Birth of the Demonic Sword

'She still had stronger attacks,' Noah cursed in his mind as he checked the state of his companions.

Snore and the others were fine since Duanlong had absorbed most of the destructive energy flying in his direction, but Night had suffered injuries. The empowerment given by his ambition had allowed the Pterodactyl to cut through the shockwave. Still, part of its power had landed on the companion's body and had injured its wings.

Night didn't hesitate to fly toward Noah and let the dark matter cover its injuries. The Pterodactyl could still fight, but its wounds would inevitably spread if the battle lasted for too long.

"How do you expect to defeat me?" Axia shouted as she spread her arms and absorbed the energy in her surroundings to rebuild her body. "Your assets have barely affected my world, and you can't express this power for too long. I can sense that your limits are about to arrive."

Axia was right. Her understanding of Noah's power was deep, so she could see the drawbacks of using so much ambition. His companions could harmonize with his law and enhance its effects, which inevitably brought it closer to its limits faster. Noah didn't even dare to guess what price he would have to pay for his current prowess, but those worries didn't manage to reach his mind.

Noah had a plan, but that involved defeating Axia. Her death could solve everything, even the problems caused by his current location. Yet, he couldn't launch anything else at her. The rest of the battle would be a matter of experience, endurance, and ruthlessness.

"Come on!" Axia shouted again while waving her hands to launch shockwaves that stopped Noah's aura from spreading in the environment. "You should be used to this by now. Come at me, throw everything you can, and hope to survive. Do not pretend to have time."

Axia was correct again. Noah had always fought against stronger experts, which had forced him to learn how to use his energy efficiently. His opponents' superior cultivation level allowed them to exhaust him, and his body had struggled to compensate for that weakness lately.

The dark world unfolded from Noah's figure as he activated the workshop. Axia snorted and clapped her hands to launch an invisible current of power that wanted to explode inside the technique. Still, Duanlong exited the dark matter and reached a distant spot to diverge the attack with its innate ability.

The invisible attack carried the same amount of power that had pushed everything back before. In theory, Duanlong couldn't endure it on its own, but the dragon didn't remain a simple creature armed with a pulling force after the breakthrough.

Axia remained stunned since she lost connection with her attack after it entered Duanlong's mouth. She didn't know what had happened, but the dragon had managed to eat her massive power at ease and without showing any reaction. It was as if her technique had disappeared.

Only Noah could know the truth behind that event. Duanlong's power didn't allow it to deal with such strong attacks with its normal innate ability, but the creature had developed something new after the breakthrough. It could now increase the effectiveness of its devouring skills by a lot, which allowed it to deal with blows that its level wouldn't usually be able to endure.

Time was the drawback to that incredible ability. Duanlong needed to rest after activating that skill, and the companion would even struggle to use its other techniques in that weakened state. Noah could force the dragon to continue to fight at full power, but it could only endure that situation for so long.

Still, Axia didn't know that, so Noah could pretend that Duanlong had transformed into the perfect shield for the time being. He was aware that tricking the expert was impossible, especially since the dragon didn't use that ability during the previous exchanges. Still, he didn't mind forcing his opponent to doubt herself.

Axia prepared herself to clap her hands again, but she hesitated to complete her attack. She would only help Noah if Duanlong were to absorb her next blow. She even put a lot of energy into those techniques, so the benefits for her opponent wouldn't be small.

Noah used those seconds to complete his project. The workshop worked at full speed to produce a series of imitations of King Elbas' mental drugs. Once their production ended, Noah dispersed the dark world and fixed his reptilian eyes on Axia. A dark-red light shone from his gaze as the ethereal blackness empowered his mind and gave him the chance to inspect his opponent through the true power of his consciousness.

A river of information filled Noah's mind. That superior state lasted longer than before since his center of power had improved, but the mental coma eventually tried to arrive. However, the workshop's products soon appeared in his mouth and released their healing energy to prevent that event.

Noah stopped himself from falling into the mental coma, but the light radiated by his eyes didn't grow dimmer. Violent thoughts filled his mind and drove his actions, making him shoot forward while his companions followed him.

Noah seemed to have lost his mind, but Axia didn't dare to underestimate him. She pointed her hands toward him before snapping her fingers and shattering the whiteness in front of her. The light radiated by the very sky seemed unable to withstand the power discharged by her attack.

A wave of energy that made Noah's instincts scream in fear approached him at high speed, but he didn't slow down. Nigh appeared in front of him, Duanlong stood at his side, and the tips of his swords touched as he stretched them forward.

Snore released its beams. Its attack clashed with the invisible energy and caused an explosion so violent that Night had to launch a few black lines forward to open a path among the fierce power that flew in every direction.

Part of Axia's attack had ended up surviving the clash, but Noah didn't hesitate to work together with Duanlong to deal with it. The dragon absorbed all the energy it could in its weakened state while a piercing slash came out of the swords. The blow pierced the invisible power and finished shattering it, opening a path where Noah could fly.

Noah reached Axia in an instant, but the expert already had her hands pointed at him. Still, she didn't release any attack since she saw that the companions were ready to deal with it.

"What were you trying to achieve by arriving here?" Axia asked. "I hope you didn't want to rely on brute strength to overcome my weapon mastery."

Noah knew why Axia had stopped attacking. She didn't lose anything in that situation, while Noah would still waste his precious time under the effects of his ambition. It almost seemed that she wanted to switch to a defensive approach, but the massive figure that filled her eyes answered her question and filled her mind with a dangerous sensation.

Wings as vast as entire regions and a body that could obscure tall mountains appeared in front of Axia. She knew what was happening. Noah had finally released Shafu, and its size had increased from the last time Heaven and Earth had the chance to inspect it.

Axia promptly performed an evasive maneuver, but Shafu had its mouth open around her, and that body part was immense. The cultivator couldn't escape its range before the dragon closed it.