Birth of the Demonic Sword

The silver chrysalis floated on its own without needing anyone's help, but Noah couldn't leave it there. The snake surely wouldn't like it, but he wouldn't carry that huge boulder throughout the mission.

A wave of dark matter left Noah's body and enveloped the chrysalis before drawing it inside his figure. The snake would take a while to complete the transformation, so Noah disregarded the matter to focus on the other battlefields.

Philto was an exception among the privileged cultivators. His power was deep and unfathomable, but it had little to do with actual fights.

Instead, the other two groups had to face privileged cultivators who shined for their battle prowess. Needless to say, both fights had already turned pretty bloody while Noah and Divine Demon had been busy dealing with Philto.

Supreme Thief, King Elbas, the Foolery, and Sepunia had launched themselves toward the middle-aged woman. The intensity of her aura expressed more power than her companions, and her abilities reflected that feature.

The middle-aged woman could destroy all the attacks converging toward her figure and harness their energy to create different techniques. Her ability resembled Divine Demon's, but her offensive was never random. She clearly used her knowledge to give birth to blows that carried her aura.

The attacks mainly consisted of mirrors that launched multicolored beams of light. Each shade expressed a different feature connected to the original seven elements, but their powers changed depending on their targets.

In theory, King Elbas was the perfect opponent for that type of ability since the flexibility of his world was unparalleled. However, the middle-aged woman's attacks managed to keep his creation at bay without leaving any blind spots for her other opponents.

The state of King Elbas' side wasn't ideal, but no one had suffered severe injuries for now. The Foolery had a few fuming burns on its body, but those wounds didn't seem to affect its movements at all. It didn't care about them either while flying from beam to beam to eat the energy they contained.

King Elbas had suffered no injuries, but Noah saw the same burns on the various items that surrounded him. His expression was cold, but curiosity shone in his eyes and told Noah that he had yet to take the fight seriously.

Supreme Thief also showed no wounds, but he appeared pretty bored. He launched random abilities that the beams didn't have trouble destroying, but that was it.

Only Sepunia appeared completely focused on the battle. She often created vast pinkish layers to rewrite the nature of the area and turn it into a defensive technique. Yet, her efforts usually failed to protect her completely, which led to a few deep injuries.

That scene didn't surprise Noah. Sepunia was weak compared to her companions. Her world was also relatively new, so it would reveal its true power only when she pushed it to the peak.

Nevertheless, Noah still found himself cursing in his mind after he completed his inspection of the battlefield. 'Are they even taking the fight seriously? Do they understand that this probably is our only chance to take out a few valuable assets from Heaven and Earth's army?'

Noah's decision when it came to the division of the teams had not been random. He had split the idiots to make sure that someone who realized the nature of the situation could lead them.

That was King Elbas' role, but the expert seemed to have no interest in leading his group to victory. His curiosity had taken over him, which prevented the fight from reaching a crucial point.

The other battle had progressed according to Noah's prospects, but for the wrong reasons. June, Steven, Maribel, and the odd dragon were fighting the old woman, and both sides had already suffered greatly.

The old woman had a peculiar ability. She tore away pieces of her flesh to launch them forward and create heavy rain of blood that seemed able to pierce anything they touched.

Noah sensed sharpness, destruction, and a few other meanings in the rain, but they all remained chained to a core feeling. The old woman expressed the entirety of her sacrifices through her blood, which obviously gave it immense power.

Steven wouldn't dare to hold back against one of Heaven and Earth's assets, and June was a battle maniac. The two had gone all-out since the beginning of the fight, and they had seized some results by the time Noah focused on them.

Steven could sever the power that Heaven and Earth had provided to their underlings. Still, the privileged cultivator had benefited from the rulers only in terms of peace, resources, and glances at the paths beyond the ninth rank.

Steven still removed those parts from the old woman's world and forced her power to fall, but she remained a cultivator who had been able to survive Heaven and Earth's assaults for many years. She didn't stop being a valuable opponent after his techniques.

Instead, June had limited herself to launch a reckless assault that had filled the area with her sparks. She had initially failed to achieve anything, but her power became deadly after the old woman fought her back a few times.

Meanwhile, Maribel and the odd dragon had done their best to support their two companions. Maribel wasn't weak, but her power was in line with Emperor and Queen, so her liquid stage state prevented her from being as effective as she wished.

As for the dragon, its power was even lower, but its dark liquid was a dangerous weapon that every asset connected to Heaven and Earth had to fear. Strangely enough, its attacks managed to open paths where Maribel failed.

The reckless nature of that battle had forced all the contenders to suffer injuries. June's body featured multiple holes that leaked sparks. Maribel was fine but tired. The odd dragon had lost numerous scales, while Steven retained a relatively healthy complexion.

'June and Steven will soon force their battle to reach the critical point,' Noah commented in his mind as he prepared his blades in case the privileged cultivator tried to run.

Noah knew that leaving the kill to his companion would benefit them greatly, but that wasn't the time for those tactics. Supreme Thief was the only one who had to advance during the mission. The others had to prioritize damaging Heaven and Earth's army.

"Yellow!" The Foolery suddenly squealed and claimed Noah's attention.

Noah's face went cold when he saw that the pig was eating a yellow beam, and his expression darkened even further when the creature shot toward a scarlet wave of energy and shouted again. "Red!".

"Are they playing around?" Noah cursed.

"They lack our style, my heir," Divine Demon commented.

"We took our fight seriously," Noah scoffed.

"You should really make a technique if you want to throw your companions around and pretend to be serious," Divine Demon joked.

"I was doing it for the snake," Noah justified himself. "It was an exception."

"Of course!" Divine Demon laughed. "A demon who doesn't lie isn't a demon!"

"Be ready to jump in the fight," Noah sighed. "I don't want any of them to escape."

"Do you think they'll need our help?" Divine Demon seriously asked.

"No," Noah admitted, "But we don't know what can come out of the sky at the last instant."