Chapter 1986 - 1986. Runes

Noah had already activated the unstable substance and his ambition. A dark aura that featured various faces covered the slashes and increased their power as they rained toward the cultivators.

Space shattered as the slashes began to absorb the energy of the world. Some attacks risked falling in the same cracks they opened, but they magically teleported past them as they continued to converge toward the cultivators.

The old-looking man didn't hesitate to spread his arms and close his hands with the same sharp movement as before. Countless explosions resounded among the tight array of slashes. The expert had managed to target each attack, and his technique carried enough power to destroy all of them.

The dark matter dispersed among the sky, but a few black spots remained around the cultivators and continued to fly toward them. The old-looking cultivator pointed his hands toward them, but a shadow suddenly severed his arms.

The sudden injury interrupted his concentration and allowed the black spots to arrive above him. One of them was a massive winged snake, while the others were a series of fiendish figures and six-armed dragons that carried unstable energy..

Noah had used the dark matter to hide his companion and his techniques. He wanted to prioritize using the Cursed Sword, but he wasn't stupid enough to limit the power of his assault in front of two liquid stage cultivators. He would rely on his weapon only if the situation allowed it.

Snore spat a wave of destructive dark matter that tried to engulf the cultivators. A dark aura covered the snake and brought its power to the ninth rank, but the woman only needed to wave her hand to divert the threatening attack.

The man snorted as his eyes sharpened. Explosions resounded again as the dragons and fiendish figures blew up. He didn't need his arms to deploy his techniques, but he didn't dare to let that faint shadow hit him again.

Night was in the area. It planned to fly toward the cultivators again, but its instincts forced it to halt its movements. Strange energy had appeared around the two cultivators. The entire area covered by that fuel seemed about to explode if something dared to cross it too quickly.

Night didn't need to transmit that understanding through the mental connection. Noah had also noticed that layer of explosive energy and had warned Snore. The snake dispersed and revealed his figure. He had already raised his blades to prepare a powerful slash.

Noah showed a cold smile as his blades descended. He didn't care about the explosive power contained in the energy that surrounded the two cultivators. He would rather force it to detonate according to his terms than leave it in place as a weapon for his enemies.

A giant slash came out of the blades, and the whiteness cracked in multiple spots. Black lines spread through the sky before detonating the destructive power that they contained. Masses of energy gathered above many fissures, but Noah's attack absorbed them without showing the slightest hesitation.

The old-looking cultivator voiced a battle cry as he used the energy that had previously seeped into the world to create explosions inside the slash. He didn't feel confident in destroying it entirely, but he believed that his attacks would take care of most of its power.

Yet, no explosions followed his attack. The old-looking cultivator knew that he had activated his technique correctly. His energy had detonated, but the connection with that power had vanished before it could affect the slash.

The expert could immediately connect the strange event to what Noah had revealed in his previous battle. The latter had managed to handle Gratia's light with small versions of the dark world that featured stretched space. That gave him the chance to absorb enemy attacks before they could release their power, and the same had happened with the explosions in the slash.

The old-looking cultivator understood what had happened, but he remained surprised anyway. The battle had yet to enter its second minute, but Noah had already developed a method to counter his explosion. That level of thinking speed was simply insane.

The expert didn't let Noah's insane power dishearten him. Energy flowed out of his wounds and restored his arms so that he could spread them as he turned to face the slash.

Multiple masses of energy appeared in the sky that separated the two cultivators and the massive slash. The pulling force of Noah's attack tried to drag them into its insides, but they detonated as soon as an external influence tried to affect them.

Noah couldn't use his defensive technique against so many explosions, especially since they were already releasing their power. His small version of the dark world would only crumble while it tried to absorb that raging energy.

Still, that didn't stop Noah from reacting to that attack. He slashed his weapons again, and a second slash came out of the swords. That blow was weaker since it didn't have access to the energy on its path, but Noah believed that everything would be fine after it fed on the aftermath of the explosions.

The first slash became a shield for the second, but the woman suddenly decided to affect that exchange. She placed her palm under her mouth and blew her light energy toward the incoming attacks.

The woman's energy didn't affect the explosions, but something strange happened when it reached the first slash. Noah could sense part of the dark matter escaping his control and leaving the fabric of his attack.

The slash continued to move forward, but it ended up clashing with the energy that had left its structure. The woman had only managed to affect a fifth of the attack, but her power didn't affect the might reached by Noah's energy. The impact ended up being quite violent, and it even created a hole in the massive blow.

The slash then reached the array of explosions and crumbled in no time. It only managed to shield the second attack from a minor part of the raging energy filling the environment, so the detonations turned out to be quite effective.

Noah watched as his second slash failed to reach the unstable area that the old-looking cultivator had created around his companion and him. The detonations crushed it before it could fly too close to the two experts.

'They are strong then,' Noah accepted in his mind.

Noah felt that the tree was stronger than his current opponents, but the latter remained liquid stage cultivators, and he was fighting two of them at the same time. His power alone wasn't enough to deal with them.

Noah almost felt the need to curse at his companion, but the latter didn't leave him alone for too long. A series of golden runes spread in the sky as the dark matter finished dispersing. Those inscriptions reached the unstable area and fused with it before creating a passage in its structure.

The old-looking cultivator's eyes widened when he saw his energy moving on its own. He tried to detonate it, but he discovered that the golden halo radiated by the runes hindered his connection with his energy.

King Elbas materialized among the opening, and he didn't waste time in useless conversations. He waved his hands toward the two cultivators, and his runes pushed the unstable energy toward them. It didn't take much before that defensive technique transformed into a proper attack that exploded on its caster.