The Hall of Judges was a placefew had ever seen— and even fewer had left unscathed.

It was an enormous, cathedral-like structure, carved from obsidian and etched withthousandsof ancient energy runes. These runes pulsed faintly, a testament to the sheer amount of power that had been gathered here overcenturies.

It wasn’t just a hall.

It wasa throne roomfor those who dictated the very laws of the world.

And now,Echo stood before them.

The Masters of Power

Seated before him were theJudges of Energy.

They werenot warriors.

They werenot kings.

They were somethingbeyond that.

These were the beings who had spent centuries some even millenniastudying, refining, and controllingthe very essence of power itself.

And yet, as they looked at Echo,there was unease in their eyes.

A man who should have been atUnified Energy Third Worldhad somehowtranscended.

Not just toCelestial Energy Fourth World.

No.

They couldn’t categorize himat all.

The Question That Needed Answering

The silence was thick, but it was broken by a single voice.

An old man, draped in golden robes, his beard long and white, leaned forward.

His voice wasdry, almost lifeless.

"Echo..."

He let the name settle in the air.

"You have transcended the limits of humanity. Where did you get this power from?"

For a moment, there was no answer.

Echo simplystood there.

His gaze swept across the room, lingering on each of theJudgesas if he were assessing them instead of the other way around.

Then

He smiled.

It wasn’t a warm smile.

It wasn’t a cocky grin.

It wascold. Sharp. Dangerous.

And then, he spoke.

His voice was steady. Calm.

And yet, it sent achillthrough the air.

"From hell."

The wordsrippledthrough the Hall of Judges.

A few of them tensed.

A few frowned.

And one of thema woman with crimson eyes and dark robesactuallysmiled.

But the old man in golden robes remained silent for a long time.

Then, he finally spoke again.

"Elaborate."

Echo didn’t respond immediately.

Instead, hetook a step forward.

The moment his foot touched the ground

These wereancient inscriptions, written by masters who had long since passed from this world.

Runes that had withstood the presence ofkings, warlords, and even gods.

And yet

For abrief moment,theydimmed.

That was when the Judgesrealized something terrifying.

Echo wasn’t justpowerful.

His very existence wasrejecting the natural lawsthat governed this world.

He wasn’t justabovetheir classification.

He wasoutside of it.

The man in golden robes finally leaned back, his fingers steepled.

"Hell, you say?"

Echo’s expression remained unreadable.

"Yes."

Silence.

Then—

Laughter.

It came from thewoman with crimson eyes.

She leaned forward, resting her chin on one hand, amusement dancing in her gaze.

"You say it so casually," she mused. "Do you expect us to believe you?"

Echo tilted his head slightly.

"Believe whatever you want."

Her smile widened.

"Interesting."

But the others weren’t as amused.

Abald, muscular manwith arms thick as tree trunks slammed his palm against the table.

"Enough games!" His voice was like rolling thunder. "What is your goal, boy?! Why have you entered this tournament?"

Echo slowly turned his head toward him.

For the first time, there wasa hint of something elsein his expression.

Not amusement.

Not coldness.

But curiosity.

Then, he answered.

"I came to see what the so-called strongest of this world looked like."

The Breaking Point

The bald man’s facedarkened.

"Arrogant brat"

But before he could finish his sentence, thecrimson-eyed womanraised a hand.

"Enough, Gorath."

The bald man, Gorath,gritted his teeth but obeyed.

The woman turned her gaze back to Echo.

"I like you," she said simply. "But you’ve made a mistake."

Echo raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

Her eyesglowed.

And then

The entireHall of Judges shifted.

It wasn’tillusion.

It wasn’tmind tricks.

The veryspace around them changed.

The walls of the Hallstretched into infinity.

The runesblazed, reshaping themselves into somethingstronger.

And theJudges themselves

Theystood.

One by one, themost powerful controllers of energyrose from their seats.

"Since you are beyond categorization," the woman said, her voice filled withdeadly amusement, "we must see it for ourselves."

The bald man, Gorath,cracked his knuckles.

The old man in golden robes sighed, but hisaurawas already condensing around him.

The rest of the Judges followed suit.

Each of them carriedcenturiesof experience.

Each of them hadstood above entire civilizations.

They werenot ordinary warriors.

They werenot elite fighters.

They were theJudges of Energy.

And now

They were allpreparing to fight Echo.

Echo’s Response

But Echo?

He didn’t move.

His eyes remained calm, watching as the most powerful beings in the world prepared toerasehim.

Then

He spoke.

"That’s fine."

The crimson-eyed woman raised an eyebrow.

Echotilted his head slightly.

"But don’t blame me when this Hall becomes agraveyard."

BOOM.

A shockwave exploded from his body

----

Silence.

That was the only thing that remained in theHall of Judges.

The six elite warriors masters ofCelestial Energy, wielders ofancient techniques, men who had shaped the fate ofempires

Were dead.

And Eiko?

Hehadn’t even moved.

The Judges, beings who had lived forcenturies, beings who had seengods rise and fall, beings who dictated thelaws of power

They were frozen.

Their expressionsweren’t of anger.

They weren’t ofhatred.

They were ofpure, unfiltered terror.

A single thought echoed in their minds:

What... is he?

Because this wasn’t justpower.

This wassomething beyond understanding.

The silence was broken by the old man in golden robes.

His voice, usually calm and steady, wasshaking.

"...Impossible."

His hands, aged bycenturies of experience, tightened into fists.

"These men... were the peak of Celestial Energy... And yet... you..."

His voice trailed off.

Because hecouldn’t find the words.

Because therewere no words.

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