Noah found himself on the wall of the large hall. A horizontal cut threatened to divide his already maimed body into two parts. The unstable substance had saved him from the sudden attack, but his condition was far from ideal.
Divine Demon, Wilfred, Jordan, and Ian were in a similar condition. The attack had divided Jordan and Ian's bodies into two parts and left them without legs. Wilfred's waist only featured a large cut, while Divine Demon had lost a large chunk of his torso together with the lower part of his figure.
The winged lion had also changed. The burst of light had added a few body parts to its figure. Multiple sharp limbs now grew from its back and allowed it to stagger toward its opponents.
Those new limbs resembled sharp spider legs capable of performing sudden attacks. They were so quick that King Elbas and Theodora had to retreat to escape from their range.
'Why would you even give it power-ups?' Noah cursed in his mind before unfolding his dark world.
His annoyance toward Great Builder had reached a new level after that exchange. His body would be fine, but Jordan and Ian were in critical condition. Divine Demon wasn't fine either, but his azure energy was already helping him recovering his dantian.
The currents of dark matter picked the severed lower bodies and forced them to reconnect with their owners. Jordan and Ian felt better after "Breath" resumed flowing through their organs, but they immediately understood that their battle was over.
The dark world could only help them recover faster. The technique couldn't heal such severe injuries, especially in hybrids due to their high requirements in terms of energy. Jordan and Ian had to stay still and let the natural healing properties of their bodies do their work.
"Who can still fight?" Noah asked, even if the dark world was giving him the answer to that question.
"I'm up," Wilfred snorted before standing up and forcing his muscles to bulge until they sealed the cut on his waist.
"I think I can handle one last attack," Divine Demon shouted while his azure energy slowly reattached his torn flesh.
"I will fight!" Jordan announced.
"Me too!" Ian joined that conversation.
"I don't need corpses to be in the way," Noah snorted while applying a series of dense layers of dark matter around Jordan and Ian.
"Did anyone die yet?" Noah asked. "I need to burn something."
Some of the magical beasts took his joke seriously and shot through the dark world to reach his position. Those creatures were willing to give their life to make him recover, but Noah only sighed at that sight.
"We will make rules for that," Noah sighed before focusing on the golden expert. "Elbas, give me something to recover. Try to help Jordan and Ian too."
"Do you think I can fix your mess every time?" King Elbas asked.
"That's your role in my great organization," Noah proudly announced before forcing himself to stand up.
His condition was awful. Bloodthirsty thoughts filled his mind, injuries covered his body, and blood poured from the last cut on his waist.
The lack of materials to burn in the trial had rendered his flames useless. His innate ability couldn't burn the winged lion either, so Noah had never managed to recover since the beginning of the battle.
"I might have something for you," King Elbas sighed while continuing to retreat.
King Elbas let a flask float among the currents of dark matter, and Noah promptly made it fly in his hands. The bottle contained a dark liquid that seemed to radiate an aura that matched Noah's law.
"Did you make this for me?" Noah teased King Elbas while breaking the seal on the bottle.
"I did not!" King Elbas shouted. "I have happened to see your flames a few times, and I grew curious. That method is so inefficient, so I created something only to prove that I was right."
Noah had already stopped listening to King Elbas. He emptied the bottle inside the dark world and studied that substance with the help of his technique.
The black liquid resembled a simple mass of pure energy that carried Noah's aura. His instincts even told him that he could directly drink that substance instead of burning it.
Noah decided to give the liquid a try. The black substance condensed in the shape of a pill and flowed toward his mouth.
An immense surge of power filled Noah's body. His injuries instantly healed, and his bloodlust vanished. The drug had made him return to his peak in an instant.
"How many of them do you have?" Noah asked while checking his condition.
"I did only one of them," King Elbas snorted. "I'm not as selfless as my son. I don't waste my skills on others."
Noah had begun to ignore him again. The winged lion was running through the hall, and only its casual stumbling allowed the others to survive. Its coordination was awful, but Noah couldn't underestimate it anyway.
"Let's focus on the heads this time around," Noah conveyed through the dark world. "We can't survive with the slow approach."
"The new legs are weak on the joints," King Elbas explained. "They are too fast for us. I don't know how you plan to reach the heads."
"Can you slow them down?" Noah asked.
"It's quite impossible," King Elbas revealed.
"What if I join you?" Theodora asked, and Luke, Pearl, and other experts also appeared behind her.
"How slow are we talking about?" King Elbas asked after glancing at the other experts.
"Make them stop for an instant," Noah ordered. "Wilfred with me. Everyone else must wait for my signal."
"What's the plan?" Wilfred asked while flying toward Noah.
"We blow one head after I take care of the new legs," Noah announced, and his words spread through the entire hall. "The others must destroy the other two."
"How can we even pass through those legs?" Wilfred continued to question him. "One instant won't be enough. Many will die."
"We send the expendable troops then," Noah laughed as a series of dark figures materialized among the waves of dark matter.
An army of massive rank 8 turtles gathered around Noah and Wilfred before flying in front of them. Those products of the workshop would be their meat shield.
Noah glanced toward the winged lion. A storm of slashes flew out of its violent legs, but they always dispersed after flying for a few meters. Those attacks were only consequences of the immense power released by those new limbs.
"Slow them down!" Noah roared, and the experts activated their methods to stop the puppet.
King Elbas threw runes, Pearl used a strange ethereal whip, and Luke gathered mental energy until he launched a dense needle. The other experts were also working with the trio, and they joined their offensive to stop the legs.
The sharp legs stopped for an instant before moving again. Still, they seemed heavier and out of shape now. It was as if something had seeped into their insides.
A series of explosions suddenly ran through the hall. Noah had relied on all the Instabilities inside his separate space to destroy the legs. His tactic also featured Snore, Night, and Duanlong. The three companions had to launch precise attacks toward the joints.
Most of those quick legs slowly fell apart, and the rest of the army finally had free access to the puppet. Noah and Wilfred shot forward, and the turtles stepped up whenever the creature wanted to stretch one of its maimed legs.
Noah and Wilfred attacked together. The singularity and the punch landed on the lion's neck at the same time.
One head fell toward the ground, and a figure suddenly appeared next to the experts. Divine Demon was barely alive, but he didn't hesitate to place his head on one of the necks and turn it into a melted mess.
"The others now!" Noah roared while grabbing Divine Demon and retreating.
Wilfred ran in the opposite way, but he left a path for the rest of the army. All the experts there managed to attack the last head in a matter of seconds.