They didn't rush him.
That was the first difference.
The leaders stood still, watching, measuring, understanding.
Aditya didn't move either.
Because he could feel it now.
These weren't like the others.
They weren't something the world rejected.
They existed outside of it.
"…your existence destabilizes structure," one of them said.
"…good," Aditya replied.
A pause.
"…then removing you restores it."
Silence.
Then they moved.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Inevitable.
One stepped forward, and the space around it didn't bend.
Didn't resist.
It remained unchanged.
Aditya's eyes narrowed.
"…so you're not part of it."
"…we are not bound by it."
The answer came instantly.
The figure raised its hand.
And for the first time, Aditya felt it.
Not pressure.
Interference.
His control shook.
Just slightly.
But enough.
The space he held flickered.
"…that's new," he said quietly.
They didn't respond.
They attacked.
All at once.
Not from one direction, but from all.
The world didn't collapse this time.
It resisted.
Fought.
Aditya moved.
Not with power, but with precision.
The first strike passed through where he stood, missing by nothing.
He shifted, barely, and another failed.
But the third connected.
Not directly.
But close enough.
The space around him fractured.
Not broken, but destabilized.
He stepped back.
Just once.
The leaders stopped.
Watching.
"…you're adapting," one said.
"…so are you," Aditya replied.
A pause.
"…but you're slower."
The air shifted.
Then Aditya disappeared.
Not moved.
Gone.
And reappeared behind them.
His hand moved.
The same line from before formed again.
Absolute.
Unavoidable.
It passed through one of them and stopped.
Not because it failed.
Because it was caught.
The leader turned its head slightly.
Its hand held the line itself.
Not resisting, containing it.
"…insufficient."
Aditya's expression didn't change.
But something inside him reacted.
The pressure surged again.
Stronger.
Deeper.
The space around him collapsed inward, toward him, feeding into that same point.
"…then let's try something else."
His voice dropped.
Not louder.
Heavier.
The ground vanished beneath them.
Not broken, but removed.
They stood in nothing.
A void, but controlled.
Aditya's domain.
The leaders didn't react.
But this time, they noticed.
"…environment overridden."
"…containment unstable."
Aditya stepped forward.
"…this is where you lose."
He moved his hand again.
Not a line this time.
A pull.
Everything within that space began to collapse toward him.
Not violently.
Inevitably.
The leaders resisted.
Their forms held.
But the void itself did not belong to them.
"…you cannot sustain this," one said.
"…watch me."
The pressure increased.
More.
More.
The void tightened.
Their forms began to distort, slightly.
Just enough.
But then they pushed back.
All of them.
At once.
The void cracked.
Not breaking, but failing to hold completely.
Aditya's expression shifted slightly.
Not shock.
Understanding.
"…so this is your level."
A pause.
"…good."
Because now, he didn't need to hold back anymore.
The power within him surged again, not outward, but deeper.
Past control.
Past understanding.
Something else.
The void around them changed.
Not collapsing.
Becoming something entirely different.
Something even they couldn't immediately define.
And for the first time, the leaders stopped moving.
Not out of fear, but uncertainty.
"…this exceeds prediction."
Aditya stepped forward slowly.
"…then update it."
The world trembled.
Not from impact.
From existence itself failing to keep up.
And this time, there was no holding back.
No restraint.
No hesitation.
Only one thing remained—ending it.