Chapter 2146 - 2146. Environment
Noah and June remained among the four tornados for a while. She needed time to heal the many injuries that the worms had left on her body, and no one disturbed them during those years.
The fragile environment of the eighth floor didn't allow the two to express their passion after June healed. They risked destroying everything if they let their power run freely, so they went back to business.
Noah had made up his mind about his final target, but he had another step to complete before clearing the eighth floor. June had defeated the worms, but she had left some of them alive because she knew that Heaven and Earth's Cancer might need them.
Noah and June found a small group of clouds when they entered the worms' separate dimension. The Labyrinth had yet to rebuild the materials that those creatures required to thrive, so the danger in the area was barely noticeable.
The relatively empty environment gave Noah the chance to study the worms thoroughly. They required crystals or metals that imitated the sky's properties to reproduce. They fed off Heaven and Earth's world to emulate their power. In theory, they were natural enemies of the rulers.
The worms were small grey creatures with many pores on their bodies. They were far from strong on their own, and they could express their true power only if they had the chance to create black clouds. Noah could crush them with the sheer pressure of his aura, but their abilities were too interesting to kill them on the spot.
Noah didn't care about the imitation of Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts. He even believed that the worms' black clouds would be relatively useless during the final battle. However, their ability to reproduce quickly inside the rulers' world was interesting, to say the least.
The worms could be a valuable distraction or a threat for the rulers as long as Noah used them wisely. Moreover, their relatively simple bodies were easy to modify. They could evolve after only a few years spent among his ambition.
The worms' nature was their only problem. They were parasites that the higher plane had created to balance Heaven and Earth's power. They were the living version of the dark metal, but that didn't make them smart.
Talking with the worms was impossible. They barely understood the feelings that Noah sent toward them. Their life cycle was a mere relentless consumption of everything that belonged to Heaven and Earth. They would let themselves die in the absence of the sky or similar material.
Noah wished to stop finding dumb allies, but he didn't complain. The worms had the chance to get smarter after bathing in his ambition, and their current state made them easier to control. He didn't need to convince them to join his fight. He only had to capture them.
According to what Noah had seen in the eels' dimension, he believed that taking away the worms wouldn't count as a victory for the eighth floor. He probably had to exterminate those creatures to meet the conditions behind the creation of the key, so he could take his time to build a new environment.
His knowledge of magical beasts was incredible, but he didn't hold back from using June's understanding of formations and Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts. Noah had to move the worms away from the dimension into an environment he could contain, so her help felt necessary.
The two worked for a while. They used Noah's dark matter as the core material while studying how the dimension generated material similar to the sky. The process couldn't be short since they had to wait for the Labyrinth to send power, but the lack of other options forced them to accept that pace.
The new environment slowly took life. Noah and June built a spherical structure containing multiple layers of dark matter with different natures. The higher energy on the surface was a simple barrier, while the crystals inside the item tried their best to imitate Heaven and Earth's power.
Of course, Noah found it hard to imitate Heaven and Earth, but the same didn't apply to June. Her flesh had absorbed the rulers' power, so she could use it with the dark matter to create something that the worms loved.
The space-time array inside the spherical structure was a mess since Noah had stretched and condensed it according to his needs. The environment could become as big as a bean even if it contained multiple regions worth of materials that imitated Heaven and Earth's power. The worms would be free to thrive there, and they would also bathe in Noah's ambition during the process.
Noah didn't know what the worms would become, but he planned to let them grow until the final battle. The environment would require modifications as the pack grew, but that was an issue for the future. He had something very different to handle now.
Noah moved the worms inside the spherical structure and stored it inside the black crystal before waiting inside the now empty dimension. He and June let the years pass as they inspected the area, but they decided to leave when they saw that the Labyrinth had stopped sending energy.
The worms seemed to be the trigger behind the creation of new environments, but that couldn't happen now that Noah had seized all of them. He and June could return to the area with the four tornados without looking back, and their permanence there didn't last long since they flew for the fourth dimensional passage right away.
The green plain with the long table appeared in Noah and June's vision. The banquet was still ongoing, and almost everyone focused on their food. Only the Foolery raised its head to welcome the two with a squeal before moving on the various plates again.
"Do you think they all prefer peace over ambition?" June asked while inspecting the scene.
"I think Artamo's influence is strong enough to cloud their judgment," Noah stated. "I don't care what he says. He is a liquid stage cultivator, so his power affects others even if he has the best intentions."
"He sounds boring to fight," June commented.
"I don't think he will fight," Noah revealed. "Well, we'll see once we get there."
The castle had disappeared after Noah's departure, but he knew its location, and Artamo didn't hide it when he felt his presence. June could inspect the structure during the flight, but she let Noah continue on his own once they got too close.
June liked to fight, so an expert like Artamo was the embodiment of boredom for her. She had no interest in attempting to force his hand, so she chose to remain behind and take care of those who tried to interfere with the event.
"Did you come back to try my food?" Artamo's voice resounded in the area when Noah reached a spot right above my castle.
"No, I've come to kill you," Noah declared as his blades appeared in his hands.
"Why would you decide to kill me?" Artamo asked. "I believe I didn't do anything to incur your wrath."
"It's not a matter of wrath," Noah explained. "You are useless and in the way. I'm just opening a path."
"Is that how you justify your bloodthirsty actions?" Artamo wondered.
"I don't try to justify them," Noah stated. "A Demon doesn't care about that."
"Your endless search for battles is toxic," Artamo gently chuckled. "You decide to raise your blade even against innocent beings. You will never find peace like this."
"I don't care about peace," Noah exclaimed as he raised his swords.. "There is only ambition."