Birth of the Demonic Sword

The loud crackling noise released by the giant inside Noah's mind threatened to make everything shake. Yet, the dense sea of mental energy and the firm mental walls remaining still under that foreign influence.

Noah's ethereal figure opened his eyes and neared the powerful creature. The insides of his mind were usually dark and only had the scarlet light of the Demonic Deduction technique as a source of light. Still, intense whiteness had appeared after the giant materialized over the mental sea.

Noah had stopped shielding his mental sea for millennia already. His mind had endured Heaven and Earth's light for many years, and he had even refrained from eating wills with his mental energy. His mental walls had reached an unbelievable level of firmness, and they could remain still while that foreign pressure fell on them.

"Die quietly," Noah said in an uncaring voice.

The giant was only a simple will. Its previous power came from the amount of energy accumulated in its structure, but Heaven and Earth didn't have to put much effort into the mental aspect. After all, the system already had the Tribulations programmed in its code. The rulers only needed to trigger the punishment, and the world would do the rest.

The creature only carried Heaven and Earth's decision to activate the Tribulation. The will was pure and heavy, but it couldn't scare Noah at all. He felt confident in defeating it in a few waves of attacks.

The will seemed to reach the same conclusions since the crackling noise released by its figure softened and stopped trying to break free of that ethereal prison. Noah's dense mental energy could start covering its feet to devour it, and he inspected the process.

The crackling giant turned its featureless face toward Noah and opened its mouth, but no words came out of it. He wasn't even sure the creature could speak. Earth usually did the talk.

"Do the Kesier apes hide something important?" Noah asked as he inspected the movements of the creature's mouth.

No noticeable reaction appeared on the creature, but Noah didn't let the matter go. It was rare for him to have access to something that could give him insights into Heaven and Earth. That Tribulation didn't have much, but it was still a connection to the rulers' system. It expressed their feelings and intentions.

"You have tried to attack the apes even after we got in your way," Noah mocked. "Does it scare you that they gained access to your sky?"

The corners of the crackling figure's mouth turned upward to show a devilish smile. It was clear that it didn't want to reveal anything.

The scarlet light inside Noah's mind intensified and suppressed the white radiance. Even his ethereal eyes started to release a red halo. He had activated the Demonic Deduction technique, but the thoughts that it generated didn't involve the giant's structure. He wanted to find a way past its poker face.

"It's not their power, right?" Noah laughed as understanding suddenly dawned upon his mind. "You must hate that sky. It's the proof of your failure."

The giant continued to smile, but Noah noticed a flicker in the ethereal lightning bolts that ran across its figure. He had touched a delicate topic, and he didn't hesitate to talk more about it.

"It's understandable, you know?" Noah continued to laugh. "A bunch of magical beasts has almost defeated the great Heaven and Earth. You didn't even win right away after transforming your existence. No wonder you have yet to reach the tenth rank. I don't think you are ready."

The lightning bolts flickered whenever Noah made a sharp comment. Their rhythm even changed at some point. He was getting somewhere, but he didn't know how that process could help him but getting Heaven and Earth angry sounded enough anyway.

"How could you even lose to those creatures?" Noah openly mocked Heaven and Earth. "You didn't only fail to predict their arrival. You also had to give up on the same law that made you conquer the world. It's quite lame when you think about it."

The crackling noise almost disappeared during Noah's derisions. Instead, the scarlet halo intensified as violent thoughts filled his mind. A red radiance also seeped out of the black mental sea as the process continued.

"How sure are you that your current path is correct this time?" Noah asked. "Your new form might work against the magical beasts but fail on the cultivation path. You might have turned yourself into the best enemy of those creatures at the expense of your potential."

Noah was trying to get something out of that interaction, but he had to admit that mocking Heaven and Earth felt nice when he could study their reactions. Most existences in the world saw the rulers as unreachable monsters, but he knew their true nature. They were nothing more than living beings who had managed to approach the tenth rank before everyone else.

"So," Noah eventually announced as he stopped laughing, "What was it? What did the Kesier apes do to make you so angry? It can't be only the old sky unless you really hate your previous self."

"Have fun while you can, ant," Rough and unclear words suddenly came out of the crackling figure. "Thrive, play, and feel strong, but remember that the sky will always be above you."

The giant's words sounded like thunder. They didn't have a proper voice behind them, but Noah understood their meaning anyway. It was as if Heaven was speaking in a universal language.

"I'm playing in your hand," Noah replied. "I don't deny it, but it's funny to see how helpless you are about all your rebels. What's the point of being in control of the world if you can't even get rid of its ants?"

"A world needs ants," Thunders came out of the creature's mouth. "You'll understand when you'll become me."

"You won't get my law," Noah laughed. "You didn't even manage to remain silent in front of a few mocks."

"Your words have forced a mere spawn of our power to speak," Heaven replied through its thunders, "But you have never affected me. Have fun playing on our hand. Enjoy yourself while you still can."

The figure raised its hand toward its chest at that point, and its grasp tightened. Noah saw the will shattering into a wave of ethereal sparks spread through his mind.

The spark fused with his mental energy and sent their power to Noah at the same time. His mental sphere experienced a sudden enlargement that generated a sharp pain, and he had to crouch in the real world to endure it.

'They have always had the chance to commit suicide,' Noah cursed as the pain dispersed, but a faint laugh eventually escaped his real mouth.

Heaven and Earth had decided to remain under the influence of his words on purpose. They were testing his power for reasons that he couldn't confirm. Noah could come up with a few hypotheses, but he didn't care much about them. His focus was on the only explanation that could cover all those guesses.

'They know I'll remain alive until the end,' Noah thought as he opened his real eyes and saw his companions inspecting him while wearing confused expressions. 'They know that I will be one of their last opponents before the breakthrough to the tenth rank.'

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Author's notes: So, it's quite late. I ended up being super slow. The first chapter for Chaos' Heir should come out on time, but the second will take an hour or two more.