Chapter 2027 - 2027. Thief

Noah didn't have to question Axia to understand the identity of the friend that she mentioned. The cultivator was a weapon master, so Sword Saint's breakthrough had probably played an important role since the event had affected Heaven and Earth's understanding. Noah could guess that the expert also had blades in her world, so she gained time when the rulers lost the laws related to that field.

"I see that as another reason to let us pass," Noah tried his chances. "You got this time thanks to us. Repay us with the same currency."

"Don't make me lose respect in you," Axia sighed. "Your team has defied Heaven and Earth for millennia. I believe you didn't enter the sky without making suitable preparations. Show some trump card, and let's fight."

Noah's cold expression didn't flicker, but his companions knew how desperate the situation was. The nature of the sky had put a limit to their preparations. Their escape plan had failed, so they had to rely on their own power now. Yet, Dinia had already proven how they weren't enough against privileged liquid stage cultivators, especially when they added two more powerful experts to that calculation.

The dark metal could partially help in that situation, but Axia remained a problem that Noah didn't know how to solve. The cultivator belonged to Heaven and Earth's system, but she was one of the farthest assets when it came to resemblance to the rulers. She had joined the rulers, but she remained the only one who could use her world. The dark substance didn't see her as its target.

"Can you advance?" Noah asked.

"I'm afraid I need some time stabilizing my existence before approaching the breakthrough," King Elbas admitted. "I can help, but I can't do anything spectacular."

"It's on me then," Noah uttered.

"Do you have something?" King Elbas questioned.

"Probably," Noah revealed. "Luckily for you, the upper tier prisms are inside my separate space."

"Tell me that you aren't using our situation to take that energy for yourself," King Elbas shook his head.

"Your path has a thief has just started," Noah announced proudly. "I shall be your master in this long road to the peak."

"Dying can't be too bad, right?" King Elbas sighed. "I can also strike a deal with Heaven and Earth if I play my cards well."

Noah laughed before shattering the three prisms inside his separate space. Upper tier items would normally be harder to break for experts at his level, but his destruction was raging. He even had the dark metal, so reducing that material into primary energy turned out to be extremely easy.

The group had gathered a lot of energy after stealing many prisms, but nothing could compare to what Noah experienced after destroying the three upper tier items. He felt the fuel contained in materials created to stand at the very peak of the world filling his insides before flowing into the black hole to get purified. He even had to use his ambition to improve the process since his organ struggled before that massive power.

The energy that came out of his black hole quickly went toward his companions. Duanlong, Snore, and Shafu saw a massive wave of power filling their structures and improving them with the help of his ambition. Noah was forcing his assets to improve right before the clash with Axia.

The three cultivators didn't want to jump into the battle right away. Axia had destroyed the avatars, but that didn't change the nature of the situation. Their enemies were in the middle of the sky, and Heaven and Earth were aware of their presence. Escaping was virtually impossible since the rulers could always teleport more assets there.

Of course, Heaven and Earth would rather avoid spending energy if possible. Teleporting assets depleted a lot of fuel, especially when it came to worlds that they didn't control fully. Still, the rulers believed that Axia and her two companions would be more than enough to handle the experts. Dinia's battle had already proven where those enemies stood.

Noah kept everything happening inside his separate space hidden. He made sure that nothing leaked out of his figure as his companions used the energy of the prisms and his ambition to advance. Snore was his greatest worry since its existence was complicated, but it turned out that the snake had long since found a path.

'I would still prefer to escape,' Noah transmitted through the mental connection.

"Did you come up with a strategy?" Axia asked. "Can you fight? Should I start?"

Axia chuckled before pointing her hand toward Noah. King Elbas, Sepunia, and the dragon separated to leave the trajectory of the attack, but the two liquid stage cultivators immediately followed them to block eventual escape paths. Meanwhile, Axia released a series of maces that flew forward and created a barrage that carried multiple meanings.

Noah's eyes darted among the various weapons. He could sense deadliness, brute power, shockwaves, and much more in that barrage of white maces.

Axia seemed able to call upon the effects of every weapon and enhance their features. The maces were a safe option since they could crush everything that Noah tried to send forward, but she had no idea of what was about to come.

The maces flew in a straight line until they met a corrosive aura that affected their structure. The weapons started to shatter, but many of them managed to cross that deadly zone and converge toward Noah.

The weapons' problems didn't end there. A dense dark sea expanded from Noah's figure before the maces could converge on him. Axia initially believed that her opponent had unfolded the dark world, but she soon noticed that something was different.

The dark matter in the dark world could transform depending on Noah's needs, but the energy he had released wasn't flexible. It expressed something that felt familiar, but she couldn't immediately connect it to Snore due to its improved form.

Axia understood that something was off when she lost connection with her attack. Noah had managed to stop her maces, and she didn't know how, but her opponent didn't give her the chance to study the situation.

A shadow flew out of the dark sea that had appeared among the whiteness, but Axia snorted at that sight. She waved a hand, and a whip grew out of it. The expert cracked the weapon in the air, and Night found itself unable to move forward. The shockwaves released by the attack actually flung it backward.

Axia swung the whip toward the dark sea to uncover its insides, but her weapon remained stuck inside the technique. She couldn't complete the attack, so no shockwave spread, but her focus wasn't on that event. She felt utterly stunned that Noah had managed to interrupt her blow.

"What did you do?" Axia asked while dispersing her weapon.

"You left me with a bunch of energy," Noah exclaimed in a cold voice as he left the dark area. "What do you think I did? I ate everything."

Axia showed an ugly expression when she understood that Noah had already destroyed the prisms, but something else soon attracted her attention. Her opponent wasn't alone when he came out of the dark sea.

A giant winged snake and an odd dragon stood at his sides, he wielded the cursed sword and the roots, and a strange pressure seeped out of his figure. The Pterodactyl soon rejoined Noah to hover above him.. Axia watched as six different rank 9 auras converged on her and started to inspect her power.