The realization
spread
through the fighters.
This was no ordinary power.
It wasn’t raw strength.
It wasn’t speed.
It wasn’t even energy manipulation.
Echo had done something
else entirely.
The warriors who had been ready to fight suddenly
felt their hands shake.
Even the most battle-hardened among them had never seen
something like this.
The Mighty Ones beings who had
ruled this battlefield for decades
were staring at Echo with a
mixture of caution and dread.
For the first time in their reign
They
weren’t sure they could win.
The Inevitable Battle
The
silver-haired warrior
took a step back, gripping his hand where the spear had once been. His expression was
calm
, but his body was tense.
"
So... this is the power that broke the Third World.
"
Echo
finally
spoke.
His voice was quiet. Unshaken.
"
No.
"
The warriors stiffened.
Echo’s next words
sent a chill through them all.
"
This isn’t power.
"
He lifted his hand slightly.
And in that moment
The sky
split open.
A
deep, deafening sound
tore through the air as if
space itself was being unraveled.
The battlefield
quaked
, massive cracks forming beneath their feet.
And above them
A
fracture
in reality itself had appeared.
The silver-haired warrior’s
eyes widened in shock.
The other Mighty Ones
moved instantly
, preparing to launch their attacks.
But Echo remained
completely still.
And then
He
lowered
his hand.
The
fracture sealed itself.
As if nothing had ever happened.
The Mighty Ones hesitated.
It had only lasted a fraction of a second.
But every warrior in the battlefield had felt it.
The terrifying sensation that, for a brief moment, they had all been standing on the
edge of oblivion.
The
silver-haired warrior
exhaled slowly.
Then, for the first time, he
grinned.
"
Good.
"
He rolled his shoulders, energy crackling around him.
"
Then there’s no reason to hold back anymore.
"
The other Mighty Ones nodded.
And in that instant
The
true battle
finally began.
The battlefield was silent.
It wasn’t the silence of anticipation, nor the stillness before an explosion of battle.
It was the kind of silence that came
after death.
Echo stood alone.
All around him, the remains of
the elite fighters
lay scattered. Some had been torn apart, their bodies unrecognizable. Others had simply
vanished
wiped out as if they had never existed.
And then there were those still
alive
but barely.
Their bodies twitched. Their faces twisted in
pure terror.
Their hands clutched at their chests, their throats, their heads
as if they were trying to hold themselves together.
But they weren’t bleeding.
They weren’t wounded.
And yet, something
inside them
had been broken beyond repair.
It had only taken five minutes.
No.
It had taken
one step.
The Fourth World’s Mightiest
The
Celestial Energy Fighters
had been
unstoppable
before this.
They were warriors who had
ascended
past the Unified Energy of the Third World. Their bodies had been strengthened by celestial forces, their minds expanded beyond mortal limitations.
Each of them could destroy an
army alone.
Each of them could crush entire
kingdoms.
Against them, Echo should have been nothing.
But reality had
proved otherwise.
They weren’t just defeated.
They were
erased.
And the worst part?
No one had even seen how it happened.
From the stands, the judges and elite warriors
stared in disbelief.
One of the veteran fighters, a man whose arms were marked with
celestial runes
, clenched his fists.
"
This is... this is wrong.
" His voice was low, but filled with something that sounded like
fear.
Beside him, an elderly warrior, one of the great
Battle Masters
, exhaled sharply. His face, which had remained cold and indifferent through countless battles, was now pale.
"
This isn’t just strength.
" His voice trembled.
"
This is something else.
"
The arena
walls cracked
under the weight of what had just transpired. Even the
air itself
felt unstable.
It was as if reality itself
had been forced to accept something unnatural.
The Judge’s Verdict
The lead judge, the same
old man
who had recognized Eiko’s impossible power in the previous round,
rose from his seat.
His hands, usually steady, were
shaking.
He had seen
thousands
of battles. He had witnessed
generations of warriors
rise and fall.
But he had
never
seen anything like this.
Eiko hadn’t just won.
He had
changed the nature of combat itself.
The judge opened his mouth, his voice meant to declare the
victor.
But before he could speak
BOOM.
A
massive shockwave
erupted through the arena.
A figure descended from the sky.
No
not one.
Four.
They weren’t ordinary fighters.
They weren’t even like the Celestial Energy elites.
These were
the Lords of the Fourth World.
They were beings who had long
abandoned the mortal struggle for power
—because they had already
claimed the peak.
They weren’t here as challengers.
They weren’t here as spectators.
They were here because
Echo had forced their hand.
Because what had just happened
couldn’t be ignored.
The first to land was a
massive warrior
, his body covered in golden armor, his face hidden behind a mask.
He landed so hard that the entire arena
sank beneath his feet.
"
This tournament is over.
" His voice rumbled like thunder.
The second was a
woman wrapped in black robes
, her eyes glowing like twin stars. She hovered in the air, looking down at Echo with a gaze filled with something
dangerous.
"
This is beyond the laws of the world.
"
The third, an
elderly scholar
draped in ceremonial robes, simply
sighed.
"
You were supposed to stop at the Third World.
" His voice was calm, almost sad. "
And yet, here you stand.
"
The last to arrive was
a man in blood-red armor.
Unlike the others, he wasn’t speaking.
He was
smiling.
A slow, dangerous grin.
His
eyes locked onto Echo’s.
"
I was getting bored.
"
And then
He
attacked.
The man in red armor
moved faster than sound.
One moment, he was standing
miles away.
The next, his fist was
less than an inch from Echo’s skull.
BOOM.
The shockwave from his punch
obliterated
everything behind Echo. The stands, the stone walls, the massive pillars of the arena
all of it disintegrated.
But Echo?
He didn’t move.
The punch that should have
annihilated him
Stopped.
The red-armored man’s grin faltered.
His fist was still there.
But it had stopped
just short
of touching Echo’s skin.
Not because Echo had blocked it.
Not because he had dodged.
It was as if the attack had simply
failed to happen.
The other three Lords of the Fourth World
tensed.
The golden-armored warrior’s voice was quiet.
"
What are you?
"
Echo
tilted his head.
And then, he took his
second step forward.
The moment his foot
touched the ground
The sky
changed.
The massive floating temples in the distance
shook.
The colossal mountains at the edge of the world
trembled.
The energy of the
Fourth World
the very foundation of power that had governed warriors for
thousands of years
Cracked.
The Lords of the Fourth World beings who had ruled over all others
staggered backward.
For the first time
in their existence
They felt
fear.
Echo exhaled.
And then, he finally spoke.
His voice was calm. Quiet.
But it carried across the battlefield like a storm.
"
Let’s begin.
"