Birth of the Demonic Sword

The lines of the Copying Technique shone on King Elbas' face and illuminated the night. The Royal had successfully uncovered the inscription generating the endless tide of magical beasts, and he inspected it with great interest.

Noah quickly sent a message to Chasing Demon. The Patriarch was aware of King Elbas' curiosity, but Noah wanted to make sure that he knew how dedicated the Royal was as a researcher.

"Don't worry," Chasing Demon replied through a mental message, "I'm just getting started."

The lines of the formation shone more brightly after Chasing Demon sent that message. The army formed again, and the White Ape was among the creatures, staring at the powerhouse accompanied by the golden cage.

King Elbas was ready to activate some defensive method, but the magical beasts didn't attack. They stood on the charred ground, watching the powerhouse inspecting them with an interested gaze.

A second rank 6 aura appeared among the army at some point. A human figure flew above the beasts and landed on the Ape's shoulder before joining the creatures in their stare.

That figure didn't need presentations. He was the tall man with red hair and dark eyes who had started a war for the sake of his destruction.

King Elbas' eyebrows arched at that sight. Ravaging Demon looked down on him in an incredibly realistic manner. Even his centers of power matched his old cultivation level.

"I expected something similar when you captured his remaining consciousness," King Elbas announced, conscious that the experts in the distance would hear him. "However, this goes beyond my wildest expectations. You managed to replicate a powerhouse!"

King Elbas resembled a kid who had just discovered a new toy, but he expressed his excitement with a grace fit of his status.

The arrogance in his expression became less intense as he learnt about creations that he couldn't imitate. Still, his curiosity replaced that feeling, and his eyes began to shine with a golden light.

King Elbas rarely showed that aspect of his individuality in the open. It would be too easy to exploit his uncontrollable curiosity toward any form of inscription otherwise.

Yet, he now stood at the peak of the heroic ranks. There was virtually nothing in a lower plane that could threaten him. Only Shandal's return might force him to hold back, but the God of the Empire had no interest in suppressing such a promising expert.

Ravaging Demon didn't wear his iconic smile, but he lifted his hand to prepare his spell. King Elbas saw a scarlet flame appearing in his palm before a blue radiance filled his vision.

The tide of weaker beasts launched attacks that quickly took fire as the Royal counter-attacked. The White Ape created ice platforms in the air to run away from the flames, and Ravaging Demon remained on its shoulder as he waited for his moment.

Once the fire dispersed, the White Ape leaped from the platform to fall toward King Elbas. Ice surrounded its figure and transformed it into a massive spear that crashed on the powerhouse.

Ravaging Demon had jumped off the Ape when the ice began to cover it. He waited until the second wave of flame melted the spear and killed the beast inside it before flying toward King Elbas and triggering his attack.

A sea of flames spread on the region. A pure sense of destruction invaded the battlefield and fought the fire still lingering on the ground.

The rank 6 copies had both performed suicidal attacks. Chasing Demon knew that the Copying Technique alone couldn't defeat King Elbas, but he wanted to see if the Royal had a limit or showed flaws in his battle style.

King Elbas became visible once Ravaging Demon's flames dispersed. His robe was still clean, and he had suffered no injuries. Even that last assault had proven itself useless against him.

The copies reformed and resumed their endless assault. The Copying Technique managed to keep King Elbas busy for two more hours before deciding that it was time to move on.

The Royals poured four drops of blood on the shining lines under him, and fire spread in the region's underground world. A large chunk of the Copying Technique fell apart during the attack, but some inscriptions remained in place.

The region wasn't as lucky. It had already become a mess of scorching fissures and melted rocks due to the past exchanges, but now it crumbled downward since it had lost most of its underground area.

The terrain caved in. Some of the melted rocks began to flow across the new cracks, creating dense dark-red rivers.

The structure of the region remained unstable even after all the boulders and chunks of terrain settled. No more copies appeared around King Elbas, but he could sense traces of "Breath" gathering at some distance from him.

King Elbas wanted to follow those traces to reach another core of the Copying Technique, but three figures started to form after he walked for some time.

Ravaging Demon reappeared, and the White Ape reformed too. The third figure took more time to form, but it eventually became material in the shape of a giant snake.

Noah almost couldn't believe his eyes. The third beast that had appeared was a Flying Snake quite similar to the last ancestor of the other world!

Moreover, it radiated faint mental waves and carried traces of a dantian. Chasing Demon had summoned a creature killed by the Worldwide Heaven Tribulation!

"Do you like it?" Thirty-seven's voice resounded in Noah's mind when the Flying Snake formed completely. The automaton used a private channel to talk with him, so no one could hear their conversation.

"Did you use the ashes of the ancestor?" Noah asked. He had given the bucket to the automaton long ago, but he had almost forgotten about it.

The remains of the rank 6 creature had lost all their power. Heaven and Earth had been thorough in their destruction, so Noah didn't expect the automaton to do much with its ashes.

"They have been a pain to restore into a useful form," Thirty-seven replied. "I have treated them with the most nurturing materials for over a century to recover a small part of their original power. Then, I used the theory of the Body-inscription spell to create a drawing that resembled the original creature."

Noah was speechless. He remembered that the ashes didn't carry the slightest trace of the ancestor. They were nothing more than a common material, but the automaton claimed that he had partially restored them.

That went beyond Noah's comprehension. Thirty-seven's accomplishment resembled a resurrection rather than a restoration. He had also managed to put those results into use, which made them even more valuable.

"The creature isn't exactly alive," Thirty-seven continued, "But there are loopholes in the Copying Technique. Since it can replicate almost everything, you only need to give it the right inputs to create what you desire."

Noah guessed that the automaton was excited to see his creation finally joining a battle. He couldn't explain while Thirty-seven was so polite and expansive with him otherwise.

The Flying Snake radiated an aura at the peak of the middle tier, but it had a dantian near the peak of the liquid stage. When it came to its cultivation level, it was as strong as Great Elder Diana.

The Snake was a hybrid too, so it could rely on its physical strength. Noah didn't believe that the Council's Matriarch would lose in a direct fight against the creature, but that didn't diminish its value.

King Elbas didn't show any fear in front of the three rank 6 copies. His cultivation level was still far above theirs, but the constant assault of the Copying Technique was about to affect him.

He was only one cultivator. Even his immense power had limits, and Chasing Demon was doing his best to see how strong the Royal was.