Birth of the Demonic Sword

The group of cultivators, magical beasts, and hybrids pointed their weapons and hands toward the empty void as they waited for the insides of the separate space to appear.

The concentration reached by those existences would make any area tremble, but the void was an exception due to the absence of matter. Still, something happened anyway. Slight fluctuation represented by faint flashes of pale-purple light appeared whenever the intense auras spread over the spot where the jellyfish had to materialize.

The flashes didn't intensify. They suddenly transformed into a mass of pale-purple light that took the shape of the massive jellyfish. Lightning bolts ran through its body as the injuries caused by Noah's slashes enlarged. The creature was experiencing the full pressure of the collapse of a separate space, and the event worsened its condition.

The wounds didn't release blood. Only a dense pale-purple liquid came out of them, and waves of energy accompanied it. The creature had no control over that power, so it flowed out of its body and created gales that dispersed into the void.

'Dammit!' Noah cursed in his mind before deploying the dark world.

The sea of dark matter soon engulfed the jellyfish and made sure to preserve its energy. The higher energy shattered and crumbled as that intense power raged in its insides, but Noah continued to provide a fuel that could isolate it.

Ensuring that the energy remained in its place was far easier than restraining the jellyfish. The creature didn't feel to be in pain, but it clearly sensed the discomfort caused by the sudden release of its power.

Its skin grew paler when it lost access to part of its energy. The creature appeared as a mere container for its power according to that scene. Its behavior resembled Noah's parasite rather than an actual magical beast.

'Don't tell me that it just grew around that energy,' Noah wondered while inspecting the scene.

The dark world was allowing the other experts to inspect its insides. Everyone hesitated to launch attacks since the wounds were still enlarging. They didn't know if the creature would die before the pressure vanished, but they didn't want to worsen its condition unnecessarily. They still had to split the jellyfish's body later on, so preserving it would benefit them in the long run.

Noah had a different view about the matter, and some of his friends began to share his ideas when they noticed the behavior of the energy.

The jellyfish clearly had a rank 9 body, but its structure grew frailer without the constant nutrients provided by its immense energy. Its almost-transparent skin started to lose its appeal since the fuel trying to make its way through Noah's dark world seemed to be the true reason behind its current level.

"I'm keeping track of the amount of energy inside your technique," King Elbas announced while turning toward Noah.

"What does that even mean?" Noah snorted.

"I'm just warning you," King Elbas explained. "I know your habits. I want to see fair division here."

"I have put it in its current condition," Noah complained. "I get the bigger share."

"Technically, the power came from its energy," King Elbas argued. "The creature hurt itself. Your slashes were only a lucky trigger."

"They still make me gain points," Noah replied.

"Which go back to zero since you depleted part of our gains," King Elbas didn't hesitate to say. "You should even lose part of your share to compensate for it."

"I knew that I didn't have to make an organization," Noah sighed. "It's all politics and words after the first successful missions."

"We can still fight to settle the matter," King Elbas proposed in a calm tone, but Noah suddenly waved his hand, and a small slash flew out of his fingers to fly right above the expert's head.

King Elbas didn't initially understand the reason behind Noah's actions. Threats wouldn't work in that situation since they had known each other long enough to learn a lot about their respective character.

The answer arrived once King Elbas turned to inspect the void above him. He immediately noticed that the blackness had bent to create a spear aimed for his head, but Noah's slash had severed the attack before it could reach a dangerous distance.

The event seemed to trigger a reaction in the environment. The void bent and stretched in many spots to create multiple strange figures. Part of the area transformed into spears that converged toward the experts. Others grew denser and intensified the pressure on the battlefield.

"How can they even do that?" King Elbas couldn't help but curse.

The empty beings hidden in the void were generating abilities without deploying energy or using matter. Even their attacks were nothing more than different shapes taken by the void.

'How can the void gain a shape if it doesn't have matter?' Noah wondered as the situation grew more dangerous.

Those empty creatures had lost their bodies, laws, and everything that could make them feel like actual living beings. They appeared existences that had fused with the void to survive the severing, but even that didn't explain how they could give power to emptiness.

The matter didn't even concern the theory behind the path to the higher ranks. Those empty creatures couldn't generate energy from emptiness. They didn't seem to use "Breath" or other forms of power at all. They didn't follow any rule, and they even seemed to work against the very system that had cast them out.

A faint idea suddenly appeared in his mind as he waved the Demonic Sword to sever most of the empty abilities. Sword Saint promptly joined him in his offensive, but he didn't bother to think about the actual nature of those creatures. He only wanted to cut stuff, even if it meant attacking the void.

"Their law might be non-existence," Noah whispered, but everyone heard his voice since it spread through his intense aura. "Maybe non-energy is a better name."

"How can they have a law without deploying energy?" Steven asked as everyone continued to point their weapons and hands toward the jellyfish inside the dark world.

"That's the whole point," Noah explained. "Their law makes them not exist. I think it even puts restrictions on their behavior. They might need to live inside the void to survive."

"I saw at least a dozen empty figures moving among the attacks," King Elbas exclaimed. "How can all of them have the same law? Do you think it has something to do with the void?"

"I think Heaven and Earth can't cast existences out of their system without paying the right price," Noah continued. "They must trigger a consequence due to their fairness."

"Do you think Heaven and Earth created them?" Robert asked.

"I think they have purposely altered their existence to cast them out," Noah explained. "That might have given birth to a law that went against the very nature of their world. It wouldn't be surprising if all the discarded creatures shared the same true meaning since they had all gone through the rulers' tinkering and severing."