Birth of the Demonic Sword

'We didn't do anything to the heads,' Noah thought while spitting flames.

The cursed sword had inflicted its drawbacks on Noah's chest, but the dark matter had quickly covered the missing pieces of skin.

The outcome of the exchange didn't bring any positive news. The entirety of Noah's team had attacked the winged lion without leading to decent effects. Breaking two legs and ruining one wing was nothing when it came to the overall power of the creature.

"There are a few frail spots near the base of the legs and necks!" King Elbas shouted right after the exchange. "The heads are the sturdiest parts, but they also contain centers of power. Rip the creature into pieces until you reach those spots!"

King Elbas had taken care of identifying the frailest spots on the winged lion. No one had noticed the weakness at the base of the legs. Noah and the others had mainly focused on the heads, but they understood why they had remained unaffected by the assault now.

"Don't hold back!" Wilfred shouted. "The weak will die, but the strong will survive. Jump forward and find out where you belong!"

Noah knew his place in that battle. He was among the strongest hybrids in the army, and his position as a leader forced him to jump in the frontlines.

The pyramid had also closed the path back to the staircase. The army could either defeat the winged lion or die there.

Noah wasn't the only expert to jump forward. Wilfred, Divine Demon, Theodora, Ian, and Jordan joined him without bothering to launch battle cries.

The hybrids had to take care of the vanguard since they were the only existences capable of surviving the winged lion. As for Divine Demon, he was too reckless to remain in the backlines.

The winged lion gave voice to a screeching noise. Its cry created soundwaves that tried to converge on its opponents, but King Elbas promptly took care of that threat.

The formations that had shot toward the metal creature activated and revealed their power. Golden lines lit up around the winged lion and suppressed part of its power. They couldn't handle its physical strength, but they could stop sound attacks and similar techniques.

Noah and the others jumped forward while unleashing their best techniques.

Wilfred punched the air while trails of mental energy followed his attack. His existence allowed him to send his physical blows toward his opponents, but the addition of the mental energy made him able to enhance his offensive mid-air.

Jordan spat flames while creating different shapes made of condensed air that flew toward the winged lion. A torrent of slashes and weapons converged toward the monstrous creature and tried to spread her influence through the large hall.

Ian howled many times in the span of a single second to create a dense soundwave that took the shape of a defensive wall. The following cries then crossed that barrier and came out as large currents that slammed on the metal creature.

Theodora's law was unique. She could use her mental waves in ways that Noah had rarely witnessed. Her consciousness expanded, and a series of dense thoughts seeped inside the winged lion. It seemed that the will contained in that mental energy managed to calm down the creature and delay the beginning of its offensive.

Noah didn't change his approach. The unstable substance was empowering his body, and the cursed sword gave him the chance to surpass his actual cultivation level. He slashed at his opponent without hesitation. He didn't care about the severe drawbacks at all.

Divine Demon was the slowest of the group. His attention seemed to be elsewhere, but only he knew where it went.

Truth be told, Divine Demon rarely took his losses lightly. The metal copy from the previous trial had managed to defeat him, so it was hard to improve his mood for the time being.

Of course, Divine Demon didn't care too much about that defeat. Great Builder had created an improved version of his existence. There was no shame in losing against himself.

Yet, Divine Demon felt that he had something to prove to the pyramid. That structure had the privilege to see him fall, so he had to defeat all the trials to be at peace with his existence.

Azure energy transformed into a white radiance before flowing inside Divine Demon's body. The technique forced his tissues to go far beyond what regular hybrids in the middle tier could achieve. His Miracles brought his physical strength in a league that only a few existences in the liquid stage had managed to touch.

Divine Demon shot forward after his energy finished empowering his body. He slammed on one of the creature's legs and kept it still while his companions' offensive converged on that spot.

A singularity, an invisible force, soundwaves, and a series of attacks made of compressed air landed at the base of the leg. Divine Demon laughed while the techniques exploded above him, but neither managed to hurt his body.

The leg fell apart during the offensive. The winged lion was a creature in the upper tier, but it couldn't oppose the joint assault of experts who could fill the gaps among stages.

The rest of the army attacked after the third leg fell. The nine-headed hydra launched its multicolored flames on one leg, and the magical beasts behind the battle formation shot forward to slam their powerful bodies on the same spot.

King Elbas supported the magical beasts by activating one of his disposable inscribed weapons. Golden lines suddenly appeared around those creatures and enhanced their bodies to make them able to inflict decent damage.

The fourth leg fell after the army of magical beasts flew through the multicolored flames and slammed on that limb. The dark metal that made the winged lion's body shattered under their assault. It didn't take much to destabilize that weak spot, but the creatures' achievement surpassed what Noah had initially expected.

"Tear them apart!" Noah roared while storing one of the legs. "Focus on restraining its movements. Target the legs and don't die."

A series of "yes, sir" and roars followed his orders. Most of the magical beasts in the eighth rank pressed forward and joined that display of power, but the winged lion suddenly tried to move.

The formations around the creature shattered when it applied its physical strength. King Elbas tried to reinforce them, but the winged lion was too strong. Still, they managed to slow the beast down, and Theodora's mental waves helped in the process.

The magical beasts in Noah's army ended up slamming on the fifth leg, and their companions promptly followed their example. Noah didn't hesitate to launch another slash, Wilfred punched the air, Jordan flapped her wings, and Ian howled. The fifth limb could only fall after that offensive.

The winged lion didn't accept anything else after that. It broke free of King Elbas' lines and Theodora's control before turning toward Divine Demon.

The expert couldn't avoid the creature, but he didn't seem inclined to do that. His eyes shone with a red light when the three heads filled his view and tried to bite him.

Noah almost couldn't believe his eyes. The beast disappeared before it could complete its attack. When it reappeared, it was free-falling from the ceiling.