Victory

High in the sky, the two sides exchanged several more moves.

Then, without any warning, Silence withdrew his hand.

He retreated several hundred kilometers, the dangerous aura around him slowly receding until nothing remained but calm.

"No more fighting." His voice was flat, as though he were merely stating a fact. "This time, you win."

At that, a flicker of unwillingness crossed the Cult Leader's face.

"Silence!" His voice carried suppressed fury. "This has only just—"

"Just begun?" Silence cut him off and turned to look at him. "Haven't you felt it yet?"

The Cult Leader froze.

"Take a careful look," Silence said. "How many elements are left in the surroundings?"

The Cult Leader followed his words and spread out his senses. The next second, his expression became even uglier.

Thin.

Extremely thin.

There had never been much elemental energy in this plane to begin with. Now, those already scarce elements were vanishing at an astonishing speed... No, they were not vanishing. They were being drawn away.

Drawn away by that Living Plane.

"Right now," Silence said, his voice calm to the point of cruelty, "we are fighting inside the other party's body."

"This plane has an owner now. Its owner is actively draining the surrounding elements, cutting off our source of power. If we keep fighting, we will only become more and more passive."

The Cult Leader fell silent.

He knew Silence was speaking the truth.

Although the battles of Level 8 Wizards had long surpassed their reliance on ordinary elemental energy, it was impossible for them to remain completely unaffected.

Within this plane, which Clark controlled completely, they were effectively fighting on the enemy's "home ground."

And this "home ground" was alive. It would actively suppress them.

But he was still unwilling to accept it.

"That brat's current