King Elbas wanted to tease Noah a bit longer, but the situation didn't allow him to waste time. Golden light flashed behind Noah as King Elbas teleported between Shafu and the crystal figure to express his power.
A golden sea came out of King Elbas and filled half of the higher plane, creating a fiery wall that separated Heaven and Earth from Shafu. His new level became clear by then, and the crystal figure even felt the need to stop.
Divine Demon snorted, and his companions revealed similar reactions, but they all smiled at the sight of the solid stage aura. King Elbas had completed his breakthrough and could finally join the final battle.
"Forgive them," King Elbas announced while stepping out of the fiery sea. "They are lost without me."
"You have always been lost," Heaven and Earth declared.
"Arrogance is my domain," King Elbas responded while pointing an arm forward and turning the golden sea into a series of rivers that converged into his palm.
A mere rank 9 attack couldn't scare Heaven and Earth. They had endured the best offensive the world had to offer multiple times, and they had come out unscathed. King Elbas couldn't change that on his own.
However, the entirety of the energy released by King Elbas suddenly brightened and went through a deep transformation that pushed its power toward a superior realm. The expert turned the sea into a quasi-rank 10 attack without altering his core, and Heaven and Earth could only watch as that technique shot toward them.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtA torrent that seemed able to match Heaven and Earth's might fell on the crystal figure and pushed it back on the sky. The attack unleashed its power for a while, creating a sea on the white layer, but everything eventually dispersed.
Heaven and Earth found themselves lying on the white layer. Their crystals didn't suffer any damage, but that didn't change the situation. King Elbas didn't only push them back on his own. He had even broken their posture.
"Did you enjoy being the punching back of my weak companions?" King Elbas mocked. "Don't worry. I've come to give you a real battle."
King Elbas' figure almost exploded due to the immense shockwave that came out of its center. Flames and flares left his skin to reveal the new power that ran inside him. King Elbas had activated his fake quasi-rank 10 state, but everyone understood that his technique had improved.
The void almost melted due to the intense heat around King Elbas. He burnt with an intensity that the higher plane had never witnessed. He had reached the peaks that Noah had achieved with his last attack, but that was only his basic form.
"I heard you wanted me to join you," King Elbas stated. "You aren't worthy."
Multiple golden spheres came out of King Elbas' body and gave birth to different formations that expanded around him. Countless arrays of fiery lines filled the void and covered an entire quarter of the higher plane as various attacks gathered inside them.
Heaven and Earth barely had the time to stand up before a rain of beams, pillars, and hundreds of other attacks fell on them. The barrage was so thick that flames started to rise from the very sky, even if nothing was burning. King Elbas was altering the very nature of the area, and Heaven and Earth were in the middle of that mess.
The barrage lasted for a while, but it didn't end naturally. The offensive still had a lot of energy when it transformed into a vortex that slowly revealed Heaven and Earth's intact body. They gathered all that power in their palm and didn't hesitate to launch it back at its source.
King Elbas snorted as he let the chaotic attack engulf his figure. That raging energy was impossible to control, but King Elbas was an exception. He let everything fly through him before releasing a series of pulling forces that made it fly back into his body.
"Don't be too hard on yourself," King Elbas reassured. "You are quite strong, but my power goes beyond that. Being unable to alter it isn't your fault."
Heaven and Earth didn't answer, but King Elbas' joke explained his previous feat in words that his companions could understand. The rulers could compress and send back his attack, but they couldn't alter its nature, which had allowed King Elbas to reabsorb it easily.
"Xavier!" The Foolery shouted as it sprinted at full speed toward King Elbas.
The Foolery's idiocy came into play during the sprint. The pig basically teleported next to King Elbas while retaining its incredible momentum. The scene hinted at an imminent crash, but nothing remotely similar happened.
A golden membrane appeared around the Foolery and dispersed its momentum as soon as it teleported. King Elbas had countered the pig's idiocy with a single move, but that didn't stop his companion from sticking its tongue out in an attempt to lick him.
"We are literally fighting the most powerful existence in the world," King Elbas sighed when he saw a wet patch appearing on his left arm. The tongue didn't touch him, but the Foolery had licked him anyway.
"Being ourselves is the whole point of this fight," The Foolery commented as it lifted its head in satisfaction.
King Elbas didn't know what to say. He inspected the area where the Foolery had ignored his golden membrane and heaved a helpless sigh. He couldn't reason with the pig, and the latter had even spoken the truth. It was better to remain silent and focus on the battle.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Alright," King Elbas cleared his throat. "Gather up! No stupid attacks under my watch."
The rest of the team teleported next to King Elbas, and a series of complaints reached his ears. No one liked that behavior, but King Elbas had predicted that reaction, and he didn't care about it.
Specks of golden light left King Elbas' body and flew toward his companions while his level fell back into the solid stage. The fragments reached the experts and fused with their figures before giving birth to different effects.
Alexander, Wilfred, and the Foolery saw a torrent of energy invading their bodies and activating their healing properties. Their injuries closed in an instant, and Wilfred's arms even regrew.
Supreme Thief and Sword Saint gained pieces of armor with different effects. Supreme Thief's gear mostly aimed to protect his body from any drawback, while Sword Saint's item focused on making him overcome the limits of his body.
Divine Demon's speck transformed into a jug of wine accompanied by a cup. The beverage didn't hide any unique technique, but it was good enough to make Divine Demon laugh once he sniffed it.
As for June, King Elbas gave her a remarkable energy boost that could force her Perfect Circuit to skip many levels. She directly gained access to a form of power that would have usually taken multiple exchanges to obtain, and the sparks that seeped out of her skin expressed her happiness.
"I'll coordinate the offensive now," King Elbas repeated in far kinder words. "The two great idiots are with me. The others must focus on exploiting the openings we create."
"What about Noah?" Divine Demon asked.
"If he can't come back," King Elbas announced. "He doesn't deserve a place in this battle."
The Foolery wanted to complain, especially since everyone except for Noah had gotten something from King Elbas. Yet, a series of stern gazes fell on the pig and forced it to remain silent.