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Micah\'s voice cut through the air like a whip. His hands were shaking, but not from fear… from frustration.

"We\'re going to die here, simply die without achieving anything! Don\'t you see that?"

He approached the crystal, pointing at the statistics with an accusing finger. "Look at that magic defense! Even with the emblem you can\'t overcome it. Not even at level 8 or 9 could you win!"

His voice rose, desperation coloring every word. "It\'s ten thousand resistance points, Elio! The mana wouldn\'t be enough... we\'d need at least two level 9 users with emblems, maybe even level 10."

Micah began pacing, his calculations pouring out in a frenzied torrent.

"And according to these numbers, even level 10s could only do 40 points of damage, assuming the damage growth stays the same! Do you realize what that means? A level 10 would need at least 250 attacks to bring this thing down, and that\'s assuming that thing doesn\'t defend itself!"

He stopped, directly confronting Elio.

"The previous one was problematic enough. We\'re level 6, Elio. You and Zara barely level 7... We\'re completely out of this league! It\'s impossible!"

But Elio maintained his stance, his expression immovable.

"There is no other option." Elio simply said.

"I thought you were considerate but this is just your damn selfishness!" Micah exploded, frustration finally overflowing.

"It always has to be a sacrifice from Elio the martyr! Now you drag us along. We can leave, give the information, try another way. There must be more ways! We can try to reach level 10, despite the risks… it\'s more feasible... Or find another solution, anything but dying foolishly here!"

His voice cracked slightly. "Do you want to be like our fathers? Don\'t you remember how they failed us? Are you going to leave your family alone, like he did?"

The silence that followed was heavy, loaded with contained emotions.

Then, slowly, Elio smiled, but it wasn\'t his usual smile. It was the same stoic and sarcastic expression that Micah had given him years ago, when they were just two children dealing with losses too big for their age.

"I too hate our Gods who play with our lives," Elio said, his voice soft but firm. "Today I hate myself too. I\'m sorry Micah."

"There is no other option."

"I\'ll follow Elio," Zara declared, stepping forward. "No matter what."

"Me too," Lila added, her voice loaded with fear but more determination.

Kriz and Brok exchanged looks before nodding resignedly.

Mei sighed deeply. "I agree with Micah," she said, "but unfortunately, this time I\'ll have to support Elio."

Micah stopped, the words dying in his throat.

"I know we maybe can\'t do anything," Elio said softly, his voice barely a whisper.

"I know we\'ll probably die here. But I can\'t condemn the city to 100 more years of suffering like Fathoran did. If that\'s going to cost us our lives..." he paused, his eyes meeting Micah\'s, "then so be it."

He approached his friend, his expression softening. "I\'m scared too, Micah. And I thank you... that day, you helped me handle my father\'s loss in a different way. You helped me stop crying."

A small smile formed on his lips. "But I don\'t need that lie anymore. I admire our fathers, for sacrificing themselves for others. And now I understand why they did it."

He extended his hand to Micah.

"Forgive my selfishness, my friend. And please... Come with me. Not for me, but for everyone else."

Micah looked at the extended hand, his emotions warring inside him. He remembered that day, years ago, when he found a young Elio crying for his father. He remembered how he had tried to give him an outlet for his pain, an excuse to transform sadness into something more manageable.

But now, seeing Elio willing to make the same sacrifice as their fathers, he understood that the lie wasn\'t necessary anymore. That maybe it never was.

With a slow, almost resigned movement, he took Elio\'s hand.

♢♢♢♢

Despite everything.

Determination shone in Elio\'s eyes. He hadn\'t come to die; he had come to fight until his last breath. Clearly, he wasn\'t made of resignation.

"We have a few hours before the emblems expire," he announced. "We need to find a weakness..."

"The new challenges taught me something," Elio shared his thoughts. "The barriers had specific weaknesses. If we can find the creature\'s weak point... If it has one..."

"A critical hit," Zara completed, understanding his line of thinking. "If you and I manage to connect at the right point or the perfect element..."

"Exactly," Elio nodded. "But first we need to test all our options. We need to know what works and what doesn\'t. If we find it, you and I can bring it down with 105 attacks total."

After planning for a while, the moment came to enter the challenge.

The chamber was individual too, like in the book... But this one was enormous, truly enormous.

The floating crystal above the colossal figure of the King Locus clearly showed:

"10,000/10,000".

At least they would have a way to measure their progress... if they managed to make any.

Without losing a second.

Taking advantage of the motionless monster. Each prepared their attack, taking advantage of the opportunity of the first free hit.

Zara channeled her power, forming a lithium stake that pulsed with explosive energy. The bright metal seemed almost alive in her hands.

Elio combined elements to create a nitrogen explosion. The air around his hands distorted with contained power.

Micah prepared his special corrosive attack, the one they had been perfecting. His hands glowed with an ominous radiance.

The others distributed themselves in a wide semicircle, each preparing a different attack.

Brok with pure nitrogen, Kriz with carbon, Mei with conventional Ice, Lila even prepared water (Elio had already seen a water explosion, could it work again?).

"Now!" Elio shouted.

The attacks flew simultaneously toward the King Locus. The air itself seemed to distort with the amount of power crossing the chamber.

Zara\'s lithium stake hit first, followed immediately by Elio\'s nitrogen explosion. Micah\'s corrosive attack mixed with the other elements, creating a chain reaction of explosions and effects that illuminated the entire chamber.

For a moment, it was impossible to see anything through the chaos of unleashed energy.

When the glow dissipated they saw the crystal again, and the silence that fell over the group was absolute.

"10,000/10,000".

The number glowed, mocking their efforts. Not a single point of damage. Not even a scratch.

"Impossible," Micah whispered, his voice barely audible.

And then, as if their attacks had been an annoying breeze that woke him up, the King Locus began to move.

Its colossal form rose slowly, each movement emanating a power that made all the Locus they had faced before seem insignificant. It wasn\'t just its size or resistance; there was something else about this creature, something that made the air itself seem heavy with its presence.

"It didn\'t work," Lila murmured, fear seeping into her voice. "Nothing worked."

"Don\'t give up," Elio insisted, although even he couldn\'t prevent a touch of desperation from creeping into his voice. "There must be a way. There has to be."

But as they watched the King Locus rise to its full height, the reality of their situation began to sink in. Their most powerful attacks hadn\'t even managed to scratch the surface of this creature.

And now it was it\'s turn.