Birth of the Demonic Sword

Second Princess tried to lead Noah toward a negotiation, but he didn't care about that. He had decided to take charge of the invasion, so he had to do it in his way.

The fire covered the giant as countless shining lines filled the environment. The sky above Divine Market city lit up, and the golden light that the inscriptions radiated overcame the natural illumination of the sunlight.

"I suggest you rethink your decision," Second Princess said as the aura of the inscriptions spread in the region.

Noah could sense many defensive methods with power in the sixth rank, but his feelings didn't change. His instincts told him that he didn't have to fear those defenses, so he could unleash his prowess without any restraint.

Dense dark smoke came out of Noah's figure and filled the entire area. Noah's higher energy spread to create the dark world, and the light radiated by the inscriptions dimmed under its influence.

Noah had learnt more about his dark world during his period of training. That technique created a personal domain that he could use to perform any task.

He had completed the evolution of the Demonic Sword inside the dark world. His success rate improved there, and he had an almost endless amount of dark matter in that environment.

The restrictions applied by the dark world were even more beneficial in a fight. Noah was against a powerhouse who was weaker than him, so his suppression would work far better.

The inscriptions were the only problem. Noah could kill Second Princess in a few exchanges without defensive formations, but she was too smart to leave her protections.

The Royal had learnt about the events inside the void through rumors spread by spies hidden in the various organizations. Forces as big as the Elbas family usually filtered those pieces of information due to their lack of honesty.

However, the matter concerning King Elbas' mission had involved only powerhouses, so there was a limit to the amount of data that the spies could understand.

They didn't know the details about Noah's prowess, and they didn't believe that he had enough power to break the formations anyway.

Noah had already attempted and failed in that, so the Royals didn't think that a simple breakthrough could give him too much power.

Of course, they were wrong. Improving the Demonic Sword had been enough to put Noah's power on par with other existences in the liquid stage. Noah could now do whatever he wanted. There were only a few people who were still willing to face him.

Noah crouched when he saw that the battle drew near. His Demonic Sword went backward as its aura fended off the pressure that came in their direction.

"You are a fool," Second Princess concluded before retreating even further.

Noah didn't hesitate, and he didn't even speak with the Royal. A massive surge of power gathered on his figure, and the world's fabric bent under the might released by his aura.

Second Princess wore a broad smile on her face, but her expression froze when she sensed the aura accumulated during the attack's preparation.

Noah lunged forward, and a large hole appeared on the vast array of defensive formations. The giant in the distance crumbled too, but Noah didn't feel satisfied.

A series of white beams and armored humanoid puppets shot in his direction after the formations suffered that damage. Large ethereal arrows followed that counterattack, and a series of massive red whip followed those defensive methods.

Noah watched the array of attacks coming in his direction and lifted his blade. The Demonic Sword didn't suffer any damage during his last blow, and his dantian still had plenty of darkness left afterward.

The Demonic Sword began to tremble after it rose to reach his chest. Noah titled its sharp tip slowly, and countless mirror images of the living weapon appeared around its main body as his blade descended.

The methods of the defensive formations were various and powerful. Second Princess had every reason to feel safe inside her area. Yet, Noah's technique appeared stronger than she had expected.

Noah's slash launched countless slashes that carried the power of the sixth rank. The defenses flying toward him crumbled under Sword Saint's technique, and no golden light ever hit him.

The slash had an unclear shape. Different attacks flew together with the massive black line that shot out of the Demonic Sword.

Fainter slashes accompanied the black line and created an array of sword arts that clashed with the defensive formations. One attack was enough to face all the blows launched by the inscriptions.

The slash cut the armored puppets and the beams in half. Its power allowed it to pierce the golden halo too, and some of its effects reached the defensive formations.

The shining lines above the buildings of Divine Market city trembled when Noah's slash hit them. The black line was thick and dense, and normal defensive methods couldn't deal with its power.

The defenses fell apart as Noah placed the Demonic Sword on his shoulder. The golden halo was already fixing those inscribed lines, so it was pointless to press the offensive further for now.

Analyzing the defenses of the area had the priority. Noah's attacks would be more focused on the flaws of the array only after he found them.

Second Princess had remained in a safe spot when the slash arrived. Its unclear form was a spectacle that a few experts could understand, and she wasn't one of them.

Noah's slash went straight, but many seemingly ethereal cuts appeared around it and created an attack that the defensive formations had a hard time blocking.

It wasn't as strong as the lunge, but it carried an innate boundlessness that she couldn't face no matter how she approached the attack. One slash appeared to contain every sword art in the entire world, but some of its ethereal images were too faint to inflict the desired damage.

The formations almost reformed by the time Noah decided to raise his sword again and prepare himself for the next attack.

Noah didn't have any specific method to defeat the formations. There were too many defenses, but his attacks could pierce them and defeat any counterattack that came in his direction.

His only option was to pressure the defensive formations as much as he could before calling the other Elders for help. Still, that was his last resort since he wanted to complete the task alone.

Seizing one of the most protected places on the new continent by himself would improve his status and make the Hive even more dangerous in the minds of every other force.

King Elbas' absence and Chasing Demon's death had left an empty spot that everyone wanted to fill. Rebels and smaller organizations couldn't wait for any of the forces in charge of the world to commit mistakes and allow them to become the new Coral Archipelago.

However, Noah intended to show that the Hive was on a completely different level to scare away any spy or expert who had doubts about its power. Chasing Demon wouldn't be able to see that, but every cultivator would know that the Hive had reached those heights with him as its leader.

"I'm not the Demon Prince of the Hive anymore," Noah said as his blade began to vibrate. "I'm Defying Demon, the best cultivator in history."

"It doesn't matter who you are," Second Princess replied as she stepped forward to fly among the golden halo fixing the formations. "You are only a powerhouse, and these defenses have a nigh-endless source of energy. You need an army of rank 6 cultivators to overcome them."

Noah didn't answer. The time for words was over, and he had already conveyed what he wanted the world to hear. Now he only needed to attack the defensive formations until he eradicated them.