The convergence zone no longer belonged to the candidates.
It belonged to Kali.
Ash drifted through shattered sky. The ruins that once formed the center of the battlefield had collapsed into an ocean of broken obsidian, molten energy rivers carving glowing scars through the land. Bodies lay scattered across the ground — elites, survivors, champions — all crushed beneath the pressure of one will.
At the heart of it all, Kali stood.
His chest rose and fell slowly.
The presence inside him had stabilized.
Heavy. Vast. Immovable.
Not a breakthrough of rank.
A rewriting of what it meant to exist at that rank.
Across from him, the man with golden eyes advanced.
Each step compressed the air. Each movement bent space around his body. His aura did not explode outward like the others.
It commanded.
Planetary Rank 7?
No.
This was something closer to the beginning of Domain Authority.
"You should not exist," the man said calmly.
"Not like this. Not here."
Kali wiped the blood from his mouth.
"Then change reality," he replied.
The man smiled.
"Gladly."
The ground vanished.
The battlefield folded inward as the golden-eyed man's aura expanded. Gravity multiplied. Space constricted. Even light struggled to escape his presence.
Several remaining elites collapsed instantly, bones shattering under the pressure.
Only Kali remained standing.
His core reacted.
The Abyssal inheritance surged, reinforcing his bones, anchoring his body against the collapsing world. The invisible presence inside him pushed outward.
Not violently.
Decisively.
The crushing domain pressure halted.
For the first time, the golden-eyed man's smile faltered.
"Interesting."
He raised his hand.
The sky broke.
A spear of golden energy condensed between his fingers — not raw power, but law-infused force. The moment it formed, the entire convergence zone screamed in protest.
The spear descended.
Kali did not dodge.
He stepped into it.
He channeled his core, not outward, but inward, compressing every fragment of energy, every ounce of will, into a single point behind his fist.
The relic inside him resonated.
His blood burned.
His bones rang.
Kali punched.
The collision detonated like a newborn star.
The shockwave tore through the ruins, flattening everything within kilometers. Energy storms evaporated. Mountains cracked. The heavens themselves seemed to recoil.
When the light faded, Kali stood in a crater of molten stone.
Across from him, the golden-eyed man slid backward, boots carving trenches through the ground.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Silence fell.
No candidate moved.
No one breathed.
The golden-eyed man stared at Kali with something new in his gaze.
Respect.
"Your name," he said.
"Kali."
A pause.
Then the man nodded slowly.
"Remember mine.
Aurelian Voss."
The air trembled with the weight of that name.
Above the battlefield, inside the Federation observation craft, alarms blared uncontrollably.
"Domain fluctuation detected!"
"Law resonance exceeding planetary limits!"
"This… this shouldn't be possible!"
The commander whispered, his voice barely audible:
"The universe has acknowledged him."
Back on the shattered ground, Aurelian Voss straightened.
"This is no longer your test," he said quietly.
"It is your declaration."
Kali's core pulsed — vast, steady, unstoppable.
He took a step forward.
The war for the future had truly begun.