Chapter 91: Chapter 91: System's Vengeance

Elio descended from the wall, his heart thundering in his chest like a war drum. With a mere thought, the swift expended a mana point to cancel his fall's momentum, allowing him to land softly on the pavement.

Elio Mana: 12

Without wasting a heartbeat, he sprinted towards his home, fear and hope waging a vicious battle within him.

The streets were engulfed in chaos. Screams of terror saturated the air, mingling with the acrid stench of smoke and something else... something that made Elio's stomach churn with dread.

People fled in the opposite direction, their faces pale and contorted with panic, like a macabre painting came to life.

Suddenly, Elio spotted one of his neighbors. The man limped along, his clothes singed, tears streaming down his soot-blackened face. Their eyes met for a fleeting instant, and Elio saw in them an indescribable horror that chilled him to the bone.

The uncertainty became unbearable. Elio spent another mana point, and the swift propelled him upward, carrying him to the roof of a nearby house. From there, he leaped again, his heart in his throat.

Elio Mana: 11

Time seemed to grind to a halt.

The scene that unfolded before his eyes was a nightmare made flesh. Bodies lay strewn across the streets, burned beyond recognition. Adults and children alike, all reduced to charred husks.

The smiling faces of his family flashed through his mind like lightning. His mother, his sisters, little Rian... In an instant, those happy images transformed into ash, consumed by an imaginary fire no less painful than reality.

Fury exploded within him like a dormant volcano suddenly awakening. Rage consumed him, clouding his vision and accelerating his pulse until he could feel it thundering in his ears, drowning out all other sounds.

Amidst the chaos, he spotted the Summoners in front of his home. Among them, emerging from his house, was one of the elders he had seen in the families' building. Elio's blood boiled, threatening to burst from his veins.

'THESE DAMNED MONSTERS!' he roared in his mind. His teeth clenched until they threatened to shatter, and his eyes became bloodshot with unrestrained fury.

At that moment, Elio made a decision. None of the summoners would leave this place alive. He would destroy them, ensuring he ended each one with his own hands. He would show them that this city and its people were not their playthings.

THEY WOULD PAY FOR THIS!

He summoned the elephant, the small creature materializing by his side for the first time.

Estin's body, a second macabre trophy for Elio, stood motionless in front of his door. Blood began to pool around him, staining the pavement a dark red.

Elio observed the scene with a coldness that surprised even himself. He felt no remorse, felt nothing except an implacable determination to make all those responsible pay.

Elio realized that he was someone who had nothing left to lose.

'This city no longer belongs to them,' Elio thought. 'And I'll make sure they never abuse power again.'

Varen, the shrewdest of the remaining enemies, was the first to react. "Stop him!" he shouted, his voice resonating above the chaos. "Attack together!"

The Summoners responded instantly. Varen sent a fireball, Mordred invoked an ice attack, while Lotar launched a gust of cutting wind. Their attacks converged on Elio, a deadly storm of unleashed elements.

But Elio's elephant moved with surprising speed for its size. Its massive body seemed to shift between liquid and solid states, surrounding and interposing itself between Elio and the attacks, the carbon in its skin hardening to form an impenetrable barrier.

The attacks crashed against the elephant, breaking off only a few pieces of the carbon that composed it.

Kairos, the closest to Elio after Varick, was paralyzed with fear. His eyes, wide open, reflected pure terror at the power Elio was displaying. His body trembled, unable to launch an attack.

Varick, for his part, went from disbelief at seeing Elio again, fear at his grandparent death, to joy in an instant. "You're alive!" he shouted, his voice charged with emotion. "But stop this! Right, your mother...!"

But before he could finish the sentence, Elio acted. With a fluid motion, he created a massive carbon ball, igniting it with his power. The projectile, brilliant and deadly, flew towards Kairos.

Elio Mana: 5

Kairos, snapping out of his stupor, launched his own attack in a desperate attempt to defend himself. His fireball, normally powerful, seemed insignificant in comparison. It vanished upon contact with Elio's attack, consumed like a spark in a forest fire.

"Stop!" Varick's desperate cry was lost in the roar of the explosion that followed.

Elio didn't stop. He ran towards Varick, his feet barely touching the ground. Varick, seeing Elio's strange suit, opened his mouth to speak, to tell him his mother was alive, that this was too much.

But the words never formed. Elio's fist, charged with all his fury and pain, connected with Varick's face. The impact was brutal, sending Varick flying backward.

Varick fell to the ground, dazed and bleeding from his nose. His vision blurred, but he could still see Elio standing over him, an imposing figure wrapped in an aura of power and vengeance.

At that moment, Varick comprehended the terrible mistake they had made.