For a moment, no one moved.
Then
chaos erupted.
A warrior cloaked in golden flames
lunged
at Echo, his fists burning with condensed solar energy.
From the opposite side, a woman with
crimson blades
flickered into existence, her speed breaking the sound barrier.
Another competitor a brute wielding a
warhammer infused with earth essence
swung
down with enough force to level a fortress.
Three attacks.
Three masterful warriors.
Echo didn’t flinch.
At the very last moment
He moved.
Not with the raw speed of a lightning wielder. Not with the brute strength of a titan.
His movement was
ghostlike
, a subtle shift in space an unnatural glide rather than a step.
The
golden-flamed warrior’s punch
missed entirely, his fire extinguishing as it
brushed past empty air
.
The
crimson-bladed woman’s slash
perfectly timed and lethal
cut nothing but wind.
The
warhammer strike?
It met something
far worse than resistance.
It stopped.
The brute’s arms trembled as his weapon refused to budge, as if it had struck an invisible wall. His muscles bulged, veins popping as he pushed
harder
But the hammer
wouldn’t move.
Then Echo finally spoke.
"
You’re already dead.
"
His voice was
calm
, almost indifferent.
The brute’s
eyes widened
And then, his chest
collapsed inward
, as if
some unseen force had crushed his ribs from the inside.
He fell.
Not screaming. Not gasping.
Just
silent.
Gone.
The remaining warriors hesitated.
The battlefield, once roaring with
battle cries and explosions
, had fallen into a deathly silence.
Echo had yet to
unleash any visible technique.
He had yet to
summon any weapons.
And yet, three of
Greater Earth’s strongest
had already
fallen before him.
Whispers spread among the surviving competitors.
"
What... what kind of power is this?
"
"
He’s... he’s not using mana. He’s not using force energy.
"
"
Then what the hell is he using?!
"
Terror crept into their voices.
For the first time in the tournament’s history, fighters who had trained for decades—who had slain beasts, kings were considering something
unthinkable.
They were considering running.
But then
the air shifted again.
A deep, guttural laugh echoed through the arena.
Not from Echo.
But from
above.
A colossal energy wave
exploded
into the battlefield.
The arena
shook
violently. The air became
dense
, pressing down on the warriors like an iron weight.
A new presence had arrived.
And it wasn’t just
one.
Six figures
descended from the sky, their auras so overwhelming that even the most seasoned fighters
instinctively knelt.
The
Mighty Ones
.
The rulers of Unified Energy.
The true kings of the battlefield.
The leader of the six, a man with
silver hair and glowing blue eyes
, gazed directly at Eiko.
A slow smirk formed on his lips.
"
So, the rumors were true.
"
His voice carried a weight
greater than mountains
, a presence
heavier than death.
"
You’ve returned.
"
Echo’s expression didn’t change.
He simply tilted his head, his voice devoid of emotion.
"
And you’ve been waiting for me.
"
The silver-haired warrior’s smirk widened.
"
Of course. Because only one of us is walking away from this battlefield alive.
"
The battlefield still trembled.
The presence of
the Mighty Ones
had paralyzed the fighters.
The
six figures
who had descended were not mere warriors they were
rulers
, beings who had
transcended the mortal plane
of Unified Energy. Each one of them was a living legend, a powerhouse whose very existence
shaped the balance of power
in the world.
Yet, even as they stood there, radiating power strong enough to
crush mountains
, all eyes remained on
Echo.
Because the impossible had just happened.
He
should
have been at the peak of the
Third World
at best. The limits of Unified Energy dictated that even the strongest fighters could
only
ascend so far.
But the energy radiating from Echo was
beyond classification
.
It was something
new.
Something
terrifying.
The organizers of the tournament sat in their high seats, their expressions unreadable.
But behind their calm facades,
panic
was setting in.
"
How can this be?
" one of them muttered.
"
Did he break the power laws?
"
Whispers spread among the gathered fighters.
Many of them had spent
decades
training to reach their current level—pushing past physical limitations, breaking through bottlenecks, sacrificing everything to reach the pinnacle.
But now, standing before them was
a man who had bypassed it all.
And no one understood how.
In the judges’ area, a single figure remained silent.
An
old man
with
cold eyes
, his robes lined with faded gold, a symbol of the
ancient order
that maintained the laws of power in this world.
His expression was unreadable, but his fingers clenched the stone table before him.
When his gaze locked onto Echo,
his heart sank.
"
That bastard...
" he whispered under his breath.
"
He has crossed the boundaries of the Third World...
"
His mind screamed against the thought, but he knew what he was sensing.
"
That’s impossible.
"
The silence stretched.
Echo remained
calm
, his expression unreadable.
The
leader
of the Mighty Ones the
silver-haired warrior
with piercing blue eyes finally spoke.
"
Echo.
"
His voice carried no hostility.
Only
acknowledgment
.
"
You’re not supposed to exist.
"
A murmur ran through the fighters.
Echo didn’t respond.
The silver-haired warrior tilted his head slightly.
"
Did you think you could just waltz in here and no one would notice?
"
Still, no response.
The smirk on the warrior’s lips faded. His gaze sharpened.
"
Fine.
"
His body
vanished
.
The moment he moved,
shockwaves
rippled through the battlefield.
The sheer speed of his movement tore the ground apart, sending debris and dust flying in every direction. Fighters
stumbled backward
, shielding themselves from the force.
And in the
next instant
A
spear of pure energy
materialized in the warrior’s hands.
It was a weapon formed from
compressed lightning
, vibrating so fast that the air around it
distorted
.
With a single motion, he
thrust the spear forward
Straight at Echo’s heart.
The attack was so
fast
that most of the fighters didn’t even see it.
But the next thing they
did
see
Was Echo standing
completely still
.
And the spear?
It had stopped.
Not blocked.
Not deflected.
It had simply
ceased to exist.
The silver-haired warrior’s eyes widened.
"
What?
"
The battlefield went
dead silent.
Everyone had seen it.
There was
no movement.
No technique.
No counterattack.
The spear an attack strong enough to
annihilate a city
—had simply
vanished from reality.
The other
Mighty Ones
shifted uncomfortably.
One of them, a woman wrapped in a dark-blue cloak,
narrowed her eyes.
"
He didn’t dodge. He didn’t block.
"
Her voice was
flat
, but there was an edge of disbelief in it.
"
He rewrote the outcome.
"