Birth of the Demonic Sword

The only thing holding the rank 7 titan's power back was Chasing Demon's cultivation level. He couldn't unleash its full potential nor rely on some of its unique features because his mind and dantian weren't up to the task.

He could still activate some of its most powerful abilities, but doing that would leave him drained and could hurt his centers of power. That outcome wasn't ideal in an environment without energy to absorb.

The detonation caused by the smaller titans' self-destruction overcame the flames that King Elbas had launched to block them. It also spread a shockwave that covered the entire battlefield, affecting everyone in the area.

First Prince, First Princess, and Second Prince blocked Noah's elemental attacks, but the corrosive smoke that he released touched their skin.

Even if the golden halo radiated by their inscribed items weakened its destructive properties, the smoke still managed to affect the Royals with some of its new features.

Black spots appeared on the Royals' faces. The sudden invasion of a foreign substance shocked the trio and forced them to take out precious drugs to counter its poisonous properties.

However, Noah wasn't the type to let that opportunity go. His fingers straightened to make his hand resemble a blade, and his mind focused on activating one of his revisited spells.

A rune rose from the mental sea and flew toward the walls of Noah's mind. The diagram had an unclear form that changed shape according to the contents of Noah's thoughts.

Darkness rose from Noah's dantian and reached the spot where the rune had landed. The mental energy inside the diagram's fabric activated its effects once paired with the "Breath".

Noah raised his hand before lowering it slowly. His fingers molded the corrosive smoke as they cut through the cloud, and three fiendish figures formed in front of him.

It wasn't easy to see them inside the cloud since they had corrosive smoke as their material. Yet, Noah knew that three humanoid figures had formed in front of him, and their appearance resembled his when he donned the fuming armor.

The Shadow Copy spell didn't change too much after the modifications. Still, Noah could only activate its effects on the Demonic Sword back then since his individuality had the shape of a saber.

Sword Saint's training had expanded that aspect of his existence. Every part of Noah's individuality flowed inside his sword arts now.

Everything about him had become a sword. His entire being radiated an intense sharpness that didn't come only from a small part of his existence.

That removed any limit from the Shadow Copy spell. The ability could now copy Noah in his strongest form, even if it had other restrictions and weaknesses regarding the copies' actual power.

A fiendish figure came out of the cloud when the Royals drank their drugs to defend against the poison. The fuming armor had changed after Noah had modified the Demonic Form, but the difference didn't involve its core aspect.

The fuming armor still featured a long tail, a pair of horns, a draconic helmet, and long claws. Yet, the smoke that it leaked enveloped the area in a dense and dangerous sensation.

Moreover, the smoke appeared to have a will of its own. It spread in the environment as if looking for prey. It acted as a predator in its hunting ground.

The Royals saw the fiendish figure and prepared themselves to defend against any trick behind that frontal attack. They didn't believe that Noah had charged directly at them without any scheme to back him up.

Still, the fiendish figure continued its reckless charge until it was about to crash on the trio covered in the golden halo.

The Royals couldn't hesitate anymore at that point. Everyone in the world knew that Noah was lethal in close quarters, so they had to fend him off before he could lay a finger on them.

First Princess and First Prince took care of the matter. The drug had yet to remove the Black Mark spreading under their skin, but they relied on their best attacks nonetheless.

Blood came out of the duo's fingers, and two massive fiery figures formed. An eight-armed titan and a giant snake surrounded the three Royals and condensed their flames on the spot where the fuming copy was about to land.

First Prince and the others couldn't hide their surprise when they saw the fiendish figure releasing a few black lines before exploding into a cloud of corrosive smoke.

The Royals immediately deployed their investigative items. A white orb appeared among them and poured its shining light on the cloud that tried to pave its way through the flames, but it didn't find any trace of life.

Noah wasn't there. He had managed to invade the area around them with his smoke, but his exact location was still unknown.

The Royals didn't dare to let their guard down, but another fiendish figure suddenly flew out of the first cloud and entered the second one.

First Prince activated the orb, but the fuming armor came out of the cloud to explode inside the flames again.

The two fiery creatures focused on fending back the new smoke, but two more fiendish figures flew toward the trio at that point.

Both fuming armors wielded a sword as they flew directly toward the Royals. First Prince and the others didn't know what to think anymore, so they launched everything they had on the opponents.

Blood fell out of Second Prince's eyes, and a fiery nine-headed hydra formed next to the other giant creatures. The three spells were the maximum expression of the Royals' prowess.

The three Royals were about to launch their attacks at the two fuming enemies when they sensed the arrival of another shockwave.

The leaders' battle was infuriating behind them, and they had already suffered from their carelessness. The Royals couldn't let its shockwaves take them by surprise again, but they couldn't ignore the fiendish figures either.

Noah had done that on purpose. Differently from the Royals, he was completely relaxed and could focus on the leaders' battle.

He could predict when a shockwave was about to fill the environment from the rank 7 titan's movements. Exploiting that opportunity was only a matter of timing afterward.

That was the only reason why he didn't use the three copies at the same time. He needed to gain time to create that opportunity.

The Royals gave up on attacking and focused everything they had on defending. Their flames became denser as the creatures surrounding them shrunk, and the light of their inscribed items became more intense.

That probably was one of the highest defensive power that gaseous stage powerhouses could wield!

"Stack them up!" First Princess shouted, and First Prince immediately followed her orders. Second Prince felt slightly confused, but he did as she asked anyway.

The three massive creatures fused to form a denser and formless wall of fire. The flames inside the wall became so thick that their power stepped on the liquid realm when paired with the golden protections.

First Prince and First Princess knew that Noah had an attack capable of piercing even the strongest defense. His lunge was a terrifying attack that they didn't know how to deal with.

The best they could do was creating a defense with power in the liquid stage and hope that it would be enough to stop the lunge. It would be better to prevent it, but setting a line of protection had the priority.

The fiendish figures didn't perform any slash. They crashed on the dense flames and exploded into a cloud of corrosive smoke fused with the others in the area.

The Royals waited for Noah to attack, but their white orb didn't sense anything. It was as if their opponent had disappeared.

Seconds of tense silence passed among the flames and darkness. The Royals' spells eventually fended off the corrosive smoke and allowed them to see the environment again.

First Prince and the others didn't find anyone in front of them, but their Father's angry mental waves told them that something was off.

"What are you even doing?!" King Elbas conveyed, and the Royals turned only to see that a white star had disappeared. There was only Noah in its spot.