The event that saw Noah's sudden reappearance managed to daze the remaining experts. But for barely a second.
The next instant and they were raining attacks on his figure, yet to their ever-growing astonishment they found silver streaks moving to and fro the attack area.
Noah was dodging their attacks by running around!nOVe)lb/1n
Flames, sparks, water, earth, and wind, rained on the area in various forms conjured by those experts, but he utilized his greatest trait. Speed.
"This is bad!" One of those experts exclaimed while huge chunks of red rocks manifested out of thin air to shoot toward Noah's general area. They exploded mid-flight, sending speeding rocks everywhere.
That portion of the sky never stopped trembling, as the powerful explosions that occurred when two or more elemental attacks collided continued to rage with intensity.
The whirlwinds that had appeared thanks to Noah's power had vanished. Snuffed out by the power of nine higher stage tier 4 experts.
One would think that such an overwhelming display of force would put the hearts of those cultivators to rest. Maybe if their opponent had been a less impressive expert that would have been the case.
But they were battling Aiden, and the new development did not help their case.
"We're not getting anywhere with this," Another of them revealed their axiomatic situation.
Relni had been knocked unconscious, but icy-blue and green mist leaked out of her figure to keep her afloat.
No one had the chance to check her out, and when another presence unfolded on the battlefield, they could only focus on the battle before them.
Noah summoned his Elder Golem and it instantly drew essence from him to summon a hundred frozen golems. Those golems managed to tilt the scales of the battle by a bit since they gave Noah a break from the rain of attacks.
'Just one of them should be enough,' he whispered inwardly, allowing his eyes to shoot toward Relni's position.
"Just one and I'll allow this to end," Noah chanted sprinting towards the expert. His acceleration left a silver trail and those experts could not but understand his intentions.
Unfortunately, they remained slow... too slow compared to the heir of the god of speed.
Noah arrived in front of Relni's figure. He caught sight of her injuries but ignored them to raise his right arm.
Sparks gathered around that limb to form a blade in an instant, and he snappily brought it down on her figure severing her figure in two clean halves.
At least this would have been the outcome had a palm not appeared on the path of his attack.
Noah's blade of sparks exploded upon contact and his instincts roared at the power of the person before him.
Before he could run, however, he felt a wave of raw force wash over his figure and he was sent flying backward.
Noah clicked his tongue after he managed to stop himself. His internals trembled and he coughed silver blood.
"The battle only just started, why are you interfering already.... Adonis."
"I am here to make sure none of them gets killed. The guild will lose one highly important expert. We can't suffer another of such loss," Adonis explained calmly with Relni in his arms.
Eyes emotionless and gaze blank, Elder Adonis remained floating, his existence unbothered by the various auras in the area.
"Will you end the fight now? I have no chances against you," Noah asked, seeing reason in the expert's words.
"I don't know what your plan is. But we both know you have more in you than you're showing... Are you willing to die?"
Noah remained silent. The intuition of a 5th-tier expert remained a hassle.
He swept his gaze on the world around him. The higher-stage experts were still at their peak even if they looked wary of him.
"Don't try anythin-" Adonis's words were cut short by the bang that followed Noah's sprint.
He shot towards the flame mage, Uno, and would arrive before him in mere instants.
Adonis sighed at that sight even if his figure silently flickered from his position.
Only when he had completely vanished did a powerful burst unfold, and due to his initially close proximity to the barrier, his movement ended up shattering that side of the barrier, making everything flicker violently.
Adonis arrived in front of Uno at the same time Noah did. And the barrage of ice spears, lightning bolts, and wind blades landed on the barrier he set up with his consciousness. He deflected all of Noah's attacks easily.
Uno had barely been able to blink, and he instinctively realized how much Aiden had been holding back.
'I would have died." Bewilderment supported by real horror unfolded in the expert's sturdy mind.
He felt glad Elder Adonis had stepped in.
Willing to put up a show, Noah moved towards his next target, and Adonis went forth to meet him there. This back-and-forth clash continued for a while.
Noah had been unable to land a hit on any of his targets. Adonis was incredible. Or the fifth tier was.
"You all are dismissed. I have something to discuss with him," Elder Adonis announced at some point, and although they had difficult expressions on them, they could only obey his orders.
Despite Noah's supposedly low level, it became evident that he stood at a level they were simply too underpowered to handle.
They each bowed and left, Adnois gave Relni to one of them.
After the higher-stage experts were far enough he waved his arm and a barrier well in the fifth tier manifested around them. It was in the shape of a simple sphere.
"You're really something," Adonis sighed shaking his head whilst a golden short table and two red mats appeared before him.
"Do you care for a drink? It's good," Adonis asked, sitting on the floating mat.
Noah considered the offer for a second, after which he transformed into a silver streak and arrived before Adonis to take his seat.
They weren't enemies to begin with.
"What is this for?" Noah asked after Adonis poured wine for him in a small cup.
"Nothing much. More of a farewell talk or something..." The expert paused.
"I wish this didn't happen. I speak for the entire guild when I say we are heavily indebted to you. I personally will tell your tale. I owe you for this level of power after all," he explained, losing his gaze in the skies around him.
It was a sad day for the guild.
"Was there no other way?" Asked Noah, even if he knew the response.
"No. The royals utilized a favor that was tied to an oath."
"It's one of those moments when you wish you had not made such a promise. Especially when you had confessed the vow with utter confidence." The elder sighed. "Life."
"No one anticipated they would use their favor in such a way, though. We will hate them for this. But nothing can be done."
"I see..." Noah muttered having already come to terms with his situation. He took up the drink, gulped it then stood.
"Are we gonna continue talking or fight?"
"You're a funny one," Adonis chuckled even if his figure vanished from his position only for him to appear several kilometers from that area.
A massive silver bolt fell on his former position charging the air. Fire flickered into existence and a powerful blast of heat and multicolored flames expanded in all directions even if it died soon after.
"Will go all out now?" Adnois enquired, sipping the last of the wine in his cup before storing it.
His golden robe danced softly in the winds and his silver hair fluttered gracefully—untouched by the chaos in the environment.
Noah opted to remain silent while his power bubbled up. He summoned another frost golem as the other one had been destroyed by the higher-stage experts.
An army of giant ice golems appeared in the sky, followed by Radiant judgment, Blizzard, Wind serpents, hundreds of Sky spears, and Ten crackling beasts.
To push his attacks to a new level he called upon all two of his domains and the weight of all those skills caused a terrible pressure to fall on the area.
"You truly are an exceptional expert that I have to admit is the best I've seen in all my life," Adonis remarked somberly, even if a wide smile appeared on his face.
Raising his left hand at the hundreds of radiant offensives coming his way, Adonis took in a soft breath.
"Gaze of the crackling devourer," he muttered simply and the entire area within the spherical barrier trembled violently. The very air thrummed with brilliance and strange excitement.
The skill of an expert in the 5th tier had been unleashed.
A blinding flash of golden light appeared at the end of his words as even Noah felt the move of an immense amount of mana and could only cover his eyes before they evaporated.
The instant the light disappeared all of Noah's attacks vanished along with it.
Silence