Birth of the Demonic Sword

Noah reappeared behind the escaping Cecil, and his hand squeezed the back of his neck, forcing him to stay still while his companions retreated.

The water puppets had crumbled after Snore's feathers ravaged the river. They didn't have a core inside them, so Noah had guessed that the shining stream fueled those defenses.

His guess had been on point since the puppets, and their abilities lost power once Snore's attack destroyed most of the river. The water directly disintegrated when the feathers crashed on the riverbed, and the cracks spread to ruin the previous orderly shape of the canal.

The Black Hole spell had eradicated the superficial layer of the ground, halting the creation of knights. Most of the buildings had vanished during the explosion, and the mirrors on them suffered from the same fate.

His flames had created a starry sky right above the ground that ravaged anything that had survived the previous spells. The Royal Academy lost entire quarters instantly once his innate ability managed to exploit their defenseless state.

Noah had deactivated the Demonic Form by the time he reached Cecil, but the corrosive smoke still lingered behind him. The cultivators on the other side of the battlefield couldn't help due to the threatening cloud blocking their path.

Moreover, the flames and the corrosive smoke had filled the battlefield so much that the healing light struggled to fix the formations' countless damages.

Noah noticed how that golden light could even reform formations that his attacks had wrecked, but he didn't have time to feel amazed.

His target was in his grasp, and he had crossed the initial defensive layers. He would typically use that situation to spread his destruction even more, but he had to confirm something before pressing forward.

Cecil remained frozen in place under Noah's pressure. He felt as if his life was the frailest thing in the world with the invader's fingers around his neck. Yet, that terror couldn't compare with the fear he felt when Noah's cold words reached his ears.

"Did you kill Ivor?" Noah asked, while his mouth almost touched the Royal's ear. Cecil shuddered, and a tinge of disbelief made its way through his fear when he understood the reasons behind Noah's actions.

"Did you do all of this for that ruined cultivator?" Cecil shouted in anger. He had accepted his death in those short seconds, so he didn't fear to let out his true feelings in the last moments of his life. "Did you kill my son to avenge that walking corpse? Did you declare war to the Elbas family for an inscription master that could barely remember your name?"

Noah didn't even listen to his words. It didn't matter if the reasons that drove his actions were petty. He didn't care that almost five hundred years had passed since Ivor's events.

Noah wanted closure on Ivor's death, so he would fight for it. His opponents could either have the power to stop him or die.

"Did you kill Ivor?" Noah asked again as his fingertips pierced Cecil's skin.

Some of the escaping Royals stopped their retreat and wielded inscribed cannons when they saw that Noah didn't follow them. They prepared a battle formation to block him as soon as he resumed his charge.

The golden light continued to fix the formations while Noah remained still. On the other side of the battlefield, the cultivators began to fly around the corrosive cloud to help their companions.

Noah was wasting precious time, and Cecil knew it. His mind had become clearer than ever when he accepted his death. His only focus was on making sure that the Demon Prince of the Hive lost that battle now.

No answer came from the suppressed Royal, and Noah knew that he didn't have time to torture him. Also, Cecil was different from his son. He had the mindset of a real expert. Even when facing death, he had found a way to help his organization.

Sharp thoughts surged inside Noah's mind. He would have never invaded the Royal Academy only to kill Cecil during normal times, but he wanted to help June, so he had taken that risk.

That whole mission was a ploy meant to make her task easier. Noah and the alliance could gain something out of it, but it wouldn't be wrong to say that he had started a war to help his lover.

"Fine," Noah whispered to Cecil's ear. "I'll play your game."

Cecil felt an even colder chill spreading among his guts. He didn't know what had changed, but he thought that something horrible was about to unfold.

Dark matter covered the Royal's body to create a layer of protection. Cecil was about to question Noah's action, but an immense force pressed on him and made him unable to speak.

Noah had shot forward without using any ability. His speed wasn't as breathtaking as when he performed his technique, but it was still too much to endure for a solid stage cultivator like Cecil.

Nevertheless, the dark matter protected the Royal's body and left him able to see what was happening around him.

Noah had sprinted directly among the enemy lines. The experts wielded heavy cannons and were far weaker than him, so they could barely react when they saw the invader landing among them.

Cecil's eyes widened when he saw hundreds of black lines shooting from the Demonic Sword and killing dozens of Royals in an instant. Peak rank 4 cultivators and various inscription masters in the fifth rank died, divided in half by attacks that they had no hope to block.

"There's more!" Noah shouted as growls accompanied his human voice. The Royals coming from the other side of the battlefield managed to cross the black cloud in time to see Noah landing among them.

Cecil witnessed as Noah destroyed the very elites of the Elbas family. He had already killed many great experts when he returned from the hidden world, but that slaughter was different.

Most of the cultivators fighting above the poisonous swamp had used the Royal Pool, which hurt their potential. Instead, those inside the Academy were valuable inscription masters.

The Elbas family's most significant advantage over other organizations was its superiority in studies that covered every field of the cultivation journey. Those experts were the foundation of its preeminence and killing them hurt its very future.

Noah activated the Black Hole spell and rereleased the saber-shaped runes. His destruction never stopped spreading, so there was plenty of primary energy to fuel his attacks.

Tinges of regret appeared in Cecil's mind, but he remained silent. He wouldn't concede to those threats. He could claim that small victory over Noah, and he had every intention to make that his last act of defiance.

Noah continued to kill until all the cultivators had died. Only Cecil remained alive, but no sound came out of him.

"You win," Noah eventually said when he saw that Cecil had no intention to give in. "I'll just destroy everything."

The dark matter around Cecil compressed, reducing him into a bloody pulp. Noah would never obtain his answer, but he had the entire Royal Academy waiting for him to vent.