Chapter 2224 - 2224. Pressure
"You know why you aren't hurting me," Caesar announced once his body completely reformed. "You will become able to kill me near the end of the final battle, but now it's too early."
"I need to stop after this," King Elbas whispered as his quasi-rank 10 aura intensified and gave birth to a series of golden flames that expanded in his surroundings.
"We will all have to stop," Noah sighed. "We can't waste our entire power over a single privileged cultivator."
"You are already wasting power," Caesar playfully chuckled.
"We'll see how you feel after this," King Elbas snorted before launching his flames forward.
The flames teleported around Caesar and partially fused with the void's space-time array to reach the same depths as the strands of fate. The golden fire then expanded to occupy a vast spherical area, leaving Caesar at its center.
King Elbas' flames were powerful enough to eradicate the traces of fate in the area. He could isolate Caesar's body into a small spot of the void, allowing Noah and the others to condense their offensive.
Still, Noah and the others didn't rely on their previous massive attacks once the cage took form. Two figures quickly materialized past the golden flames as they approached Caesar's sides, and the latter's smile only widened at that sight.
"I wonder what you are going to do," Caesar laughed.
"Don't slow me down," Noah ordered as his swords disappeared.
"I'm still the greatest hybrid that the higher plane has ever seen," Alexander claimed.
"You kept that spot because I stopped being a hybrid," Noah pointed out.
"A technicality won't make it false," Alexander announced.
Caesar heaved a sigh as he closed his eyes, but his figure exploded as soon as Noah and Alexander delivered a punch at the same time. The strongest privileged cultivator couldn't do anything against that immense physical prowess.
The plan was simple. Relying on powerful attacks would exhaust the group's reserves quickly, but Noah and Alexander had something that didn't require too much from them. Their bodies were incredible, so they could punch their way inside Caesar's world without depleting too much energy.
Of course, that approach was possible only because Caesar wasn't launching attacks or reacting to the offensive. He wanted to be a punching bag, and Noah's group would fulfill his wishes. Yet, they would do that on their own terms.
Noah and Alexander proceeded to unleash blows everywhere inside the golden cage. They didn't care that all the traces of fate in the area had already disappeared. They punched and kicked until the void lost any connection to Caesar.
Nevertheless, Caesar managed to reappear seemingly out of nowhere. His fate didn't exist inside the cage anymore, but he could rebuild his body and expand his influence again without the slightest effort.
Caesar's presence in that part of the void seemed inevitable, but Noah and Alexander didn't bother to overthink the issue. As soon as their opponent reappeared, they resumed the punching and kicking to bring the area back to its emptiness.
The tactic was simple, but only Noah and Alexander could enforce it without suffering any repercussions. Each of their attacks unleashed shockwaves that King Elbas' barrier didn't let disperse so easily, so they ended up falling on the two experts multiple times.
Ordinary cultivators and even regular hybrids would have ended up covered in injuries by then, but Noah and Alexander stood far above that level. Their bodies could endure the heavy pressure and repercussions caused by their blows without flinching or breaking.
The situation became so brutal that Caesar's body shattered before Noah and Alexander had the chance to reach him. The shockwaves inside the golden cage did that job for them, but they still added attacks to increase the pressure.
The tactic didn't aim to kill Caesar. His fate had already filled the higher plane, so cleansing a relatively small spot couldn't lead to his death.
However, Noah and the others understood how worlds worked deeply. Caesar's power was also quite complicated and profound. A single dent in his ability could trigger a chain reaction that made all his predictions flawed.
That was the purpose behind that offensive. Noah and the others wanted to create a flaw to gain the chance to act outside Caesar's fate. Their main plan was to become too strong for that power, but it didn't hurt to resort to tactics during such a massive battle.
Caesar was only partially powerless in that situation. He could summon his power or one of his many techniques to get out of the cage, but he let the process continue.
