For a moment, no one moved.
Then chaos erupted.
A warrior cloaked in golden flames lunged at Echo, his fists burning with condensed solar energy.
From the opposite side, a woman with crimson blades flickered into existence, her speed breaking the sound barrier.
Another competitor a brute wielding a warhammer infused with earth essenceswung down with enough force to level a fortress.
Three attacks.
Three masterful warriors.
Echo didn't flinch.
At the very last moment
He moved.
Not with the raw speed of a lightning wielder. Not with the brute strength of a titan.
His movement was ghostlike, a subtle shift in space an unnatural glide rather than a step.
The golden-flamed warrior's punch missed entirely, his fire extinguishing as it brushed past empty air.
The crimson-bladed woman's slash perfectly timed and lethal cut nothing but wind.
The warhammer strike?
It met something far worse than resistance.
It stopped.
