Birth of the Demonic Sword

'That was disappointing,' Noah thought while inspecting the battlefield.

His opponents were two rank 8 cultivators belonging to a large organization. They had inscribed robes, defensive items, and disposable weapons, but Noah had defeated them quite easily.

'Am I finally overcoming the gap between stages?' Noah considered that option.

His breakthrough to the eighth rank had evolved his might in ways that Noah had yet to comprehend fully. Moreover, his companions multiplied his power, making him impossible to handle by experts at the same level.

'This usually happened whenever I neared the peak of the stage,' Noah thought. 'Did it happen sooner now?'

Noah had often fought enemies stronger than him in terms of cultivation level. That had become a habit since he usually generated enough chaos to attract the attention of older existences.

Still, the exponential increase of power given by the higher stages and ranks had never allowed Noah to fill those gaps until he approached the breakthroughs. He had always needed to be relatively close to the next level to express a superior power.

The situation seemed different now. Noah felt able to defeat any existence in the gaseous stage at ease. Only monsters like Sword Saint could match his power when they suppressed their cultivation level.

Snore, Night, Duanlong, the Demonic Sword, the parasite, and the fourth center of power made Noah far more powerful than any other existence at the same stage. The five companions in the eighth rank and the black hole prevented him from being close to the average.

Noah also had powerful trump cards. The cursed sword, the Shadow Domain, and the unstable substance made him able to express far more power.

He had even added Shandal's law to his arsenal. The spell had many restrictions and requirements, but it was a powerful ability that could allow Noah to kill his opponents instantly.

'Is this my curse?' Noah wondered. 'Do I have to keep fighting stronger beings to find struggles? What will happen once I reach the solid stage? Will I have to fight rank 9 creatures?'

Noah didn't know how to feel about his situation. Part of him felt delighted by the amount of power contained in his existence. His constant struggles and countless experiences had transformed him into the strongest type of living being in the entire higher plane.

Instead, another part of Noah felt worried. He had required many rank 8 resources to reach the eighth rank, and his current prowess could only mean that his needs had become steeper.

His body didn't improve by much after devouring the two rank 8 leaders. Those cultivators didn't even exhaust themselves, so Noah had absorbed most of the energy in their centers of power. Yet, he had gained nothing more than a meager boost.

'I guess it's time to test my prowess against magical beasts in the middle tier,' Noah concluded while inspecting the area to seize his opponents' space-rings. 'I can't keep going like this. I don't know if the human domain has enough gaseous stage cultivators to meet my requirements.'

The battle above the destroyed mansion had continued while Noah was busy chasing one of the leaders. King Elbas and the others had to approach the giant carefully due to the sheer power in its fabric. A direct hit could lead to their death.

The giant slashed with its sword, cracked whips that grew from its horned helmet, and generated a pulling force through its immense jar. Its armor also provided a decent defense in its most frail spots, so it was handling the battle quite well.

On the other hand, King Elbas, Divine Demon, and Wilfred were complete monsters. King Elbas had quickly learnt how to dissolve the giant's attacks, Divine Demon's white energy could almost shatter its defenses, and Wilfred made its entire fabric shake with its punches.

The trio also had the help of four rank 8 magical beasts. The only problem in their case was to make all of them work together properly.

Divine Demon was a madman who didn't listen to anyone. Wilfred seemed only interested in punching things. The four magical beasts didn't know much about battle formations, so they limited themselves to unleash their innate abilities in random spots.

Only King Elbas had a vague idea of how the battle should proceed, but he had no power over his companions. He could only make the best out of the windows that they created.

Wilfred was busy punching the armor on the giant's chest. The jar was too close to that spot, so the hybrid was the only one who could remain powerful there. The suction force generated by the item made most spells useless, so his punches ended up being quite useful.

The magical beasts soon imitated Wilfred, but the giant could deal with them relatively easily. The whips coming out of its horned helmet often landed on their bodies and inflicted severe injuries.

Wilfred was too small for those whips. He could change his spot on the giant's chest whenever an attack was converging on his position. His punches also destabilized its structure and made it miss from time to time.

The sword mainly aimed at Divine Demon. His white energy was quite threatening since it had piercing properties that Wilfred's punches lacked.

Divine Demon could handle those attacks easily. The sword was slower than him, and King Elbas weakened those blows even further. However, Divine Demon liked challenges.

Having Wilfred, King Elbas, and the four rank 8 magical beasts made it too easy for Divine Demon. The expert wanted to put himself in danger, so he purposely entered the range of the jar at some point.

The pulling force generated by the weapon deprived Divine Demon of the energy accumulated around his figure, leaving him with nothing more than his actual cultivation level.

The jar became too strong to fend off at that point. Divine Demon was powerful, but the weapon didn't let him escape. It also countered some of the effects of his laws.

Divine Demon never stopped smiling while the jar pulled him toward its dark entrance. The weapon only needed a matter of seconds to swallow him, but he didn't care.

Divine Demon seemed about to find a way out of that situation. The pulling force weakened as the jar started to malfunction under his influence. Yet, King Elbas suddenly snapped his fingers and turned the weapon into dust.

"I'm sorry you couldn't win your challenge in time," King Elbas commented in a plain tone before moving his attention elsewhere.

The destruction of the jar allowed long-range attacks, so the battle became far safer. Only Wilfred and the magical beasts continued to bump on the giant's chest while King Elbas and Divine Demon showered the battle formation with a series of spells.

King Elbas eventually snapped his fingers again, and the crown turned into dust. That powder began to converge toward his figure, but Divine Demon promptly attracted it and altered its nature.

"I'm sorry you couldn't collect your precious materials," Divine Demon said before exploding into a laugh and resuming his offensive.

King Elbas turned the giant into dust piece by piece. Wilfred could soon focus on frail areas that destabilized its whole structure while Divine Demon limited himself to fill the battle formation with holes.

The giant began to fall apart, revealing all the cultivators involved in the battle formation. Most of them had suffered injuries, but King Elbas and the others didn't go easy on them anyway.

The attack on the mansion of the Sailbrird family soon ended. Noah's army gathered all the space-rings and debris of the structure before setting a line of defense.

King Elbas needed time to recreate the teleport, so Noah and the others had to protect him if the reinforcements arrived.