Utopian System

Chapter 377 System's Awakening

"And there's more," Elio continued. "The next ring has stronger monsters. It's obvious he's setting a trap for us, but..."

"Then let's return," Selene interrupted. "We can't…"

"No," Elio's voice was firm. "You return. I'm going to follow him."

"The city needs you," Selene's voice cut through Elio's determination.

"The new barrier will need constant feeding, and after what happened today, the people will need their leader more than ever."

"But that monster..."

"Will still be there," Selene interrupted. "But right now there are people who need your attention. There are families who will want to know why their loved ones won't return. The entire city will need to reorganize to handle any new threat."

Elio clenched his fists, his eyes still fixed on the distant figure of the artromus. The thirst for vengeance burned within him, but Selene's words found echo in a deeper part of his being.

"You are right Enid, Arnaud, all who fell today..."

"They sacrificed themselves for the city, for its people. Honoring their sacrifices means protecting what they gave their lives for."

The final words struck Elio hard. The image of Enid, her last smile while interposing herself between him and death, flashed through his mind.

"We are going back now," he finally yielded. Vengeance could wait, he had more immediate responsibilities.

During the flight back, while his mind processed the day's events, Elio reviewed his updated statistics. A detail caught his attention: he now had the right to attempt the 11th challenge.

But as soon as he returned and crossed the barrier, the option disappeared.

????

Zalvek watched the transformed human retreat with his companion.

Part of him regretted losing the opportunity to lead him into the trap where he would be much stronger and faster, but his primary mission was clear: the Queen must wake.

He turned and extended his wings, launching himself toward the next barrier.

Each ring he crossed was more extensive than the previous one, the space between barriers expanding like ever-widening concentric circles. But with each boundary he crossed, his power made a leap.

Despite the exhaustion from battle, his mana nearly depleted and his resistance diminished, each new barrier made him feel more... himself. It was like awakening from a long dream, each veil of weakness falling away to reveal more of his true potential.

The sensation of freedom was intoxicating.

The first ring, where he had been limited to crawling with barely ten percent of his power, now seemed an absurd prison.

How had he endured such restriction for so long?

It was like asking an eagle to pretend to be a worm.

Upon crossing the final barrier, power flowed through Zalvek like an unstoppable tide. His capabilities restored completely, every fiber of his being vibrating with the energy that had been denied him for so long.

The sensation would have been glorious if not for this aberrant form he had been forced to adopt. The transformation, though necessary, had turned him into something that bordered on monstrous even by artromus standards.

But disgust at his new form was irrelevant, he had a mission to fulfill, and his personal discomfort meant nothing compared to his species' future.

The city rose before him, a vast labyrinth of black structures that soared skyward in seemingly chaotic patterns. Discover hidden content at empire

The contrast with the human city couldn't be more marked, where they had immaculate white walls, here every building was constructed in shades of black that absorbed light.

Where humans had perfect geometric and symmetrical patterns, the artromus city developed in organic and irregular forms.

But the apparent disorder concealed a deeper pattern.

Each structure, each aerial passage, each tower that intertwined with its neighbors, everything was calculated for the three-dimensional movement of beings who mastered flight. It was ordered chaos, an architectural symphony that only made sense when observed from multiple angles simultaneously.

The view should have filled him with pride, with longing for the home to which he finally returned.

Instead, he felt only profound sadness.

The city was completely empty.

There were no artromus coursing through aerial passages, no guards patrolling the highest towers, no scientists working in crystalline laboratories. The silence was absolute, broken only by the sound of his own wings.

This wasn't really his home, not yet.

It was barely a shell, a promise of what would be when the 1,000 years were fulfilled and his species could finally reclaim the world that belonged to them. For now, it was only a reminder of all they had lost at the hands of that stupid god.

Zalvek headed toward the central building, a colossal structure that rose in the empty city's heart. Unlike the other buildings, this had been constructed with a more fixed image in mind, a tribute to the perfection of the Queen who slept within.

Soon, very soon, he would wake his sovereign. And with her, the true reconquest of their world would begin.

????

Zalvek traversed the central building's corridors with precise steps.

Unlike the rest of the city, this place maintained minimal activity, automatic systems that had functioned without rest for centuries, maintaining perfect conditions for the Queen's sleep and the eggs.

The process to open the royal chamber was complex, designed to be executed only in specific circumstances. His claws moved over the controls, activating sequences that hadn't been used in just over 100 years.

First, identity verification, his artromus blood, though altered by transformation, still contained the necessary genetic markers.

The system recognized it with an approving hum.

Then, the decompression sequence. The chambers surrounding the central core began gradually adjusting their pressure and temperature. Zalvek watched the indicators with barely contained anxiety, each step bringing him closer to the crucial moment.

The third phase required introduction of the sacred codes, transmitted only to the ring guardians. His fingers moved with precision, entering symbols he had memorized since birth.

It was during the fourth phase, while the elemental seals began dissolving, that he noticed something strange.

The energy patterns were... incorrect. Where he should have found characteristic signatures of deep sleep, he detected active fluctuations. The readings showed activity levels that should be impossible.

His transformed mind refused to accept what his senses told him.

This contradicted fundamental laws established by the gods. The Queen must sleep until the 1,000 years were fulfilled unless a guardian woke her, that was one of the prices their species had to pay for their other advantages.

With trembling fingers, Zalvek completed the final sequence. The inner chamber's doors began opening...

And reality struck him like a physical blow.

The stasis chamber was empty. No, not empty, abandoned. The support systems showed signs of having been deactivated from within. The seals, examined closely, revealed marks of having been broken long ago.

The conclusion was as impossible as it was undeniable: the Queen was awake.