The gas kept flowing from the tunnel's depths, relentless and hungry to react with anything in its path. The corrosive presence becoming more oppressive.
Elio needed to be more careful.
This gas seemed to react violently with practically everything he tried, and the water reaction had demonstrated that some attempts could be more dangerous than the original problem.
Lithium proved to be another mistake.
The reaction generated a flame so bright and violent that Elio had to step back several paces, the heat searing even through his defenses.
He tried using helium to create currents that would disperse the gas, but it was like trying to empty the ocean with a bucket. For every area he managed to clear, the gas regenerated almost instantly, flowing back like a hungry tide.
Neon, his most recent element, seemed to have a similar effect to helium. Useful for creating temporary breathing spaces, but incapable of providing a permanent solution. The gas simply flowed back, as if mocking his attempts.
'There must be a pattern,' he thought while alternating between different combinations. Each element provoked a distinct reaction, some better than others, but none sufficient on its own. The puzzle pieces were there, but the solution remained elusive.
His skin continued suffering damage, and keeping his eyes closed severely limited his ability to navigate the tunnel. He needed to find not just a way to neutralize the gas, but to protect himself while advancing.
Each step forward was a battle against the constant burning sensation.
The pain intensified while Elio considered his options. Most elements he had tried only worsened the situation, creating violent reactions or generating more noxious gasses. His mind raced through chemical possibilities through the haze of pain.
'If it reacts with everything...' Elio thought, forcing himself to reason through the pain, 'then fighting it directly is impossible.' If the gas reacted with everything, perhaps that very reactivity could be the key. Not to eliminate it, but to...
"To create a path," he murmured.
If each reaction was so violent, maybe he could use that to his advantage. He didn't need to neutralize all the gas, he just needed a method to advance without the gas reaching him...
But he didn't have enough mana for something like that.
Elio quickly discarded the explosive path idea. His mana was a limited resource that he would need to face whatever came next... he would probably face 16 monsters if the doubling pattern held.
He created an opening in the nickel armor around his eyes. And covered it with a concave layer of ice. Of course, covering it with water ice would be a catastrophic mistake.
'Water only makes everything worse.'
However, nitrogen ice was different.
Although the gas also reacted with it, it did so at a much slower rate, consuming it gradually. Elio had briefly considered covering himself completely with nitrogen ice, but the intense cold presented its own problems... he had already learned in previous levels how dangerous prolonged cold damage could be.
The solution emerged as a compromise: a small concave nitrogen ice window just on the front of his face. To combat the cold, he placed a base layer of carbon between the nickel and his skin, and covered the whole assembly with ice.
The result wasn't perfect... he would need to periodically replace the small ice window as the gas consumed it, but the mana cost was minimal and allowed him to maintain visibility without completely exposing himself to the corrosive gas.
'A mask with a visor,' he thought while adjusting the layers. The cold on his face was uncomfortable but manageable, much better than blindness or the burning pain of the gas.
♢♢♢♢
Elio reaches the end of the tunnel, this turns out to be one of those with a barrier.
The green barrier at the tunnel's end glowed with threatening intensity. Elio knew he needed the most violent reaction possible to break through it, and nothing reacted more aggressively with this gas than water.
But he also understood the mortal risk: the resulting explosion would generate such a potent concentration of corrosive gas that it could disintegrate his nickel protection in seconds, dissolving Elio and killing him instantly.
An idea began forming as he observed the barrier through his ice visor. The movement vectors he had been perfecting could be the key.
'Thirty-two meters,' he calculated mentally. 'The combination of the wind emblem, helium impulse, and neon have an incredible thrust... almost as fast as that bastard.'
The plan was risky but precise: launch a water bomb and, at the exact moment of the explosion, use all three movement vectors simultaneously. The combined force would not only take him away from the mortal explosion but would direct the entire surge of corrosive gas toward the chamber.
'The monsters will receive a special gift,' he thought while preparing the necessary elements. The timing would have to be perfect... one second too late and the gas would reach him; too early and the explosion wouldn't have enough force to break the barrier.
Elio took position, his body tense while charging the three movement vectors. The water bomb floated in front of him, ready to unleash chaos. Everything would come down to a fraction of a second.