Chapter 1949 - 1949. Dumb

A crack appeared on Gratia's existence. The whiteness that was blending with the world was an expression of her world, but Night had cut it in half. Her figure didn't survive the event either. Her vision became strange as the two sides of her body split.

Noah's previous battle prowess had left Gratia speechless, but Night made her astonishment reach a new realm. She didn't even see its attack, and she struggled to sense its presence even with the thin black wall at her side. The Pterodactyl seemed a black spot in her perception, meaning that Heaven and Earth's senses would also fail to find it.

The black wall left by the attack transformed into a trail of darkness that flowed toward Night and fused with its lines. It had tainted that part of the world, so it could absorb it.

Night's level remained the same, but it stored that power for future drawbacks. It had become an avatar of Noah's existence, so it could activate his ambition on its own. However, its peculiar status didn't make it avoid the backlashes. It would pay the price for its current peak lower tier prowess, but that would come after it took care of that expert.

A blinding light filled the sky as the whiteness released by Gratia condensed to intensify her influence on her surroundings. The two halves of her power fused back together and restored her body, but they lost their spherical shape. Her glow transformed into an octagon that created a defensive area right around her figure.

"A white shield," Night whispered through cries that only Noah and the other companions could hear.

Gratia wore a resolute expression as she pointed her palms forward and accumulated light, but a diagonal black cut severed her octagon and her body. She found herself sliding on the black surface created by Night's attack again as astonishment replaced her resolve.

"I won't die at the hands of a magical beast!" Both sides of Gratia's body shouted as power seeped out of her figure.

The blinding light of her existence filled the area and covered the sky with a more intense layer of whiteness. Her radiance reached the black wall next to her, but it felt unable to absorb it. The matter there seemed to have transformed into something that Heaven and Earth couldn't touch through normal methods.

Night suddenly appeared next to one of the sides. The half octagon and Gratia's maimed figure stopped falling when the Pterodactyl placed its sharp head on the solid whiteness, and a spiderweb of black openings covered those materials when it raised its beak.

The left half of the power previously released by Gratia shattered into a mass of black energy that Night didn't hesitate to eat. The Pterodactyl then turned toward the other side, and Gratia understood that she had to call upon the entirety of her power to defend herself from such a powerful creature.

Another wave of whiteness came out of Gratia's figure, but she didn't use only use her true power. She had understood that Night was too strong for her after its attacks. However, having a connection with the rulers gave her the chance to call upon superior power, something that her existence alone couldn't even hope to summon.

Her light intensified until the sky reacted to her power. A blinding pillar fell and pierced the storms to land on the area that her existence was affecting.

The pillar's radiance didn't go past the expression of Gratia's world. It flowed inside it and brought it to the very peak of its potential. She reached the apex of the liquid stage before all the whiteness of the area converged into her intact figure.

"You are an interesting creature," Gratia announced while inspecting her new body.

Her skin was completely white and radiated a faint glow capable of illuminating the sky around her. Her eyes resembled torches that spread Heaven and Earth's light, and her aura was one with the world.

That state left Gratia surprised and grateful. The rulers had noticed her even if their condition wasn't ideal. It was clear how they wanted her to win against the Pterodactyl, and she would do everything in her power to make them proud.

"The rulers send their compliments," Gratia declared while transforming into a white flash that made her teleport right above Night. "You have forced them to awaken for a brief moment, but your life ends here."

Gratia quickly transformed into a blinding nova that radiated an unstoppable light in the area. Her glow engulfed Night and forced Snore to absorb Noah into its body to protect him from the attack.

Snore's scales started to melt and transform into laws of the world as the glow shone on its body. The snake tried to fly out of the range of Gratia's ability, but a pulling force kept it stuck in its position.

The black hole inside Noah instinctively sent dark matter into Snore to refill the missing spots in its body, but the corrosion of the light was faster. The snake continued to vanish, but it made sure to surround Noah with multiple layers of dark matter before hissing words that Gratia couldn't translate. "Stop playing with your food!"

Gratia wasn't even looking at her opponents. She was wearing a beaming smile as Heaven and Earth's light flowed out of her. She was fulfilling the purpose of her existence. Gratia had finally transformed into a living beacon that spread her leaders' power into their world.

"I'm just testing my limits, you stupid snake," Night replied. "I won't take orders by a creature that Noah rebuilds every time he gets a new idea."

Gratia couldn't hear those words, but her light allowed her to sense the movements of Night's mouth. Her eyes opened in surprise as she stared under her. She struggled to see past her own light, but the Pterodactyl's figure eventually appeared in her vision, and disbelief inevitably filled her face.

Night wasn't fine in that environment. The light was transforming its lines too. The only difference with the rest of the matter in the world was that Night's body appeared incredibly resilient. It had barely suffered injuries during those seconds.

"This is Heaven and Earth's light," Gratia explained as her eyes remained wide in disbelief. "I might not have enough power to express their greatness, but you shouldn't be strong enough to defy it either!"

"Are you dumb?" Night asked, allowing Gratia to hear its voice.

Gratia frowned in front of those human words. They felt strange when they reached her ears. It was as if Night's voice existed in a world that she couldn't completely hear.

"My master's title is Defying Demon," Night continued. "It is in his nature to defy."

"B-but you aren't him," Gratia weakly complained.

"Then you aren't Heaven and Earth," Night exclaimed before raising its head and pointing its sharp tip and the cultivator.

Gratia was speechless, but she didn't lose her faith. She was the embodiment of how strong the rulers could be. They had enough power to fill the entirety of the lands under the sky, and she trusted those abilities loyally. Yet, Night was almost immune to that power, and another slash soon came out of its figure.

Gratia couldn't believe her eyes when she saw many openings appearing on her body. Her influence suffered, and the same went for her existence. Her world began to fall apart as a force that escaped her understanding ravaged everything she had built throughout the eras.