Chapter 1026: 1026. Die

'Why is it here?' Noah cursed in his mind. The journey through the magma had been uneventful due to the scary feeling that his group leaked in the environment. Yet, the sea was different.

Lifeforms were rare in the magma, and the species that lived there usually hunted solitary prey or resorted to cannibalism to survive. However, the sea was vast, and its depths hid dangers that even some powerhouses preferred to avoid.

Still, Noah didn't believe that they had been so unlucky to find a rank 6 beast as soon as they resurfaced, especially when their situation was far from ideal.

Noah was injured, and Skully was busy protecting the human cultivators from the pressure of the depths. The heroic experts were even exhausted after the long journey. The battle prowess of the group was basically at its lowest.

'Did it track me after so many years?' Noah eventually considered that option, but he felt forced to suppress his thoughts because the lizard turned and began to charge toward them.

"Bring them where they can survive and come down to help me!" Noah conveyed through his consciousness as he shot toward the lizard. His mind sent waves of pain when he activated the Demonic Form, but he didn't dare to face a rank 6 beast without it.

Skully shot upward after Noah's order. She swam through the sea without even admiring the environment that she had missed for countless years.

The human cultivators carried by her mental energy either puked of fainted due to her speed, but she managed to reach waters where they could survive in less than a minute thanks to that.

Skully quickly let go of her underlings and returned toward the depth. She was a bit faster at that time, but she could only feel speechless when she sensed how the situation had changed in that short period.

Snore had immobilized the lizard with its tall body. The rank 6 beast found it hard to get rid of the Blood Companion's dark matter since it became gaseous whenever it was about to endure a heavy blow.

Noah attacked the creature with the second form of his martial art. Due to Snore's efforts, he could stay still and launch as many slashes as he wanted toward the head of his opponent.

Skully didn't even know why she had been in such a hurry in the first place. Noah seemed to have everything under control. Actually, it appeared as if the lizard didn't stand a chance!

Yet, she noticed how Noah slowed down his attacks after a while, which was strange for a hybrid. Skully would understand that if he had depleted his "Breath". Yet, that didn't seem to be the case for him.

Skully understood that there was something wrong with Noah. She had seen him acting strangely during the travel through the magma, but she didn't give the matter too much thought because he had always been quite peculiar.

However, it was only natural that his reckless actions in the hidden world had led to repercussions. No one walked away from a god without suffering any injury.

The water around Skully churned as her mental energy forced it to take the form of thick spears that shot toward the immobilized lizard. Her innate ability even went to help Snore suppressing the creature.

The lizard had many long wounds on its head due to Noah's attacks, and Snore used them as the target for its elemental offensive. The beast roared in pain and struggled with more intensity whenever the Blood Companion attacked, but the dark matter was difficult to fend off.

Snore's body turned gaseous only to solidify after the lizard lost its momentum. The creature never freed itself entirely from the Blood Companion, and there wasn't anything that it could do in a short time.

Noah had noticed since his last meeting with the lizard that it didn't use any specific ability. It appeared to be a beast that relied only on its body to fight.

That hypothesis became certainty during that battle. The lizard didn't resort to any ability even after being trapped for so long. Moreover, Noah's attacks never managed to pierce its tissues too profoundly, which confirmed that it was a species that focused only on the body.

That went to the advantage of cultivators since they had access to various battle styles. Noah could keep it still and launch a relentless offensive without even risking his life.

SKully's return made the situation even more one-sided. There were a rank 6 hybrid and a rank 6 mage fighting a magical beast in the lower tier of the sixth rank. Even with Noah injured, the two were more than enough to take care of the threat.

Killing such a strong creature took time, especially when it came to a species that focused only on the body. Noah, Skully, and Snore had to resort to countless attacks to kill it.

Skully used her mental energy to suppress it and deal blows in sensitive spots like the eyes and wounds. Snore would launch flames, lightning bolts, and a chilling breath on its injuries.

Meanwhile, Noah slashed, creating fissures in the sea as they landed on the creature's head.

In the end, Noah's corrosive smoke had the better over the beast. His Demonic Form could use mental energy in the sixth rank, so its power had benefitted a lot from his breakthrough.

The smoke seeped into the injuries and filled the insides of the lizard, hurting it over time and eventually putting an end to its life.

Noah quickly dispersed the Demonic Form when the battle ended. The cracks on his mental sphere had spread due to the effort, and using spells only worsened his situation.

That was the reason why he didn't rely on all his techniques during the battle. Most of them still needed the proper modifications to express his new power, and his mind couldn't endure too many of them at the same time.

Noah felt the need to rest now more than ever. Every second that he spent in that state would make his recovery longer. Yet, he didn't forget to grab the corpse of the lizard before returning moving to resurface.

Skully paid attention as Noah grabbed the lizard by its tail before dragging it upward. Her expression revealed the hunger that she felt in seeing such a large and nutrient meal going away right in front of her eyes.

Noah noticed that, but he had other plans for the corpse. His mind had advanced, so he felt finally confident in approaching the breakthrough of his body. The best way to prepare for the chrysalis was to directly take the required energy from a creature that had reached the next rank.

"You are on a diet," Noah conveyed through his consciousness before crossing the drooling Skully and swimming toward the surface, unaware that battles were filling the new continent.