His reasons weren't even a secret, and Noah understood them very well. Caesar wanted his opponents to succeed and grow stronger so that Heaven and Earth could gain more benefits from a victory.
A powerful stepping stone was what Heaven and Earth needed to push themselves past the breakthrough. Caesar would probably suffer to make his plan happen, but he didn't care as long as his leaders succeeded.
Noah didn't care either. His side didn't have many options, so he was willing to pursue every available path.
The chaos and destruction inside the golden cage built up as the battlefield continued to rage. The improved cultivators and the landmass' army had stopped focusing on the main fight to resume their struggles, but nothing happened to the previous trend.
The landmass' army continued to gain ground and defeat as many enemies as possible. Both sides experienced losses, but Heaven and Earth's forces slowly lost their numerical advantage.
That event led to an overwhelming advance from the landmass' side. Noah's underlings seized the chance to take control over the higher plane and destroy all their opponents. It didn't take long before Heaven and Earth's forces became nothing more than small teams surrounded by enemies.
"I think that's enough for now," Caesar's voice resounded inside the golden cage even if his presence couldn't be found anywhere.
A white halo began to shine outside the cage as multiple figures slowly took form. Caesar rebuilt countless versions of his body around the golden barriers before doing the same throughout the higher plane.
The landmass' forces didn't know what to do when they saw multiple Caesar appearing around and among them. They were about to corner their opponents and launch one last offensive, but the appearance of so many figures that radiated solid stage power made them hesitate.
The dragons ended up shattering that hesitation. The time dragon and the space dragon launched themselves toward the nearest Caesar, and their companions soon followed them in that assault.
Everyone could understand that the higher plane would fall under their domain if they defeated Heaven and Earth's forces. They only had to go past Caesar to kill the remaining underlings, so they didn't hesitate to launch their best attacks toward the strongest privileged cultivator from the sky.
"Reckless, reckless," The various Caesar spoke at the same time as they spread their arms.
Faint white lines appeared among the void and connected themselves to each expert, attack, or wave of energy. Those strands of fate meddled with everything they touched, and their effects ended up being tragic.
The various attacks converging toward Caesar's multiple bodies changed their trajectory, teleported, or directly disappeared under the effects of his fate. The same went for some experts or magical beasts.
The time dragon tried to close its mouth on one of Caesar's bodies, but the creature suddenly teleported among a group of rank 7 allies. The dragon couldn't stop its attack, which ended up killing many weaker companions.
Torrents of attacks teleported around the giant avatar or Great Builder's sphere before crashing on their surfaces. Both items crumbled due to the friendly fire, but the damage spread way further than that.
Divine Demon, Sword Saint, and King Elbas used their power to stop part of Caesar's ability, but their influence had heavy limits. They were strong enough to ignore the strands of fate trying to connect themselves to their worlds, but they had to remain careful.
That prevented the three experts from using their full power to help their underlings. Their underlings ended up suffering a lot due to Caesar's ability, and his many bodies slowly vanished as laughs left their mouths.
Divine Demon, Sword Saint, and King Elbas didn't let the matter end there. They chased every vanishing figure and destroyed everything they could. They couldn't inflict much damage, but they still removed some strands of fate.
Meanwhile, Noah and Alexander continued to increase the pressure inside the cage. The situation became so dangerous that cracks appeared on their skin, but they never stopped. As long as they managed to plant a flaw, everything would be worth it.
The cage eventually became unable to contain all that pressure. King Elbas noticed the signs of instability and teleported Noah and Alexander away before making the underlings nearby move.
The cage exploded at that point, and all the pressure accumulated in its insides shot outward. Shockwaves capable of twisting the space-time array of the void ran through the battlefield and destroyed anything on their path.
More strands of fate crumbled, but everything eventually disappeared. Caesar reformed in a spot right past the sky and smiled as multiple lights shone on the white layer behind him.
Noah and the others didn't even need to send their mental waves forward to understand what was happening.. More solid stage privileged cultivators were about to join the battlefield.