Noah's cultivation level began to fall as the force continued to push him forward. His senses had started to work again, but he continued to alternate blackness with white sceneries.
His companions were in a similar situation, but he couldn't sense them. His centers of power felt too weak as the drawbacks of his ambition began to fall on his existence.
Noah knew that he had pushed his limits too far. No amount of energy would make him able to ignore the incoming drawbacks. He needed to rest properly, and the process might take entire years.
His almost aware consciousness tried its best to keep Noah awake, but he felt weak beyond reason. His centers of power wanted to turn off and get their well-deserved rest, and his existence even struggled to fill his insides.
His survival instincts kicked in and forced his mind to regain complete awareness of its surroundings. A sharp light filled Noah's vision and reminded him of his situation, but the environment was far different from before.
The light was shattering. Lumps of whiteness were crumbling in every direction and revealing normal air. The crackling figures in its insides released angry cries as their figures opened and their lightning bolts dispersed.
Faint human figures became visible among the light from time to time. Noah could recognize some of his companions, but he understood that they were in a similar situation. They had all gone overboard during the recent struggle, and they had inevitably fallen prey to the force that now filled the area.
His eyes eventually fell on a massive figure. Noah recognized the giant, and a smile appeared on his face when he saw its current state.
The giant's face had gained human features after the last attack, and it currently expressed pure anger. Instead, something else had changed on the rest of its body. A massive hole had appeared on its chest and had forced its structure to destabilize.
'Is that Heaven's face?' Noah wondered while committing those features to memory.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe giant resembled a good-looking middle-aged man. Its sharp features radiated a stern feeling, and the anger that now filled its expression seemed able to make it go crazy.
The crackling figure noticed Noah's gaze, and its mouth began to move. Strange noises came out of the creature, and even Noah's superior awareness failed to translate them.
"Are you angry?" Noah whispered as an honest smile appeared on his face. "Did you ever think that this little ant would get so far?"
The giant's anger intensified when Noah's words spread through the area. It stretched its hand toward him, and its fingers threatened to close on his figure.
Yet, the fingers stopped right above Noah's skin. The massive hand even followed the movements generated by the currents of power dragging him around.
"You can't touch me, can you?" Noah continued to laugh. "We won. We overcame the challenge, so you can't do anything against us anymore."
Noah's laugh spread through the entire area. His voice carried pure ecstasy, and similar sounds eventually echoed from different spots of that chaotic mess.
The experts who heard Noah's laugh understood the meaning behind that sound. They could feel his announcement to the world. Heaven and Earth had failed to suppress them!
The giant's hand continued to follow Noah's movements, but he tilted his head to look at the angry face. The creature seemed to turn its attention toward his eyes, but the unstable energy inside its structure eventually spread through its entire figure.
The creature began to fall apart. Noah saw the sparks spreading through the area without carrying any violent energy. Heaven and Earth seemed unable to cause more destruction after the recent loss.
Duanlong's giant mouth came out of Noah's chest. The creature was acting on its own, and it quickly activated its innate ability to absorb as much energy as possible.
The energy flowed inside Duanlong's mouth and went directly toward the black hole. The companion wasn't trying to take anything for itself. It wanted Noah to have everything.
Duanlong couldn't absorb the sparks that still carried a rank 9 aura. Noah's centers of power couldn't turn them into primary energy. Yet, the companion could target the shattered waves of energy trying to disperse through the world.
Noah sensed the black hole sending energy inside him, but that process didn't disperse his weakness. The drawbacks were too strong for the organ. That suffering was necessary.
Noah didn't mind that. He accepted the weakness as he closed his eyes and let the force drag him away. He didn't have the power to oppose it anyway.
The area slowly grew darker as Noah proceeded forward. The world eventually turned upside-down and revealed its actual structure.
Noah found himself falling toward darker areas. He even felt able to see a faint azure radiance coming from far in the distance.
'We are falling back to the ground,' Noah concluded in his mind before glancing above him.
The sky shone above Noah, but he noticed multiple human figures among that whiteness. He even saw the Foolery. It seemed that his entire army had broken free of Heaven and Earth's punishment and was now coming back to the higher plane.
Noah gained speed. Pieces of his skin turned red due to the friction generated by his fall. He tried to summon enough energy to slow himself down, but his centers of power didn't answer his request.
Even the black hole didn't care about him. The organ was too busy fixing all the damage caused by the drawbacks to mind his surroundings. The ground drew near, and Noah didn't know how to stop himself.
'I should survive even in this state,' Noah thought. 'It would be hilarious if I died due to a fall from the sky.'
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmNoah couldn't help but laugh as he inspected his centers of power. His body and dantian had gone back to the middle tier and liquid stage, but his entire figure was suffering.
His skin was too frail to endure the heat generated by the friction. Patches of his flesh fell apart, but the dark matter promptly worked as a glue to keep everything together.
Snore hissed in pain, but it still came out of Noah's figure to envelop his body. Part of the drawbacks had fallen on the companion and had made it unable to fly, but it didn't care about its life as long as it managed to save Noah.
'I can't even order you to return inside,' Noah transmitted toward the mental connection.
'You have brought me to the apex of the sky,' Snore's hissing voice resounded in Noah's mind. 'It's an honor to give my life for my Master.'
'You won't die,' Noah replied as a chuckle escaped his mouth. 'The members of my organization won't let us go so easily.'
The ground drew near. Noah's skin had stopped burning, but Snore had transformed into a fiery meteor in his place. The duo was almost about to crash on the terrain, but a golden light suddenly covered the area.
Snore began to slow down when it fell among the light. Its speed dropped so much that the creature didn't even destroy the ground when it touched the surface.
The snake let Noah's body out and helped him sitting on the ground. Noah could see multiple experts falling among the light and landing safely on the surface. It seemed that the fall didn't kill anyone.
"You, band of idiots!" King Elbas' voice eventually spread through the area. "Why do I always have to save your ass?"
****
Author's notes: I'm still unclear whether my hands will handle Chaos' Heir, but I guess you'll find out on your own. Anyway, this chapter ends the twelfth volume. See you tomorrow with the thirteenth!