Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah was in ecstasy. His flames weren't ideal at a long distance, but they still managed to kill many Rats when they filled the ground. Then, the minute fiery tongues that flew back at him filled his body with energy that the black hole purified and redirected toward his tissues.

He had abilities that could inflict more damage on the enemy army, but the situation was too perfect. Noah could absorb an immense amount of energy without the slightest effort. The Land of the Fallen turned out to be the best training are for his body!

Noah thrived on the weakness of the Rats. Those creatures didn't give him as much energy as other magical beasts at the same level, but even that lower amount was enough to improve his body by leaps and bounds.

Don, Jordan, and King Elbas noticed that Noah wasn't using his best attacks, and they sensed that he improved as his kill count increased. Still, they didn't say anything about the matter.

Their situation was too safe. The Rats couldn't reach them, so they could slowly clear the path toward the inheritances without meeting any danger.

The experts resembled gods of destruction as they unleashed a relentless offensive toward the prairie. Countless Rats died during the assault, but their number didn't diminish. More creatures jumped on each other to create a meat shield that protected the region's underground areas.

Noah felt that something was off. He had already confirmed the intelligence of those creatures, so he couldn't understand why they didn't retreat into the ground.

The group's offensive couldn't even damage the environment too much. At that distance, rank 7 cultivators couldn't reach the regions' deeper parts with their attacks. The ground already stopped a lot of power.

Yet, his doubts didn't make him slow down his offensive. The Rats were probably planning something, but Noah didn't care as long as he could continue to absorb that immense amount of energy.

Eventually, the Rats began to retreat. Loud squeals echoed through the entire prairie. The whole army was going back underground, where the enemy attacks wouldn't reach them.

Noah spat as many flames as he could before a helpless sigh escaped from his mouth. All the Rats had vanished. His undisturbed hunt was over.

'My body has crossed the halfway mark of the middle tier,' Noah thought happily.

Typical hunts couldn't even come close to providing such growth. The Rats had given Noah so much energy that his body had completed years of training and meals in a few minutes.

Noah felt slightly dizzy, but his black hole quickly dispersed that sensation. His body's sudden growth had created an unbalance in his existence, but the fourth center of power took care of harmonizing everything.

Power filled every fiber of Noah's body. That sudden change was an unusual feeling for him since he would rarely get the chance to seize such marvelous benefits. It was almost impossible to find a resource that would give him as much energy without forcing severe drawbacks.

'I wonder if I can bait them out again,' Noah wondered as the Divine Deduction technique activated.

Suddenly, Noah didn't care about the various inheritances anymore. He only wanted to face the army of Rats again. Killing them gave him greater benefits than any non-final trial.

"Maybe they will leave a few paths open now," Don said.

"I hope they keep struggling till the end!" Noah replied as he turned toward his companion to show his broad smile.

Still, when Noah looked toward Don, he noticed that a massive shadow had appeared in the distance. That silhouette reached heights that his eyes couldn't see. It resembled a mountain that was quickly moving toward them.

Don, Jordan, and King Elbas noticed the shock on Noah's expression and turned. The same astonishment and confusion appeared on their face as their consciousness expanded toward the shadow to understand its nature.

The group couldn't initially make out the true nature of the shadow, but everything became clear when it was about to reach them. The mountain was nothing more than a tide of Rats piled on each other!

"Forward!" A Rat in the upper tier shouted from the top of the massive wave.

Its voice was a mixture of a long squeal and a human word that carried an immense pride. The upper tier creature announced itself as the leader of that army, and it didn't mind speaking in a language that even cultivators could understand.

Everything connected inside Noah's mind after he saw the wave. That attack was the reason behind his odd sensation. The Rats didn't stay on the surface to protect the underground areas. They needed to perform a specific movement to create that offensive.

The Rats on the prairie had acted as if they were a sea. Their movements had given birth to a wave on the other side of the region. As the attack continued to move through the sea of creatures, its size increased, eventually leading to that current shape.

The four experts had vast battle experience. That unusual sight didn't manage to freeze them. Their instincts took charge of their movements, and they quickly turned to escape from the wave.

The group initially tried to fly upward, but their minds soon warned them that they would fail in that task. The wave was too tall for them to fly above it.

The best approach was to fly away in a straight horizontal line until the attack lost its momentum and the massive wave crumbled. There was a limit to how long the Rats could remain in that position. The experts had to last until that point.

Piercing it wasn't an option either. The wave was too thick. It would overwhelm the group after they killed the beasts in its external layers.

Scaled wings came out of Jordan's back. King Elbas transformed into dense flames. Don covered his body with a metallic material that made his momentum increase.

Noah transformed into a black blade that released dark matter. The four experts deployed their movement techniques to escape from the wave.

A long chase began. The group ran away from the wave that kept moving faster. Other Rats also came out of the ground to join the massive attack and preserve its momentum.

The Rats' efforts allowed the wave to reach the group. Countless creatures fell on the experts and forced them to interrupt their movement techniques to defend themselves from those beasts' sharp teeth.

Noah had to rely on Snore's dark beam since his flames couldn't burn the Rats quickly enough. He still used his black fire, but the Blood Companion helped him in that struggle.

A single Rat couldn't hurt him, but the thousands of them could pierce his body. Noah had to suppress his greed to preserve his life. Those beasts had the chance to kill him before the flames could save him.

The wave dragged the group away until it crashed on the ground in an area outside the prairie. Noah managed to stop himself in time to see the many creatures around him sprinting away to return to the prairie.

His companions soon became visible among that escaping tide. They were mostly fine. Don had suffered little to no injuries, and King Elbas had relied on his inscribed items to defend from the assault.

Jordan had been the only one at ease inside the wave, but she didn't like the recent event. She was a mighty hybrid on the path to becoming a rank 8 existence. Those Rats had humiliated her, and she decided to make them pay.

However, a series of presences suddenly appeared behind them. A group of cultivators flew down the mountain nearby to inspect them. Many of those experts wore the Crystal City's iconic robes, and three of them were in the solid stage.