The last echoes of battle slowly faded throughout the cosmic arena.
The countless platforms that had witnessed clashes capable of tearing apart reality itself gradually disappeared under the will of the ancient judge. The scars left behind by flames that burned space and time, shadows that swallowed worlds, cuts that ignored existence, and powers that manipulated the very foundations of the universe were restored as if they had never existed.
The friendly battles had finally come to an end.
There was no official champion among the ten.
There was no throne awarded to the strongest.
That had never been their purpose.
The true victory of this phase was something far more valuable: understanding.
Every candidate had entered these battles believing that their ability was terrifying. They had seen themselves as monsters standing above countless civilizations.
But after facing nine other beings who carried powers of the same level, they understood a harsh truth.
A supreme power in the hands of someone who did not understand it completely was merely an incomplete weapon.
A weaker ability in the hands of someone who understood every aspect of it could become impossible to defeat.
For the first time since the beginning of the tournament, the ten candidates stood together without hostility.
William, Mark, Merito, Vladimir, Javier, Daniel, Maria, Sarah, Kashmir, and Tiago formed a circle in the middle of the silent cosmic field.
No one spoke for several moments.
They had fought each other.
They had wounded each other.
They had discovered their weaknesses through the eyes of their enemies.
And perhaps because of that, no one was more qualified to give advice than the person who had tried to defeat them.
The silence was broken by Mark.
His golden eyes moved toward William.
"Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness."
William raised an eyebrow.
Mark continued.
"You analyze everything. You try to understand every law, every relationship, every interaction. It is why your growth is frightening."
His expression became serious.
"But against a truly overwhelming force, you hesitate because you search for an answer before you act."
William remained silent.
He remembered his past fear, his moments of hesitation, and the countless times Andrew had forced him to confront his own mind.
Mark smiled.
"Sometimes the universe does not give you enough time to understand."
William gave a small nod.
"I will remember that."
Merito looked toward Sarah.
"Your destruction has evolved."
That simple sentence from someone like Merito carried enormous weight.
"But you still think of destruction as an attack."
Sarah's eyes narrowed.
"What do you mean?"
"The greatest form of destruction is not something that destroys an enemy."
For a moment, even the surrounding space seemed to become colder.
"It is the destruction of the possibility of defeat."
Sarah remained quiet.
Those words created countless thoughts in her mind.
Vladimir looked toward Javier.
"You have the sharpest attack among us."
Javier did not deny it.
"But?"
"But your path is too straightforward."
A faint smile appeared on Javier's face.
"A sword that hesitates is no longer a sword."
Vladimir laughed.
"Exactly why I could never be a swordsman."
The two warriors shared a brief moment of mutual respect.
Maria turned toward Tiago.
"Your understanding of gravity is extraordinary."
Tiago answered calmly.
"Yet I lost."
"Because you tried to control gravity."
Maria's eyes became deeper.
"The true black hole does not chase. It does not attack. It simply exists, and everything eventually falls toward it."
Tiago became silent.
That was the greatest lesson he had received since the beginning of the competition.
Daniel looked toward Kashmir.
"Your shadows are the most adaptable force among us."
Kashmir crossed his arms.
"Coming from the one who manipulates space and time, I will consider that praise."
Daniel continued.
"But you rely too much on creating a world where your enemy is weak."
Kashmir's expression became thoughtful.
"And what is wrong with that?"
"Nothing."
Daniel smiled.
"Unless you meet something that can invade your world."
The words remained in Kashmir's mind.
A warning from someone who had already forced his way through impossible defenses.
Their discussion continued for hours.
They exchanged ideas.
They revealed the conclusions they had reached.
No one hid information anymore.
Because there was no longer any reason to do so.
The next opponents they would face were not each other.
They were the very origins of their powers.
Suddenly, the ancient judge opened his eyes.
The entire universe around them became silent.
Stars stopped moving.
Cosmic winds froze.
Even the laws of reality seemed to wait for his words.
"The time has come."
The ten candidates immediately became serious.
The judge raised his hand.
"The final phase of the Great Tournament begins now."
The darkness of the universe cracked apart.
Beyond that fracture, a realm older than stars themselves appeared.
It was a place where even the concepts of time and distance seemed meaningless.
Then they appeared.
Ten streams of power.
No.
The candidates immediately understood that calling them mere streams was an insult.
They were primordial manifestations of the very bodies they sought to inherit.
A river of celestial light that illuminated eternity.
A silent darkness that contained infinite shadows.
Flames that could burn the framework of reality.
A gravity so immense that galaxies bent around its existence.
A destructive force capable of reducing concepts themselves to nothing.
An endless ocean of life and energy.
A terrifying void that erased the meaning of existence.
A sword-like presence that could divide all things.
A distortion of space and time itself.
And finally—
William's eyes widened.
Before him floated a power unlike anything he had ever seen.
It did not shine.
It did not consume.
It did not destroy.
It simply connected.
Countless invisible threads extended from it into every corner of existence.
Every atom.
Every star.
Every thought.
Every law.
Everything was linked to it.
For the first time since discovering his ability, William realized something terrifying.
All this time…
He had not been manipulating the universe.
He had merely been touching the smallest fragment of what his true body represented.
The ten candidates took a single step forward.
The final trial had begun.