The entire Alternative World fell silent.
Not because sound had ceased to exist—
but because the overwhelming mana pressure released by millions of Aura Blades devoured every echo that had once filled the heavens.
The black swords floated motionlessly.
Yet their mere existence caused space itself to tremble like glass on the verge of shattering.
The distant parent planet reflected the silhouettes of countless blades blanketing the sky, creating the illusion of an endless ocean of night suspended above the void.
The Four Dragon Elders understood one thing immediately.
They were no longer facing the first form of Telekinetic Sword.
They now stood before something far more dangerous.
Valt slowly raised his right hand.
There was no incantation.
No magic circle.
Only a single, effortless motion.
In an instant—
millions of Aura Blades moved as one.
The heavens transformed into a black storm descending from every direction.
The Fire Dragon Elder roared, unleashing an ocean of flames that rose into a colossal wall.
The overwhelming heat swept across thousands of blades, reducing many of them to fragments of light.
Yet before those fragments could disappear—
every shard reformed into a new blade and immediately rejoined the main formation.
"They're regenerating!"
His voice carried unmistakable astonishment.
The Water Dragon Elder immediately raised both hands.
An ocean of ice emerged from the void, giving birth to millions of crystalline spears that collided head-on with the Aura Blades.
Impact after impact echoed throughout the heavens.
Black and azure sparks scattered across the battlefield.
Whenever one blade was stopped—
dozens more immediately filled the opening.
The Wind Dragon Elder moved faster than lightning.
His body vanished and reappeared countless times, leaving behind thousands of afterimages as he cleaved through every blade in his path.
His speed was extraordinary.
Yet the Aura Blades slowly began adapting.
They analyzed the rhythm of his movements.
They altered their formations on their own.
"They're learning..."
the Wind Dragon Elder murmured.
Valt remained perfectly still.
The half-black, half-white mask revealed nothing.
"They're more than swords."
"They are my will."
Instantly—
every Aura Blade changed formation.
They no longer attacked at random.
Instead, millions of blades arranged themselves into enormous overlapping rings, forcing the Four Dragon Elders to keep moving or risk becoming completely surrounded.
The Earth Dragon Elder slammed both feet into space.
Colossal fractures spread throughout the void.
Continental-sized pillars of stone emerged from warped space, crashing into thousands of blades simultaneously.
Fragments of rock filled the heavens.
Valt merely moved his fingers.
The Aura Blades immediately curved around the massive pillars.
Searching.
Calculating.
Seeking every weakness.
Then—
they struck simultaneously.
The stone pillars collapsed one after another.
The Four Dragon Elders quickly reassembled into a diamond formation.
They had realized that confronting the Aura Blades individually accomplished nothing except wasting energy.
"Synchronize your rhythm!"
the Earth Dragon Elder commanded.
The Fire Dragon Elder expanded his sea of flames.
The Water Dragon Elder lowered the surrounding temperature until the space around Valt itself began to freeze.
The Wind Dragon Elder compressed the atmosphere into invisible blades of cutting wind.
At the same time—
the Earth Dragon Elder erected an immense fortress of stone that became the center of their coordinated defense.
The four elements complemented one another perfectly.
Fire forced the swords to alter their trajectories.
Ice slowed their advance.
Wind disrupted their formations.
Earth divided their offensive focus.
For the first time since the Aura Blades had appeared—
the number of swords reaching the Dragon Elders began to decrease.
Valt watched everything through his glowing crimson eyes.
"Impressive."
"You truly fight..."
"...as one."
He slowly raised a single black card.
It spun lazily between his fingers before dissolving into crimson light.
Every Aura Blade reacted instantly.
The blades that had previously acted independently reorganized into smaller tactical groups.
Ten swords became a single unit.
One hundred units formed a single formation.
Each formation maneuvered like an army commanded by its own general.
The Wind Dragon Elder attempted to break through one formation.
The instant one unit was destroyed—
three others immediately sealed the opening.
The Fire Dragon Elder obliterated another group.
The next formation had already predicted the trajectory of his attack.
The battle evolved into a high-speed game of strategy.
Every second brought new formations.
Every decision was immediately answered with a new tactic.
The Alternative World continued to shake beneath the unending collision of unimaginable powers.
Valt slowly stepped forward.
Each step was accompanied by thousands of Aura Blades circling him like a black crown.
"In that case..."
"...I'll raise the tempo."
Every blade released an even darker aura.
The distance separating them disappeared.
Within the blink of an eye—
millions of blades surged forward from every direction in near-perfect synchronization.
The Four Dragon Elders successfully withstood most of the first assault.
But not all of it.
Several blades pierced their defenses.
Fine cracks spread across the scales of the Fire Dragon Elder.
The Earth Dragon Elder's arm was slashed by a blade that slipped past his stone fortress.
The Wind Dragon Elder lost several scales from one wing to an unpredictable strike.
Even the Water Dragon Elder—
for the first time since the battle had begun—
was forced to retreat several steps.
They still stood.
They still maintained their formation.
Yet all four of them now understood the same undeniable truth.
Valt Nacht was no longer a mage fighting to survive.
He was steadily taking complete control of the battlefield's rhythm.
While millions of Aura Blades continued to fill the heavens without showing the slightest sign of diminishing, Valt's crimson eyes remained fixed upon the Four Dragon Elders.
"Come."
"Show me..."
"...whether this truly is the limit of your coordination."