Utopian System

The whistle of another max level dagger cutting through the air was followed by the dull sound of a falling body.

The soldiers watched in horror as another of their companions collapsed, their level 4 armor as useless as paper against the monster's weapon.

The realization hit everyone like an icy wave: the barrier, their last line of defense, didn't protect them from this creature's attacks.

Panic began to spread through the ranks.

The creature's horrible gaze made their bodies tremble, skin bristling and crawling giving an intense sensation of chills down most of their backs.

Observed and defenseless before such an alien, they felt their childhood fears renewed.

"Fall back!" a soldier shouted. "Not even the barrier protects us!" "It's impossible!"

The formation began to break as fear took hold of them, many running from the parapet.

Lucien and Selene exchanged a quick look before acting.

"Hold position!" Lucien's voice resonated with authority. His sharp eyes noticed something crucial: the monster remained outside the barrier, floating but not attempting to cross it.

"Observe!" he continued, pointing out this detail. "It can't cross the barrier! That's why it attacks from outside!"

Selene quickly joined in. "We are summoners! We are not the defenseless victims we were before!"

Their words had an effect.

The soldiers began regaining their composure, remembering their training and power. Hands moved toward books, and soon the air was filled with magical projectiles.

Ice and fire balls flew toward the monster in a deadly rain. But the creature moved as if time itself was different for it, dodging each attack with supernatural grace that made the bombardment seem like a child's dance.

"It's too fast," Selene murmured, watching as not a single projectile managed to connect.

"Morale will fall if we can't touch it," Lucien responded. "We must try."

Both Summoners prepared.

They knew Fathoran's technique, the stake propelled with advanced magnetism. It was one of the fastest known attacks. Selene added a nitrogen variant, equally swift.

They waited for their moment, observing the monster's movement pattern.

When the creature began dodging a particularly dense round of attacks, they launched their stakes at an angle that seemed impossible to evade.

Selene's attack seemed certain, but at the last instant, the monster moved its head with impossible speed. The attack passed harmlessly to one side but...

Lucien's attack was now inevitable.

Until it wasn't.

With a movement so fast it defied all logic, the monster caught the stake with its bare hand. The silence that followed was full of meaning.

They couldn't harm it.

The creature examined the projectile for a moment before throwing it back, aiming directly at Lucien's head.

Selene reacted instantly, using a helium impulse to move her companion.

But Lucien, seeing something the others didn't, violently pushed Selene with his own impulse.

The maximum level spear that the monster had been charging in its other hand buried itself in Selene's collarbone, Lucien's movement saving her from a mortal blow to the head.

The impact was devastating for morale. Seeing their two most powerful leaders so easily beaten made the bombardment cease immediately.

Terror returned to the soldiers' eyes.

The monster, apparently satisfied with its demonstration, approached the barrier.

It analyzed it cautiously and raised its hand. It extended one of its claws, touching the shining surface.

The claw's tip disintegrated on contact, causing it to quickly retreat.

But there was no defeat in its eyes.

Raising its arm, it began to form a sphere of chaotic energy, the wind around it distorting unnaturally. The power emanating from the sphere made the air itself seem to scream.

The soldiers watched paralyzed, aware they were about to witness something that would change their understanding of power forever.

The chaotic energy sphere grew until reaching a terrifying size, the wind around it distorting reality itself.

Most soldiers, unable to withstand the threat of power emanating from the creature, began retreating.

Lucien and Selene quickly stood up, the wound in Selene's collarbone bleeding but not serious enough to stop her. They began charging their mana, preparing for what seemed to be a devastating attack from the monster.

When the monster finally released its power, both Summoners raised a defensive wall by pure instinct.

But to their surprise, there was no impact to stop.

The chaotic energy the creature had accumulated simply dissipated upon contact with the barrier, like smoke dispersed by the wind.

The silence that followed was broken by the monster's laughter, that unnatural sound of multiple overlapping voices mocking the humans who fled terrified.

Until its eyes settled on Lucien and Selene, who weren't fleeing.

And then, in a blink, the creature disappeared, moving at a speed that made its previous movements seem slow.

In the distance, a small point was becoming difficult to observe.

"What... what just happened?" murmured a nearby soldier, his voice trembling.

Realizing the danger had ended for the moment, Selene wasted no time. Her swift appeared instantly, receiving instructions to carry an urgent message that Selene wrote to the teams in the tunnel.

Lucien observed the horizon, his mind working frantically. "Luckily, the barrier failure already happened today," he said quietly, but concern was evident in his tone.

"But what will we do tomorrow?" Selene verbalized the thought that tormented them both. "If that thing manages to enter the city during the next barrier failure..."

She didn't need to finish the sentence.

They had witnessed the creature's power, its supernatural speed, its intelligence... and most disturbing: it seemed to be testing the city's defenders, like a predator studying its prey.

"We need to warn everyone," Lucien decided. "And... We need much more power."

But both knew it was easier said than done. The city had never faced a threat like this, something that could murder level 3 soldiers as if they were children and make the Summoners' powers seem useless.

"We have to level up."

Selene's swift disappeared in the distance, carrying her warning message.

They could only hope an answer would come.