Noah's previous attacks had spread destruction through the world. His storms of dark matter had created large fissures in the fabric of the sky, and even his spell had opened a few cracks.
The frail ground of the old continent had crumbled under his attacks, but that was nothing compared to what it was about to happen. Noah had restrained himself before, but he couldn't do the same against his last opponent.
The peak rank 6 Eternal Snake filled the area with silver liquid that created multiple layers of ice. It had seen how deadly Noah's abilities were, so it wouldn't take risks when facing him.
On the other hand, Noah was quite at ease. He had already beaten a similar creature in the past. The effort had left him badly injured, but he was far stronger than before now.
His centers of power were still on a similar level, but he had added a powerful weapon to his arsenal. That addition alone gave him all the confidence that he needed in the battle.
Of course, he couldn't attack mindlessly. He still had to retrieve the creature's glands, meaning that he had to leave the lower part of its head undamaged.
The Snake leaped toward Noah. Its charge destroyed part of the defensive layers to create a cloud of ice-shards that fell on the ground.
The creature didn't need to hold back. Its species was famous for its healing abilities, so it had naturally developed a reckless battle style.
Noah respected that behavior, but he had long since learnt how to counter that troublesome ability. The Eternal Snakes could close their injuries with the ice-shards, but they couldn't regrow entire pieces of their bodies.
The Eternal Snake reached Noah in an instant. Silver liquid came out of its open mouth, and its fangs threatened to close on the black armor. Yet, a series of cuts appeared on the slimy insides of its maw before the creature could finish its attack.
Magical beasts had a fatal weakness that cultivators could easily exploit. Their battle style was always the same, and there was a limit to how much they could improve it.
Even creatures that had lived in the Immortal Lands and bordered the state of intelligent beasts couldn't do much about that. Their single center of power didn't give them any chance to break through their species' limitations.
Noah had already studied the Eternal Snakes and learnt all their moves. He even knew their internal composition better than any other expert in the magical beasts' field, so that species couldn't surprise him anymore.
His opponent wielded raw strength far superior to his, but that would be useless if it couldn't land a single blow on him.
Night ravaged the insides of the upper part of the creature's mouth before leaving that spot and merging with the environment again. Noah used that chance to sprint toward the center of its body and thrust the Demonic Sword in its flesh.
Snore quickly reformed and wrapped itself around the Eternal Snake's body. The Blood Companion's mouth opened to launch its deadly dark beam near the spot damaged by Noah.
The beam effortlessly carved a hole in the Snake's body, and Noah swung his blade as soon as the violent energy dispersed. The creature became aware of its surroundings only to see half of its body falling toward the ground.
The Snake released a cry that expressed both pain and anger. The ice-shards that had previously acc.u.mulated in the environment flew toward its mouth and body to close the injuries. Meanwhile, its head shot toward its enemy.
However, the Snake didn't sense anything when it closed its mouth on the human figure, and a painful sensation soon spread from its body.
The creature saw that Noah had reappeared near the large injury and had stabbed its flesh again. The Blood Companion had also reformed by its side, and the dark beam soon shot out of its mouth to carve another large hole.
Noah followed Snore's attack with a powerful slash to cut the pieces of flesh that kept the injured part connected to the main body. Another big chunk of the Eternal Snake fell toward the ground under its angry gaze.
Technically speaking, the Eternal Snake was faster than Noah in close combat. Its physical might was also above his, and the shockwaves that the creature released with each attack could destabilize him.
Yet, Noah knew what type of attack the creature would launch. He didn't even need to see his opponent to know where and when he had to dodge.
That gave Noah the ability to be a few steps ahead of his opponent. He sprinted even before the enemy's attacks started, and he reached its body in time to exploit the openings left during its offensive.
Moreover, the ice-shards couldn't completely heal the wounds that he inflicted. Except for the cuts in its mouth, the Snake's innate ability couldn't fix the damage that it was suffering.
Those exchanges continued for a while. The Snake's body kept becoming shorter every time the creature attacked, and it soon found itself without the flesh needed to perform its leaps.
The Snake lost its agility and explosive speed after Noah cut away enough of its body. He didn't even need to predict his opponent's attacks at that point since he was faster in that phase of the battle.
The creature continued to struggle. It didn't give in even if it had lost most of its body. Still, its attacks were quite pitiful in that condition. They didn't even meet the standards of a peak rank 6 existence.
Noah continued to sever pieces of its body until the Snake was nothing more than a reptilian head standing on top of a trail of ice. Its innate ability had closed its injuries, but its current state made it unable to move properly.
The Snake could only release more silver liquid and create a frozen structure that protected it. Yet, that ice was nothing in front of Noah's blade. The Demonic Sword dug a hole in those defenses in a few slashes.
Noah reached the head and landed at its center, right above the creature's brain. Dark matter flowed inside the Demonic Sword before he thrust it downward.
The Snake's cried in pain, but Noah didn't stop. His ambition continued to push his centers of power beyond their limits on its own. Thinking that he could complete his project made his individuality explode.
After the seventh lunge, the light abandoned the Eternal Snake's eyes. Noah's kill count had reached fifty specimens at that point, but the main achievement was that another peak rank 6 creature had died.
Only eight peak rank 6 Snakes remained in the world now. There was still the quasi-rank 7 creature above them, but Noah couldn't spare any thought for the hunt after his last victory.
He didn't even care about the condition of the world. Noah would take his time to study the expansion of the cracks later on. Now he could only think about his project.
His ambition continued to surge even if the battle was over. Noah had to forcefully suppress it to stop the empowerment that it gave to his centers of power.
The drawbacks soon arrived, but Noah ignored them. He quickly gathered all the body parts on the battlefield before leaving the old continent to fly toward the separate dimension.
He needed to be completely isolated to feel at ease when performing the fusion. He couldn't trust the cave in the seabed with so many threats in the world.