The battle raged on with unrelenting fury.

Zephyr Kane stood at the center of the devastation like a demon given form, his pitch-black blade dripping with dark energy. The ground around him was a shattered wasteland — deep craters, bisected buildings, and rivers of rubble stretching in every direction. Fires burned brightly in the ruins, casting flickering orange light across the night sky. The air was thick with dust, blood, and the metallic scent of destroyed machinery.

One of the ten black-clad figures already lay dead at his feet, his body sliced cleanly in half from shoulder to hip. The mask had cracked open, revealing a lifeless face frozen in shock. Zephyr had killed him in a single casual swing during the initial charge.

Now the remaining nine black-clad figures emerged from nowhere.

They materialized from the shadows and smoke like trained phantoms, surrounding Zephyr from all directions with perfect coordination. Their movements were synchronized, auras linked in a deadly formation. At their back, the Eternal Veil Syndicate representative floated slightly above the ground, dark Qi swirling around him like a living storm. His face was twisted with cold rage.

“Kill him,” the representative ordered flatly.

The ten attackers struck at once.

The representative raised both hands, channeling a massive blast of condensed dark energy — a swirling orb of destructive Qi the size of a small house. The nine black-clad figures joined him, each firing their own powerful attacks — beams of piercing black light, waves of corrosive energy, and explosive Qi orbs. The combined assault lit up the night sky as it hurtled toward Zephyr Kane like a storm of death.

Zephyr Kane’s grin only widened.

He raised his pitch-black blade high above his head with one hand.

Then he swung it down in a simple, powerful arc.

Black sword Qi erupted outward in a devastating wave. The dark slash met the incoming barrage head-on. Instead of exploding on impact, Zephyr’s sword Qi seemed to devour the attacks. The representative’s massive energy orb was swallowed whole, shrinking rapidly as the black slash consumed it. The beams and explosive orbs from the nine figures disintegrated into nothing the moment they touched the sword Qi, their energy sucked away into the void-like darkness of the blade.

The clash created a violent explosion of residual force that leveled another ring of buildings around them, but Zephyr remained completely unharmed at the center.

He laughed loudly, the sound echoing across the ruined district.

“Is that all?” he taunted, spinning his blade once. “Ten against one, and this is what you bring? Pathetic.”

The representative’s eyes narrowed dangerously. He gestured sharply.

The nine black-clad figures attacked again, this time in close quarters. They moved like a coordinated killing machine — some striking with blades wreathed in dark fire, others using palm techniques that could shatter mountains, and a few launching hidden projectiles from their sleeves. The representative supported them from afar with oppressive pressure and long-range blasts.

Zephyr Kane met them head-on.

He was still dominating.

His black blade moved in wide, sweeping arcs that forced the attackers to dodge constantly. Every time one of them got too close, he would counter with brutal efficiency — a slash that cut through their defensive Qi, a kick that sent them crashing through ruined walls, or a casual palm strike that broke bones. One of the black-clad figures tried to flank him from behind. Zephyr didn’t even turn around. He simply swung his blade backward, and the man was cut in half mid-air, his body falling in two pieces.

Yet slowly, the ten attackers were beginning to gain ground.

They adapted to his speed, coordinating their strikes to limit his movement. The representative’s oppressive aura pressed down harder, restricting Zephyr’s agility. Coordinated barrages forced Zephyr to defend more seriously. For the first time since the fight began, he was no longer casually toying with them. He was still winning, still clearly stronger, but ten against one — especially when those ten included a high-level Syndicate representative — was starting to show its weight.

The district continued to collapse around them. More buildings fell. More people died in the crossfire. The destruction spread further with every passing second.

Lian and Elara watched from their distant vantage point, barely breathing.

Lian’s eyes were shining with intense hunger and focus. He memorized every movement, every technique, every display of raw power. This was the level he wanted. This was what absolute dominance looked like.

Zephyr Kane laughed again as he sliced through another attack, his black blade swallowing the energy whole.

The fight between the ten powerhouses continued to ravage what remained of the city block.

Power Scale / Cultivation Realms (Quick Reminder)

Foundation Realm (Layers 1–9): Body forging, no external Qi.

Circuit Awakening Realm (Early–Peak): First Qi loop, internal bursts.

Core Condensation Realm (Early–Peak): External Qi release, short flight.

Stellar Circuit Realm (1–9 Stars): True flight, Qi armor, energy projection.

Nebula Dominion Realm and higher: Domain control, galaxy-level power, etc

Power Scale Reminder

Lian Yu: Stellar Circuit Star 1.

Elara Voss: Core Condensation Middle

Keep it as reminders