The air around the figure rippled with an oppressive energy, making it hard to breathe.

My lightning crackled weakly against the weight of its power.

Its reconstructed blade gleamed with dark energy, every inch of it screaming danger.

I didn’t wait for it to make the first move.

Lightning surged through me, arcs of electricity rippling from my fingertips as I summoned another storm.

The arena lit up with blinding flashes, bolts raining down indiscriminately.

Each strike cracked the glass-like ground and sent shards flying into the void.

But the figure didn’t falter.

It moved with terrifying speed, weaving through the chaos as if the storm were nothing more than a light drizzle.

It closed the distance between us in an instant, its blade slicing toward me with lethal precision.

I barely managed to dodge, the edge of the blade grazing my side.

Pain flared, and I gritted my teeth, retaliating with a burst of lightning from point-blank range.

The energy struck the figure square in the chest, forcing it back a few steps, but it didn’t slow down.

“You’re persistent,” I muttered, wiping blood from my lip.

The figure tilted its head, as if mocking me.

Then it raised its blade, and the air around it darkened.

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A massive shockwave of energy erupted from its weapon, consuming the storm I had summoned and leaving the arena eerily silent.

I stared in disbelief.

It had just negated my attack entirely.

“Fine,” I growled. “Let’s see how you handle this.”

Closing my eyes, I reached deep into the infinite well of mana within me.

The power surged, wild and untamed, and I channeled it into my hands.

When I opened my eyes again, the storm wasn’t just around me.

It was me.

Lightning danced across my skin, my hair crackling with static.

The ground beneath me glowed with electric energy, and the air was thick with the scent of ozone.

“Let’s end this,” I said, my voice low but firm.

I unleashed everything.

The storm that followed wasn’t just a storm...

It was destruction incarnate.

Bolts of lightning larger than ever before rained down in rapid succession, each one exploding on impact.

The figure was forced to retreat, its movements less fluid as the storm battered it from all sides.

I didn’t stop.

The bolts came faster, striking with enough force to shatter the spires around us and leave craters in the ground.

The figure faltered, its armor cracking under the relentless assault.

And still, I didn’t stop.

The arena became unrecognizable, a wasteland of scorched glass and debris.

The figure finally fell to its knees, its armor shattered and its blade broken once again.

But even as it knelt there, defeated, something in me refused to let up.

“You think you can challenge me?” I said, my voice barely recognizable. “You think you can break me?”

The storm raged on, my attacks becoming wilder, less controlled.

"Pathetic!"

The figure’s body disintegrated under the onslaught, but I didn’t stop.

I couldn’t stop.

It wasn’t until the ground beneath me gave way, the arena collapsing into a void of nothingness, that I finally came to my senses.

I stood there, panting, the last remnants of the storm crackling around me.

The figure was gone, and the arena was nothing but a smoking ruin.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, the system’s voice echoed in my mind.

[Stage Seven Complete. Proceed to the Gate.]

A doorway appeared before me, its light soft and inviting.

But as I stepped toward it, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

The storm hadn’t just destroyed the figure, it had consumed everything.

The arena, the void, even the voices that had haunted me earlier.

And in their place, there was only silence.

I glanced down at my hands, which were still trembling with residual energy.

I took a deep breath and stepped through the gate, unsure of what awaited me on the other side.