block high, while Elio exploited the distraction to slide in a low attack. The blade found flesh, drawing more blood from the fused body.

But Zahyla counterattacked instantly.

Her sword traced an arc that would have cut Lila in two if Elio hadn't blocked with his sword at the last instant. The impact resonated through the chamber, and Elio noticed with concern how the effort to push perception beyond 45 points made Lila slightly lose control.

She couldn't duplicate it for the maximum output.

"You can't protect her forever," Zahyla mocked while launching a combination of attacks that forced them to separate. "Every second you spend watching over her is a second you can't use to attack."

Elio knew it.

His own attacks, the only ones really causing significant damage, were limited by the need to keep Lila safe. It was an impossible equation: he needed her help to keep Zahyla contained, but protecting her prevented him from fully exploiting the openings they created.

Still, they managed to coordinate another successful attack. The summons created a moment of disorientation that Lila exploited to connect a blow to Zahyla's side. The impact was immediately followed by Elio's sword, deepening the damage.

A third hit came when Zahyla attempted a particularly complex chemical manipulation. The scorpion absorbed the elements before she could complete the reaction, and both Elio and Lila seized the opening to attack simultaneously.

But the numbers were implacable.

Even with three new bleeding wounds, Zahyla's resistance remained monstrous. Lila's strikes, though precise, barely scratched the surface. Only Elio's attacks, powered to his maximum capacity, managed to cause real damage.

"Risky dynamic," Zahyla commented while moving at high speed to cover herself. "How much longer can you maintain this impossible balance, Elio? How long before a single error forces you to choose between saving yourself or saving her?"