'What is even happening?' Noah shouted in his mind.
The battlefield had turned upside-down in a matter of seconds. Two rank 9 existences had suddenly announced their presence. Noah didn't even know where to begin to create hypotheses.
Noah could understand that Heaven and Earth's plan featured the troops living inside the sky. He could see that the army of cultivators that had come out of the vortex wielded weapons that made his instincts scream in fear.
However, he didn't expect a rank 9 magical beast to be nearby. Noah expanded his consciousness to inspect the source of the deafening scream, and his senses almost went dark when they reached his target.
A tall white lion had appeared on the horizon. The creature was quite big, and its mane seemed able to fuse with the environment. Space bent whenever its hair fluttered in the wind, and Heaven and Earth's laws fell apart during that process.
'The second mutated species!' Noah exclaimed in his mind.
His prediction had turned out to be correct. Noah had guessed that other living beings could have benefited from the mutations, but he didn't expect that they would involve a rank 9 existence.
'The specimen must have lived in the windy regions,' Noah thought. 'It would explain why it didn't clash with the sharks and didn't react to the Devils.'
Noah wanted to study the lion further, but he couldn't waste time in that situation. He couldn't remain on the battlefield anymore. The fight had entered a realm that he couldn't affect.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtRobert, Rebecca, and Castor seemed to share his surprise. They appeared unaware of the details behind Heaven and Earth's plan, and the arrival of the rank 9 specimen left them speechless.
Still, they didn't panic. The three leaders knew that the new troops were on their side, and cultivators were generally stronger than magical beasts anyway. The rank 9 expert could take care of the lion.
"Only a rebellious will could give birth to such a filthy creature," The rank 9 cultivator whispered, and his words spread through entire regions.
Noah's ears hurt when the expert's words reached him. They seemed able to dig right through his existence and ruin his centers of power. They sounded like weapons meant to destroy Heaven and Earth's enemies.
The lion didn't remain silent at that announcement. A second deafening cry came out of its mouth and destroyed the soundwaves generated by the cultivator.
Both Noah and the weaker cultivators suffered during the clash between the two rank 9 existences. Mere words and roars were enough to make them puke blood.
Noah didn't dare to linger in the area. He didn't even feel the slightest tinge of hesitation. His figure disappeared as he entered the Shadow Domain and began his great escape.
"I'll kill you before dealing with that creature," The rank 9 cultivator announced, and his words reached the insides of the Shadow Domain.
Noah saw cracks spreading through the edges of his dark dimension. His technique crumbled in mere seconds, and the white light of the sky soon shone on his figure again.
The soundwave generated by the expert's voice didn't hurt him at that time, but Noah didn't take joy in that feature. The event had proved that the cultivator could deal with the Shadow Domain easily. His greatest movement technique had failed him.
'What do I do now?' Noah wondered as panic began to spread through his mind.
Noah knew the answer to that question. There wasn't much that he could do in that situation. Even his defying power couldn't handle rank 9 existences.
The only available path for Noah was to stall until the rank 9 cultivator started fighting the lion. The weaker experts would still chase him down, but he would have a chance to escape at least.
"What are you waiting for?" Noah roared while turning toward the lion.
The cultivators couldn't understand that language, but Noah didn't obtain the desired effects. The lion wouldn't take orders from a weaker existence. The creature remained in the distance, and its eyes only minded the rank 9 cultivator.
"Heaven and Earth sentence you to death," The rank 9 cultivator announced while raising his hand toward the sky.
His fingers began to close to form a fist, and a heavy pressure surrounded Noah at that gesture. The attack followed the cultivator's action. Its pace matched the movements of the expert's hand.
Noah saw the world closing on him. Heaven and Earth's whiteness gathered around him and created a shrinking prison ready to squeeze his body to death.
There was no way out of that situation. Noah couldn't deal with that amount of power. His movement techniques and Shadow Domain were useless against the cultivator's energy.
"Is your power just for show?" Noah roared toward the lion. "Does a single human scare you so much?"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmNoah continued to throw taunts toward the lion. The rank 9 specimen was his only hope to escape the cultivator's attack, and his cries slowly managed to anger it.
The pressure closed quickly, but it suddenly halted when a second rank 9 aura appeared in the distance. The human troops couldn't help but stare in disbelief at the arrival of another rank 9 lion.
An army of weaker lions followed the second rank 9 magical beast and gathered on the horizon. The pack deployed all its troops and forced the rank 9 cultivator to stop focusing on Noah.
The lions shot forward, and the ground began to tremble due to the might released during their movements. Roars also filled the environment and forced space to twist. The pressure around Noah soon shattered under the assault of those soundwaves.
Noah used that chance to deploy the dark world again and try to escape as fast as possible, but the shockwaves ended up destroying his technique. It seemed that his personal dimension was too weak to endure that offensive.
'Fine,' Noah snorted in his mind while spitting a mouthful of blood. 'I will endure this with my body.'
Noah shot in the distance without deploying any additional technique. He didn't even rely on spells since they were mostly useless in that situation. The roars or the cultivators would simply destroy them with their pressure.
His figure transformed into a blade that pierced the sky and left the region in an instant. Noah had chosen his direction randomly, but he didn't care about his destination as long as it didn't lead to more rank 9 existences.
Noah flew as fast as he could. Soundwaves continued to land on his body and interrupted his technique, but he always resumed sprinting. It didn't matter how much blood he spat during the escape. Remaining on the battlefield wasn't an option anymore.
The rank 9 man appeared annoyed to see Noah escaping, but he didn't try to catch him. The soundwaves made the sky too fragile, and even his spells suffered against two powerful magical beasts.
Noah flew at full speed until a few familiar figures appeared in his vision. King Elbas and the rest of his team saw Noah and gestured to him to follow them.
Noah didn't hesitate to do as they said, and he soon ended up in an underground structure covered with golden inscriptions. His team had already built a temporary home, and that was enough for the time being.