Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah didn't want to see a fight between Divine Demon and King Elbas, but he had no say on the matter. The Royal had killed one of Divine Demon's disciples. Noah had no right to interrupt or try to divide the two experts.

Truth be told, Noah liked having King Elbas around. The two of them had similar mindsets, and they shared a deep respect for each other. Moreover, the Royal was extremely useful, especially when it came to situations that Noah didn't know how to approach.

Yet, Divine Demon was a fated ally. Noah owed him since he found his inheritance under the Great Whirlpool. The expert was even an asset in the solid stage. Noah would obviously side with him if the situation forced him to choose between the two experts.

Divine Demon left the platoon of hybrids and flew toward Noah's group. The air became tense as his influence spread through the environment. The world reflected the expert's mood and made everyone expect a violent move.

"Why is he with you?" Divine Demon asked once he stopped in front of Noah's group.

"He is useful," Noah replied honestly.

"Did you forgive him for what he did to my disciple?" Divine Demon continued.

"We have fought, won, and lost," Noah replied. "Our enmity has never come from our characters. Our circumstances have turned us into opponents, but we have never shared any deep grudge."

"Will you help him if I were to attack him?" Divine Demon asked without moving his gaze from King Elbas.

"No. He is all yours," Noah replied. "I will be the one drinking wine in the backlines this time."

Noah raised his palm, and Divine Demon smirked at that sight. Two jugs full of wine came out of his space-ring and landed on Noah's hand.

"Go get him," Noah said in a mocking tone before flying toward the ground and turning toward Divine Demon.

Don, Jordan, and Ian followed him and waited for the two experts to settle their matters. Ian tried to seize that chance to explain how that battlefield worked, but Noah quickly silenced him.

"That can wait," Noah said as he pointed toward the two experts in the sky. "You don't want to miss this."

Divine Demon inspected King Elbas from head to toe. His eyes carried a piercing force that tried to reach the Royal's insides, but an ethereal barrier always prevented them from studying the expert's core.

King Elbas was calm. He could sense that Divine Demon was far more dangerous than Percival, but he couldn't avoid that clash. Going back to the human side would only turn him into a target. The Legion was the only organization that could accept his presence and temporarily shield him from his enemies.

"You do seem strong," Divine Demon eventually said. "You must be to fly with my heir. How does it make you feel that the less talented of my disciples have defeated you?"

"Chasing Demon died to gain mere years," King Elbas replied. "I defeated the whole world when I escaped my banishment."

Divine entities had to stay true to their character. King Elbas couldn't pretend to be humble even if Divine Demon was ready to attack him at the first sign of hostility.

"Mere years, you say," Divine Demon replied. "Gaining mere years against the strongest existence of a lower plane. I call it a miracle."

"Miracles aren't real," King Elbas added. "Chasing Demon had a divine puppet and the determination to consume his life. Anyone else would have died against that opponent."

"I see," Divine Demon said as a broad smirk appeared on his face. "Why don't we test that? I challenge you, Elbas. If I win, I want the chance to take your life."

"Why would I even accept?" King Elbas asked, but a heavy pressure suddenly fell on the entire region.

The air became hard to breathe. The light radiated by the sky became heavier. Divine Demon was showing that he could kill King Elbas on the spot. The Royal couldn't refuse his challenge.

"What type of challenge?" King Elbas asked after he gave up on dodging that troublesome matter.

"I will leave the choice to you," Divine Demon replied. "I can't lose anyway."

King Elbas' arrogance intensified. Even if Divine Demon was a solid stage cultivator, the Royal couldn't allow him to be so arrogant in his presence.

"I choose the inscription field," King Elbas replied. "Any type of inscription is fine for me. I can't lose either since I'm the best."

"Name three areas," Divine Demon said. "I don't think I remember three of them."

Divine Demon exploded into a loud laugh. His words had left King Elbas speechless. The Demon wanted to challenge him when he didn't even know the names of three areas of the inscription fields!

"Formations, puppets, weapons," King Elbas eventually said. "The best creations earn a point. The level of the products won't affect the final evaluation."

"Of course," Divine Demon replied. "You won't accept the loss if I relied only on my cultivation level."

"I will choose your same reward," King Elbas concluded. "If I win, I want the chance to kill you."

"You go first," Divine Demon said without even bothering to address the Royal's last line. "I wouldn't know where to start if you don't show me what you create."

King Elbas felt the need to curse, but he suppressed his emotions. Divine Demon wasn't taking the challenge seriously. He was acting as if he had already won in areas unknown to his expertise.

King Elbas snorted and took a few steps back. Countless materials came out of his space-ring, and mental waves fused with them to create golden lines that hovered around him.

Initially, the lines created a simple oval shape, but the figure became messier as King Elbas added materials to the formation. His product even showed signs of instability as its size increased.

When King Elbas stopped sending meanings and materials inside his creation, the formation shrunk before expanding again. Its lines stretched until they covered a large area of the sky, and the white light suddenly became unable to cross them.

Golden drops fell from the lines of the formation. They contained so much energy that most of the hybrids in the distance gulped at their sight. King Elbas had created something capable of condensing the energy carried by the white light in a few seconds.

"I never understood why the inscription masters here don't exploit the white sky," King Elbas said. "It releases pressure, so it has an energy that formations can seize."

King Elbas then stored his formation inside his space-ring and shot an arrogant glance toward Divine Demon. The expert was scratching his head, but he soon recalled that he had to create something better than that.

"I have it!" Divine Demon said before exploding into a loud laugh.

His hands went toward the sky, and his aura expanded. His consciousness seeped into the fabric of the world, and his individuality forced the matter to work for him.

The world seemed to understand what Divine Demon needed. Dense currents formed in the sky around him and flowed above his head, where they gave birth to a small whirlpool.

The whirlpool attracted the white light and made it converge toward its center. A large area of the sky darkened as its radiance flowed inside the rotating structure and came out as a white river.

The river radiated intense energy that made the hybrids directly salivate. Some of them even opened their mouths as their desire intensified. King Elbas' formations could turn the white light into golden drops, but Divine Demon had transformed it into a proper stream.