Chapter 1440 1440 - Rats

Initially, Noah thought that his recent abuse of Bloodline Inheritances had made him hallucinate. His mind had greatly benefited from those crystals, and he had yet to become used to its new size.

However, it was almost impossible for his superior awareness to fell prey to such symptoms. Noah had a clear understanding of what was happening. His eyes weren't lying to him.

The large Rat wrote faster when it noticed Noah's gaze on it. Its tiny fingers drew lines on the big leaf in its grasp, and its eyes darted among the members of the group.

Needless to say, Noah remained speechless and confused at that sight. That was his first time seeing such behavior in a magical beast, especially since he could sense the Rat's intentions. Its weak mind couldn't hide anything from him.

"No point in dividing them," Don concluded before noticing that something was off.

Jordan and King Elbas also noticed Noah's odd behavior. They had been together long enough to understand when one of them sensed that something was happening. Their auras instantly expanded as they turned to look in the direction of Noah's gaze.

The Rat froze when it sensed the four pairs of eyes fixing on it. Its nose trembled as it pretended to be a normal animal inspecting the environment, but its leaf fell during its act.

The leaf rotated as it fell toward the ground. Its front appeared only for an instant, but the four experts didn't fail to memorize the drawing on its surface. The Rat had depicted a lifelike picture of their faces.

The four expert's gazes returned to the Rat, who froze again. It initially tried to resume its act, but the mental waves that flew in its direction forced it to give up on that approach.

A moment of silence passed before the Rat left its branch to dive toward the leaf. Loud squeals came out of its mouth as its short fingers reached for its drawing.

Noah was the first to react. His body transformed into a black blade that released dark matter when he shot toward the falling Rat. The two met when the beast touched the ground, and Noah's hand shot to seize it.

Surprisingly, Noah failed to take the Rat. The creature sprinted in the distance as soon as its feet touched the ground, leaving him nothing to catch. The beast had even managed to seize the leaf before running away and continuing to release loud squeals.

'How fast is it?!' Noah wondered as he chased the Rat.

The Rat was a simple magical beast in the middle tier. It was two meters tall and coverer in brown fur. Tiny pink legs came out of its hair, and two sharp teeth stuck out of its small mouth.

The creature didn't seem special. It even appeared relatively weak due to its small size. Yet, its speed was incredible. It was even able to match Noah's movement technique when it came to raw acceleration.

Noah continued his chase as he translated the squeals in his mind. He was slowly reaching the Rat since he was faster than the creature on the long sprint. Still, its cries didn't make him feel happy about that.

The Rat was calling for help, but Noah could feel selflessness in its tone. The creature didn't want to save itself. It wanted its companions to take the leaf, and it was willing to give its life to complete that task.

It was rare to see that selflessness in the cultivation world, especially when it came to the magical beasts. Those creatures would give their life away only when a leader compelled them to sacrifice for its benefits, but the Rat seemed to have a greater purpose in its mind.

Noah eventually reached the Rat, and his hand didn't fail to seize it at that time. However, a shadow suddenly ran under the creature and took the leaf in its grasp.

'Another one?' Noah shouted in his mind.

Once the effects of the acceleration wore off, Noah could see that the shadow consisted of another large Rat. The creature had heard its companion's squeal and had come in its help to save the leaf.

'Where did it even come from?' Noah wondered as it shot toward the second Rat without letting go of the first.

Noah wanted to interrogate the creatures. Their behavior was too strange, and their species suited what Wilfred had told them about the Land of the Fallen.

Those beasts had to be part of the pack that inhabited their destination. Just like they wanted to understand who they were, Noah wanted to gather information about the Rats.

Noah quickly reached the second Rat, but the same happened. He caught the creature, but a third Rat ran under it and seized the leaf. There didn't seem to be an end to those beasts.

'Enough with this,' Noah thought as Snore's reptilian head came out of his chest and swallowed the two Rats in his hands.

The Blood Companion didn't kill them. It simply stored them inside its massive body made of dark matter for the time being. The Rats were fast, but they didn't have the power to pierce Snore's body.

Noah accelerated at that point. Dark matter flowed inside his black vessels and brought his movement technique to its peak. He reached the third Rat in an instant, and his hand squeezed its neck before it could even squeal.

No shadow appeared. Noah had been too fast. He saw something moving in the distance, but he had arrived before that creature could reach its companion.

"Start speaking," Noah said as roar fused with his human voice.

The Rat released soft squeals as Noah's pressure filled its mind. It could feel his pride and the influence of a creature that it couldn't oppose. If it remained for too long in its grasp, it would spill everything.

The creature struggled to release a last squeal, and everything began to tremble at that point. Noah didn't understand what was happening, but he soon saw the ground under him shattering to fall into a vast underground structure crowded with Rats.

Countless creatures filled the underground structure. Most of them were in the lower tier, but many middle tier specimens also ran among them. They were an army that Noah didn't manage to sense until the ground crumbled.

The underground structure expanded for kilometers. Noah understood that his group had been inside the Rat's domain for a while already. They had already invaded.

The Rats leaped out of the underground structure and swarmed Noah. He couldn't oppose that tide even if he waved his arched fingers to kill as many creatures as possible.

Blood filled his surroundings, but there was no end to the tide. Hundreds of magical beasts used each other as platforms to jump through the air and create a barrier of bodies.

Noah spat flames that incinerated that barrier. Countless Rats died as soon as his flames filled the environment, but those creatures had managed to keep him still for a whole second by now.

When the flames fused with his body and dispersed, Noah inspected the Rat in his grasp. Bite marks covered its headless body, and he found no trace of the leaf in its grip. The other surviving Rats had also escaped thanks to the sacrifice of their companions.