For the first time since their incarnations descended into the Alternative World, the Four Dragon Elders were breathing heavily.
The scales that had remained unblemished for millions of years were now covered with fine cracks.
Their wings moved with increasing weight.
Even the breaths escaping their mouths had become noticeably rougher.
Before them, millions of Aura Blades still filled the heavens like an endless constellation of black stars.
Every blade carried the same will—
the will of Valt Nacht.
The Fire Dragon Elder clenched his teeth.
"If this battle continues..."
His voice was low, yet filled with unmistakable gravity.
"...our incarnations will collapse before anything else."
The Water Dragon Elder gave a slow nod.
His gaze remained fixed upon Valt, who stood calmly amidst the endless sea of swords.
"He's forcing us to consume the essence of our incarnations little by little.
This is no longer merely a contest of power.
He's exhausting the very existence of the bodies we're using."
The Wind Dragon Elder tightened his fist.
The winds surrounding him accelerated, forming a vortex that swallowed light itself.
"Then..."
"...we end this now."
The Earth Dragon Elder looked at each of his companions before taking a long breath.
"We shall use..."
"...the life essence of our incarnations."
Silence consumed the void.
Those words carried a meaning far heavier than simply wagering victory.
The life essence was the very foundation sustaining their incarnated bodies within the mortal world.
Once expended—
those bodies would crumble forever, beyond restoration.
The Fire Dragon Elder slowly closed his eyes.
"If that is the price..."
"...then so be it."
The Four Dragon Elders raised their heads simultaneously.
The energy flowing through their bodies began to change.
It was no longer mana.
No longer elemental power.
It became the light of life itself—
the very core of each incarnation's existence.
The flames transformed into pale golden fire.
The water radiated a pristine azure glow unlike anything seen before.
The wind became a silver vortex that twisted space itself.
The earth emitted a dense black-brown radiance so profound it seemed capable of devouring gravity.
Valt observed the transformation without uttering a single word.
His crimson eyes reflected the brilliance of the four ever-expanding sources of power.
"So..."
"...you've finally decided to wager everything."
The Earth Dragon Elder slowly raised both hands.
"We do not require absolute victory."
His gaze sharpened.
"We only need to ensure..."
"...that you never rise again."
The Four Dragon Elders opened their jaws in unison.
Four Dragon Breaths began gathering.
Fire.
Water.
Wind.
Earth.
But this time, the four elements did not oppose one another.
Instead—
they merged.
They fused into a single core of energy that continued expanding between them.
The entire Alternative World began trembling violently.
Fractures spread across space in every direction.
Even the colossal parent planet in the distance started losing orbital stability beneath the overwhelming pressure radiating from the attack.
Millions of Aura Blades quivered violently.
Even the will controlling them felt a pressure unlike anything that had appeared since the battle began.
The Fire Dragon Elder opened his eyes.
"This..."
"...is the end."
The Water Dragon Elder spoke with quiet authority.
"A strike born from the entirety of our incarnations' life essence."
The Wind Dragon Elder raised both arms.
"There will be..."
"...no path of escape."
Finally, the Earth Dragon Elder declared the technique's name with solemn majesty.
"Primordial Fourfold Genesis Breath."
The four Dragon Breaths merged completely.
A colossal beam of light erupted through the void.
Everywhere it passed, space collapsed into fragments of shattered dimensions.
Smaller planets caught within its path vanished instantly beneath the overwhelming wave of destruction.
The entire Alternative World was illuminated by a radiance so absolute that the boundary between the heavens and the void disappeared.
Valt did not move.
He merely lowered his gaze toward the black sword resting in his right hand.
"In that case..."
"...I'll end it as well."
He slowly raised the blade.
In an instant—
every Aura Blade came to a complete stop.
Not a single one continued moving.
All of them turned toward the sword held in Valt's hand.
Then—
one by one—
they began drawing closer.
The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed throughout the endless void.
Ting...
Ting...
Ting...
The sound grew louder.
Millions of blades piled upon one another.
Merged together.
Fused into one.
There was no explosion.
No blinding flash.
Only a silent process of convergence unfolding in absolute stillness.
The Four Dragon Elders watched with confusion.
"The sword..."
"...it hasn't changed?"
Its form remained exactly the same.
The same length.
The same width.
The same black color.
It was as though the millions of Aura Blades had simply disappeared.
What they failed to realize—
was that the mass, aura, and will of billions of blades had been compressed into that single, unassuming sword now resting in Valt's grasp.
The atmosphere became utterly silent.
The Primordial Fourfold Genesis Breath was only moments away from reaching him.
Valt drew a slow breath.
His crimson eyes stared directly into the incoming wave of destruction.
Then—
he swung his sword.
"Eternal Aura Blade—One Slash Beyond Infinity!"
A single, simple slash was released.
There was no explosion.
No thunderous roar.
Only a black line cutting across the void.
Yet that line continued extending.
It split space apart.
It severed layers of dimensions.
It divided the very path through which the Dragon Breath traveled.
The combined attack of the Four Dragon Elders was cleaved cleanly into two before it could ever reach Valt.
The black line did not stop.
It continued forward.
Crossing the endless void.
Reaching the colossal parent planet, whose mass was nearly seven hundred and eighty times greater than Earth's.
For a brief moment...
nothing happened.
Then—
a thin black line appeared across the planet's center.
Its entire surface trembled.
Continents shifted.
Oceans split apart.
Then, slowly but inevitably—
the two halves of the colossal world drifted away from one another.
The Four Dragon Elders' eyes widened in disbelief.
They were witnessing far more than a sword slash.
They were witnessing a single swing powerful enough to rewrite the landscape of the entire battlefield.
And amidst the void now divided by a single endless black line, Valt Nacht remained standing without the slightest change in expression.
The sword in his hand continued to emit a faint hum—
as though the countless Aura Blades sleeping within it had not yet truly fallen silent.