"Attack!" The Only One’s roar shattered the tension, his aura exploding outward like a shockwave of crushing gravity.

The Obsidian-rank leaders shifted, their spiritual signatures flaring as they prepared to charge. The air grew heavy with the smell of ozone and ancient power. But before the first step could be taken, Ethan’s voice cut through the noise, calm and chillingly precise.

"I know all of you are holding onto your Trump Cards," Ethan said, his eyes scanning the front line with predatory focus. "I also know that in a direct clash against all of you, I might die. But let’s be clear about one thing: I am fast enough to take at least five or six of you to hell with me before I drop. So, who wants to be in the first half-dozen?"

The Only One’s face twisted. "Don’t listen to him! He’s one man! A cornered animal! Attack now and end this!"

"Is it really worth dying for this giant marshmallow?" Ethan asked, ignoring the Leader’s scream. He pointed the void-dagger at a nearby Obsidian Elder. "You know how this world works. If you die here, who protects your family tomorrow? The Union? Don’t make me laugh. As soon as your ’Trump Card’ is spent and your corpse is cold, these two will be the first ones to scavenge your territory and enslave your bloodline. They aren’t your protectors—they’re just waiting for you to become weak enough to eat."

The momentum of the charge faltered. The leaders glanced at one another, the fire in their eyes replaced by a cold, calculating hesitation.

They all knew the stories. They knew the Celestial Patriarch—a man no weaker than any of them—was dead. Also the Ancestor had possessed one Trump Cards and hadn’t dared to use either, paralyzed by the same fear now gripping them: If I use my ultimate power and survive, I am no longer an Obsidian rank. I become prey. If I use it and die, my entire legacy is erased.

Could they trust the Union to honor their "noble sacrifice"? The thought was absurd. These men were hyenas. The moment an Obsidian force lost its bite, it was consumed.

"Cowards!" The Only One screamed, his voice reaching a manic frequency. "I gave you everything! I built the foundation you stand on! And now, when it is time to pay the price, you tremble like children?"

He began to curse them, hurling insults and recalling every favor he had ever granted, but the more he screamed, the more pathetic he looked in the eyes of the Obsidian lords. His desperation was showing.

Ethan let the Leader rave for a moment, a thin, mocking smile playing on his lips. Finally, he lowered his dagger slightly and looked The Only One in the eye.

"Why don’t you come here yourself?" Ethan challenged, his voice dropping to a low, taunting hum. "You’re so eager to see them sacrificed, but why don’t you show them how it’s done? Or is the ’Only One’ actually just the Only Coward? Are you afraid of me, Santa?"

The air around The Only One turned pitch black as his killing intent reached a boiling point. The stalemate was no longer just about power—it was about who would blink first.

The Only One turned his head toward Lord Truth Seeker, his eyes bloodshot with suppressed rage. "Are you going to be a coward too? Are we going to stand here and let a child lecture us on survival?"

Truth Seeker adjusted his grip on his sleeves, his expression shifting from amusement to a cold, clinical focus. "Of course not. If we don’t show the world what we are capable of today, we might as well lie down and die right now. The Union doesn’t survive on past glory alone."

The Only One smiled—a jagged, terrifying expression. "Then let’s end this."

Ethan tightened his grip on the void-dagger. He knew his words could paralyze the army and the Obsidian lords, but they would never stop these two. For One and Truth Seeker, retreat was not an option; if they backed down now, the Union would become the laughingstock of history. There was only one path left: a merciless, total assault.

Lord Truth Seeker suddenly flicked his wrists, and dozens of miniature steel flagpoles—no larger than needles—shot out from his sleeves, embedding themselves into the earth in a geometric pattern.

[Warning, Master,] Crul’s voice rang in his mind. [High-energy spiritual signatures detected. He is deploying a localized Array.]

Ethan didn’t wait. He erupted in a blur of violet light, launching himself at Truth Seeker with enough force to crack the sound barrier. The Obsidian leaders scattered as Ethan’s wake tore through the ground. Both One and Truth Seeker widened their eyes, stunned by the sheer raw velocity Ethan displayed.

Ethan slammed his fist into several of the pillars, shattering them into dust, but Truth Seeker was a master of his craft. He didn’t panic. Many of the pillars were mere decoys designed to lure Ethan into wasting precious seconds.

"Five-Point Suppressor Array—RISE!" Truth Seeker roared.

A translucent, shimmering barrier surged from the remaining poles, forming a massive cylinder that shot up toward the clouds, trapping Ethan, One, and Truth Seeker inside.

Ethan stopped, his Amethyst Eyes glowing as he scanned the boundaries of the light. It looked like a column of pure, solidified energy reaching into the infinite.

[[ Master, this is a specialized formation, ]] Crul explained. [[ It is designed to counteract the Global Suppression Matrix that limits the power levels of this world. Inside this cylinder, the rules of this planet’s ’ceiling’ are temporarily suspended. They can use their true strength without being suppressed by the world’s laws. ]]

Ethan reached out and touched the wall of the array. It felt as solid as a neutron star.

"Don’t even bother trying to break it," Truth Seeker sneered, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. "It is indestructible from the inside. This is your tomb, Ethan."

Ethan didn’t look worried. Instead, a slow, predatory grin spread across his face. "Indestructible? Good. That means I don’t have to worry about accidentally destroying the neighborhood."

He stood tall, and for the first time, he stopped holding back. He stopped trying to mimic a human. He unleashed the full, terrifying pressure of his Quasi-Spiritual Nucleus.

The ground beneath him didn’t just crack; it pulverized into fine sand. The constant, suffocating sensation of the world’s suppression—the "ceiling" he always hit whenever he used more power than a Body Refinement realm should possess—was gone.

The Only One and Truth Seeker stumbled back, their faces masks of pure disbelief.

"Half-step... Spiritual Nucleus?" The Only One gasped, his voice trembling. "How is this possible!? This kid hasn’t even grown hair on his balls yet! This isn’t the Main Continent... a monster like this shouldn’t be able to exist in a suppressed zone like this!"

The sheer magnitude of Ethan’s aura was suffocating. He stood in the center of the array like a dark sun, the violet light of his power reflecting in his eyes as he looked at the two leaders of the Union.

"You wanted to see my true strength," Ethan said, his voice echoing with a thousand overlapping frequencies. "Let’s see if you have what it takes to survive it."