Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah transformed into a black blade that launched dark matter to perform an evasive maneuver. Black flames also filled the environment as he flew to escape Charles' sight.

The flames healed his body, but the sense of weakness that had begun to permeate his mind became more intense. His bloodlust also intensified. His consciousness was slowly slipping away due to the drawbacks of the cursed sword.

"Disappointing," Charles said as he waved his sword toward the escaping Noah.

A wave of sharpness flew through the environment. The attack destroyed every plant on its path and turned into ash the superficial part of the ground as it reached Noah.

Noah felt forced to stop and slash toward the wall of sharpness that was about to fall on him. His Demonic Sword left the cursed sword and reformed in his left hand before the two blades released a thick dark-red slash.

The slash pierced the wall of sharpness and allowed Noah to pass through the attack. Yet, a deep cut opened on his chest and forced him to rely on his flames to heal his injuries.

Charles had stopped playing around. His blade danced in the air and launched a series of small curved slashes that flew on different trajectories as they converged toward Noah.

Noah couldn't avoid that attack. He lifted his blades above his head and slashed toward the curved blows when they were about to converge. The two abilities gave birth to an explosion when they clashed, and tiny shards of chaotic sharpness flew through the environment after the impact.

A vertical wound appeared on Noah's torso. The weakness that had filled his mind intensified even if he spat more flames to heal his injuries.

Noah felt that his mind was slipping away. The bloodlust was taking over his thoughts. A part of him already desired to charge recklessly toward Charles.

Noah had launched only four attacks with the cursed sword, but his condition had already deteriorated. His new blade's drawbacks were too severe, but that weapon was the only reason he was still alive.

Charles' attacks were too powerful. Noah could block them only when he used the cursed sword, but that brought him closer to an insane state. Even his body had begun to show signs of instability. Healing it wasn't enough to disperse the drawbacks of the bloodlust.

Noah took the pills gained in Supreme Thief's inheritance and stuffed them in his mouth. One of them wasn't enough for his body. He had to eat all of them to feel their effects.

His body regained some stability after the dark world purified those drugs and redirected their energy toward his tissues. Noah even regained some clarity, but Charles didn't give him time to recover.

Charles slashed again and forced Noah to answer with another attack. Two huge black and dark-red lines flew toward the incoming white curved cut and created another explosion. Noah fended off Charles' blow, but his body paid the price for that feat.

A large wound opened on his chest and spread until it reached his right foot. A waterfall of blood flowed out of the injury, and Noah spat flames to heal it. However, the fire didn't return to him. There was nothing left to burn in the area.

"It's over," Charles said as he raised his sword, but Noah quickly placed both blades on his forehead.

His consciousness expanded and carried his bloodlust in the environment. Noah's sharpness intensified, and massive cuts began to open in the whole area.

Each cut gave birth to more slashes. That piece of the sky fell into chaos as Noah's sharpness created an endless stream of attacks that forced Charles into a defensive position.

Charles waved his sword madly. He wore a stern expression as he replied to every slash that flew in his direction. To his surprise, some of those attacks managed to pierce his sharpness and land on his robe.

Noah didn't hesitate to fuse the two swords again and perform another lunge. Snore and Night also appeared behind him and attacked the expert, deploying the full-power of their innate abilities.

The thin black line flew together with a shadow and a black beam made of violent dark matter. Noah's sharpness didn't affect the attacks, so they soon landed on Charles' body.

A cloud formed a vanished as the clash between the different individualities severed everything in the area. Night managed to fuse with Charles' robe before that spot fell into complete chaos, and those inscribed clothes eventually crumbled under the might of Noah's endless cuts.

The lunge pierced Charles' sharpness and landed directly on his body. The expert almost didn't believe his eyes when he saw the thin black line creating a large hole on the right side of his waist.

Noah had managed to hurt him. He had managed to surpass his sharpness, blade, and robe. Even if he was only a liquid stage hybrid, Noah had showed the potential to fight against a cultivator far stronger than him.

The drawbacks of the last two attacks brought Noah to the brink of madness. His body became a mess of maimed skin and exposed organs. Blood never stopped flowing from his injuries, and his mind began to ask him to give in to his instincts.

Noah knew that he had reached his limit. His body and mind would crumble if he launched another attack. He fell on his knees and gasped for air as he supported himself on the two swords.

That was the end of his immense effort. Noah didn't even feel able to perform his movement technique to escape. The seven attacks with the cursed sword had drained him. His endless cuts were his last hope now.

Charles struggled to fend off Noah's sharpness. The endless cuts were a technique founded on Noah's ambition. That was the secret behind their relentless assault.

The cuts eventually reached Charles' body. The expert didn't know what to do when injuries opened on his skin. Nothing he did seemed able to stop Noah's technique.

Charles' blade began to shine at that point. An immense amount of his sharpness flowed inside his sword that released it in a single explosion. Every trace of Noah's attack vanished after that blow, and the endless technique finally stopped creating more cuts.

The explosion of sharpness flung Noah and the companions away. He never lost control of his connection to the Shadow Domain, but he was struggling to remain focused on his body.

His mind was weak and his tissues unstable. His black hole was doing its best to keep him together, but Noah was suffering more than what that organ could fix.

Charles didn't know what to say. Many injuries had appeared on his body, and the hole on his way proved that Noah could potentially kill him at his current level.

That realization made Charles' expression even more severe. He suddenly felt lucky that he had found Noah when he was in the liquid stage. Charles didn't dare to imagine what might Noah would wield if he reached the superior stage.

Charles pointed his blade toward the crouched Noah before retracting his weapon. He was preparing a lunge to finish that battle, but a shadow landed near Noah at that point.

Noah was desperate to find a way out of that situation, but his tricks were over. The Shadow Domain still required some time, and he had no way of gaining it.

A shadow suddenly crashed on the ground near him. After a clash with his opponent, King Elbas had fallen there, but no injury had appeared on his body. He seemed fine, but he wore a severe expression.

Noah had an idea when he saw him. His mind was on the verge of slipping away, but his black hole was keeping him sane and forcing his organs to work properly even if injuries filled them.

"Elbas, how is your alchemy?" Noah asked.

King Elbas glanced at him before replying with his usual arrogant tone. "The best, of course."

"How can you fuse primary energy, "Breath", higher energy, and mental energy to create something stronger than any of them?" Noah quickly asked.

"By fusing them? Impossible," King Elbas explained. "The higher energy will always carry more power. However, you can create an unstable product to obtain a great surge of energy for a short amount of time."