Only the Elders of the Hive believed that June had some chances against her opponent. They knew more about her power, and her relationship with Noah gave her some credibility.
Noah was the mighty Demon Prince who had defied any common sense. His woman had to be awesome too, and her fame had already proven that hypothesis to be true.
June was the battle maniac of the Elbas family. She had led the unofficial and illegal missions of the Royals since she was only a human cultivator. Her family had been in charge of the western border of the Utra nation for decades, and her tasks didn't stop after the migration.
The matters of the Royal Inheritance were still a secret to many, but the Hive knew that she had been part of the clearing operations. The immense number of heroic cultivators of the Elbas family came from her efforts in seizing the Royal Pool.
The Royals knew her value too, but June had never shown how powerful she was. Her battle prowess had spiked after obtaining the black sparks, but she had never revealed them to the public.
Dreaming Demon and Flying Demon neared the battlefield and stood next to the Elbas family's forces before the fight began. They didn't want to interfere, but they didn't know what the Royals would do to seize Eccentric Thunder's inheritance.
June's opponent's name was Gustavo Elbas. He was a tall man carrying the usual features of the Elbas family, even if his colors indicated his distance from the main bloodline.
His golden hair had brown shades, and his eyes were pale green, lacking any shine. He was an alchemy expert, but he didn't manage to fuse his expertise with his cultivation journey like Daniel.
The Pool had allowed him to reach the solid stage, and the various resources of the Elbas family had pushed his cultivation level near the peak of the rank. Yet, his battle prowess was somewhat lacking and heavily reliant on his creations.
June stepped forward without showing any fear. The various Elders and Royals made a large circle around her and Gustavo, creating a large battlefield at some distance from the healing light of the golden formations.
The faint shields were close, but no expert stood behind them. The powerhouses were fighting the real battle for that territory. The assets there were holding honorable matches to increase their fame and gain some resources.
"When did you betray us?" Gustavo asked as he neared June. A series of potions and pills came out of his space-ring and floated around his figure.
June snorted. She didn't like it when cultivators had weapons that she didn't understand. She was relatively simple-minded in her battle style. In her opinion, power had to overwhelm, not deceive.
Gustavo quickly understood that his opponent didn't want to engage in the usual foreplays that preceded an official battle. A tinge of disdain appeared on his expression. In his mind, only animals didn't follow human formalities.
"You are indeed a maniac," Gustavo announced. "The Elbas Bloodline doesn't need weapons that it can't control."
Most experts of the Elbas family didn't like June due to her unwillingness to marry one of the Royals. Hers was the only noble family that had yet to fuse with them, so many accepted her distant and violent behavior only because of her battle results.
Still, she was openly betraying them right now. Gustavo could finally vent the annoyance that had accumulated during the past centuries.
Soft gales began to blow from behind Gustavo. One of the potions around him broke, releasing a purple liquid that turned into a green gas when it came in contact with the air.
The gales spread the gas, creating a large green cloud that covered the entire battlefield. The experts on the edges had to rely on their defensive spells to stop it from spreading further.
June couldn't avoid the gas, but black sparks came out of her body and destroyed any poisonous particles that tried to land on her skin. Her higher energy even expanded to create a defensive array.
The gales changed direction, and the faint shape of a massive snake formed inside the cloud. June felt something landing on her back before her mind could even sense any danger.
June flew through the cloud. Poison entered her skin, and a large bruise formed on her back. Behind her, a reptilian head chased after her, charging through the gas as it showed its massive fangs.
Sparks crackled from under her skin while June stopped mid-air. Her defenses had been useless against Gustavo's attack, but that had only ignited her battle intent.
The Perfect Circuit stirred her centers of power to produce more energy. Denser and larger sparks came out of her body and took the shape of countless spheres that gathered lightning on their surface.
The poisonous gas' fabric began to crumble when it touched the spheres, and a large chunk of the cloud disappeared when they released a series of lightning bolts toward the incoming snake.
Gustavo waved his hand, and a pill next to him broke. A purple liquid mixed with the cloud, giving birth to hundreds of dense trails that shot toward the snake.
When the trails fused with the snake, the gaseous creature split into hundreds of small purple fangs that tried to dodge the incoming lightning bolts.
June's attacks destroyed most fangs, and even those that didn't clash directly with the lightning bolts fell apart when they entered their range.
Gustavo felt surprised when he witnessed that scene. His attacks' power neared the peak of the solid stage. They weren't as strong as proper spells, but they could overwhelm any blow from a newly advanced cultivator.
However, June's black lightning was peculiar. It felt weak, but it could destroy the fangs without even touching them!
June performed an evasive maneuver, but two fangs hit her anyway. One stabbed her right shoulder while the other cut her left ankle.
Both attacks injected poison inside her, but the higher energy released by her body managed to prevent it from spreading further. The black sparks couldn't destroy them, and that caused her battle intent to increase even more.
More sparks came out of her body, but they appeared to pulsate at that time. An array of lightning bolts covered her and expanded, following the rhythm of her heartbeat.
The green cloud began to resonate with June's heartbeat too. The aura released by her higher energy was so intense that the environment couldn't help but follow her rhythm.
Gustavo felt even more surprised. He couldn't understand how someone weaker than him could have that influence of spells that had been enhanced by his potions.
Three pills broke at the same time, and more gales began to churn inside the cloud. The gas became denser and darker, and June found it challenging to localize his opponent even when she expanded her consciousness.
A smile appeared on June's expression. She didn't mind that her opponent was hiding. That gave her an excuse to unleash her power freely.
June joined her palms, and a cube formed when she separated them. The crackling black form then floated above her head and became unstable.
Lightning bolts shot in every direction whenever the cube trembled. They resembled massive arrows that cut the dark-green cloud and destroyed its poisonous gas.
The orange halo they released illuminated the dark environment, revealing the gaseous creatures flying in her direction. Gustavo had created hundreds of beasts while June prepared her attack, but the lightning bolts destroyed them.
However, the denser gas that made their bodies didn't vanish. Instead, it fused with the cloud and began to press on June. She felt as if a cage had formed around her, and even her cube crumbled against that pressure.
Gustavo appeared above her and poured potion after potion on the dense gas. His creations improved the poisonous properties of the cage and increased its density.
Then, he performed a hand-sign, and the spikes rose from the internal surface of the cage. June could only let her body be pierced by those poisonous blades while allowing her individuality to push her power toward the next level.