Utopian System

Zahyla's fingers closed around Elio's arm with a force that made his armor shatter.

His broken arm would be useless for controlling magic now, the shattered bones making mana manipulation with his hand impossible before the armor finished healing it.

The world seemed to slow down as the smile of victory began to form on her face, a predator's expression of triumph.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

But Taron's magic attack came like lightning from behind.

The impact, enhanced by the metamorphosis potion, managed to make Zahyla divert her attention for a fraction of a second. Without hesitation, Taron spun his sword in a precise arc, severing Elio's trapped arm.

"Taron!" Elio recovered from the initial shock, turning to join the attack.

If they acted together, maybe...

But Taron didn't turn.

Didn't see Elio eye signals.

Didn't hesitate.

His arms closed around Zahyla in a deadly embrace while liquid steel emerged from his control, enveloping Elio in a metallic prison. Each layer of the cage formed with precise intent, designed not to protect, but to constrain.

Elio's eyes widened with belated understanding. "NO!"

Elio didn't expect to be trapped by his ally, he tried to break the metal prison but…

The magnetic impulse catapulted him backward before he could react.

Your next chapter is on empire

While being pushed, he could see the serene smile on Taron's face as the steel dragged him inexorably toward the barrier. Every detail burned into his memory with cruel clarity.

Zara and the others were already pulling him with their combined magnetic power. Elio fought against the prison, trying to break free, but Taron's control, amplified by the potion, was too strong.

Breaking through more than 6000 magic points with pure strength in a fraction of a second, was not possible for him.

Taron had achieved the SSS magic at the last moment.

The metal responded only to its master's will, deaf to Elio's desperate attempts to break it.

The last thing he saw before crossing the barrier was Taron, still smiling that peaceful smile of acceptance.

♢♢♢♢

"How disappointing," Zahyla sighed as her hands closed around Taron's arms, breaking them with a casual movement that belied its brutality. "Come back and fight! Don't tell me you're going to let this warrior die when you saved weaker ones."

The glow of transformations faded simultaneously from Elio and Taron, the potions' time exhausted.

For an instant, something seemed to change in Zahyla's expression as she studied Elio's fully human face through the barrier.

'Strange,' she thought, a sensation of familiarity hitting her unexpectedly. But as quickly as it came, the feeling vanished, leaving her with an unease she couldn't explain.

He was not in her memory, yet…

After some seconds pushing the strength to the limit, Elio finally managed to bend the steel. Blood in his eyes and broken muscles.

Elio was already pulling the next potion from his pocket, his barely recovered hand trembling with contained rage.

But before he could open it, familiar fingers closed around his wrists.

"No," Zara's voice was soft but firm, her hands holding his right. "Please."

"No more," Lila added, her fingers intertwining with his left hand. Tears ran freely down her face, but her grip was just as determined as Zara's.

"Let me go!" Elio struggled against their grip, his voice breaking. "Taron is...!"

"Don't you dare, you idiot!" Taron's voice, though weakened by pain, cut through the battlefield. "Are you going to ruin my moment of glory?"

Zahyla loosened her grip, allowing Taron to speak. Something in his resistance had captured her interest, like a curious child finding an unusual toy.

"It's always you," Taron continued, blood staining his lips but an iron smile on his face. "Always the hero, always the one who sacrifices. For once, let me steal the spotlight."

"Taron..." Elio stopped fighting against the girls' grip, his voice barely a whisper, heavy with understanding and grief.

"Take your time," Taron kept his gaze fixed on Elio, completely ignoring Zahyla and the artromus surrounding them. "Become stronger, faster. Truly understand that power of yours before facing her again."

Zahyla tilted her head, studying her prisoner with curiosity. There was something in his determination that she found... interesting, like a good development she couldn't stop watching…

But it was convincing her prey to not leave the barrier…

"Enough inspirational talk," she declared, her hand moving with lethal speed to crush Taron's jaw.

The crunch of bone resonated across the battlefield, but Taron didn't make a sound.

His eyes, still fixed on Elio, showed no fear or pain, only iron determination.

"Oh, come on," Zahyla twisted Taron's broken arm at an impossible angle. "Scream a little. Make your friend feel guilty for abandoning you."

But Taron remained silent.

Blood flowed from his wounds, his body trembled from pain, but his gaze never wavered.

Each new torment was met with the same stoic silence, his eyes transmitting a clear message to Elio:

'Don't you dare waste this.'

Elio saw in his eyes, still crying blood, and stopped fighting…

Something changed in Zahyla's expression upon seeing this and turned to Taron with...

Respect?

Pity?

For a moment, her face showed an almost human emotion as she observed her victim's unbreakable will.

"Very well," she murmured, her hand positioning for the final blow. "You've earned a quick death, warrior."

The strike was precise and mercifully swift. Taron's body went limp instantly, but even in death, his expression maintained that last look of determination.

"So be it then," Zahyla released the body, letting it fall with an incongruously gentle touch that contrasted sharply with her earlier brutality.

"It will be the long version of the game."

Her eyes found Elio's through the barrier. "We'll wait here."

The silence that followed was deafening. Tears ran freely down the faces of all present, but no one moved to recover the body. Doing so would have wasted Taron's sacrifice.

Zara and Lila kept their hands intertwined with Elio's, their grips conveying everything words couldn't. The message was clear: they wouldn't let Taron's sacrifice be in vain by allowing Elio to rush to certain death.

The unused potion weighed in Elio's hand like a reminder of the implicit promise he had just made.

"We'll stay here," Zahyla's voice carried a tone of cruel amusement. "Surrounding your precious first ring. We don't sleep, you know? We don't need rest."

The artromus began to move in formation, expanding to cover the perimeter while she continued:

"Every day, every night, we'll be here. Watching. Hunting. Will you try to level up? Go ahead. But every time one of yours comes out to try..." Her smile widened.

"Well, you've seen what happens."

Zahyla floated closer to the barrier.

"And you know what's best?" Her eyes gleamed with malice. "When time runs out, when the thousand years come to an end and the barriers fall... There will be no more limits to our level."

The meaning of her words fell like lead upon those present.

"Imagine it," she continued, savoring each word. "Us at level hundred, free to attack even in the first ring. Even in your precious city. And you..." Her laugh was like breaking glass. "You trapped at whatever level you manage to reach before we corner you completely…"

"Enjoy your life in prison, humans. Meanwhile..." Her smile turned predatory. "We will be your jailers."