Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah spat blood after a giant flying elephant slammed its trunk on his torso. The attack shattered the draconic armor on his chest and destroyed his additional limbs. It even broke his right arm in the process.

'I failed again,' Noah thought after straightening his position and covering the area with black flames.

The attack had flung Noah on the ground, so he could burn a large part of the vegetation in the region. His body instantly healed, and his black hole also restored his draconic armor, even if it didn't manage to replicate the copies of the swords destroyed during the exchange.

The Foolery and Fergie were in the sky, fighting the other flying elephants. Those creatures were as tall as small mountains and had two pairs of large feathered wings on their back. Two sharp tusks also grew from the sides of their trunk.

The pack of elephants featured only one rank 8 specimen, and Noah had attracted its attention by slaughtering tens of its underlings. The leader of the Foolery had also remained on the sidelines to grant Noah a one versus one battle.

'This technique is so unstable,' Noah cursed in his mind as he fixed his eyes on the charging rank 8 elephant. 'It needs far more polishing.'

Noah didn't move while the massive elephant dived toward his position, but his figure turned into a shadow before the creature could crush him.

An earthquake spread through the area, and an angry trumpet echoed when the elephant noticed that its attack didn't hit anyone. Noah reappeared at a few hundred meters high in the sky, but he lost his chance to attack since his back was facing the ground.

'Almost!' Noah cursed again in his mind before shooting higher in the sky. 'It's so hard to control the technique in this form.'

Noah had used the vast battle experience accumulated throughout his countless fights to improve his movement technique. However, the project turned out to be a partial failure since he didn't manage to fuse his sprints with the Warp spell.

Instead, his tests led to a completely different movement technique. Noah had fused the Warp spell with the Merging spell to create a different version of his usual sprints.

The new technique allowed Noah to perform instant teleports, but their range wasn't great. His usual sprints were better when it came to long distances, but they lacked the immediateness of his new ability.

Both movement techniques were powerful, but their effectiveness depended on the type of opponent in front of Noah. He liked having that variety of abilities, but he had yet to perfect his teleports in his current state.

The main issue in the technique was Noah's power. His existence contained so much energy that the teleports always grew unstable mid-way, leading him to reappear in odd positions.

His draconic form aggravated those difficulties, but Noah didn't stop training in his new ability even when his opponents injured him. His mind worked faster during a battle, and he wanted to exploit that mental state to master the movement technique hastily.

"I can come whenever you want," The rank 8 pig shouted from the other side of the battlefield.

"Not yet!" Noah replied before disappearing again once the rank 8 elephant was about to reach him in the sky.

His figure reappeared in another spot of the sky, but upside down. Noah had failed to control his teleport again, and one of the rank 7 specimens charged toward him once it noticed his odd condition.

Noah waved his two remaining blades toward the creature and severed it into two parts. Still, his attack gave the rank 8 elephant enough time to reach him.

The massive trunk slammed on Noah's back and destroyed his wings, along with a large chunk of the draconic armor. Blood came out of his mouth and eyes after the impact, and his lower body went limp as he shot through the sky.

Noah spat flames whenever he saw plants and soft terrain. His body quickly healed, but the elephant was already on him by the time he fixed his condition.

His figure disappeared again, and the elephant ended up cracking its trunk in the air. The beast grew tired of those teleports, but it ignored that Noah had finally succeeded in performing his new technique correctly.

Noah reappeared above the elephant. The cursed sword quickly replaced the white blade before he swung downward. A large cut opened on the elephant's back, but that injury appeared insignificant compared to its massive body.

A vertical cut opened on Noah's chest and almost divided his torso into two parts. Those drawbacks reflected the power released by the cursed sword and forced Noah to accept that he had no chance to win that battle.

'Another rank 8 creature that I can't kill,' Noah thought before teleporting to dodge the massive trunk converging toward his position.

The teleport went well again. Noah reappeared higher in the sky and activated the Shadow Copy spell to replicate the cursed sword.

The fact that Noah couldn't win that battle didn't stop him. He had sealed a deal with the rank 8 Foolery. The pig would share part of its loot as long as Noah inflicted consistent injuries.

That alone made Noah willing to go all-out every time he met a rank 8 magical beast. His body required rank 8 materials to grow significantly, and he couldn't give up on the chance of obtaining them.

Noah dived toward the elephant once his copied swords formed. The creature's pale-blue skin darkened, and the trunk cracked once again toward him.

Noah teleported under the creature. The technique allowed him to maintain his momentum, but he found himself turned in the wrong direction.

His six blades stabbed the ground and created a spider-web of cracks that spread through that part of the region. Noah also suffered drawbacks for that attack, and his flames filled the area to heal him.

'Dealing with the laws of space with my true meaning is tricky,' Noah thought before teleporting away.

The elephant crashed on the ground and shattered the cracks opened by its opponent. A piercing attack fell toward the creature at that point, and one of its ears separated from its body once that dark flash disappeared.

Noah stored the severed ear and activated the Shadow Domain. Roots grew inside the elephant, and Instabilities filled its organs before a loud explosion resounded in the area.

The elephant kneeled on the ground after the blow, and rivers of blood flowed out of its mouth, trunk, ear, and eyes. Yet, it soon raised its head again and fixed its gaze on its elusive opponent.

Noah decided to retreat at that sight. His body turned into a blade that cut through the battlefield. He stopped when he reached the rank 8 pig, and the creature understood that it was time to handle the other leader.

'I will master the teleports as long as I continue to fight,' Noah thought as he dispersed his draconic form and stored the cursed sword. 'Still, I lack the sheer power required to kill rank 8 magical beasts. I can't hope to pierce spells launched by rank 8 cultivators at my current level.'

A couple of upper tier specimens flew toward Noah, but his Demonic Sword flashed before dividing those creatures in half. Noah soon burned them to heal his body, and his mind wandered as waves of power flowed through his tissues.

'I need a finishing blow,' Noah concluded.

The shockwaves released from the battle between the two leaders swept the battlefield, but Noah remained still. Even if most of the pack had decided to converge toward him, he didn't deign them of his attention.

His mind could only wander through his many techniques and vast experience to find something that could lead to a powerful finishing blow, something that could even surpass the Shadow Domain.