Chapter 2222 - 2222. Net
The sky trembled as Heaven and Earth's words resounded throughout the higher plane. The curse was so loud that some rank 7 assets saw cracks opening on their bodies, but both armies did their best to preserve their lives.
The tremors intensified as Heaven and Earth mustered their power. Vast, shining spots appeared on multiple areas of the sky and began to give birth to the giant hands again, but that light shattered before it could condense.
Heaven and Earth didn't give up. They tried to summon different techniques, but their light seemed unable to survive outside the sky. There was something preventing them from reaching the battlefield, and they didn't hesitate to isolate that issue.
The tremors intensified even more and reached the point when entire chunks of the sky separated from the main structure and transformed into meteorites that fell on the battlefield.
Most of those boulders simply disappeared inside the void, but both armies had to handle the few that tried to crash among them. Of course, that event didn't carry any killing intent, so even the weaker assets could change the meteorites' trajectory.
Still, everyone's attention remained on the sky. Heaven and Earth seemed on the verge of breaking their world apart for the sole sake of finding the old rulers' curse.
The white layer thinned as giant cracks opened on its surface, and the process continued until a faint orange radiance began to shine in its insides. Heaven and Earth pushed that energy toward the external areas of their world, and a spectacular scene slowly became visible.
Heaven and Earth's efforts made the old rulers' curse stand out among that whiteness. A net-like structure slowly seeped out of the sky before clinging to its surface. Its orange radiance began to shine more brightly at that point, and Heaven and Earth failed to push it into the void.
The sky appeared trapped into an orange net that restrained Heaven and Earth inside their world. The structure involved both sides of the white layer, and its purpose felt self-explanatory in the eyes of the landmass' leaders.
'They have put a cage around the sky,' Noah exclaimed in his mind. 'Heaven and Earth can't affect the battlefield like this.'
The old rulers' plan had been simple. The final battle had a massive problem that the landmass' forces couldn't address properly. It was even safe to say that the issue couldn't have solutions.
Heaven and Earth were the massive problems. They didn't have issues connected to their energy reserves, and the numerical advantage of their army allowed them to launch attacks without minding their underlings.
In theory, Heaven and Earth could disrupt any defense that Noah and the others had planted around the landmass. They had more energy, so their opponents would exhaust their reserves before them.
Heaven and Earth didn't need to go so hard on the landmass because their slow but relentless approach could bring similar results without wasting so much energy. Yet, that wouldn't stop them from sending massive attacks every once in a while.
That option seemed to have vanished now. The old rulers had planted a net in the very sky. That structure destabilized Heaven and Earth's light as soon as it left the white layer, preventing them from using their quasi-rank 10 attacks to overcome annoying situations.
With Heaven and Earth temporarily out of the final battle, the focus of the battlefield would return on the two armies. Moreover, the landmass didn't have restrictions, so Noah and the others could use their defenses to widen their advantage.
Heaven and Earth obviously weren't happy about that development. They tried their best to shake away the orange net, but their efforts led nowhere.
The old rulers knew Heaven and Earth like no one else in the higher plane, so they had devised a curse that could keep them at bay for quite some time. Of course, the landmass' side didn't hesitate to capitalize on that advantage.
Noah roared as soon as the orange barriers around his training area vanished. His cry contained a tinge of sadness, but the orders that it carried were clear and expressed the entirety of his pride. His underlings had to go all-out now and seize a decisive victory while Heaven and Earth couldn't intervene.
The landmass' army didn't need anything else. A single roar was more than enough to make them muster the entirety of their power and launch it toward their opponents. It was time to be reckless and relentless.
The change in the army's approach forced the various improved and privileged cultivators on a defensive state. The latter tried to escape and survive while they waited for Heaven and Earth to get rid of the orange net, but their efforts eventually led to a higher number of casualties.
Moreover, King Elbas didn't stay put during the process. The old rulers had long since prepared to give him full ownership of the orange city, so he had an easy time rebranding it and using its power to help the army.
Soon, multiple golden buildings shot out of the landmass before teleporting in the middle of the battlefield. Their aura spread throughout the void and enveloped every asset fighting among that blackness.
The golden aura didn't only grant new power to most assets. It also transformed the modified magical beasts and dragons to replace their orange halos and add part of King Elbas' power.
The process didn't stop there. Initially, King Elbas targeted all the remains of the old rulers' power, but his buildings eventually stretched toward the Great Builder's items.
The destroyed giant avatar saw new power filling its insides and matter forming on its broken figure. King Elbas brought it back to life and allowed the weaker assets to get inside it while he applied similar modifications to the yellowish sphere.
"You really couldn't help yourself," Great Builder commented now that his communication device had started working again.
"Why are you even complaining?" King Elbas scoffed. "I'm improving everything I can since you brutes couldn't do it during your free time."
Great Builder didn't complain any further out of respect for the recent loss and the nature of King Elbas' improvements. The latter wasn't taking over the various items. He was only enhancing their abilities by allowing them to feed on his final energy.
The landmass' army became unstoppable while King Elbas enhanced everything he found, and Heaven and Earth's assets soon understood that their leaders would take a while to wake up. That realization forced them to go all-out to repel their opponents, but their efforts arrived too late.
Losses happened on both sides, but the trend on the battlefield became evident. The landmass' forces would win at that pace, and their victory would also be quite decisive.
That understanding filled the landmass' forces with new vigor and excitement. They could see the victory in sight. Heaven and Earth would have nothing more than solid stage privileged cultivators and quasi-rank 10 assets left if everything continued like that.
A similar outcome would go beyond the most optimistic projections. The landmass would retain most of its power while limiting Heaven and Earth to their best assets. That wasn't much, but no one would reject such a good edge during the final battle.
Sadly, the landmass' forces weren't the only ones able to reach similar conclusions. Heaven and Earth's side also knew that it had to avoid that outcome, especially the ancient experts inside the sky.
"Congratulations," A familiar voice came out of the sky as a figure slowly seeped out of the white layer without affecting the orange net. "You have forced Heaven and Earth to rely on their best assets with nothing but underlings. You are really worthy of being our final opponents."
Faint tendrils of energy filled the entirety of the higher plane as Caesar left the sky and acted as a white beacon in the blackness of the void. His fate became almost visible while he unleashed his power, but that process ended in an instant.
A series of golden teleports opened in front of Caesar, and a few figures quickly came out of them. Their auras expanded wildly, interrupting the power that Caesar was spreading throughout the world.
"I'm more than enough for this," King Elbas announced while occupying a spot in front of Caesar.
"We have to behave and cooperate," Alexander reminded.
"It's up to you not to get in the path of my attacks," Sword Saint exclaimed. "A true blade doesn't care about alliances or sides. It only cuts."
"A nice battle is what I needed to remove the bitterness in my mouth," Divine Demon laughed before turning serious. "I guess I'll feel better if I kill you."
"You can kill each other only after the sky falls," Noah declared. "For now, let's focus on taking this one out of the final battlefield."
"Oh," Caesar smiled when he saw the five experts coming out of the teleports and encircling him. "I didn't expect my arrival to force your hand so quickly.. Well, maybe I did."