Chapter 1403: 1403. Math

Noah had already launched many attacks, but he had yet to destroy one golem. His slashes, lunges, and techniques broke their skin and dug through their tough bodies, but they never managed to destabilize their whole structure.

Only the first golem was showing signs of giving in. Cuts still dug through its injury. The opening in its chest had continued to enlarge as Noah fought all around the hall.

A loud hiss eventually echoed through the underground hall. Snore formed inside the dark world and joined the army of dragons in their offensive against the golems.

Dark rays shot out of its mouth and crashed on every golem that tried to find a flaw in Noah's escape route. The violent dark matter was Noah's most destructive attack, but it didn't manage to pierce the golems from side to side since they always destroyed the Blood Companion before it could hurt them too much.

The golems could immediately react to any danger, and they could coordinate to cut away Noah's escape routes. Their attacks also tried to force Noah to go deeper inside the underground hall.

That wasn't a battle against a bunch of mindless peak middle tier creatures. The golems were a fearsome opponent that could take Noah's life as soon as he let them gain the upper hand in that battle.

'At least one!' Noah shouted in his mind as he kicked one massive arm to the side and slashed at a golem that was trying to attack him from behind.

Noah had begun to feel some pressure as the battle continued. More and more golems were gathering around him. The number of attacks he had to deal with kept increasing, and he never managed to inflict a deadly blow to any of those creatures.

The tunnel leading back to the outside world got farther and farther away as he kept dodging and attacking. Snore's dark beams managed to buy him enough time to return to a decent position, but the Blood Companion lacked his agility and continued to crumble under those powerful attacks.

His other abilities failed to affect the golems. Those puppets marched through his slashes, his lunges, his dragons, and his dark world without ever slowing down. It didn't matter how much he hurt them. Everything was pointless if he couldn't destroy them.

Of course, Noah wasn't fighting to win. He had already devised countless strategies, and he had obtained enough data to improve his workshop. He only needed to see one last thing before he could retreat and prepare.

He had to understand how much damage the golems could take before crumbling.

'What are they doing?' Noah suddenly thought when he sensed that something was off.

The golems were too big to fight Noah at the same time. Only three to four of them could attack him without hindering each other's offensive. The rest of the army waited behind them, ready to intercept him whenever he performed an evasive maneuver.

However, Noah had suddenly noticed that part of the backlines had begun to move toward the exit. They were completely ignoring him to deploy a different tactic.

Noah didn't take much to understand what they were up to. He only had to imagine what he would do if he were in the golem's position.

'They are trying to seal the exit!' Noah concluded before kicking the air under him and transforming into a black sword as he shot toward the tunnel.

Noah didn't make it past the backlines with his movement techniques. There were too many golems on his path, so he often had to slow down to dodge them.

The golems exploited that flaw in his escape by charging their simple martial arts and releasing punches that filled the entire hall with waves made of dense air. They slammed Noah to a wall before he could cross them.

Snore quickly reformed and slammed its body on the golems that were trying to close on Noah. Its body made of dense dark matter managed to endure a few blows, and the violent energy shooting out of its mouth slowed down part of the backlines.

Noah quickly recovered and resumed his retreat, but Snore eventually crumbled, so the golems could launch their martial arts and interrupt his escape again.

The dense air slamming on his body kept him stuck on the pale-azure wall. Noah's instincts went crazy when he heard the screeching noises drawing closer to his position.

He could endure the shockwaves easily, but a direct hit would hurt. Noah knew that he had to leave before it was too late, but he felt unable to move properly with so many golems throwing their abilities at him.

Even if the situation appeared desperate, Noah remained calm. He had been through worse in his life, and he didn't approach the trial unprepared.

Noah unfolded his consciousness as he tightened his grip on the Demonic Sword. The dark world seemed to stop as his concentration increased and his mind focused on the golems.

Then, the dark world began to condense. The army of dragons vanished, and the dark matter in the area amassed in the form of minute shards above the puppets' heads. Those creatures promptly tried to attack them, but an intense sharpness suddenly filled the room and made it fall into complete chaos.

The shards transformed into massive blades that fell on the golems and cut through their dark-blue bodies. Those creatures remained stuck for a second, but they soon charged ahead and destroyed the black swords.

Noah's sharpness activated at that point. The giants now had a large crack that ran from their head to the bottom of their torso, and countless cuts opened inside them.

Pieces of those dark-blue rocks rained from their bodies as Noah's attack continued. He didn't waste time gathering those materials and shot toward the exit at full speed.

The dark matter that had flowed inside them after they continued their charge resonated with Noah's sharpness and aided the many cuts that were continuing to appear. The golems finally showed signs of slowing down, but that phenomenon barely affected their battle prowess.

Still, Noah used the instant gained through his technique to shoot toward the exit and cross the golems that were about to seal his path toward the outside world.

Along his path, Noah noticed that one of the giants had fallen on the ground, with its body in pieces. That was the first puppet that he met in the trial. It was the creature that had suffered his lunge.

Noah smiled at that sight, but he didn't dare to slow down. He entered the tunnel and quickly flew back into the outside world to return to his cave.

The scenes of the recent battles still filled his mind, but intense tiredness filled his mind and threatened to make him fall asleep.

Noah's body was fine, but his dantian and mental energy were almost empty. The last attack and the Divine Deduction technique's continuous use had made him reach his limits far faster than usual. Still, he didn't regret that.

'Destroying one of them was the hard part,' Noah thought as he sat and reviewed the images of his recent battle. 'Finding a way to destroy the other ones without depleting my energy is simple math.'