Birth of the Demonic Sword

"Do we finally fight for real, Steven?" Noah laughed as he placed the Demonic Sword on his shoulder.

Noah had to use his ambition to perform the previous attack. He didn't enhance his centers of power or specific abilities. He had empowered his destruction, and the effects had been incredible.

'I can fight against normal solid stage cultivators,' Noah concluded in his mind. 'I might even face them without my ambition if I go all-out with the cursed sword.'

"We have always been fighting," Steven replied. "I admit that your existence appears necessary in the battle against Heaven and Earth, but I'm not ready to give up on my leadership yet."

"Who cares?" Noah snorted. "It's your choice whether to follow me or not. I only want Heaven and Earth's location."

"You should care since I want you to become my underling!" Steven announced. "My organization can handle the human forces, while yours can take care of the magical beasts' domain. We can conquer the whole world before assaulting the sky."

"I don't care about control," Noah replied before pointing toward his companions. "I can call them underlings, but they have never lost their freedom while following me. We have different goals, but they all aim at the sky."

"It seems that you don't understand the nature of an organization," Steven contradicted him.

"You are in the corner of the Immortal Lands," Noah laughed while spreading his arms. "My organization lives in your old home. Are you sure you got that right?"

A tremor ran through Steven's expression, but a cold smile soon spread on his face. The expert's aura surged as he raised both arms toward the sky. He didn't seem in the mood to talk anymore.

Noah's expression grew cold as dark matter and black roots covered his figure. His companions also came out of the separate space and prepared for the battle.

Steven lowered his arms, and a massive wall of energy fell toward Noah. It seemed that the attack contained more than simple dense matter, but Noah still couldn't figure out its true nature.

Noah waved the Demonic Sword while his roots took the shape of a blade. The small slash shot out again and created a tight array of black lines once it touched the wall.

A series of slashes flew out of the roots even if Noah didn't perform any move. The attacks didn't contain his usual energy either. They were dense lumps of corrosive aura that had taken the shape of sharp blows.

Steven snorted before slapping his fingers. The corrosive slashes suddenly hit an invisible wall and spread their energy on that spot. Air vanished among the sky, but the attack didn't manage to get near the expert.

Steven pointed his hand toward Noah, but he suddenly noticed that he had disappeared. His aura had also vanished. He seemed to have left the battlefield.

His eyes inevitably went on the experts floating outside of his domain. They wore confused and curious expressions, but none of them tried to step into the fight. It seemed that Noah was still around somewhere.

A strange feeling spread from inside Steven's c.h.e.s.t, but the expert promptly deployed his counter to Noah's Shadow Domain. His whole body condensed and stopped the spreading of that sensation.

Noah reappeared above Steven. He had just stuffed his body with many Instabilities, but the expert seemed fine even after their detonation. Still, Noah believed that it would take Steven a few seconds to recover, and he wouldn't waste that chance.

A single black slash flew out of his swords and aimed for Steven's neck. It was a clean attack that could cut even upper tier magical beasts due to the enhancements on its destructive power.

The slash hit the back of Steven's neck, but Noah's expression froze when he saw that the attack didn't have any effect. The expert didn't suffer any injury. Not even a mark had appeared on his skin.

Noah didn't know what to think about that scene, but he didn't stop his offensive. Every ability had limits, and a relentless wave of attack usually forced the laws to reveal their weaknesses.

Steven proved him wrong. The expert didn't move at all during the attack. He accepted the arrival of the blades, but they didn't manage to pierce his skin.

"You underestimate the power of my determination," Steven whispered as he turned his head to stare at his opponent.

Noah snorted and kicked the expert, but Steven remained in the same position even after enduring the full might of his enhanced physical strength.

'Is he a hybrid?' Noah wondered as the impact with the expert's skin flung him far away in the sky. 'That doesn't seem to be the case.'

Noah could accept that Steven might have kept his status as a hybrid a secret, but his defensive abilities seemed to come from something different than his species. It wasn't a matter of spells either. It was something strange connected to his law.

Snore materialized above Steven and spread its wings. A rain of black feathers fell on the expert and generated a massive explosion that destroyed the entire domain.

Remaining in the area became almost impossible for the experts in the distance. They had to deploy techniques or directly run away to deal with the raging waves of dark matter spreading through the world.

'It's still alive,' Night transmitted through the mental connection.

'Cut him then,' Noah ordered.

Duanlong then began to advance until it reached a position where Night could fuse with the world and fly toward Steven safely. The Pterodactyl tried to enter the expert once it touched his skin, but it suddenly discovered that its innate ability didn't work in that situation.

'I can't fuse with his law!' Night transmitted to Noah.

'Get out of there,' Noah ordered. 'We'll deal with him once we regroup.'

Night had to perform a strange path to escape the chaotic area safely. It had to fuse with part of the dark matter and follow its movements until it returned into calm zones.

Noah, Night, Duanlong, and Snore gathered high in the sky and inspected the storm of dark matter. The attack slowly began to lose power, and Steven's figure eventually appeared inside the darkness.

'How is this even possible?' Noah wondered when he noticed that the expert didn't feature any injury.

Even Steven's beard had remained in its place. The raging dark matter didn't manage to touch him.

"Good power deployed without feelings is useless," Steven announced while turning toward Noah. "You can't defeat me if you don't have anything better in your arsenal. My determination isn't something that normal existences can pierce."

"Determination to do what?" Noah asked since he still didn't understand how that law worked.

Noah didn't expect Steven to reveal the secrets behind that law, but the expert proved him wrong.

"The determination to endure every blow," Steven announced as the pressure around him increase. "The determination to test every opponent. The determination to wield power."

The pressure around Noah suddenly intensified and forced the companions to return inside the separate space. Even he struggled to move inside among that power.