Peaceful Storm felt almost depressed to realize that he had to become serious against a cultivator that had been in the fifth rank for less than fifty years.

He was an experienced warrior that had managed to create a stable battle style that made use of his individuality even if it had mostly defensive features. Yet, he could only go all out in front of such a demonstration of sheer power.

The strands of smoke coming out of Noah's armor resembled sharp blades that shattered the air and created massive quantities of primary energy. The scales over his body were so dense that most cultivators wouldn't believe that they were made of corrosive gas.

It was as if Noah had transformed into a fiend born only to destroy, and Peaceful Storm couldn't even put into words the amount of danger that he felt looking at his figure.

Noah felt a series of gazes landing on him. The Elders and Danielle had started their battles too, but they were startled by the dangerous presence that had suddenly appeared when Noah transformed. Even the other rank 5 cultivators of the Empire couldn't help but glance at him.

However, Noah couldn't care less about their gazes. The only thing that his eyes could see was the distorted area created by Peaceful Storm.

There was something that blocked his path and denied almost all his attacks right in front of him. That was the perfect tool to test how far his destruction could stretch.

Noah took a step forward and wielded the two parts of the Demonic Sword before gathering the saber-shaped runes at some distance from him.

Peaceful Storm saw a fiendish figure surrounded by a sea of small sabers walking toward him and sighed when he noticed that those runes were becoming stronger every time Noah took a step forward. They were nearing the peak of the gaseous stage as they kept on absorbing the primary energy created by the corrosive smoke.

Peaceful Storm understood at once that he had to stop his opponent before even his incredible defenses couldn't protect him anymore.

Nevertheless, Noah's figure suddenly distorted and shot forward at high speed, reaching the borders of Peaceful Storm's defensive area before he could even notice that event.

Noah's weapons were already raised by the time he reached the distorted area, and he used the momentum of his sprint to slash them toward the cultivator of the Empire. Two fuming lines barged inside the distorted space and pressed forward in a straight line, uncaring of the effects that his opponent's individuality was trying to apply to them.

Peaceful Storm saw his defenses falling apart. The black smoke filled his distorted area and destroyed the effects of his spell, while the two black lines continued to aim at him without being hindered in the slightest.

He quickly took another series of talismans from his space-ring and started to cast another spell. A series of humanoid figures made of air took form in front of him and clashed with Noah's attack while he commanded his area to explode outward.

Noah saw that distorted space engulfing him and shredding his armor apart, flinging him away in the process. His body also suffered, and he coughed blood as his internal organs shook under the changes of pressure that they were experiencing.

When Peaceful Storm was in command of his area, the space distorted in a way that protected him. Yet, when it exploded outward, it was so chaotic that it was even able to tear Noah's Demonic Form apart.

Noah stopped himself after being pushed back for a few kilometers and quickly reactivated his Demonic Form. His body radiated waves of pain, but they didn't even manage to occupy a small part of his thoughts.

There was only the ecstasy felt by sensing that his centers of power were able to sustain the consumption of his reckless battle style.

'Finally,' Noah thought as he analyzed the consumption of his "Breath".

His darkness was on the same level of the "Breath" in the environment, but Noah's abilities required less of it when they acted in line with its nature. As for the Demonic Form, no spell in his arsenal expressed his creation and destruction better than it.

Noah had never seen his most powerful spell consuming so little energy. It felt liberating having the possibility of going all out without worrying about emptying his centers of power.

Peaceful Storm appeared in front of him while Noah bathed in the harmony that his existence had reached. The skin of the cultivator from the Empire was even worse off, and there were spots on his body where his bones were exposed. Also, he was missing a few fingers on his right hand.

It seemed that his humanoid figures couldn't completely protect him from the corrosive effects of Noah's attacks. Yet, they were still standing around him in a protective stance, even if all of them had missing limbs.

Noah roared when he saw him and released a wave of white flames that fused with the black smoke as they slammed on the humanoid figures. Peaceful Storm didn't even look at it and threw other talismans that become arrows aimed for his opponent.

Both of them didn't even care about defending anymore. They just used the protections that were already in place and focused everything into their offensive.

The humanoid figures exploded when the white flames and black smoke crashed on them, and Noah felt his body being pierced in multiple spots due to the arrows that he didn't manage to block. The two of them seemed almost on the same level as they kept exchanging blows without taking any step back.

Nevertheless, a blue pillar suddenly illuminated the area. It flung all the invaders away, either injuring or killing the weaker cultivators that were trying to conquest the city on the ground.

Even Noah felt the blue halo radiated by the pillar, pushing him away from the battle against Peaceful Storm. It seemed that the invading forces had triggered one of the defensive measures of the city, which was even able to target heroic cultivators!

Noah flew back for a few kilometers until he landed on the ground at some distance from the battlefield. His mind didn't sense any threat coming for him, but he noticed that the other Elders and Danielle had been flung back too.

In the city and the sky above it, the cultivators of the Empire cheered and shot challenging gazes at the survivors of the invading troops. It was as if they were asking them to attack again.

Noah dispersed the Demonic Form and analyzed the survivors on the Hive's side.

To his surprise, all the rank 4 cultivators were still alive and were either hugging or caressing weapons that he was extremely familiar with. As for the hybrids on the ground, most of them had died when the blue light engulfed them.

"Retreat," Elder Julia said at that scene. They couldn't win unless they didn't find a way around that protection.

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