Birth of the Demonic Sword

Night severed the tentacles from the ground, but those structures detonated instead of dispersing their energy in the area. The fabric carried an ethereal fuel that seemed able to affect the experts' sight, but the formations lit up before Noah and the others could suffer from its effects.

A pale-golden aura that targeted ethereal forms of energy fell in the valley and blocked the dark power spreading toward the mountains. The formations slowly pushed the fuel back into the ground until the entire area returned to normality.

The first exchange between the experts and the ghosts ended quickly. Night and King Elbas' formations had taken care of the enemy attacks in mere seconds.

'Did the old rulers exaggerate?' Noah wondered when he saw how easily his team had suppressed the first attack, but a strange sensation suddenly filled his mental connection and made him search for Night with his eyes.

The Pterodactyl had remained near the center of the valley after severing the laws contained in the tentacle-like structures. Noah could feel that the creature was experiencing intense confusion, but he couldn't understand the source of that emotion. Still, Night didn't answer his mental messages even after he started to shout.

Noah knew how much the mission could mean for his group and his existence in general. Gaining enough time to complete the cultivation journey was mandatory to have a chance to defeat Heaven and Earth. Yet, he didn't hesitate to abandon his position when he saw Night in that state.

Noah teleported next to the Pterodactyl, and his consciousness didn't hesitate to cover the creature. The formations in the area tried to stop his mental waves, but they couldn't do much when Noah was right next to his companion.

His mental waves seeped inside Night's strange fabric and studied its functioning. Noah had created that body and had kept track of every improvement even after it fused with the red crystals. He quickly confirmed that everything was working perfectly, but that only increased his worry.

"Light!" Night suddenly cried while Noah was busy with his inspection.

The Pterodactyl turned toward Noah before transforming into a sharp dot that shot inside his chest and fused with it. His instincts started to scream in fear at that point, but his reaction arrived even before the black hole could understand what was happening.

Noah had been with Night too long not to recognize its iconic offensive. The Pterodactyl had fused with his fabric to sever it, and he didn't hesitate to stab his fingers in the left side of his chest and tear apart a large chunk of his flesh.

Night reappeared in the outside world when the gory piece of flesh landed on the ground. The creature promptly pointed its unique head toward Noah again, but hesitation suddenly spread through its mind and made it stop its offensive.

"What?" Night roared. "What does this mean?"

"What did you see?" Noah asked as dark matter filled the hole in his chest and stopped the blood loss.

"I saw the light," Night replied before pointing its attention to Noah's injury. "Did I-?"

"It doesn't matter," Noah promptly interrupted the Pterodactyl. "Retreat inside the separate space. I might need all of you to understand if I'm under the effect of an illusion."

Noah and Night didn't need to add anything else to understand what they were both thinking. They had shared sensations and thoughts for millennia already. They could basically read each other's minds.

Night had only needed to feel Noah's anger to understand his plan. On the other hand, Noah had comprehended the ghosts' innate abilities after that short exchange, and he had already developed a reckless tactic that would make him face them directly.

The ghosts' energy could tamper with the seas of consciousness, but the experts had already understood that from the old rulers' vague descriptions and study of their current state. Yet, Noah didn't believe that Night could suffer so much after a single attack. The creature had barely touched that dark power, but the event had affected it enough to make it attack Noah.

It was unclear whether his mental sphere could resist that influence better than Night. The best course of action would be to avoid touching the ghosts' dark energy completely in that situation, but Noah felt unable to suppress his instincts.

The mental connection allowed Noah to sense Night's regret. The Pterodactyl had the resolve to die for its Master if the situation required it, but the ghosts had actually made it turn its offensive toward him. It was impossible to describe how angry, disappointed, and depressed it was about the matter.

Noah experienced all of that, and anger inevitably spread from his figure. His bloodlust intensified and created a dark-red aura that covered his skin and made his reptilian eyes release a scarlet light.

"That wasn't the plan, Noah!" King Elbas shouted when he understood what Noah had in mind. "You can't face them on your own!"

"I'm not trying to," Noah growled as a cold smile appeared on his face. "I'm just venting here."

"But our formation-," King Elbas started to complain, but Noah quickly cut his speech short.

"I know," Noah continued to growl. "Use me as bait and launch attacks over my body if you need."

King Elbas and the others remained speechless at that statement, but they know Noah well enough to understand that he felt confident in his abilities. Moreover, his flesh was one of the most resilient aspects of his power, so he could endure a few direct attacks as long as they hurt the ghosts.

Noah trusted that his companions would awaken him if his mind started to do crazy stuff, and that was enough to make him go all-out. The bloodlust accumulated in his mind came out and fused with the raging feeling that had surrounded his figure.

Noah's emotions appeared on fire, and he didn't hesitate to draw the demonic sword from his chest. It had been a long time since he had felt so angry, but that time didn't make him forget how to vent it. He only needed the other ghosts to come out so that they could play with him.

Humanoid heads eventually came out of the surface to inspect the area, but blackness immediately covered the valley. Noah launched an attack that leveled the entire region and left only the mountains intact.

The heads shattered in a wave of dense energy since they couldn't survive the attack. The cursed sword had finally reached the upper tier, so its slashes were deadly blows that could kill in one exchange even creatures in the ninth rank.

The valley caved in as the surface shattered and vanished under Noah's offensive. Some of the modified golden patches of ground transformed into black metal as his influence spread, but those effects were only the last of one of the surprising details that appeared in the area.

The shattered ground revealed the countless ghosts hidden under the surface. Noah didn't hesitate to point his swords at them at that point, but his companions suddenly cried and roared inside his mental sphere to confirm that he saw committing a mistake.

The black hole quickly filled his mind with dark matter and covered the insides of the mental walls to bring him back to his senses. The scenery suddenly changed, and Noah found himself pointing his weapons toward Wilfred in the distance. He had almost attacked him.