Chapter 2046 - 2046. Gigantic
The higher plane experienced a second apocalyptic event. The monster alone occupied one-quarter of the higher plane after getting past the sky, and the army of crackling avatars only increased the size of the gigantic battlefield.
A massive chunk of the storms and everything between them had vanished after the monster landed in the higher plane. Noah had long since lost track of the black landmass, and he wasn't even sure whether it existed anymore after the countless years spent among the chaotic laws. Still, he couldn't think about his old companions in front of such an apocalyptic spectacle. He was witnessing Heaven and Earth fighting against an opponent capable of threatening their very world.
The crackling avatars had various levels and sizes. The puppets in the lower tier created a giant sea that released lightning bolts non-stop, while the stronger ones had gathered in smaller groups that attacked specific areas of the monster.
Heaven and Earth's approach was relatively simple. Giving the monster things to destroy was the best way to weaken it since the process would consume its non-laws. Still, the empty creature had overcome its status as a mere child of the rulers after developing the non-world.
The avatars' relentless assault initially forced the monster to shrink, but new blackness eventually flowed out of the non-world and expanded its size again. Flares also accompanied the event and engulfed many crackling puppets in their destructive assault. Heaven and Earth's forces diminished quickly, but the sky promptly sent more disposable assets.
The reinforcements didn't help since the monster learnt quickly. The empty creature had never really fought, especially outside the void. It had always behaved like a dumb magical beast instinctively attracted to beings that defied Heaven and Earth. However, Noah's influence had removed the limits of its messy nature and had opened a path for development.
The monster quickly understood how to use its devastating power. Its flares were deadly, and its non-laws could tear the space affected by Heaven and Earth open easily. Its presence in that environment was a catastrophe, and it learnt to like its role as its anger toward the rulers intensified.
The empty creature almost couldn't believe that it had spent countless years fearing the sky when it had so much anger inside its odd structure. The monster was born from laws that Heaven and Earth had severed from their existence, so it naturally knew how to destroy their world. It even forced itself to expand at some point to take all the avatars by surprise and dig a massive hole into the fabric of space.
Heaven and Earth had kept track of the monster since its formation, so it had naturally developed countermeasures. Yet, the appearance of the non-world was a relatively new event that even the rulers didn't know how to handle, so the initial stages of the battle only served to gather information.
Throwing energy at the monster might have worked in the past, but the non-world had turned that approach ineffective. New non-laws flowed out of that black structure to refill what the rulers managed to consume, turning their assault into a waste of energy.
Noah inspected the battle from afar only for a short amount of time. He couldn't remain still anymore after understanding the fundamental behavior of the monster. The empty creature was literally destroying entire armies made of thousands of assets, so some energy inevitably ended up in the environment, and he wouldn't let it return inside the sky.
King Elbas had no interest in the energy. He prioritized the study of the monster over those easy gains, while Sepunia and the dragon understood that the battlefield was no place for them. They were stronger than average experts at their level, but they weren't Noah or King Elbas. A random flare of the monster could kill them, and they had no immediate need for fuel.
Noah flew behind the avatars' lines, stealing their energy after the monster's attacks or directly destroying them whenever they tried to retreat. The crackling puppets couldn't mind him in front of such a giant opponent, so he amassed energy freely without ever encountering hindrances.
Massive waves of rank 9 energy entered his figure and went through the black crystal for the usual rounds of purifications before fusing with his fabric. Noah had to hold back the desire to laugh to focus on his task, but ecstasy filled his mind anyway. He was feeding off Heaven and Earth's power after creating the crisis that had put them in such a dangerous situation. Nothing else felt better for someone like him.
That trend didn't last for too long. Entire armies made of improved cultivators with privileged experts in their lead eventually came out of the sky and unleashed attacks that carried sharp properties. New avatars also appeared and launched lightning bolts that took the shapes of spears or other weapons that exploited the monster's innate weakness.
Noah had removed the monster's fear of Heaven and Earth, but its weaknesses had become a core part of its non-existence. The empty creature had evolved around that flaw, and its decision to attack the rulers didn't change that feature.
The arrival of troops that targeted the monster's flaw didn't affect Noah's behavior. The empty creature launched flares, expanded randomly, or advanced, so avatars and cultivators never stopped dying. Noah sprinted left, right, up, and down depending on which army suffered losses, allowing him to keep his energy absorption constant.
The battlefield was so immense that Noah found himself too small to cross it efficiently, especially with the monster blocking the shorter routes. He had to watch energy flying back into the sky many times because he was too slow to reach it in time, and those many losses eventually forced him to make up his mind.
The battlefield had so much energy flying around that Noah found that decision relatively easy to make. His ambition surged as the potential inside his ethereal blackness flowed inside his dantian to grant him access to the real power of the ninth rank. Still, he didn't empower himself. Instead, he used the effects of his existence to bring Shafu and Duanlong's absorption ability to the limit.
Noah transformed into a massive vortex capable of affecting even some of the farthest areas of the battlefield. The event turned made him almost unable to move, and pieces of his body also ended up falling inside his separate space. Still, everything healed instantly due to the immense currents of energy that reached his figure.
The pulling force was so strong that his inability to move became nothing more than a minor flaw in his approach. Noah could even fix it whenever Heaven and Earth or the monster tried to bring the battle in problematic areas. He had so much energy that he could easily stop his ambition, move, and activate the ethereal blackness again.
Glares fell in his direction as cultivators continued to come out of the sky to approach the monster. Heaven and Earth were aware of Noah's behavior, but they had far worse problems now. The entirety of their assets had precise orders that only concerned the monster.
"Are you having fun?" A familiar ancient voice suddenly resounded behind Noah as four powerful presences materialized inside the range of his consciousness.
"I knew you would come," Noah laughed as he deactivated his pulling force and turned.. Four upper tier dragons had decided to approach him, while the rest of their army had remained in the distance out of fear of falling prey to his technique.