Chapter 1948 - 1948. Night

The dark world transformed Night on its own while Noah fell into a mental coma. The true power of his mind had remained active for mere seconds, but that had been enough to decide on which path the Pterodactyl had to evolve.

Of course, the evolution had taken into consideration Night's innate abilities, character, and its preferred opponents. Gratia had been the perfect target to study since her existence embodied the essence of the sky, so everything that Noah had learnt could become part of the process.

Gratia didn't attack. She had fought back the mental waves that had managed to seep inside her whiteness, but she had remained still once Noah's consciousness had retreated. The expert knew that her opponent was up to something, but she didn't attack anyway.

Gratia was peculiar. Her unique existence gave her a deeper understanding and connection of the sky and Heaven and Earth's system as a whole. She didn't mind being a disposable asset since she already considered herself as part of the rulers.

Her unique status allowed her to understand what the rulers needed the most. Assets could fall, the world could crumble, and solid stage cultivators could die, but Heaven and Earth had to gain something from each sacrifice, which often involved understanding over their opponents.

Noah was an immense threat to the system. Heaven and Earth had to deal with the dragons, the monster outside the sky, the old rulers, and the recent instability caused by Sword Saint's breakthrough, so they couldn't focus on him. Hence, it was Gratia's job to gather the necessary information about Noah's power so that her leaders could develop something against him once they regained complete control of their faculties.

Gratia was basically willing to risk dying against Noah's power-up to improve the chances of the assets which would replace her. Her drive was pure and firm. Yet, she would still try her best against everything that her opponent unleashed.

Night cried in pain inside the dark world while the workshops modified its structure. Pure creation controlled the arms that represented the Great Builder's technique as understanding flowed inside them. They had a clear plan in mind, but the process couldn't be painless.

Intense ambition filled the Pterodactyl and the dark matter around it. The creature was already in the ninth rank in its current form, but it didn't express the entirety of its existence since the breakthrough had happened through Noah's law. Still, the workshop was fixing that issue, and the dark world was even providing an endless stream of rank 9 materials to aid with the procedure.

The entirety of the process was happening while Noah struggled to wake up from his mental coma. Snore had appeared under him to make sure that he remained in the sky, and information continued to flow inside his mind, but he didn't move. The snake kept him inside the dark world in the hope that his technique would quicken his awakening.

Night transformed. Dark matter filled with ambition and understanding about its most hated opponents replaced entire chunks of its body and made sure to make its current power permanent.

The dark world started to flow toward Night when its transformation reached a critical state. The workshops helped modify and adapt the higher energy entering its body at that point, and a cry came out of the Pterodactyl once its figure reappeared among the whiteness.

Gratia couldn't find many differences in Night's body. The creature had retained its peculiar shape and its previous level. It was nothing more than black edges and empty insides, but her instincts told her that something had changed.

The lines were darker, and light appeared unable to shine on their surface. The Pterodactyl almost seemed to be part of a painting that an artist had drawn with a large brush soaked in pitch-black paint. It didn't belong to the sky. It was merely flying over it with a body that never interacted with the matter around it.

Night didn't leave traces of its presence in the world. The sky wasn't aware that it existed in its current form, and even Gratia struggled to focus her gaze on its lines. Her eyes seemed unable to find the creature even if it were right in front of her.

"This is my peak then," Night said through roars that Gratia couldn't hear.

Night turned toward his master in a coma on Snore's back. It struggled to recall the life before meeting him. The Pterodactyl felt as if its true path had begun when Noah had found it inside the Dark Gorge.

Night had been nothing more than a rank 7 magical beasts back then. It had incredible offensive capabilities, but the light of the sky had forced it to hide underground like a worm. Its life there didn't continue for too long either since it had fallen prey to one human organization.

However, Night could now stand freely among the sky. Its level had reached the last stage of the journey, and the light had become unable to touch its lines. The Pterodactyl was finally free of its curse, and everything had come from Noah.

"I lost my first life due to my arrogance, hunger, and anger," Night announced even if only Noah and the other companions could hear its words. "You gave me the chance to stand on the peak in my second. I once claimed to have the best offensive ability in the world. May I die again if I can't abide by those words."

Night turned toward Gratia as its figure shot forward the most chilling aura that she had ever experienced in her life. The Pterodactyl's attention seemed able to pierce her whiteness, which was something that even Noah had failed to accomplish. Yet, it didn't immediately attack. It remained among the sky as its power increased.

The workshop had built Night's new body with matter empowered by Noah's ambition. The same law also filled its previous lines during the modifications. It didn't need Noah's influence to improve its level anymore since it had become part of his existence.

Night's level grew until it reached the peak of the lower tier. The creature lowered its head and pointed its sharp tip at the center of Gratia's chest, but the latter smiled when she saw that its power had stopped growing.

"You fall short," Gratia announced. "Noah Balvan has limits then."

Faint anger seeped out of Night's lines, and Gratia sensed it filling the chilling aura that the creature continued to send forward. That feeling was deep, but she couldn't feel fear in front of a magical beast in the lower tier. It didn't matter that Noah had improved it. The cultivators stood far above those animals in terms of power.

"You white things," Night growled through words that Gratia could hear and understand, "You should stop calling his name so easily."

Gratia was about to laugh, but a vertical black patch suddenly appeared on her vision. The darkness made her unable to focus on Night, but a strange realization hit her mind while she studied that odd event.

The black patch didn't only appear in her vision. A tall black wall had grown right in the middle of her whiteness. That membrane pierced the area under her control from side to side, and it even crossed her body, dividing it precisely into two halves.

Then the two sides split. Gratia's figure and the circular area under her control slid on the vertical wall and revealed how Night had cut everything in half without moving from its position.