Birth of the Demonic Sword

Dangers appeared on both sides of the battlefield, and King Elbas wasn't doing too well either. The expert was reaching his limits, new ghosts had come out of the cauldron, and Heaven and Earth had built a final counter for Alexander. Everything had turned to the worse for Noah's group.

The ghosts crawled out of the cauldron before floating in front of the item. Their appearance forced the group busy damaging the middle tier structure to interrupt their offensive and take a step back. None of them wanted to risk touching the dark aura of those creatures.

That was the event that Noah had feared since the beginning of the battle. In theory, the appearance of the new batch of ghosts would mark the game over. The situation could only worsen from that point onward.

However, Robert stepped forward after wearing a determined expression. His aura surged as he shot toward the hundreds of ghosts and dived right through their ranks.

Noah and the others couldn't stop their companion. His actions had been too sudden, but they inspired Steven to do the same. The expert quickly chased after Robert and soon found himself next to him, with ghosts everywhere in his surroundings.

The dark aura radiated by the ghosts immediately affected the two experts. Noah and those still in the distance could see how Robert and Steven fell in a daze and lost control of their abilities. Still, it turned out that they had prepared themselves for that event.

Robert and Steven turned toward their companions and pointed their hands at them. They wanted to attack their friends, but their energy was already busy fueling other abilities.

A dense suction force seeped out of Steven's figure and forced the ghosts to converge toward his position. Even the dark aura that had started to come out of their bodies began to flow toward the two experts and made them fall deeper into the illusions.

Robert's ability activated in the middle of that process. A dark-purple substance came out of his pores to cover his skin before expanding into a giant sphere that enveloped the entire platoon of ghosts and even touched the cauldron.

Steven's skin burnt under the effects of Robert's toxic energy, but the illusions didn't make him sense that damage. His body continued to suffer injuries, but the ghosts had it far worse.

Robert had perfected a version of his law after the previous battle. He had the ideal weapon against the ghosts now, and those creatures could only turn into lumps of smoke as the toxic substance consumed them.

That smoke would normally remain a threatening material to leave on the battlefield, but the toxic substance consumed it too. It removed every trace of the ghosts in the few seconds that remained active before dispersing in the sky.

Robert found himself able to use his energy again after the attack dispersed. The illusions made him turn toward the companion at his side and point his hands at him to prepare a new ability.

Steven had fainted. The energy around his figure allowed him to hover in the sky, but his condition was awful. The toxic energy had made his skin disappear, and his muscles were now in the open. No defenses covered his body either, so another attack could directly take his life.

Yet, a dark figure suddenly arrived in front of Robert and kicked him toward the cauldron. The expert couldn't stop that attack nor his momentum. He slammed hard on the middle tier item and spat a mouthful of blood as his internal organs suffered severe injuries.

Noah reappeared in front of Robert. The expert's empty eyes converged on him as his energy surged again to create another attack. He was still under the effects of the illusions, but his movements were too slow to stop what was about to arrive.

Noah slammed his palm on Robert's forehead, and a wave of dark matter flowed inside the expert before transforming into barriers that isolated the centers of power from the rest of the organs. Robert suddenly found himself unable to summon his energy, so the next slap made him faint.

Robert's body disappeared when Noah stored him inside his separate space. He teleported next to Steven and did the same before letting the dark matter suppress their injuries. The battle was over for the two of them, but they had done more than enough already.

"Alright, fuck it," Noah announced once he teleported back among his companions.

Sword Saint, Wilfred, and Divine Demon shot confused expressions toward him. They could see that he wasn't in the best mood, but they remained silent for the time being. They had been with Noah long enough to know that such sudden curses usually preceded crazy orders.

"I know that it's stupid to reveal out trump cards so soon," Noah confessed, "But it's also stupid planning to defeat the rulers when we have yet to reach the ninth rank. Just go all-out now and come up with something new in the next years."

"Are we betting everything on the old rulers?" Wilfred asked as a bit of worry filled his mind.

Noah had been near Robert while the expert was under the effect of the illusions. The group didn't know enough about the ghosts to confirm that they didn't affect Noah. It was even unclear whether they could make him decide to give orders that would hurt his companions.

"You do have trump cards, right? Noah questioned in a tone that expressed how obvious the matter was in his mind.

"A few," Sword Saint replied.

"More than a few," Divine Demon stated while shooting a challenging glance toward Sword Saint.

"Are you sure that this is the right path?" Wilfred expressed his worries. "We would be in Heaven and Earth's power afterward."

"Then we'll come up with something new," Noah snorted. "Alexander is already fighting his unique counter. The rulers have already started to take us seriously. No point holding back when we have the chance to mess with their plans."

"Don't tell me that you'll throw the old rulers into the stormy regions afterward," King Elbas' voice suddenly came out of Noah's chest and attracted everyone's attention.

"Can you hear us?" Noah asked in a worried tone. "Is there a leak in Shafu's separate space?"

"I managed to make a few sensors sneak past your dragon," King Elbas explained. "I'm getting bored inside here."

"How did you even pierce Shafu's defenses?" Noah questioned him again to make sure that he wasn't under the effect of the illusions.

"I'm the best," King Elbas snorted, and the topic ended there.

"I plan to throw the entire city into the open," Noah revealed as a cold smirk appeared on his face. "That's the least the old rulers can do to repay us."

"That should give you enough time to develop something else," King Elbas commented. "Who knows? Some of us might even reach the ninth rank in that period."

"It's set then," Noah declared. "Go all-out. Let's break a middle tier item."

Wilfred could only sigh at that scene. The experts who had decided to follow that plan had been near the ghosts' dark energy. Those creatures could have affected both of them, but he was the only one with doubts about that plan. The two cultivators next to him had started smiling since they had received permission to go all-out.

"It's always a gamble with you," Wilfred sighed while shaking his head.

"Find a calm leader in your next life," Noah laughed before his aura surged and started releasing dark matter and darkness in front of him.

"Mind giving your Master a hand?" Divine Demon reminded after clearing his throat.

"Why?" Noah continued to laugh. "Can't you damage the cauldron without us?"

"Is that a challenge?" Divine Demon uttered as his eyes lit up.

"Of course," Noah shouted. "Have fun!"

The events that had unfolded near the cauldron had made the four experts unable to keep their companion in check. The situation for Alexander had turned for the worse during those short minutes. When Noah and the others glanced at him to reaffirm their resolve, they found him bent forward, with blood flowing out of his eyes, mouth, ears, and nostrils.