Chapter 2104 - 2104. Test
The laugh carried a tone that Noah and the dragons knew far too well. An ominous feeling spread throughout the area as the sparks continued to leave the weak sky. At first, they remained among the whiteness, but they slowly started to move toward the real sky in the distance as Heaven and Earth's aura intensified.
Noah, June, and the dragons recognized the dangerousness of the situation even before their instincts started to scream in fear. Something big was happening, but none of them dared to leave. They all knew that they had nowhere to hide inside the higher plane.
The sparks amassed in the shape of lightning bolts that slammed on the real sky. The gathering of attacks became so numerous that it transformed into a proper crackling pillar. The whiteness released by the structure became blinding, and even the four leaders felt forced to close their eyes in front of that spectacle.
The laugh grew louder, and Heaven and Earth's aura followed that trend. The fabric of space transformed into a prison that pressed on the group and warned them about the incoming threat.
More pieces of the weak sky shattered to fuel the pillar. Noah kept track of the process through his consciousness, and conclusions inevitably appeared in his mind. He had long since connected the Immortal Lands to Heaven and Earth's body, but he could confirm his theory now.
The light radiated by the pillar intensified beyond reason as something came out of the real sky and bathed among the lightning bolts. Noah's eyelids became unable to stop that glow, and his eyes started to burn under that scorching whiteness. He had to cross his arms in front of his face to find some cover, and his companions quickly imitated him.
The situation only worsened since more of the strange material left the real sky to enter the crackling pillar. The scorching light began to affect more than sensitive organs at that point. Noah felt that his skin was on fire, and his black crystal sent dark matter to help protect it.
The light wasn't the only problem. The laugh became so loud that Noah's ears started to hurt. His headache intensified, and his control over his energy worsened as more pressure landed on his mind. His fiendish armor struggled to remain on his skin, but the black crystal took care of handling that layer of protection.
His companions weren't dealing with the same drawbacks, so they countered those calamities easily. June had to leave Noah's side to cover her body with a thick layer of lightning bolts, while the death dragon made sure to protect most of the pack with its destructive aura. The space dragon handled those left behind.
The light continued to intensify until it exploded into a white flare that finally started the darkening process. The area slowly regained its natural brightness, but a source of blinding white radiance continued to shine among the pillar without dispersing its glow into the environment.
The lightning bolts inside the pillar began to stop moving. They slowly transformed into proper columns that hung from the real sky. Noah couldn't help but find resemblances with a chrysalis when he looked at that structure, but he struggled to inspect it since his mental waves burnt when they went too close to that light.
Cracks started to open on the solid lightning bolts. White shards fell from that tall structure, and holes took form. Noah and the others carefully lowered their protections to inspect the pillar's insides, and different reactions appeared on their faces. They could see a hand inside one of the holes, and they also noticed that it twitched from time to time.
The pillar's destruction picked up speed until everything transformed into a rain of white shards that fell toward the now empty space before falling prey to a pulling force. Noah and the others didn't move or say anything as they inspected the tall humanoid figure absorbing those materials inside its glowing body.
The structure had given birth to a five-meter-tall giant with no clear facial features. It didn't have eyes, ears, nose, or hair, but a wide opening on the lower part of its face created a large mouth that added a cruel vibe to the scene.
The creature was clearly an avatar. Noah couldn't fail to recognize the familiar scent of those crackling puppets. Yet, he had never seen something so advanced or polished. The golem carried the same power expressed by the massive hands during the battle against the monster. Moreover, its skin was smooth beyond reason. It would resemble a mirror if it weren't for the intense light coming out of it.
The avatar completed the absorption of the shards and began to move. At first, tremors ran through its whole body and awakened its functions. Then, it started to inspect its hands and surroundings. The corners of its mouth turned upward as it continued to check its structure. The puppet appeared completely satisfied, and the cruel vibe in its smile only intensified during the process.
"We had forgotten the joys of having a body," The androgynous voice came out of the puppet's mouth. "Well, maybe we simply weren't in the position to appreciate them."
Noah would normally throw taunts or mock the rulers, but he remained silent now. He could sense Heaven and Earth's power inside the avatar, but he had never experienced something so pure before. The puppet was stronger than all the massive hands. It was a proper quasi-rank 10 existence.
'We aren't in the condition to fight,' Noah thought while inspecting his companions from the corner of his eyes.
The time dragon and the life dragon were still exhausted. The magical beasts' superior resilience put the space dragon and the death dragon virtually at their peak, but Noah didn't know whether they would be enough to fend off the avatar.
In theory, having to deal with something so close to Heaven and Earth gave everyone on the scene an advantage. Noah had his anger, June knew Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts better than anyone else, and the dragons were born to defeat that power. The group would normally have a chance to beat something so strong, but that didn't seem to be the case now.
Noah felt conflicted. His condition was awful, so most of him desired to escape. Yet, he also knew that he wouldn't have any chance to hide against something so strong. Besides, part of him wanted to test the avatar's abilities to check where Heaven and Earth stood.
"Don't be so silent," The avatar declared. "We have come to have fun. Today is only a test."
"Was the tree a trap?" Noah eventually asked.
"Yes," The avatar revealed. "We knew it would have been the reason behind a large battlefield, so we planted it and waited for you to come. We must say, you have been faster than we thought."
"This form isn't complete, right?" Noah continued. "You can't pick this form unless you overcome the curse of the world. You are a prisoner, which explains why you want to keep us inside your sky."
"Completeness doesn't matter in front of ants," The avatar announced before teleporting next to the life dragon and touching its back. "There is only power."
The avatar closed its hand, and its fingers pierced the life dragon's scales. The creature limited itself to growl, but its voice transformed into a suppressed cry of pain as foreign energy began to spread inside its body.
Soon, large white flares started to come out of its belly, back, and neck.. They destroyed everything on their path, including the leader's body.