The realizationspreadthrough 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 somethingelse entirely.

The warriors who had been ready to fight suddenlyfelt their hands shake.

Even the most battle-hardened among them had never seensomething like this.

The Mighty Ones beings who hadruled this battlefield for decadeswere staring at Echo with amixture of caution and dread.

For the first time in their reign

Theyweren’t sure they could win.

The Inevitable Battle

Thesilver-haired warriortook a step back, gripping his hand where the spear had once been. His expression wascalm, but his body was tense.

"So... this is the power that broke the Third World."

Echofinallyspoke.

His voice was quiet. Unshaken.

"No."

The warriors stiffened.

Echo’s next wordssent a chill through them all.

"This isn’t power."

He lifted his hand slightly.

And in that moment

The skysplit open.

Adeep, deafening soundtore through the air as ifspace itself was being unraveled.

The battlefieldquaked, massive cracks forming beneath their feet.

And above them

Afracturein reality itself had appeared.

The silver-haired warrior’seyes widened in shock.

The other Mighty Onesmoved instantly, preparing to launch their attacks.

But Echo remainedcompletely still.

And then

Heloweredhis hand.

Thefracture 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 theedge of oblivion.

Thesilver-haired warriorexhaled slowly.

Then, for the first time, hegrinned.

"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

Thetrue battlefinally 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 cameafter death.

Echo stood alone.

All around him, the remains ofthe elite fighterslay scattered. Some had been torn apart, their bodies unrecognizable. Others had simplyvanishedwiped out as if they had never existed.

And then there were those stillalivebut barely.

Their bodies twitched. Their faces twisted inpure terror.Their hands clutched at their chests, their throats, their headsas if they were trying to hold themselves together.

But they weren’t bleeding.

They weren’t wounded.

And yet, somethinginside themhad been broken beyond repair.

It had only taken five minutes.

No.

It had takenone step.

The Fourth World’s Mightiest

TheCelestial Energy Fightershad beenunstoppablebefore this.

They were warriors who hadascendedpast 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 anarmy alone.

Each of them could crush entirekingdoms.

Against them, Echo should have been nothing.

But reality hadproved otherwise.

They weren’t just defeated.

They wereerased.

And the worst part?

No one had even seen how it happened.

From the stands, the judges and elite warriorsstared in disbelief.

One of the veteran fighters, a man whose arms were marked withcelestial runes, clenched his fists.

"This is... this is wrong." His voice was low, but filled with something that sounded likefear.

Beside him, an elderly warrior, one of the greatBattle 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 arenawalls crackedunder the weight of what had just transpired. Even theair itselffelt unstable.

It was as if reality itselfhad been forced to accept something unnatural.

The Judge’s Verdict

The lead judge, the sameold manwho had recognized Eiko’s impossible power in the previous round,rose from his seat.

His hands, usually steady, wereshaking.

He had seenthousandsof battles. He had witnessedgenerations of warriorsrise and fall.

But he hadneverseen anything like this.

Eiko hadn’t just won.

He hadchanged the nature of combat itself.

The judge opened his mouth, his voice meant to declare thevictor.

But before he could speak

BOOM.

Amassive shockwaveerupted through the arena.

A figure descended from the sky.

Nonot one.

Four.

They weren’t ordinary fighters.

They weren’t even like the Celestial Energy elites.

These werethe Lords of the Fourth World.

They were beings who had longabandoned the mortal struggle for power—because they had alreadyclaimed the peak.

They weren’t here as challengers.

They weren’t here as spectators.

They were here becauseEcho had forced their hand.

Because what had just happenedcouldn’t be ignored.

The first to land was amassive warrior, his body covered in golden armor, his face hidden behind a mask.

He landed so hard that the entire arenasank beneath his feet.

"This tournament is over." His voice rumbled like thunder.

The second was awoman wrapped in black robes, her eyes glowing like twin stars. She hovered in the air, looking down at Echo with a gaze filled with somethingdangerous.

"This is beyond the laws of the world."

The third, anelderly scholardraped in ceremonial robes, simplysighed.

"You were supposed to stop at the Third World." His voice was calm, almost sad. "And yet, here you stand."

The last to arrive wasa man in blood-red armor.

Unlike the others, he wasn’t speaking.

He wassmiling.

A slow, dangerous grin.

Hiseyes locked onto Echo’s.

"I was getting bored."

And then

Heattacked.

The man in red armormoved faster than sound.

One moment, he was standingmiles away.

The next, his fist wasless than an inch from Echo’s skull.

BOOM.

The shockwave from his punchobliteratedeverything behind Echo. The stands, the stone walls, the massive pillars of the arenaall of it disintegrated.

But Echo?

He didn’t move.

The punch that should haveannihilated him

Stopped.

The red-armored man’s grin faltered.

His fist was still there.

But it had stoppedjust shortof touching Echo’s skin.

Not because Echo had blocked it.

Not because he had dodged.

It was as if the attack had simplyfailed to happen.

The other three Lords of the Fourth Worldtensed.

The golden-armored warrior’s voice was quiet.

"What are you?"

Echotilted his head.

And then, he took hissecond step forward.

The moment his foottouched the ground

The skychanged.

The massive floating temples in the distanceshook.

The colossal mountains at the edge of the worldtrembled.

The energy of theFourth Worldthe very foundation of power that had governed warriors forthousands of years

Cracked.

The Lords of the Fourth World beings who had ruled over all othersstaggered backward.

For the first timein their existence

They feltfear.

Echo exhaled.

And then, he finally spoke.

His voice was calm. Quiet.

But it carried across the battlefield like a storm.

"Let’s begin."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com