Chapter 981: 981. Defenses

Those Instabilities were all inscribed weapons with power in the fifth rank. Their tier varied, but there were a few of them in the upper level.

Noah's body was in the upper tier, and the Demonic Sword was still in the middle tier. Both of them required a large number of nutrients, but they had also become picky about them.

Magical beasts in the lower tier of the fifth rank could barely satisfy their hunger. They preferred to hunt powerful prey to keep their carvings in check for more extended periods.

However, there was a limit to how many powerful creatures habited the territories of the Hive. Noah had managed to refill his stash thanks to the hybrids, but he often had to rely on weaker beasts to satisfy his hunger.

That made him gather many corpses belonging to weaker creatures. They were mostly big beasts though, which gave Noah enough materials to spare for some side projects, namely his disposable weapons.

His higher energy improved the final products' quality, allowing him to use many weaker materials to create valuable items. Noah could use many peak rank 4 body parts to mass-produce Instabilities with power at the bottom of the fifth rank.

Also, the saber shaped-runes used as spikes didn't depend on the material used. Noah tuned their level according to how much the sphere could hold, making the weapons threatening even if their overall power put them in the lower tier.

Noah could refill his stash of Instabilities by sparing a few tissues from his meals, and he gladly did it since it improved his expertise with the dark matter. They were simple creations, but the experience was something built through countless hours spent training.

The Instabilities fell toward the Four Sigils sect under the cold eyes of the Demons. They watched as the mountain chain around that large city lit up to create a defensive shield. Inscribed arrows shot from some buildings too.

The arrows destroyed some bombs, but there were too many of them. Noah's Instabilities fell on the golden shield, covering the city to release their destructive might.

The bombs hit by the arrows exploded too, and a barrage of fuming spikes spread on the sky above the Four Sigils sect.

Of course, the assets in the four rank on the scene had retreated a bit when they saw that the Demonic Prince had taken the initiative. They didn't want to be too close when rank 5 cultivators acted.

The light radiated by the golden shield flickered under the assault of the Instabilities. Each one of them was similar to a spell launched by a rank 5 cultivator, and more than forty bombs were exploding right above its surface!

Cracks appeared on the shield, and golden shards fell on the city. Some saber-shaped runes even passed through the fissures and aimed for the buildings below.

The arrows stopped them, but the explosions still raged in the sky, and the light of the shield dimmed as cracks accumulated. Then, the light completely vanished, and the mountain chain returned to its natural state.

The storm of spikes flew toward the city at that point. Countless saber-shaped runes with the power of the fifth rank threatened to crash on the structures on the ground and unleash destruction among the cultivators inside them.

Nevertheless, the pagodas lit up, and a wide array of inscriptions spread from them to cover the entire city. A series of golden beams then shot from the four tall structures and aimed for the spikes, destroying them at the slightest touch.

Noah's eyes sharpened at the sight of the beams, and the Demons turned toward him to nod. He had shared his theory about the Royal's pool with the Hive's higher-ups, and their opinions matched his.

Still, there was a lack of actual proof since both Thirty-seven and Daniel were having issues analyzing the oily water.

The quality of the defenses of the Ravaging Demon sect's regions though showed how comprehensive its cooperation with the Elbas family was.

The Four Sigils sect should only have a few defensive formations according to the Council's intel. Instead, it had inscriptions capable of countering multiple kinds of threats.

The lines on the ground probably had the purpose of defending from the separate dimension. Something like that wasn't something that the Ravaging Demon sect experts could have built in a short time. Only the Elbas family had inscription masters with that level of expertise.

The nods of the Demons meant that there might be more surprises once the attack started.

The golden beams destroyed the saber-shaped runes before they could even touch the ground. Some of them managed to make a few buildings crumble, but that amount of damage was negligible.

The Demons acted after the destruction stopped.

Flying Demon deployed a layer of ice at the base of the mountains that spread over them as it made its way toward the city's insides. Dreaming Demon closed her eyes, and the light of the formation dimmed as her consciousness invaded it.

They had to take down those defenses before diving toward the city. They couldn't barge in recklessly now that they suspected that the Elbas family had been there.

The pagodas' light fought against the spreading ice, but the latter seeped in some blind spots anyway. A few buildings started to freeze, and ice flowers grew on their surface.

The flowers radiated Flying Demon's individuality. They worked as the cores in a formation, giving more power to the ice that continued to reach the city's center.

The golden beams struggled to escape Dreaming Demon's control. Yet, they only manage to bend their light without succeeding in reaching for the layer of ice.

Panicked human cultivators began to exit their habitations and assemble in a battle formation at the center of the city. A few rank 4 experts also came out in the open to avoid the effects of the Demon's attacks.

Noah observed the scene with the utmost attention. The higher-ups of the Ravaging Demon sect had to appear soon. Otherwise, he and the Demons would level that city before the battle even started.

As he had predicted, four figures suddenly shot in the air and stopped at some distance from the trio in the fifth rank. They were the four experts reported by the Council.

The Demons continued to attack the city even after those enemies appeared. They had to damage its defenses as much as they could before the rest of the army invaded. However, their enemies couldn't let them continue.

There were two Elders in the liquid stage, one in the gaseous, and one in the solid. They were barely a threat in front of experts that had managed to survive the attack of a powerhouse.

Yet, a series of inscribed items soon appeared in front of them and radiated auras with power at the peak of the fifth rank. The two cultivators in the liquid stage even started to execute strange forms to activate a battle formation.