Fay had a long scar covered in ice that spread from the center of her face to her low waist. Night had tried to kill her in a single attack, but the expert had a lifesaving spell hidden inside her body.
"How can you be a gaseous stage expert?" Fay asked as her suffocating aura spread through the sky.
Her aura managed to suppress Noah's law, but tongues of dark matter soon flowed out of his body and fended off that influence. He also remained still since his physical strength made him immune to that weight.
"Did you ever stop to think about it?" Noah laughed. "My battle prowess might be off compared to my cultivation level, but my friends wield similar power. Maybe they are the average, and you are all too weak for your actual status."
"Your taunts won't make me lose focus," Fay replied. "You managed to surprise me once. It won't happen again."
"I know," Noah sighed before storing the Demonic Sword and summoning the parasite.
A layer of dark matter covered his body before a series of roots spread above his figure. Bloodl.u.s.t also flowed out of his mind and began to fight against Fay's aura.
Fay's eyes sharpened when she saw a black handle coming out of Noah's c.h.e.s.t. The expert was aware of the power contained in that weapon, so she didn't hesitate to deploy her best spell.
Her ice spread through the sky and began to affect the world. The air crumbled and gave its energy to her spell. A frozen landmass soon formed, and Fay seemed about to fuse with it.
Ice spread over Fay's body and transformed her into a statue. Her aura intensified, and the landmass enhanced its effects.
A long trail of ice suddenly appeared near the edges of the landmass. Night became visible for a fraction of a second before fusing with the world again. The Pterodactyl had tried to launch an attack, but Fay had managed to sense it.
'I don't know how she did that,' Night transmitted through the mental connection. 'I didn't mess up.'
'It's not your fault,' Noah replied. 'Her influence reaches depths that we have yet to study. We are strong, but she is technically better than us at the cultivation journey.'
'Can I help?' Night asked after a brief silent moment.
'I don't think so,' Noah admitted. 'She can see your attacks, and you can't cut through her ice. I'll have to handle the spell physically.'
'Make sure to turn her azure halo off,' Night snorted. 'I don't understand why everyone is so shining these days. I hope this situation will change in the ninth rank.'
Noah didn't dare to contradict the Pterodactyl. Night had seen Great Builder and Radiant Eyes in action, so it knew that its hope was faint.
Snore and Night retreated inside the separate space, and only Duanlong remained in the outside world. Its innate ability struggled against that thick ice, but the creature could still help.
"This is my frozen world," Fay explained, but her voice came out from the entire landmass. "Everything will turn into ice once it enters my range. My law isn't ideal for offensive purposes, but it excels in defense."
Fay wanted to say something else, but Noah suddenly raised the cursed sword. Dark matter and roots covered its structure, and the bloodl.u.s.t radiated by his figure intensified as violent thoughts filled his mind.
The landmass expanded as Fay's influence spread, but Noah didn't fear that power. His physical strength didn't respect the limits of the middle tier. His instincts told him that he could survive in that environment.
Noah shot forward and slashed at the landmass' edges. Ice tried to form around him to stop his movements, but he destroyed it through sheer physical power.
The cursed sword released its attack when its tip touched the ice. A massive singularity shot forward and devoured a large chunk of the frozen landmass, but it didn't manage to reach Fay's statue.
Instead, a long cut appeared on Noah's c.h.e.s.t. The drawbacks were far easier to handle with the unstable substance and a hybrid body in the middle tier.
Fay's influence tried to freeze him again, but Noah promptly moved. The ice that had begun to acc.u.mulate around him shattered as he stepped on the landmass and launched an upward slash that aimed to reach the statue.
The landmass opened at the passage of the singularity, but Fay's influence tried to freeze the attack until the latter finished its energy. More cuts then opened on Noah's c.h.e.s.t, but he completely ignored them.
Noah moved to destroy the ice around him. The cursed sword flashed again, but it failed to reach the statue.
The cold intensified toward the central parts of the landmass. Fay's influence was at its best there, and Noah's attacks struggled to reach those areas.
Injuries continued to acc.u.mulate on his body as Noah sprinted forward. His body could give him the chance to get closer to the spell's core, and Noah wouldn't throw that chance away.
Hindrances soon appeared on his path. Walls and puppets of various sizes grew from the landmass to slow down Noah's advance. Fay wanted to keep him among her influence until he transformed into a statue, but her methods only managed to buy her seconds.
Noah soon was close enough to reach Fay's statue with his slashes. His cursed sword immediately flashed and released a straight singularity that flew toward his opponent.
The landmass didn't have enough time to freeze the attack. Fay had to show one of the abilities of her spell. Her statue slid across the ice and almost teleported on the other side of the area.
Noah's slash missed the target but continued to dig large cuts on the landmass. Fay didn't seem to care about that, but Noah wouldn't mind destroying the entire structure before reaching his opponent.
Those exchanges continued for a while. Noah chased after Fay's statue while filling the landmass with deep cuts. His body was still managing to endure the drawbacks of the cursed sword, but his consciousness was slowly slipping into a dangerous mindset.
'I can't solve this issue,' Noah cursed in his mind, 'No matter how strong I am. Even a larger mind can't do much against these thoughts.'
Noah was waving the cursed sword like a madman. He had never used it so often in the same battle, but he needed it to obtain a clean victory.
"This is pointless," Fay's laughing voice came out of the landmass. "I can always rebuild the destroyed parts. Who will give you spare energy?"
The expert moved her attention downward, and a gasp escaped from the landmass. The white ground had a thick layer of dark gas that had moved in specific points.
The gasp was the trigger. The corrosive aura's power surged and created a series of long swords that disrupted the natural stability of the landmass and made it fall apart.
Fay's statue began to crumble during the fall. The shards that separated from her figure revealed her real body and confirmed that she had always been there.
Fay's eyes widened when she saw a black figure appearing near her. Night was on its way out of her body. The creature had already completed its job.
A large cut suddenly opened on Fay's low-waist, but she couldn't do anything about it since a second dark figure appeared next to her. She tried to summon her power to create more defenses, but her consciousness went dark when she saw the cursed sword.