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Fluorine had revolutionized his offensive arsenal. The element granted him unprecedented explosive potential, but it was a double-edged sword. Each attack required absolute precision. One miscalculation, and he could fall victim to his own corrosive power.

His movement capabilities had seen dramatic improvements as well.

With his swift alone, he could now propel himself 18 meters in a single burst. The distance increased to 27 meters when augmented with neon, and adding the wind emblem to the mix, he could cover an impressive 36 meters almost instantly.

\'Faster,\' Elio thought, his body cutting through the air as he practiced movement combinations. \'But still not fast enough.\'

The monster had demonstrated speed that surpassed even these enhanced capabilities. The gap had narrowed, certainly, but it remained.

A crucial difference in a battle where microseconds could mean the difference between life and death. Elio\'s hands clenched involuntarily as he remembered how easily the creature had moved, its fluid motions defying human limitations.

Every practice run, every calculated leap, brought Micah\'s face to his mind.

His friend\'s sacrifice demanded more than just revenge; it demanded victory. Elio continued his drills, committing new distances and velocities to muscle memory. He would need every possible advantage when he emerged from his book to face the creature that had forced Micah\'s hand.

But before that confrontation could happen, Elio had to solve a critical strategic dilemma.

He needed the cores for the eighth summoning, a power that could potentially turn the tide. But collecting them meant escaping the monster without revealing the carbon tunnel\'s existence.

Revealing that secret would condemn 94 builders to death.

The weight of their lives pressed against his conscience, making each potential plan feel inadequate.

The core problem was deceptively simple yet seemingly insurmountable: the monster\'s superior speed.

Even with his enhanced movement capabilities, the speed differential made losing it practically impossible. In open terrain, there would be nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape.

And he was likely to appear mid air again...

\'I can\'t just run,\' Elio\'s frustration mounted as he mentally mapped possible routes. \'It will catch me regardless of which direction I choose, and if I head toward the tunnel...\'

He left the thought unfinished.

The consequences of leading the monster to the others would eclipse Micah\'s tragedy. The mental image of the creature loose among the builders made his blood run cold.

Zara\'s face was the first to appear in his most pessimistic mental outcomes.

♢♢♢♢

After hours of fruitless waiting, Zara and the others were about to make the difficult decision to abandon their position by the crystal.

The absence of Elio and Micah weighed heavily on them all.

"We can\'t keep waiting," Zara declared, rising from her spot where they had been monitoring the crystal.

"We have to do something," Lila added, her voice a mix of determination and anguish.

"Do something?" Kriz let out a humorless laugh, an unusual sound from him. "Against that thing? We couldn\'t even face it with our power amplified by the emblems."

"We can\'t just abandon them," Lila protested, but Mei shook her head, her refined upbringing evident in her measured response.

"Think this through," Mei intervened, maintaining her characteristic composure. "If we barely escaped with the emblems, what chances do we have now?"

Brok, who had been unusually quiet, unconsciously flexed the arm the monster had severed. The memory of that moment still fresh and painful. "It\'s not just about power," he added. "If we go out and it finds us..."

"We\'d lead that thing straight to the tunnel," Kriz finished. "To all the builders."

"But Elio and Micah could be dying while we talk!" Lila exclaimed, tears of frustration forming in her eyes.

"Or they could already be dead," Mei murmured. The harshness in her voice surprised everyone, contrasting sharply with her usual diplomacy.

"We don\'t know that," Zara insisted, her fingers unconsciously touching the hilt of her dagger. "And I refuse to sit here doing nothing. God said the deposit belongs to us now. We can enter from above."

"And when the monster sees us," Brok reasoned, his voice heavy with concern, "what then? Run? It\'s faster than us. Fight? We saw how that ended."

"You don\'t have to come," Zara declared, her tone making it clear she\'d made her decision.

"I\'m going too," Lila added immediately, stepping beside Zara.

Kriz looked at Brok and Mei, worry evident on his face. "We can\'t let them go alone..."

