Chapter 401 - 401. Flaw
The clash of the two Third Forms generated an explosion between Noah and his copy, they were both flung back by the power released in the blast.
Meanwhile, Heilong and its copy had also separated, they returned to their masters as they prepared themselves to charge again.
Noah wore a stern expression behind the armor of smoke, his eyes carefully analyzed his opponents as he tried to plan his next approach.
'My copy is virtually unharmed and Heilong's one has just a few scratches, I need to find an opening before I deplete my reserves.'
The Demonic form was extremely powerful, Noah had yet to find someone on his level that was able to fight it.
However, when matched with his copy, every little advantage mattered.
Noah was about to charge again when he noticed that his Blood companion had recovered before the opponent's one.
'What is happening?'
Yet, his thoughts were interrupted since he saw his copy being covered in black flames.
Noah's pupils shrunk as he hastily turned, slashing in a certain point behind his back.
Black flames appeared in that position and an attack of identical might clashed with his slash, the copy had warped behind him and used the Third Form, even its battle style matched Noah's one.
The two dragons came out in the open again, they protected their respective masters as they entangled themselves in a violent battle.
Shockwaves resounded under Noah's feet as he charged toward his copy, another piercing line tried to vertically sever the world in front of him but it could only clash against a similar attack.
BOOM BOOM!
Explosions resounded in the arena as the Third Forms of the Ashura continued to meet each other mid-air.
Noah attacked madly, he was doing his best to expose his own flaws.
Yet, that wasn't easy.
Noah had always pursued power, his battle style had been perfected through his constant training and hundreds of battles, it could be said that there weren't actual flaws in his technique.
However, as the battle continued, it was clear that Noah was gaining the upper hand which didn't make sense considering that his copy seemed to match his every move.
Another clash between the two martial arts occurred, Noah tried to understand the reason behind his advantage but his thoughts were soon forced to a stop when he felt a piercing pain to his heart.
A few drops of blood came out of his mouth but the liquid "Breath" in his circulatory system quickly healed the light injury on that organ.
Noah knew his abilities better than anyone else, he immediately understood what had happened.
'It hid a few Ghostly claws behind the Third Form!'
Noah had obtained that spell only a short time ago and he had only tested it once in battle, it was obvious that he hadn't explored all the possibilities that his new attack method offered.
Yet, his copy had used it in a way that he still hadn't tested and it seemed even more skillful than him in that aspect!
'Don't tell me, my copy can express the full potential of my abilities even if I'm still unable to do so!'
That thought worried Noah but it also confused him: If his copy could coordinate its abilities better than him, why was he gaining the upper hand?
Black flames covered the copy and Noah quickly recalled Heilong as he shot in the air.
Black flames appeared behind his previous position but a fuming dragon soon came out of them as the copy realized that a simple-looking needle had been thrown toward it.
BOOM!
Another explosion resounded, Heilong's copy endured the might of Noah's Hidden blast, its scales were shattered but they soon regenerated.
Noah carefully observed from his position in the air, his eyes analyzed every detail of the battlefield as he tried to understand what he had missed until now.
Then, a smirk appeared on his fiendish form, he had finally understood the flaw in the copying technique!
'Heilong's copy has the same power of my Blood companion but its defense is only at the peak of the lower tier; my copy has never used the Shadow sprint but only relied on the Warp spell as a movement method; my corrosive smoke is slightly more abundant than its, its sabers might be black but they don't contain any corrosive ability.'
All those little details became obvious once he watched the battlefield from above, the weakness of the copying technique became even more obvious when he used one of his new Hidden blasts to attack the copy.
'The effects of the Elemental forging method can't be copied!'
Noah's eyes shone when he realized that, the battle had suddenly become extremely easy!
Noah dove toward his copy, once he knew about its weakness, he had no more reason to act cautiously.
The fiendish copy raised its sabers and was about to perform the Third Form when it saw five spiked spheres falling toward it.
Heilong's copy immediately covered its features, the spheres exploded when they reached the borders of its cloud of smoke.
BOOOOOM!
A loud blast made the whole arena tremble, Noah was using the Instabilities that he had prepared before joining David's team, which meant that he had used rank 3 "Breath" in the gaseous stage during the forging!
His newly forged Instabilities and Hidden Blasts were rank 3 inscribed items at the peak of the lower tier!
The scene in the arena was quite peculiar, there were two black clouds, one high in the air and one on the floor, a third gray cloud was between them.
A dragon was at the center of the black clouds, both Noah and his copy were relying on the protection of their Blood companions to defend against the fuming spikes released by the Instabilities.
Heilong's defense had reached the middle tier of the fourth rank thanks to Noah's forging but that of its copy was still in the lower tier, the amount of damage it took from the spikes vastly surpassed that of Noah's Blood companion.
That forced the copy to deplete more "Breath" to reform it.