The countdown reached zero, and the world folded.
The endless beach, the restless ocean, the layered hills, all of it compressed into a single point before tearing apart. For a brief instant, there was nothing but silence and pressure, like being held inside a closed fist.
Then the mountain ford around them.
It was not natural terrain. The ground was a jagged expanse of black stone veined with dim crimson light that pulsed at uneven intervals, as if sothing beneath the surface was breathing. The air felt dense and dry at the sa ti, each inhale carrying a faint tallic taste. Above them, the peak rose sharply into a rotating band of cloud that circled the summit like a barrier.
There was no visible descent.
Only a heavy mist that swallowed everything below their feet.
The reaction ca quickly.
The air ahead distorted, condensing into shapes that hardened into form. Stone-armored giants took shape, their bodies layered with molten seams that glowed between cracked plates. Alongside them, winged predators coalesced from compressed wind and shards of mineral, their wings slicing the air with a sharp, vibrating hum.
The first clash was imdiate, clean, and decisive.
Rudra stepped into the charge of the nearest giant, his fist driving forward with a compressed pulse that drilled through its arm and collapsed its structure from within. Silvester followed through the opening, his blades tracing fast arcs that fractured the giant’s torso. Hiroshi’s single cut passed through those fractures and separated the body cleanly.
Above them, the winged predators descended, their movents sharp and precise. Maya’s frost spread outward in thin, geotric lines, freezing their montum mid-dive. Aryan’s thrust followed, invisible trajectories piercing through their suspended forms and shattering them into fragnts.
The second wave was stronger.
Larger constructs erged from the ground itself, dragging pieces of the mountain with them. The fight intensified, but it remained controlled. Marcus stabilized the terrain as impacts threatened to break their footing. Gopu crushed anything that closed the distance. Natalia’s arsenal rotated behind her, blasting apart anything that attempted to form at range.
Then the mountain itself rose against them.
A massive creature tore free from beneath the surface, its body fused with the terrain, jagged ridges forming along its spine like a living fortress. It opened its mouth, and a beam of condensed energy erupted outward, carving a glowing trench across the battlefield.
Rudra was caught in it.
His upper body vanished instantly.
Before the beam finished—
Rexion’s golden fla spiraled outward, gathering the scattered fragnts and reconstructing him mid-air. Flesh sealed, bone reford, and Rudra returned with a sharp breath, already moving forward.
He drove his fist into the creature’s open jaw.
The pulse detonated deep within its core. The mountain shuddered as cracks spread outward, and the creature collapsed into the terrain it had risen from.
Silence followed briefly.
Then the peak responded.
A path ford.
Floating stone platforms erged one after another, rising through the rotating cloud layer above. Each platform hovered at uneven distances, so stable, others shifting slightly as if testing balance.
"Move," Alfred said.
They ascended to the mountain on the second layer.
The climb was not peaceful.
Midway through the ascent, the air twisted again, and another team appeared across the platforms.
No words were exchanged. Attacks ca instantly.
Energy discs spun toward them, slicing through the air. Marcus redirected their trajectory, sending them crashing into the surrounding stone. The platforms fractured under the explosions, forcing both sides to adjust their footing constantly.
An enemy slipped through and struck Aryan from behind, a blade piercing clean through his torso. Blood spilled into the open air as his body collapsed.
Rexion’s fla spiraled again, reconstructing him in seconds.
Aryan reappeared and retaliated imdiately, his thrust piercing the attacker through multiple converging paths. The enemy attempted to revive, a sigil igniting behind him, but Chronavael slowed the mont just enough.
Silvester and Hiroshi moved together.
One carved.
One cut.
The resurrector fell in separated halves that did not rejoin.
The rest followed quickly.
The narrow platforms forced close combat, every movent deliberate. One misstep ant falling into the endless mist below. Pymon’s lightning erupted across the battlefield in controlled arcs, striking multiple opponents at once. Rexion tore through those who closed distance. Rudra’s pulses shattered formations. Within monts, the opposing team was gone.
They continued upward.
Through the clouds—
They reached the summit.
The mountain dissolved beneath their feet.
The space shifted.
They stood on another.
Second layer.
This mountain was wider, harsher. The terrain was uneven, with deep cracks that glowed faintly and released bursts of heated air. In the distance, other mountains floated, each one holding a different battle. Explosions and flashes of power echoed across the void between them.
They did not linger.
The next fight ca quickly, and it ended even faster. The opposing team was strong, but the Regalons had already adapted. Their coordination sharpened. Their attacks beca cleaner, more decisive. The mountain did not hold them long.
They ascended again.
The transition to the third layer felt heavier.
The mont they arrived, the pressure increased.
The ground here was darker, almost tallic, with deep ridges and sharp elevations. The sky above was no longer clear. Thick clouds churned slowly, occasionally flashing with distant energy.
And then—
The monsters appeared.
Not constructs.
Not ford entities.
These were living beings.
Tier-60.
Massive quadrupedal predators with layered bone armor moved across the terrain, their movents slow but heavy, each step cracking the ground beneath them. In the air, elongated serpent-like creatures coiled, their bodies flickering in and out of visibility as they moved.
"These are different," Maya said quietly.
"They’re alive," Marcus added.
The first clash proved it.
One of the beasts lunged with terrifying speed, far faster than the earlier constructs. Its claws tore through the ground, sending shards of stone flying. Rudra intercepted, his pulse eting the impact head-on. The collision forced him back slightly, the ground beneath him fracturing.
Silvester and Hiroshi moved together, carving into the creature’s joints. The beast reacted instantly, twisting its body and snapping toward them with a speed that forced both to disengage.
Aryan marked its core.
Maya froze its movent for a fraction of a second.
That was enough.
Rexion’s fla drilled through its skull.
It collapsed.
More approached.
The fights grew heavier, more demanding. These monsters adapted, reacted, and resisted. Every kill required coordination if they wanted to swiftly deal with them.
Between clashes, the Regalons slowed.
Not to rest.
But to the prepare, to evolve the cards of their third decks.
Everyone understood.
The earlier fights had given them enough.
They had enough insights on how they wanted to direct their third deck.
Cards had evolved.
Rudra closed his eyes briefly. A faint glow flickered across his pupils, shapes forming and dissolving as sothing within him aligned.
Around them, the Monster Sovereigns remained alert, holding the periter as the Regalons refined their power.
Pymon’s lightning crackled softly. Rexion’s flas coiled in slow spirals. Chronavael stood still, ti subtly bending around him.
The mountain trembled again.
More Tier-60 monsters approached.
The Regalons opened their eyes.
The first to act was Admiral Rudra, who appeared before two Tier-60 monsters and punched the air.
The space covering a large area ecompassing the two monsters shattered like a hamr on thin ice.
From the cracks spread across the air, volatile whips of purple tendrils swung about the whole area, utterly destructive and atomically annihilating.
In but a second, both Tier-60 monsters were were shredded into myriad of pieces.
"My third deck, Arcane of Shattering Echo, is fully complete." Rudra cracked his neck as he smiled. "It’s entirely about boosting my other two decks and my body, and increasing overall destructive potency of my martial moves."
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