The plateau stretched before me like the edge of the world. Mana hung thick in the air, crackling with tension as the Sacred Lord's aura mingled with the peak Cosmos Lord's, forming an oppressive storm that made the hairs on my arms rise. Every instinct screamed danger, every fiber of my body sharpened in anticipation.
I stepped onto the hardened stone, the air shimmering with residual energy from the enemies' previous spells. The Sacred Lord, standing at the edge of a mana barrier, fixed me with eyes that burned like molten gold. Beside him, the peak Cosmos Lord exuded a chilling aura, their spatial manipulation making the plateau itself seem unstable, the ground subtly twisting and folding beneath my feet.
"Qin soldiers!" the Sacred Lord roared, eyes blazing. "You will pay for this audacity!"
I didn't answer. Words were useless here. My mana surged through my veins, swelling my form with power. Spatial distortions flickered around me as I activated my full Cosmos Lord potential, stretching the edges of my mana pool beyond its normal capacity. My vision sharpened; I could sense every subtle shift in their energies, the path of every spell before it even formed.
The battle began with a flurry. The Sacred Lord unleashed a barrage of qi-infused slashes, each strike capable of cleaving mountains. I twisted through the attacks, dodging with the precision of a serpent while sending a volley of mana lances at him. He blocked with a wave of condensed qi, the air hissing and sparking as mana collided with qi in a storm of energy.
Simultaneously, the Cosmos Lord bent the plateau's space against me. The ground shifted, walls appeared where none existed, and I felt the pull of gravity distort beneath my feet. A single misstep could mean instant death. I leapt, bending the mana flow around me, creating a localized bubble to stabilize my footing, and countered with a spatial slash that tore through the Cosmos Lord's projected barrier.
The two enemies coordinated flawlessly. The Sacred Lord combined physical strikes with devastating spells while the Cosmos Lord warped the battlefield, attempting to separate us, isolate me, and crush me in the folds of twisted space. But I wasn't alone — the years of training, the countless battles, the awakening of my mana pool — it all converged into a singular focus: survival and victory.
I darted behind a crag, using the terrain to block a firestorm that would have incinerated half the plateau. My mana expanded outward in waves, rippling through space to destabilize the Cosmos Lord's warping, giving me the opening I needed. I struck with both hands, launching a focused beam of spatial energy that connected with the Sacred Lord's midsection. He roared, staggering, but he didn't fall.
My lungs burned, my arms ached, but I drew deeper into my mana reservoir. Time seemed to slow; every breath, every heartbeat measured, each movement calculated to perfection. The Sacred Lord attacked again, qi blades slicing through the air like lightning. I countered, creating duplicate mana projections of myself — illusions reinforced with spatial energy — forcing him to divide his attention.
The Cosmos Lord wasn't idle. A sudden folding of space sent me tumbling across the plateau, barely avoiding a strike that could have broken bones and mana paths alike. I rolled, recovered, and retaliated with a spatial shockwave, tearing a crater in the stone and sending the Cosmos Lord flying back several meters.
Blood and sweat mixed on my skin as I launched myself forward, weaving around their combined assaults. I drew on every ounce of experience and every teaching from my brother, recalling his strategies, his patience, his relentless precision. The Sacred Lord lunged, aiming for a fatal strike, but I sidestepped at the last moment, letting him drive through the energy field I had prepared. The resulting backlash staggered him, giving me an opening.
I focused, chanting internally, reshaping the very space around us. The mana in my hands glowed brilliant blue-white, coalescing into a blade that cut not only through matter but the boundaries of space itself. I struck the Sacred Lord with a perfect, precise lunge. His defense cracked. He faltered. Pain etched across his features as the impact slammed through his qi and into his body.
The Cosmos Lord's eyes widened. "Impossible…" he whispered, retreating slightly to reassess the battlefield.
I didn't give him the chance. I surged forward, spatial energy radiating outward like a living storm, forcing both enemies into constant evasion. Each strike I made bent the plateau's reality slightly, each blast of mana carefully calculated to weaken, not destroy — leaving enough room for extraction if necessary.
Finally, the Sacred Lord fell to one knee, grievously wounded but alive, while the Cosmos Lord retreated toward the plateau's edge, their spatial energy distorted from constant countermeasures. I could feel the exhaustion settling in, my mana pool nearly drained, every muscle trembling with strain. But the battle had been won — the high-tier enemies were forced to yield, and I remained standing, the first clear victor of the stronghold's inner plateau.
I exhaled, the wind carrying away the metallic tang of mana and blood. My body ached, my mind raced, but a surge of triumph filled me. I had survived the impossible. I had matched — and overpowered — enemies that should have been beyond my reach.
I looked across the plateau, the fallen Sacred Lord's blood steaming in the dawn light. "This is only the beginning," I muttered to myself. "The main stronghold isn't done with us yet."
The mist rolled over the stone, carrying the weight of challenges yet to come. I flexed my fingers, feeling the remaining energy of my mana pool. Tomorrow, the real battle would begin.