"We also can\'t risk everyone in the tunnel," Mei responded, conflict visible in her usually composed features.

"We should at least consult with the others," Brok suggested. "Leave the crystal and..."

"And waste more time?" Lila interrupted, her patience wearing thin.

"And make a real plan," Brok finished firmly. "If we\'re doing this, we need to be smart about it."

The group exchanged glances, tension thick in the air. On one side, the urge to help their companions, especially Elio who had done so much for them. On the other, their responsibility to the builders and their clear disadvantage against the monster.

"Five minutes," Zara finally conceded, though her fingers still tapped restlessly against her leg. "We\'ll go out, hear what they have to say, but I\'m not promising to wait longer."

♢♢♢♢

As they exited the crystal, they encountered Milo\'s group with Aria and Valeria.

Questions started immediately, and under persistent pressure, Zara revealed everything that had happened.

Horror spread across the builders\' faces as they listened about the monster, its supernatural speed, its intelligence... and what it had done to their companions.

Zara and Lila began preparing for their ascent to the deposit, but Taron\'s voice stopped them.

"Wait," he said, his grave tone capturing everyone\'s attention. "If what you\'re saying is true, if that thing really is that powerful..." he paused, carefully choosing his words. "Going out now would be suicide."

"Then what do you suggest?" Zara asked, though her tone suggested she didn\'t care for the answer.

"We need to be stronger," Taron responded. "Level up before facing something like that. We can\'t help anyone if we die… Even you will need to…"

"But Elio..." Lila began.

"Elio is level 7," Taron interrupted. "And from what you\'re telling us, even he couldn\'t do much with doubled power. We need to think about this strategically."

The builders exchanged worried glances. The idea that something could so completely overpower both Elio and Zara together, at double power, sent chills down their spines.

"How long would it take?" Kriz asked, his usual humor absent from his voice.

"Depends on what level we want to reach," Taron replied. "But with the cores we\'ve been collecting..."

"And the ones Elio left you," Zara added, remembering the resources they had been accumulating.

Mei, who had been unusually quiet, finally spoke: "We also have to consider the builders. If that monster discovers the tunnel..."

The implication hung in the air, 94 lives depended on keeping the tunnel secret.

"Then it\'s decided," Taron said. "First we get stronger. Then we find a way to help that doesn\'t turn us into easy victims."

Zara clenched her fists, frustrated but aware of the logic in Taron\'s words. "Fine," she finally yielded. "I can help you reach level 7. I know exactly what to expect, how to overcome it."

Hope flickered across the builders\' faces.

Direct guidance for leveling up was always an enormous advantage.

"But you\'ll enter level 8?" Taron asked, noting the implication.

"I\'ll be going in blind," Zara admitted, an ironic smile playing on her lips. "But that won\'t stop me... It never stopped Elio."

"Zara..." Lila began, concerned.

"It\'s alright," Zara interrupted. "Besides, God said something important: the \'Von\' belongs to the highest-level human." Her eyes blazed with determination. "As long as I don\'t become Von, it means Elio is still alive. He has to be."

"Maybe they entered... maybe they\'re in their books..." Aria added, understanding dawning on her face.

"Then we have time," Valeria concluded.

The decision spread like a wave among the builders. One by one, they began opening their books.

It was time to become stronger.

What followed was unprecedented in the city\'s 100-year history. 98 builders, humanity\'s highest levels, entered their books simultaneously, beginning their ascent with expert guidance.

After Zara\'s explanation...

One by one, the builders disappeared into their books, starting the most significant mass ascension in the city\'s history.

The urgency of the situation had catalyzed something that would normally take time, as they had just suffered the betrayal of 5 allies seeking power.

Zara was the last to open her book, her mind split between the responsibility of guiding others and her concern for Elio and Micah. \'Hold on,\' she thought as she entered her own challenge.

Despite everything, she knew Elio\'s ideal form of governing was to distribute power and knowledge to everyone.