The last exchange forced the Tyrannosaurus to use a lot of energy. Its power started to near the limits of the fifth rank after the shockwave and the blue beam.
Noah and the others couldn't see the state of the cultivators inside the battle formation. Still, seeing how the light radiated by the creature had dimmed made them understand that their attacks were effective.
The same could be said for the invading side. The cultivators in charge of the golden shields and those targeted by the slashes had suffered from those attacks. Only the cultivators in possession of powerful defensive items and those capable of launching spells with power in the solid stage were in perfect shape.
There was hope to win the battle with those forces, but the fight was slowly turning into an endurance match, which was what the Shandal Empire wanted. The Wardens wished to resist for as long as they could.
Of course, that bothered the invading forces since they didn't want to deploy even more cultivators before entering the domain of the Empire. After all, there was still the chance that the defenders had some strategy to deal with that.
Hope had started to appear though. The last exchange had revealed many abilities of the battle formation, along with some evident weaknesses.
The Tyrannosaurus didn't appear able to refill its energy on its own. It always relied on the "Breath" absorbed from the enemy spells to launch powerful counterattacks. The only basic offensive that it was capable of was the blue slashes, but they were manageable.
Only the recent shockwave and the blue beams were troublesome to handle, but they consumed a lot of the energy contained in the creature's form. Fending off the spells without absorbing anything had made its power fall already!
Also, the Tyrannosaurus didn't appear able to move freely. There had been times where it could have charged and inflicted a lot of damage, especially on the golden shields, since they were mostly meant to fend off energy.
If the Empire wanted to win that battle, standing still and limiting itself to counterattacks wasn't the right approach.
"Can you two take care of the wings?" Andrew Elbas asked with a mental message sent through a special inscribed notebook that only the higher-ups of each force had.
That message echoed in the minds of the rank 5 cultivators on the scene, but everyone understood who he meant with his words. There were only two experts on the scene who had access to precise attacks with power in the solid stage.
Noah and Elder Julia exchanged a glance before nodding toward the leader of the Royals' faction. Both of them didn't know if it was possible to cut away the wings from a creature made through a battle formation, but they trusted Andrew's expertise enough to follow his strategy.
Elder Julia summoned hundreds of wind slashes that rotated around her body as she waited for the perfect chance to strike. Noah did the same with his saber-shaped runes, even if he needed to wait to push the power of his attack to its limits.
There was only so much that Noah's mind could handle. Manipulating spells that were far above his centers of power in terms of strength was a problematic matter that required mental energy and most of his focus.
However, he knew that he could push the saber-shaped runes a bit further instead of stopping to the beginning of the solid stage.
Noah had never stopped spreading his aura in the environment to increase the amount of primary energy available for him. That area of the sky had all the fuel that he needed, but it quickly vanished as his more than a hundred sabers fed on it.
The other invaders and the Tyrannosaurus continued to exchange attacks while Noah and Elder Julia prepared their offensive. Another series of blue beams and powerful spells flew back and forth between the two sides that only managed to weaken each other without causing casualties.
However, the invaders ended up being on the losers' end after they fought without Noah and Elder Julia's support. The Tyrannosaurus' light dimmed only by a little, while the cultivators managing the golden shields began to look pale.
It wouldn't take much before the invaders found themselves without defenses. All of them would be too busy blocking the creature's attacks to launch spells if the golden shields were to fall.
The sabers around Noah had started to near the halfway mark in the solid stage though. That level of power was the best that he could handle without losing his control over his spell. Still, it was enough for him to join the offensive again.
A simple nod was enough to make Andrew and Elder Regina aware that the two cultivators from the Hive were ready, and they didn't hesitate to launch another series of spells toward the tall creature.
The Tyrannosaurus reacted in the same way as before. It kept its wings unfolded and launched blue slashes toward the incoming attacks. Still, all of a sudden, a lump of black flames appeared under its body, and a series of saber-shaped runes came out of it.
Noah had resorted to the Warp spell to exploit a blind spot in the battle formation, and his runes crashed directly on the base of the three pairs of wings.
The entire beast started to flicker at that point, but it promptly released another shockwave to fend off the incoming attacks. Noah's runes became dust in less than an instant, and even the other higher-ups' spells became simple energy under that defensive measure.
Nevertheless, Elder Julia made her move at that point and unleashed her wind slashes. They went above the creature before it could even spew more blue light and crashed on the base of its wings.
Noah's sabers had already damaged that area, and the Tyrannosaurus had lost a lot of energy using that last shockwave. Its sturdiness depended on its level, and now it was close to the peak of the fifth rank.
So, it wasn't a surprise when Elder Julia's attack managed to cut away three wings in one go. Those shining body parts drifted away from the creature, and the light around them dispersed, revealing a few rank 4 cultivators.
Those soldiers of the Empire had pale expressions, but they didn't suffer any apparent injury. Their current state was only a consequence of Elder Julia forcefully cutting them away from the battle formation.
Andrew and the others didn't waste that chance and launched another series of spells that crashed on the Tyrannosaurus' body. The impact released shockwaves that killed those rank 4 cultivators in an instant, with only one of them surviving since it was at the peak of that rank.
The Tyrannosaurus revealed an ugly expression at that sight but didn't lose its cool. It just released more blue slashes toward the invaders.
Yet, black flames appeared under the creature's body again, and saber-shaped runes came out of them. Noah's spell landed on the remaining wings and cut them away.