The world began to tremble even before the explosion of Divine Demon's ring swept those lands. It was as if it had noticed that an earthshattering event was about to spread in the area.
The detonation that followed the silence reduced the entire mountain into ashes, creating a column of fire and smoke that reached the black sky as it spread in the regions nearby.
The metal and the ground didn't resist the explosions' might and fell apart, opening paths for magma that flowed from both above and under the hidden world. However, even those red rivers couldn't survive the self-detonation of Noah's ring.
It was an apocalyptic scene, and cracks that led to the void opened everywhere in the environment. The world was ending, and no one was doing anything to stop that destruction.
Noah flew as quickly as he could, but the shockwave released by the detonation swept him anyway. He had just come out of the mountain when that immense power landed on his body.
The Demonic Form improved as the black branches spread on the Sixth Kesier rune inside his mind, and Snore's body covered him when he sensed the arrival of the shockwave.
Noah's body became tense as the explosion pushed him forward. The mountain, the God's defenses, and the layers of smoke around him absorbed most of the blow, but some energy still landed on his back.
His robe vanished, and the skin on his back became a bloody mess. The shockwave tore his muscles too, but it depleted its energy when it tried to touch his internal organs.
Noah became a burning cloud of dark smoke as he shot uncontrollably through the sky. A sea of flames, gray smoke, and lava followed him and continued to pierce his defensive methods.
'This won't be enough,' Noah thought about the rank 7 Ape as he tried to suppress the pain that was afflicting his mind. His body's injuries were easy to endure, but the cracks on his mental sphere sent sharp painful waves that made his mind go dark from time to time.
Nevertheless, the constant flow of information obtained after his mind reached the sixth rank kept Noah vigilant. Creation and destruction became clear and expanded as the world of the laws unfolded in his eyes.
He suddenly became able to see the laws everywhere. It was as if he had been colorblind through the entirety of his life, and he could finally watch the true appearance of the world now.
The laws were everywhere. The matter didn't function without them. Yet, most living beings would spend their entire lives without ever gazing at them.
Noah couldn't contain his astonishment as his consciousness kept on expanding. The laws that ruled the world appeared as the simplest energy in the entire existence, but they were so profound that no other complex force could match their power.
It wasn't a matter of intensity. The law's power came from the true meaning that they expressed, and it varied according to how generic it was.
However, that wasn't the time to lose himself in the new capabilities of his mind, and Noah knew that well. His plan had to move forward, and he needed to escape the range of the explosion to actuate it.
Cracks spread in the air under his feet as he shot forward to leave the edges of the shockwave. The momentum built during the explosion made him surpass his usual limits, but the injuries in his mind made it harder to endure.
Noah held on, shooting as far as he could while keeping track of the expansion of the raging cloud. The explosion had created an unstoppable force that seemed inclined to devour the entire world.
The shockwave eventually depleted its power, and the cloud stopped its expansion, giving Noah time to catch some breath.
A destroyed world unfolded in his eyes as the gray smoke dispersed. There barely was any living being left in the range of the explosion, and only a few powerful creatures had survived by hiding underground or on the other side of the sky.
A merciless calamity had fallen on that paradise, destroying anything on its path.
Noah stared at the destruction that he had caused and let his mind wander. Divine Demon's ring wasn't part of his power, but he had been the one to trigger it. That destruction belonged to him. It was something that resonated with his existence.
Noah spread his consciousness as much as possible, covering many of the areas affected by his reckless act. His back hurt, and his mind sent waves of pain, but he still lost himself at the sight of what he had unleashed.
'This is what I am,' Noah thought as understanding filled his mind. He felt the need to cultivate and let his existence grow, but he knew that he couldn't stop now.
Skully's aura suddenly touched his consciousness, and Noah turned to see the powerhouse crawling out of a pile of rubbles. Injuries filled her body too, but theirs weren't as severe as Noah's. She had come out of the mountain before him in the end, and she had a rank 6 hybrid body.
Skully glanced at Noah before turning to stare at the destruction behind her. That was her world, but now multiple regions were nothing more than ashes and cracks.
A violent force spread from the spot where there had once been the lair of the God. Mental waves and an invisible power moved through the wasted environment as if searching for someone.
Skully's expression became empty when she saw that energy. She performed a mechanical movement to turn toward Noah and speak in a voice that didn't belong to her. "What have you done?!"
Noah knew that the Ape God was behind that act, but his attention never went on Skully. His eyes stared at the invisible force moving earth, air, and sky, destroying everything on its path.
The force resembled countless thin gales that could move freely through any material. It didn't seem limited by its incorporeal form, and it could affect anything it wanted.
When Skully looked at him, the force moved toward their spot. The God had found them, but Skully freed herself at that moment, making it unable to use her to hurt Noah.
"Get the Seventh Kesier rune and gather all the survivors," Noah said as the black smoke of the Demonic Form spread for hundreds of meters. "Take a few Kesier Apes as captives too."
"What will you do?" Skully asked. There was some hesitation in her eyes. After all, Noah had just killed most of her strongest underlings. She was unclear about their conditions, but only the luckiest of them could have survived the explosion.
She knew that Noah had to choose between slavery and the current outcome, and she didn't blame him. Yet, she needed some time to accept that her life's work was gone.
Noah didn't answer her. His aura became violent as he stared at the incoming force. An intense thought resounded among the pain coming from his body and mind. "Enough with this shit. I'm a powerhouse now."