Chapter 1282: 1282. Investment

Noah returned inside the separate dimension after the battle. The effects of his ambition had run off mid-fight, but he had managed to escape.

'My ambition can't last for so long,' Noah concluded after he reviewed the battle.

The quasi-rank 7 Eternal Snake was weaker than him, but its resilience made it hard to defeat since his superior strength had a time limit.

'Three to four times for each divine armor,' Noah calculated in his mind. 'The entire world should make it able to perform that ability only four times. I need to kill the Snake a minimum of twelve times to win this fight.'

Noah didn't consider the things that could go wrong in his math. Battles on that level could be unpredictable, especially when it came to magical beasts and their instincts.

The Snakes' leader had never shown fear or worry during the fight. Even when Noah had found a way to counter the storms' cloaking capabilities, it had always remained calm.

Noah analyzed his opponent while he let his centers of power disperse the stress acc.u.mulated in the last battle. He reviewed every exchange and technique deployed in the fight, but the process always brought him the same conclusions.

He could kill the Snake, but the creature had multiple lives. That made it almost impossible to defeat when Noah's superior battle prowess had a time limit.

Noah didn't let that fact discourage him. Some strategies could make up for the flaws in his battle prowess. He only needed to find the correct tactic to defeat his opponent.

'I need to save energy while inflicting fatal blows,' Noah thought as images formed in his mind. 'This fight might not be impossible if I plan every step carefully.'

Noah didn't have any other option. The quasi-rank 7 Snake would probably be his last real opponent in the lower plane. After defeating the creature, he could only remain in his quarters and cultivate until his centers of power reached the divine ranks.

Second Prince could still surprise him, but Noah couldn't see him as a worthy opponent anymore. He would fight the Royal if the situation required it, but he wouldn't hunt him.

Defeating the Snake wasn't a priority now that the world was safe, but Noah hated spending centuries in seclusion. Still, he had to accept that he had almost reached the limits of the heroic ranks, so the lower plane couldn't offer him any other adventure.

His decision to fight the Snake at his current level could only delay the inevitable, but Noah preferred to handle that matter before entering a long period of seclusion.

Facing those struggles could make his power increase faster, and Noah never ignored those opportunities. Also, it was better to polish his individuality before improving it. That approach would reduce the chance of ending up with a flawed law.

A scene had appeared inside Noah's mind while he analyzed his issue. Two figures fought each other to the death while exchanging various blows that always led to different results.

The two figures depicted Noah and the quasi-divine Snake. Noah imagined how the battle against the beast would go if he approached it in different ways.

It didn't matter for how long he reviewed that battle. Noah didn't have many attacks that could kill the creature in one blow, which made his offensive limited.

Having fewer attacks at his disposal made his offensive predictable. Moreover, Snore's dark beam was one of those techniques, and the Snake could already dodge it often.

Yet, the dark beam wasn't the main issue in that fight. Noah's attacks performed well, especially when he considered that his real level was nowhere near the Snake.

The main problem was the time that passed between one exchange and the other. Noah's offensive had to stop whenever the storms surrounded the Snake. Night had managed to counter that ability a few times, but it didn't solve the issue.

'It would be great if I could just charge through them,' Noah thought, and the images of the storms appeared in his vision.

The pieces of ice carried by the storms were quasi-rank 7 materials. Their sturdiness stood on the limits of a lower plane. The Snake even had a divine armor that made it quite troublesome to fight.

'My body is too strong to have a classification,' Noah thought as he continued to consider his options, 'But I know that it's better than magical beasts and hybrids. It shouldn't even be hard to make it able to endure those attacks.'

Noah had barely stepped into the last part of the sixth rank. His centers of power were only at the beginning of that stage, so they could become far stronger before the inevitable jump to the divine ranks.

He was almost able to match the Snake's physical power, which showed how strong his body was. If he managed to improve it enough to surpass the creature's level, he would cross the storms and spare a lot of time during the fight.

'It shouldn't be hard to reach that level,' Noah thought as the stuffed winged beast materialized in front of him.

Hunting couldn't bring Noah any valuable resource since only a few rank 6 creatures had remained in the world. The quasi-rank 7 Snake even ate them from time to time, so Noah would have a hard time finding suitable prey.

However, he had the stuffed winged beast at his disposal. He had always avoided eating its skin because his breakthroughs required an immense quantity of energy. Still, that resource appeared to be perfect for his situation.

Noah wouldn't even lose his stash of quasi-divine flesh if he ate the winged beast. Using that stuffed creature could give him access to the quasi-rank 7 Snake, which was far more intact.

He wouldn't lose the resource needed for the breakthroughs since consuming the winged beast was an investment toward a greater hunt, a mission that could bring him an entire quasi-divine creature.

The more Noah thought about that, the more he felt convinced that eating the winged beast was the right choice. He could deploy a completely different offensive against the snake as long as he surpassed its physical strength.

He wouldn't fear its attacks anymore. His slashes would also improve since they depended on his physical strength. The next battle could be the last if he went there after his body grew.

'No time to waste then,' Noah thought as he stood up and wielded his Demonic Sword.

He had decided to eat what remained of the winged beast and spend some time training. His other centers of power also needed to improve. A better foundation would produce better effects with his ambition.

The Demonic Sword touched the stuffed creature's skin as Noah pointed it toward that resource. The world of laws appeared in his eyes as attacks started to come out of his blade.

Glass-like shards fell on the ground as the stuffed beast lost pieces of its skin. Noah peeled all the tissues that Shandal had ignored when he seized that creature.

Once the entirety of the stuffed beast had turned into nothing more than an empty bust, Noah sat on the floor and began to eat its skin.

Inside his mind, the imaginary figures of him and the Snake continued to fight. Noah had decided that he would kill the quasi-rank 7 Snake in his next fight, so he didn't hesitate to imagine a simulation of that battle.

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Author's notes: The other chapters will arrive after I wake up.