Echo lowered his hand.

The battlefield was silent.

The war was over.

No, it was more than that.

No one would ever challenge him again.

Because there was no oneleftwho could.

Echo turned his gaze to the horizon.

A world without war.

A world without rulers.

A world withoutlimits.

He had achieved everything.

He had surpassed every warrior in history.

He had unlocked a level of existence no one had even dreamed of.

And yet...

Something wasmissing.

A feeling he couldn’t quite place.

A hollow sensation in his chest.

He had everything.

So why did it feel like...nothing?

Power was supposed to be the answer.

But instead, it had left him with morequestions.

If there was no one left to fight...

If there was nothing left toconquer...

Then what was his purpose now?

For the first time in his life, Echo had no answer.

And that

More than any battle, more than any enemy

Frightened him.

Because for the first time, he had to ask himself

What comes after the peak?

And even with all his power

He didn’t know.

---

The moment Echo stepped forward, the portal reacted.

Not like a door welcoming an honored guest

But like apredator sensing prey.

The energy coiled around him, forming an inescapable grip.

It wasn’t justpullinghim inside

It wasdragginghim.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, Echo felt something new.

Not power.

Not dominance.

Butresistance.

And that fact alone sent a thrill through his veins.

The world around him twisted as he was hurled through the unknown.

Colors he had never seen before bled into one another.

The concept ofupanddownvanished.

For a being who had surpassed existence itself

This feeling wasalien.

Then

Silence.

And suddenly, he was standing still.

The ground beneath him was smooth, reflective like a mirror.

But it wasn’t just reflecting his body

It was reflecting hisessence.

Everything he had ever been.

Every battle.

Every victory.

Every moment of power that had led him tothisexact point.

And yet

His reflection was incomplete.

Fragments weremissing.

As if something within him had been taken away.

Or perhaps

As if something within him had never beenhisto begin with.

A deep, commanding voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere.

"You have reached the Fifth World, yet you do not understand it."

Echo’s eyes narrowed.

some unknown force dared to speak to him as if he were astudent?

"Who are you?" Echo demanded.

The voice ignored his question.

Instead, it spoke as ifdeclaring a law of reality.

"Power is not the summit. You believed strength would give you everything, yet you stand here unchained, yet caged. Limitless, yet trapped. Why?"

Echo clenched his fists.

The words weren’t false.

Even after reaching the Fifth World

Something was missing.

He had crushed every obstacle.

He had becomemore than human.

So why?

Why did he still feel like there was something beyond him?

For the first time, Echo didn’t answer with force.

Instead, he asked:

"... What am I lacking?"

The voice rumbled like the sound of an approaching storm.

"You were never meant to reach this far."

Before Echo could respond, the mirrored ground cracked beneath him.

Aforce unlike anything beforesurged through the air.

And then

The worldshattered.

Echo felt himselffalling.

But this time, he wasn’t being dragged.

This time

He was beingtested.

As the void around him swallowed all light, one thought echoed in his mind

"Is this... the true peak?

---

Echo’s breath was steady, but his mind raced.

The floating city stretched endlessly above and below him, held together by rivers of pure energy

The very air hummed with power.

Beings with towering auras walked the streets, each step resonating through the world itself.

For the first time in his life

He feltsmall.

The man who spoke to him stood tall, radiating an undeniable force.

He wasn’tshowing offhis power.

His presence alonewaspower.

"You are in theHigher Realm," the man repeated. "TheRealm of Sages."

Echo’s instincts screamed at him.

This wasn’t like fighting the rulers of Greater Earth.

The people here

They didn’tfight for power.

Theywere born into it.

The man’s gaze remained cold.

"And you..."

He took a step closer.

"You are nothing but an ant here."

His fists clenched.

Yet

He knew better than to strike first.

The man extended a single finger.

A simple movement

Yet the airsplit apart.

The sheer force sent shockwaves rippling through space.

Echo barely had time to react before the attack reached him.

BOOM!

Echo’s body was blasted backward, crashing through a wall of condensed energy.

He hit the ground, his entire being trembling.

Not from pain

But from realization.

That... was just a casual attack.

--

The man sighed, almost disappointed.

"I see. You may have broken the limits of your world, but here... you are a child who has just learned to walk."

Echo stood up, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth.

A part of him burned with rage.

But a stronger part...

Feltthrilled.

For the first time in a long time

He had somethinggreaterto surpass.

Echo met the man’s gaze, his eyes burning with a familiar fire.

"If I’m an ant," he said, cracking his neck, "then I’ll just have tobecomesomething more."

The man smirked.

"Then survive. If you can."

Around them, other figures had begun to take notice.

Theirpiercingeyes locked onto Echo, their interest undeniable.

---

Pain.

It wasn’t the type of pain Echo had felt before.

Not the pain of broken bones.Not the pain of torn flesh.Not the pain of losing a battle.

It was thepain of becoming nothing.

Echo collapsed to his knees, his fingers trembling.

His strength gone.His energy gone.His veryessencewiped clean.

It was as if his entire existence had been reset.

He tried to summon even the faintest spark of energy —Nothing.

Tried to move with the same speed he once had He stumbled.

Tried tobreatheEven that feltdifficult.

The man who had stripped him of everything stood over him, arms crossed.

"You were arrogant," he said. "You thought stepping into this realm would make you equal to us."

Echo glared up at him, rage burning behind his eyes.

"But power here is notgiven," the man continued. "It isearned."

Echo clenched his teeth. "And what do I have to do to earn it?"

The man smirked.

"Survive."

Without warning

BOOM!

A shockwave blasted Echo backward, sending him flying into the unknown.

His bodycrashedthrough layer after layer of golden clouds before finally hitting solid ground.

His lungs burned. His vision blurred.

When he tried to stand

His legsgave out.

He was too weak.

For the first time since he could remember

He wasjust a human.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com