The sea of golden flames engulfed Noah. Cracks opened in the sky as the destructive force of Second Prince's fire spread in the area.
The golden star expanded, and flares came out of its unstable surface. Yet, a fissure soon opened at its center and divided the fiery sphere into two precise halves.
Noah came out of the fissure and floated outside of the star's range. The sharpness radiated by his consciousness had cut the flames, but many of them had landed on his skin. Still, he didn't suffer any significant injury.
'He can hurt me then,' Noah thought as he stared at a burned spot on his right arm. The flames had managed to burn a small part of his skin, but he had acted before the damage spread.
Noah didn't lower his guard. Second Prince's aura still lingered in the area, but even his superior awareness couldn't pinpoint his location.
'Does he even have a real body?' Noah wondered as his consciousness expanded to look for the Royal.
He had cut Second Prince many times, but he had never managed to kill him. The Royal had always used fake bodies and clones that didn't reveal any difference from an actual body.
Mystery surrounded Second Prince. He was different from the other main descendants. Noah had never managed to understand him, but he had never bothered to do it since he had always been stronger than him.
However, the situation was different now. Second Prince's cultivation level was superior to Noah and Great Elder Diana. Noah wasn't sure about his actual battle prowess, but he knew that he had to take care of him to remove the alliance's last hindrance.
Noah waited for Second Prince to reappear, and his eyes sharpened as he saw that the golden star began to morph. His consciousness sensed multiple presences appearing around him, but all of them carried the Royal's iconic aura.
After the flames completed their transformation, Noah saw five identical Second Prince. They all radiated a cultivation level at the peak of the liquid stage, and Noah couldn't sense any difference when he inspected them.
It was as if the Royal had cloned himself right in front of him. Noah's instincts even begin to send warning messages to his mind. The technique didn't seem to be a trick or an illusion.
'Can he really multiply himself?' Noah wondered.
He had to admit that he didn't expect Second Prince to own such a strange technique. He knew that it was possible to perform feats that defied reason through the "Breath", but replicating a powerhouse required an immense amount of energy.
The Copying Technique had the same issue. Even with all its reserves of energy, the Hive didn't manage to create an army of rank 6 creatures against King Elbas.
Yet, there were now five Second Prince in front of Noah, and the Royal didn't rely on any external source of energy to perform that feat. Noah didn't even sense a surge of power when that happened.
"What exactly are you?" Noah asked.
He never spoke once a battle started, but Second Prince was too peculiar. Noah couldn't hold back his curiosity when looking at him.
"What is indeed the right word," The five copies of Second Prince replied together. "I'm one of the masterpieces of the best inscription master of these Mortal Lands. You might have created living weapons, but my Father has surpassed you even in that field."
'I see,' Noah thought as black smoke started to come out of his skin. 'He is an inscribed human.'
A cloud of corrosive smoke soon filled the area. The activation of the Demonic Form instantly covered the sky and engulfed the five Second Prince.
A golden halo came out of the five Royals and fended off the corrosive properties of Noah's smoke. Not even a speck of his gas managed to land on the five powerhouses.
Noah couldn't play around anymore in front of such prowess. His instincts told him that Second Prince wasn't on his level, but he couldn't underestimate five of them.
Still, he didn't want to reveal everything that he was capable of. Second Prince was probably hiding more tricky techniques, and Noah didn't want to give him a complete demonstration of his power until he was sure that the Royal was really there.
The five Second Prince raised their hands to launch waves of golden flames that burned Noah's corrosive smoke. The black cloud vanished in a few instants, but a shadow appeared next to one of the copies before the last trail of gas disappeared.
The copy exploded into a fiery storm that gave birth to another star. The flames engulfed the other four Royals, but it didn't manage to reach Noah since he had begun to retreat as soon as Night attacked.
The Pterodactyl came out of the golden star and flew back inside Noah's ring while he raised the Demonic Sword above his head. Dark matter flowed out of his chest and entered his blade as he prepared one of his iconic slashes.
Noah's blade descended, and darkness filled the sky. Dark matter engulfed the golden star and destroyed everything in its path.
Only cultivators staring at the battle from afar could see the attack in its true form. A gigantic blade had appeared after Noah's slash, and the technique had launched a storm of dark matter.
The entire area became part of Noah's dark world, which enhanced the sharpness carried by the slash. The fabric of the sky managed to remain intact only because the dark matter contained the destructive power launched during the attack.
Noah knew that Second Prince had survived the attack. Nothing could escape his vision inside the dark world. He had seen the slash destroying the copies and preventing the golden flames from exploding outward.
The technique had removed every trace of the Royal, but Noah could still sense his aura lingering around him. It was as if he existed even when he lacked a body.
'Does he have a core somewhere?' Noah wondered. That was the only explanation he could find to define Second Prince's odd power.
"You have become stronger," Second Prince's voice echoed through the dark world. "It doesn't surprise me that my Father has acknowledged your power. I wonder if you can put an end to my existence."
"Do you want to die?" Noah asked as he kept his weapon ready to slash. He would attack as soon as Second Prince regained a physical form.
"I've never been alive in the first place," Second Prince continued, and something began to move right outside of the dark world. "Is my existence worthy of this power? Can something like me advance through the cultivation journey? Can I become a god? I don't know."
Multiple pecks of golden flames appeared around the dark world's edges. They expanded until an army of Second Prince's copies formed in the sky.
Noah's instincts warned him about the danger that was about to fall on him, but he didn't move. The dark world was his strongest defensive and offensive method. Flying out of it would only expose him.
"Show me," Second Prince's copies spoke at the same time as they pointed their palms toward the dark world, "Show me the ambition that has made even my Father acknowledge you."
After they finished speaking, Second Prince's copies launched waves of golden flames that covered the dark world.