Chapter 2078 - 2078. Might
Dinia wasn't arrogant, but he let Noah complete his preparations anyway. The cultivator was there to prove that his perfect self could defeat his opponent, so he didn't want to rely on tactics or intelligent approaches. His victory had to be flawless on every field.
Noah understood Dinia. Truth be told, he even liked the cultivator's world. The privileged experts stood on Heaven and Earth's side, but they were entities that had resisted the rulers' control for many years. They deserved his respect.
Of course, that didn't change anything in the battle. Only one of them would survive that clash, and Noah had every intention to come out as the winner.
The ambition released by his companions and the potential that filled the black crystal made the workshop function at an unfathomable speed. Countless six-armed dragons and fiendish figures appeared in his technique's darkness, but the dark matter eventually retreated to gather around his blades.
Dinia could see the full might of Noah's power after the dark world retreated. Hundreds of black figures now tainted the white environment, and a dark light spread from that small army. Six-armed dragons and fiendish figures in the middle tier hovered around Noah while the rest of his companions stood at his sides.
The scene was incredible, and Noah didn't even complete his preparations by then. Black crystals appeared over his figure to create a fiendish armor that allowed the parasite to entangle its roots around him without hurting his body. Meanwhile, the other branches withered and died as he forced the entirety of his power to converge around him.
Noah had transformed into a proper dark spot immersed in the whiteness of the sky. He expressed his previous thoughts with his current power. He was showing his world in the middle of the enemy territory, and the area inevitably suffered due to his sheer weight.
Dinia smiled coldly, but he didn't hide his faint hesitation. He didn't forget that his opponent had barely stepped on the ninth rank, but the power before him seemed to belong to one of the most experienced cultivators in the entirety of the higher plane.
The issue wasn't in the individual power of each asset. The army of dragons and fiendish figures had hundreds of middle tier members, but that wasn't enough against Dinia. Snore and the other companions had an unclear level due to the ambition that filled the area, but even that was relatively fine.
On the other hand, Noah appeared strong enough to rip the sky apart with his bare hands. Needless to say, even that alone wouldn't be enough against Dinia. However, all those assets working together while a sea of ambition engulfed them could create a few problems. The army led by Noah had the power to stand proudly on the solid stage, and that realization was astonishing.
"Your potential is indeed scary," Dinia admitted. "I bet that in twenty or even ten thousand years, I wouldn't have had any chance against you."
"You are talking as if you had a chance now," Noah teased.
"I don't," Dinia stated, "But my perfect self won't lose against such a young threat."
Dinia spread his hands, and his upper tier copies shot forward. They shone with white light as they reached the area tainted by the darkness and pierced it to arrive in front of the army.
A slaughter unfolded. Noah had empowered his puppets with fake cores and ambition, but Dinia's copies were too strong. The dragons and the fiendish figures shattered whenever punches, white rays, or corrosive glows fell on them. The cultivator wasn't even giving them the time to discharge their energy to detonate themselves.
The army quickly shrunk, but a series of stronger opponents rapidly appeared in front of the copies. Noah, Snore, Night, and Duanlong shot forward to face the enemies, and a series of explosions immediately resounded on the battlefield.
Dinia's copies were powerful, but they disappeared quickly. They were an expression of an idea rooted in the cultivator's mind. They could attack for a while, but they vanished as soon as Noah proved them wrong.
Noah unleashed a slash that made use of the dark matter released by the Demonic Sword, his higher energy, the corrosive properties of the parasite, and the Cursed Sword's innate ability. Snore unleashed a few feathers, Night launched a storm of black lines that fused to transform into a sharp wall, and Duanlong opened its mouth to absorb the incoming attacks.
The army of dragons and fiendish figures held their ground against the remaining copies. Many of them died in the process, but the explosions they generated eventually amassed enough energy to stop the incoming attacks.
The first offensive ended with Noah losing a few minor assets and using Duanlong's innate ability. Dinia couldn't feel satisfied with that outcome, but the same went for Noah. The latter wanted his power to overwhelm his opponent, but he couldn't change the reality of the situation. Dinia was simply strong.
Noah didn't limit himself to defend. He voiced a roar that made the entirety of his assets advance as the space-time array replaced the world in his vision. A few steps were enough to put him above Dinia, but his fast movements didn't surprise the expert.
Dinia shone with white light as the glow of his runes intensified. His radiance cut through the many puppets and shattered some of them apart while he launched a beam toward Noah. The latter's swords descended, and an explosion happened when they met the bright attack.
Waves of energy crashed on Noah's body and tried to push him back, but his physical prowess allowed him to move forward. He ignored the sharp and dense currents caused by the explosions to reach the cultivator hovering behind them.
Dinia raised his arms when he saw Noah coming out of the storms. His entire body lit up while a massive wave of energy flew out of his palms, but his attack ended up changing direction before hitting his opponent.
Noah used that chance to reach his opponent. His swords landed on Dinia's head and began to pierce his skull before intense bright light filled the area and made him lose track of the cultivator.
Dinia reappeared in the distance past the mess of dragons, fiendish figures, companions, and currents of energy. Blood fell from his half-split head, but his eyes remained bright. Multiple copies of him materialized at his sides, but he had to send them forward when he saw a rain of feathers flying in his direction.
Chaos unfolded in the area. Snore's attack turned a vast chunk of the sky into an oval hell of raging dark gales ready to destroy every form of energy. Nothing could pass through it, except Noah, of course.
The messy environment prevented Noah from using his consciousness to find Dinia, but he sensed him anyway. His anger toward Heaven and Earth's assets wasn't something that those raging storms could hinder. He strode forward, and his blades shone with a dark light when a figure appeared in his vision.
A giant slash split the vast area with destructive storms into two parts and opened a passage where Dinia could escape. The cultivator had a deep cut on his torso. His blood tainted his runes and hindered their correct functioning, but his problems didn't end there.
A shadow flew past Dinia and left a series of black lines on his back. Snore materialized above him and filled the area with a sea of destructive dark matter. The dark world expanded again and turned the raging currents into a force that blew toward the cultivator. Energy even left the latter's body whenever he tried to launch an attack.
Dinia struggled to free himself from that barrage of attacks, but everything suddenly stopped.. Still, a series of giant figures suddenly slammed on him and self-detonated to create another chaotic area.