Chapter 1542: 1542. Pay

The Crystal City had methods to notice Noah and the others, but the Eternal Snakes claimed the full attention of their sensors. Moreover, those cultivators wouldn't mind the small pack in the air when they had middle tier magical beasts laying waste to their defenses.

A purple dome quickly covered the palace while other defenses shot out of the structure and terrain. More rank 8 golems and light appeared in the forest and clashed with the Snakes.

The Crystal City had a vast network. It gathered information both from organizations and magical beasts. Having to face a sudden assault was almost impossible.

However, the Rat had led Noah's group through secret paths. The Eternal Snakes could attack before the Crystal City could deploy its defenses in a proper formation.

The Snakes only had to defeat the few defenses that managed to appear on their paths before charging ahead. Their advance would have been far slower if the Crystal City had managed to deploy everything together.

Two powerful figures soon appeared above the palace. Madame Canson and a second rank 8 cultivator wearing the colors of the Crystal City inspected the pack of Snakes before glancing toward the sky.

The descending dark cloud carried a few threats, but they were nothing compared to the middle tier beasts slithering on the ground. The cultivators had to take care of the Snakes if they wanted their palace to survive.

Madame Canson raised her hand toward the sky, and purple crystals began to appear among the various lights surrounding the palace. Both the shield and the pillars became stronger under the influence of her law.

The second rank 8 cultivator spread his arms forward, and a series of walls grew around the structure. Sharp spikes also grew from them before they shot toward the incoming Snakes.

The golems became bigger under the enhanced purple light. A series of metallic armors also grew from the ground, and a few solid stage cultivators exited the palace to wear them.

The Crystal City was getting ready to fight the Eternal Snakes face to face. As for the army in the sky, the cultivators left them to the purple shield and the two rank 8 cultivators.

'Madame Canson is enhancing every defense,' Noah thought while diving toward the structure. 'The other rank 8 cultivator seems to have a tight connection with the ground and the palace as a whole. Maybe he is even controlling the various protections.'

Noah believed that Madame Canson had yet to recognize him. After all, her attention was on the Eternal Snakes, and she had yet to see that the dark aura in the sky hid human figures.

The area around the palace fell into chaos. Countless golems and armors handled by cultivators charged toward the Eternal Snakes while a barrage of beams attacked those creatures.

The assault had yet to kill one of the Snakes, but even the middle tier specimens had to acknowledge the power behind that offensive.

The defenses illuminated by the purple light enhanced by Madame Canson's crystals had become able to overcome rank 8 magical beasts. The metallic armors handled by rank 7 cultivators weren't an exception. Those underlings could even deploy battle formations that better suited the situation.

The Eternal Snakes were among the most ruthless and powerful species that Noah had ever met, but they had to stop in front of so many defenses. Their ice shattered before reaching the ground, and injuries were slowly accumulating on their massive bodies.

A golem would crumble from time to time. The Snakes even managed to crush some of the armors with their bodies. However, they found themselves unable to advance against that barrage of powerful attacks.

Noah moved his attention away from the battlefield when his group was about to reach the defensive dome. The light reflected by the purple crystals managed to pierce his dark world and illuminate the area again, but his ambition continued to burn stronger than ever.

'This is a defensive method meant to stop rank 8 existences,' Noah thought as his ambition intensified.

His law used his potential to bring his might far beyond his previous limits. It made Noah feel more powerful than ever.

The challenge that the Crystal City had placed in front of Noah forced his law to do more. He even believed that his ambition was almost ready to bring his centers of power into the eighth rank.

'Not yet,' Noah thought before pointing his blades toward the dome. 'Let's see how far I am from actual rank 8 cultivators.'

The Demonic Form spread from his palm and covered his draconic figure. The dark world also transformed, taking pointy shape with the peak where his blades converged.

The rest of the pack was behind Noah and continued to follow him without slowing down. Those creatures had seen him fighting rank 8 magical beasts without advancing in the eighth rank. They firmly believed that the dome would crumble once it met his blades.

The impact eventually happened. Noah's blades touched the dome, and all the power accumulated around his figure fell on those purple crystals.

Noah stopped for an instant, but a spiderweb of cracks soon spread from where his blades had touched the dome. Madame Canson felt forced to raise her head to stare at the scene, but she had decided to pay attention to the pack above her one instant too late.

Before Madame Canson could send more power to the technique, the dome shattered, and a series of purple shards rained toward the palace. The other rank 8 cultivator also raised his head to stare at the scene, but his companion didn't let him diverge his attention from the battlefield.

"I will handle them," Madame Canson said, and an army of rank 7 cultivators appeared above the palace.

Noah recognized some of them. Miss Canson, Shandal, Miss Nine, God's Right Hand, and other cultivators met in his previous visit in the Crystal City were among them.

"Make these beasts understand the difference between our kinds!" Madame Canson shouted, and the army charged ahead.

A purple light shone from Madame Canson's figure, and crystals began to cover her underlings. Their power immediately increased, and some of them even began to step past the limits of the eighth rank.

Noah expanded his dark world, creating an immense descending cloud that covered the whole palace. Blackness and purple light had taken control of that area of the sky, and none of them wanted to retreat.

'Let's take care of that first,' Noah thought before moving toward a specific cultivator.

Shandal was flying ahead. His figure brimmed with azure light that slowed down the advance of the magical beasts directly above him. However, a draconic figure suddenly filled his vision, and his centers of power stopped working.

Madame Canson and the other powerful cultivators among the army didn't overlook that event. Noah radiated one of the two dangerous auras among his group. They had seen how Shandal had disappeared as soon as Noah's dark wings had enveloped his body.

A vague guess appeared in their minds, but Noah didn't give them the time to think. His figure vanished and reappeared above Madame Canson, where he launched one of his strongest attacks.

Madame Canson had been able to follow Noah's movements. The invisible sharp energy launched by him transformed into purple crystals before it could reach her face.

Noah didn't give up and teleported again, appearing right behind her. His blades flashed again, and a dark halo expanded as his sharpness flew toward Madame Canson.

His attack failed to reach his opponent again. His sharpness transformed into purple crystals that added a layer of protection to Madame Canson. She was transforming his energy into power that she could use to fuel her abilities.

"You aren't a beast," Madame Canson said in a surprised tone, "But you aren't a human either."

Noah thrust his blades, and the defenses around Madame Canson shattered. However, his sharpness transformed into purple crystals right before reaching the center of her forehead.

"You are Defying Demon!" Madame Canson exclaimed while her aura expanded. "I was waiting for you. It's time to pay for what your friends did the last time."