Awakening of the Mind Sovereign
Chapter 61: Is this… the true peak? - (2)

Chapter 61: Is this... the true peak? - (2)

A rush of power surged through Echo’s body.

But it wasn’t the necromantic energy he once wielded.

Nor was it anything he had ever encountered before.

It was different.

Raw. Uncontrolled. Limitless.

It pulsed through his veins, stretching beyond the limits of what should be possible.

For the first time since arriving in this world

He felt something greater than the laws that bound him.

Echo slowly exhaled, his breath steady.

His hands trembled, not from fear, but from the sheer magnitude of what he was sensing.

His body, once drained to nothing, now overflowed with an energy that seemed to exist outside the natural order.

"This isn’t... nominal energy," he muttered, gripping his fists.

His words came out in disbelief.

Every power he had ever known—mana, life force, divine essence—was bound by structure.

It followed rules.

This?

This was free.

Unchained.

Unrestricted.

His eyes snapped open, their usual dark hue now laced with streaks of gold.

Something inside him had changed forever.

The figures around him were watching closely.

Some were wary.

Others were intrigued.

But all of them could feel it.

This was not the same man who had entered the Void Field.

The ragged man from before who had first looked down on Echo as nothing—took a cautious step forward.

"You... are not the same," he said, his voice unusually careful.

Echo tilted his head, examining the man’s expression.

"You say that like it’s a bad thing."

The older warrior scoffed. "You were meant to return as an initiate. A blank slate. A novice."

His eyes narrowed.

"But you didn’t. Something inside you survived the erasure. Something that shouldn’t exist."

A slow grin spread across Echo’s face.

"So what?" he asked, flexing his fingers, feeling the new energy swirl around him.

"Are you afraid?"

The man’s jaw tightened.

And for the first time

Echo saw it.

A flicker of hesitation.

Echo needed to know.

What was this power?

He turned away from the group, focusing inward.

Closing his eyes, he reached deep into his own core.

It was there.

A pulsing, restless energy, waiting to be unleashed.

Slowly, carefully, he raised his hand

And let it flow.

A faint hum filled the air.

It started as a whisper of energy, barely visible.

Then, in an instant —

The ground beneath him cracked.

The sky above trembled.

The very space around him distorted, as if unable to contain the force he had just tapped into.

The watching warriors stepped back, their faces shifting from curiosity to alarm.

"Enough," the ragged man barked.

Echo stopped.

The energy faded, but its presence lingered in the air like an aftershock.

The older warrior exhaled, shaking his head.

"Whatever that was... It’s dangerous."

Echo smirked.

"Good."

Word spread fast.

It started as whispers.

Then murmurs.

Then, within hours, every major faction in the Higher Realm had heard the same thing

A newcomer had walked out of the Void Field... and brought something impossible with him.

Leaders convened.

Scholars debated.

The balance of power had remained stable for centuries, but now?

Something unknown had appeared.

Something that did not belong.

Echo didn’t care about politics.

He had spent his life bending fate to his will.

If they wanted to come for him, let them try.

But first

He needed to understand what he had become.

And there was only one way to do that.

Fighting.

Testing.

He turned to the ragged man, his grin widening.

"I need a proper opponent," he said. "Someone strong."

The older warrior hesitated, then gave a slow nod.

"There is one," he said.

A name was spoken.

Echo’s smile faded.

Not out of fear

But anticipation.

---

Echo stepped forward, his boots pressing against the smooth, metallic ground of the Higher Realm.

The moment he emerged from the Void Field, the atmosphere shifted.

The air, once calm and controlled, now vibrated with an almost imperceptible tension.

He could see it in their eyes.

The sages, the so-called rulers of this world, were staring at him.

And for the first time in thousands of years

They were afraid.

It wasn’t just the fact that he had survived the Void Field.

It wasn’t just that he had returned in one piece.

It was what he had brought back with him.

Something impossible.

Something that shouldn’t exist within the rigid order of the Higher Realm.

Echo raised his hand slightly, flexing his fingers.

The power inside him pulsed like a living thing, unbound by the rules of energy that governed this world.

The moment he released even a fraction of it

The very air cracked.

A ripple spread outward, warping the space around him.

Sages who had lived for millennia, who had seen empires rise and fall, who had stood unshaken for eons

Stepped back.

The realization hit Echo like a lightning bolt.

And right now?

He was the most incomprehensible thing in existence.

A voice cut through the silence.

"Take him."

It was calm. Absolute. Commanding.

Echo turned his gaze to the source

An elder sage standing at the forefront of the gathered figures.

His robes shimmered with divine inscriptions, his eyes glowing with wisdom accumulated over thousands of years.

The moment he spoke, a dozen figures moved in unison.

Each one was powerful beyond belief.

Each one had long since ascended past the limits of ordinary beings.

And yet...

As they approached Echo, their movements were cautious.

Hesitant.

As if they weren’t sure whether they were stepping forward...

Echo smiled.

He had no intention of going with them willingly.

The first sage reached him in an instant.

A blinding streak of golden energy, faster than thought, faster than sound.

A hand shot forward, aiming to bind Echo in place.

For a brief moment, he considered dodging.

Then he thought

No.

Instead of evading, he raised his own hand

And met the attack head-on.

BOOM!

A deafening shockwave exploded outward.

The sheer force of the collision shattered the ground beneath them, sending tremors across the entire floating city.

Echo stood his ground.

The sage?

He was sent flying backward, crashing through the walls of a towering structure in the distance.

Silence followed.

Then

Gasps. Whispers. Disbelief.

The remaining sages hesitated.

No one had ever done that before.

Echo took a slow step forward, rolling his shoulders.

"That was disappointing," he said, his voice calm.

"I thought the sages of this realm were supposed to be strong."

His words cut deeper than any blade.

One of the older sages clenched his fists, his energy surging.

"You do not understand what you are meddling with," the elder warned.

Echo tilted his head.

"Then show me."

The moment the challenge was issued —

They attacked.