Birth of the Demonic Sword

In theory, it was impossible to fuse different or even opposite natures in the same attack. Exceptions existed, but they always involved two or three qualities that had a common core.

Noah could use his destruction and creation in the same blows, but he had required a unique technique to succeed. The attack also worked because his existence connected those opposite powers.

Instead, Axia was bringing that process to the limit. She could fuse the flexibility of a whip with the sharpness of a long blade and the destructiveness of a mace in the same attack without weakening those different features. That was even a mere example. Her actual technique used hundreds of abilities mixed into a blow that didn't carry any shape.

Noah could immediately understand that Axia had no weak spots. Her world was the result of countless weapon arts fused into an attack that expressed their peak. Truth be told, the swordmaster in him couldn't help but admire her level of expertise.

However, Noah had always been much more than his sword. Even Sword Saint had to give up on making him stick to that single path. His existence was too vast for a single weapon, and even many of them wouldn't be able to contain it.

Axia continued to advance, and shockwaves came out of her body whenever the parasite tried to send something toward her. It was clear that the plant was powerless on its own, but Noah let the expert waste energy as he continued to study her power. Her world felt hard to destroy, but perfection didn't exist, so even she had to feature flaws, but his mind needed time to find them.

Noah performed a sharp gesture with his left hand, and the parasite cut the long roots to restore its state as a sword. He then raised his blades above his head before launching a descending slash toward the incoming opponent.

The massive curved slash that came out of the swords absorbed the roots that Axia had yet to destroy in its structure. Purple shades appeared on its surface as it flew forward and fused all the power accumulated by the parasite's branches into a single blow. The might of the ability was so massive that the two liquid stage cultivators decided to ignore their opponents to admire it. They felt lucky that it wasn't flying toward them.

Axia didn't slow down in front of the slash. She inspected the attack with her calm eyes and waved her hand when it was to fall on her. The corrosive and sharp mass of power crumbled, and the destructive aura around it also vanished due to the shockwave that she had released.

Everything that Noah had built in the previous minutes had vanished after a few attacks. Axia appeared unstoppable, but Noah's smile broadened nonetheless. The cultivator had to resort to a different gesture to deal with his slash. The event didn't only show that Axia had yet to use her full power. It also proved how he had a chance to defeat her.

'Let's kill her,' Noah ordered through the mental connection, and his companions answered by intensifying the ambition radiated by their figures.

Night disappeared in the environment, and Duanlong took its position behind Noah as Snore spread its massive wings toward the battlefield. King Elbas and Sepunia couldn't miss that event, and they immediately sought cover since they knew what was about to come. Their opponents found an opening due to that abrupt escape, but they didn't waste that chance to hide either. Everyone knew what the snake could unleash with its feathers.

Axia actually stopped moving forward to prepare for the imminent release of violent energy. She didn't know how strong Snore had become after the breakthrough but underestimating a creature that expressed the dark world's destructiveness was too reckless even for an expert at her level.

Nevertheless, Snore didn't release the attack that everyone was anticipating. Its feathers stood up, but they shone with a dark light before releasing a series of beams that converged in Axia's position.

Axia raised her hand, but her eyes widened right before the beams could hit her. The cultivator immediately performed an evasive maneuver to escape from their trajectory and reappear higher in the area. She then followed the attack with her gaze and confirmed that she had made the correct decision.

The beams converged in her previous position before fusing into a thicker wave of energy that continued to fly forward. The attack soon reached the white surface of the sky and pierced it, creating a vast tunnel that stretched far in the distance. None of the experts in the area could sense when that dark power stopped destroying the white material.

Snore's attack appeared unstoppable. It was stronger than the slash previously released by Noah, and its nature also made it harder to deal with. The snake had sacrificed all the incredible properties of the dark world to express a single feature in ways that even Noah couldn't imitate. His destruction also struggled to keep up with the sheer power released by the beams.

Axia quickly turned to fix her eyes on the giant snake. She couldn't leave such a powerful weapon in Noah's hands, but a disturbance broke her concentration and made her release another shockwave.

Night cut the shockwave to affect its destructiveness and pass through the attack without suffering too much damage. Its body reappeared among the whiteness, and its lines had thinned in some spots, but it was almost entirely intact. However, Axia materialized in front of the Pterodactyl and took its strange head in her hand.

Axia prepared herself to launch a shockwave that could put an end to the Pterodactyl in a single blow, but part of her power suddenly left her body and made her unable to complete her attack. Her eyes inevitably went on the odd dragon that had jumped in front of Noah. She could see her energy flying toward its monstrous mouth.

Axia snorted and mustered her energy again in no time, but a dangerous sensation filled her mind when she sensed that Night's aura seemed to stretch past the limits of the lower tier. She immediately let go of the creature and shot backward, but the sharp line that shot out of the Pterodactyl cut part of her forefinger away.

The cultivator pointed her hand toward Night while she continued to retreat, but her energy vanished again. Moreover, the second pulling force started affecting her escape since it dragged her closer to Noah.

Noah slashed forward, and a massive slash tried to crash on Axia, but the latter released a shockwave that destroyed it. Her attack even shattered the sharp line launched by Night, but her energy disappeared again and made her unable to dodge Snore's beams.

Axia used the entirety of her concentration to pull her out of the beams' trajectory, but her lower body ended up falling prey to that attack. She continued to fly, but Snore's attack turned everything into nothingness and left her with only half of her waist.

A high-pitched noise spread in the area as Noah pointed the Cursed Sword and the sword-shaped roots toward Axia. He prepared to unleash one of his most destructive attacks, but the cultivator lost her patience and clapped her hands.

The gesture brought silence to the battlefield and pushed everything away from Axia. Even Noah found himself near to the white surface when he managed to stop himself.