Divine Demon's aura skyrocketed, but Noah found the young-looking man's words odd. He let them resound inside his mind, and an annoying feeling filled his body when he connected them to a certain expert.
Rank 9 experts could speak nonsense, but the young-looking cultivator didn't seem the type. Besides, Noah had witnessed the strange outcome of the last assault.
It seemed that the privileged cultivator's world had some connection with the true meaning of immortality, which made Noah's instincts scream. He couldn't help but notice a faint connection with Caesar's fate.
Everything could be a coincidence, but Noah couldn't believe that when the higher plane was only one step short from the final battle. His decision to bring the Eternal Snake and the meeting with an expert who claimed to be immortal felt way too perfect to be true.
'The strands of fate are strong here,' Noah commented in his mind as potential flowed inside his mind and allowed him to perform a better inspection of the area.
The inspection didn't reveal anything specific, but Noah trusted his instincts. He felt as if external forces had planned that battle. The current situation was probably happening in Caesar's palm, and he didn't know how to get out of it.
'Should I even bother?' Noah wondered.
Noah could guess Caesar's plan. The expert wanted to make Heaven and Earth's Cancer strong enough to force a final evolution in the rulers. That didn't apply only to Noah and the core assets of the organization. The Eternal Snake also had the potential to turn into a valuable stepping stone.
However, that also worked in Noah's favor. He could pierce Caesar's fate, at least part of it. His ability to work outside the expert's power would only increase as his level rose, and his underlings would probably experience similar enhancements afterward.
"What is it?" The young-looking cultivator asked when he noticed that his three opponents' offensive was on hold. "Did you really accept my words? That's quite lucky. It's my first time meeting someone so smart."
The snake hissed in anger, and Divine Demon laughed as his surroundings turned blood-red. They were both ready to launch an attack, but they instinctively waited for Noah's orders.
"I accept this challenge," Noah eventually growled as he stood on the snake's head and glanced at a random spot in the sky. "We'll use the final battle to decide who was right."
"Who are you even talking to?" The young-looking expert asked before yawning loudly. "Well, not that I care. Just do your best and get going."
"What's your name?" Noah questioned through a chuckle.
"My name?" The young-looking cultivator repeated while rolling his black eyes. "Recalling it is quite a bother. Let me see. It should be something like Phis, no, Philto. Right, it's Philto."
"Did you hear him, snake?" Noah asked while tapping his foot on the snake's head. "Philto claims to be immortal. That suits your power. I want you to make it yours."
"Who do you think you are ordering around?" The snake hissed.
"A weak underling," Noah laughed as his pride exploded and filled the entire area. "Now then. Go die a few more times."
"What?" The snake gasped, but it found itself unable to stop what was happening.
Noah stabbed his fingers on the snake's head before throwing the whole creature forward. Philto heaved an annoyed sigh, but he didn't dodge the incoming attack.
The Eternal Snake cursed Noah while opening its mouth to make sure that Philto fell inside it. The scenes from before unfolded again. The magical beast almost made the cultivator's aura disappear, but a detonation eventually happened.
Philto appeared as bored as always as he removed the gore from his body, while the snake only grew angrier as it spat silver liquid to freeze the whiteness and heal its injuries. The creature even glanced at Noah to express its anger, but the latter didn't care.
Noah laughed as he reached the Eternal Snake and threw it toward Philto again. The process resembled torture, but Divine Demon didn't interrupt Noah. He actually materialized a cup of wine to enjoy the spectacle.
The Eternal Snake ate and crashed on Philto multiple times, but the outcome never changed. Philto suffered injuries, but they disappeared whenever the enemy offensive ended.
That power went beyond simple regeneration. Noah even wondered whether it involved some deep meanings of time, but he quickly rejected that hypothesis.
Philto wasn't healing himself. He wasn't going back in time to deny the injuries either. His world simply went back to its peak power on its own, without using any specific technique.
"Stop it!" The Eternal Snake cursed, but Noah didn't care. He threw his underling toward Philto as his laugh continued to resound in the area.
"Can you stop it?" Philto asked as he came out of the snake once again. "It has long since gotten boring. Also, I think your underling won't last much longer."
Philto's words were on point. Noah had thrown the Eternal Snake many times already, and the effectiveness of the silver liquid had started to decrease during the last exchanges.
The issue wasn't with the Eternal Snake's power. The whiteness had simply developed a resistance to the silver liquid, which prevented the creature from generating enough ice.
The snake couldn't heal its injuries fully without ice, so wounds began to accumulate on its massive body as Noah continued to throw it toward Philto. Still, the creature's immense resilience allowed it to remain able to fight.
"Oh, I don't really care," Noah continued to laugh as roars mixed with his human voice. "I don't need useless assets. I'll keep throwing this idiot at you until it accepts its position in the food chain."
"Your underling will die," Philto commented.
"Let it die then," Noah declared while shooting toward the snake again.
The Eternal Snake tried to dodge Noah at that time, but its physical strength and abilities were no match for him. Noah easily reached his underling, grabbed its head, and threw it toward Philto.
"That was a good throw, my heir!" Divine Demon shouted from the sidelines.
"I'm getting better at this!" Noah laughed as he watched the Eternal Snake eating Philto. "I actually did something similar in the Mortal Lands now that I think about it."
"You should have turned it into a technique," Divine Demon suggested.
"I'll think about it if this idiot dies on me," Noah stated.
The Eternal Snake heard everything, but it couldn't answer its companions since an explosion happened inside its body. A bored Philto came out of the gory detonation, but he turned to wave his hand at that time.
The gesture sent a wave of energy that worsened the injury and cut the snake's body in half. Philto had finally decided to attack, but he didn't bother to launch other techniques afterward.
The snake's angry hiss filled the entire battlefield, but its silver liquid failed to create enough ice to reconnect its body. The creature could only watch as its severed flesh fell on the sky and vanished inside its whiteness.
"You basta-!" The snake tried to shout, but Noah suddenly landed on its head and interrupted it.
"Do you get it now?" Noah asked through a growl. "You talk big, but you aren't willing to do what it takes to reach the peak. You are the worst kind of weak in the world."
"I won't use your power to evolve!" The snake complained.
"Then eat it, you idiot," Noah laughed.