Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah showed utter coldness toward Earth. That existence had taken control of Cynthia's body, but she had already transformed herself beyond normal standards.

Pain and injuries didn't seem to affect her power. Earth had created an existence made of pure energy meant to counter Noah, and her plan seemed to work. She had managed to leave him speechless a few times in only a few attacks.

'How can I defeat her?' Noah wondered as the world in his eyes slowed down.

The Demonic Deduction technique generated violent thoughts. Noah wanted to destroy Earth, but his abilities seemed useless against that existence. His dark world and ambition had already failed to express their effects, and he didn't dare to deploy his companions since the situation was too unclear.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Earth shouted before a crazy laugh came out of her mouth.

Noah's instincts warned him about the strangeness in that laugh, but he didn't need their help to notice that feature. Earth's behavior was completely off. She almost sounded human.

"Did you develop drawbacks from your mindless absorption?" Noah taunted her as a cold smirk appeared on his face. "You suffer from your own fairness. I don't even want to imagine the price you have to pay to fuse so many different existences into your law."

"You fail to understand the nature of laws," Earth continued to laugh. "Fairness binds us, but we can always pay the price with worlds at our disposal."

Noah's instincts forced him to feel a sense of revulsion toward that existence. Earth's aura had started to give vibes that reminded him of the scenes inside the trap, and that feeling made his mind hate that behavior.

"You didn't think of absorbing other existences at first, right?" Noah asked while suppressing his disgust. "You must have developed this greed after your failure. It stinks."

"Funny of you to question our methods, Noah Balvan," Earth replied. "You are a mistake who has made his way through the cultivation journey by killing, devouring, and destroying. You are a blight, a curse that afflicts an otherwise slightly imperfect world."

"You are too far gone," Noah laughed. "What's a disease in front of an imperfect world? Did you ever stop to consider the nature of your path? Adding random laws won't change the truth. You have failed, and you'll keep doing that until you give up on your previous self."

"Words spoken from an ant won't affect the minds of gods," Earth snorted.

"I don't see ants nor gods here!" Noah roared as a sea of black flames instinctively came out of his mouth. "Your current power might be unreachable, but you are nothing more than an existence. All of us have the potential to touch your realm."

"No one has ever come near us," Earth laughed, and her gesture seemed to involve different existences since her face changed expressions as the seconds passed.

"We will," Noah promised. "That's why you are here, right? You know that we will succeed in touching your realm. You are nothing more than an ant trying to scare away other ants with pretenses and lies."

Earth was merely suppressing her worry. Noah had continued to send truths toward her, but she didn't dare to give hints. She only wanted to destroy that existence and learn from him.

On the other side, Noah was trying to learn more about Heaven and Earth. The two existences honestly interested him, but he had to accept the limits of his condition.

'I can't push my understanding past my current limits,' Noah thought while inspecting the white figure. 'They are beyond me, especially in this form.'

Noah had yet to find a proper counter to Earth's new form, but the Demonic Deduction technique had produced something. The result of his reasoning sounded quite obvious, but that only made him realize how harsh that situation was.

A wave of bloodl.u.s.t spread out of Noah's figure as a black handle appeared on his c.h.e.s.t. Earth knew what was about to happen, and her figure immediately shot forward. She wanted to interrupt that process, even if the feat would cost her temporary body.

Earth bent the space around her and reached her opponent in an instant. Her fingers tried to touch Noah, but the latter suddenly revealed a cold smile before unsheathing the cursed sword from his separate space.

"Heaven and Earth!" The cursed sword shouted in its ancient voice. "The final battlefield is calling me. Give me a good fight."

Noah slashed with the cursed sword and severed Earth's arm from the base of her shoulder. No pain appeared on her figure, but her aura seemed to fall after the event.

Noah's cuts didn't only carry mere power anymore. Chaotic fuel flowed inside them and enhanced their destructive power. Their severing didn't only affect the physical figure. They also influenced the laws that had invaded Cynthia.

"You do have a weakness," Noah suddenly exclaimed while pieces of his body exploded due to the immediate drawbacks. "How much of your actual power can you even use when you try to counter me? I thought you were broke."

Noah laughed as his figure shot toward his opponent. He had only covered a few meters, but the cursed sword managed to complete its slash before reaching Earth.

The blade touched the top of Earth's head, and the energy released during the attack severed its figure into two parts. Corrosive power even spread from the wound's edges as Noah's influence began to fill Cynthia's body.

"Don't you have any pity for your recent ally?" Earth laughed while speaking from her severed halves.

"No," Noah replied before spitting a wave of flames that covered both halves.

Earth quickly countered his innate ability. A strange aura that carried a peaceful sensation spread from her damaged body and forced the flames to quiet down. The technique didn't even try to burn anymore. It only wanted to fall toward the ground and remain there until its power vanished.

Noah didn't base the entirety of his offensive on that technique. Heaven and Earth had known his innate ability for a long time, so it wasn't a surprise that their new prototype could counter them. Still, he added attacks that no amount of preparation could stop.

A rain of slashes fell toward Earth's severed figure. The attacks didn't have much to absorb since they only flew for a few meters. The world had already gone through too many transformations, so the energy lingering in the air wasn't even enough to satisfy heroic magical beasts.

The slashes cut Earth into multiple pieces, but they didn't manage to kill them. Earth continued to laugh as white light spread from her injuries. She seemed to enjoy that moment, and Noah could only feel pure disgust toward her.

Noah suppressed the many injuries that had appeared on his body and began to retreat. He stopped as soon as he reached the edges of the battlefield. Earth started at him with a confused expression, but he struggled to find any sense in those cubical pieces of flesh.

"Try to die, ok?" Noah announced while a mass of energy acc.u.mulated in front of him.

The cursed sword returned inside the separate space as Noah launched a simple attack with his fingers. The cuts that came out of them worsened Earth's condition, but they didn't manage to hurt her much due to the lack of sheer power in his attack.