Chapter 1703 - 1703. Counters

"I'll take her," Noah ordered. "You handle the rest. How strong can they be if Heaven and Earth are willing to let us test them?"

Noah used those words to lift the morale of his companions, but he didn't dare to underestimate cultivators who had lived in the cities in the sky. There was something off about their laws, and even their inscribed items escaped his knowledge.

His attention was on Lady Phyllis' sleeves. Noah couldn't see her hands, but his instincts told him that the dangerous aspect of that cultivator was there.

'I should end this soon,' Noah thought as the unstable substance flowed inside his black vessels.

Flames amassed in his mouth, and the roots in his right hand opened to make room for the black handle coming out of his c.h.e.s.t. Noah drew the cursed sword without showing any hesitation, and his bloodl.u.s.t filled the entire region.

The anger inherited from the other world had transformed his bloodl.u.s.t into a wave of violent mental waves. The cultivators in the enemy army could sense Noah's feelings, and a chill instinctively ran down their spine.

"Show no hesitation," Lady Phyllis shouted. "Heaven and Earth are watching. This is the fight of your li-!"

Noah suddenly teleported in front of Lady Phyllis and interrupted her speech. His swords descended toward the expert, but a pulling force promptly came out of her sleeves.

The blades were releasing their usual energy. A curved singularity was shooting out of Noah's weapons and falling on Lady Phyllis. However, the sharpness divided itself and flowed toward her hands.

'It happened again,' Noah commented in his mind, and his cold eyes fell on his opponent's smirk.

The blades landed on Lady Phyllis' head, but a white halo covered her figure and countered Noah's physical strength. His influence managed to pierce that light, but a few metal layers materialized above her head and blocked the attack.

"We have studied you for a long time," Lady Phyllis explained. "We know about your sharpness, your corrosive aura, your companions, your insane physical strength, and your law as a whole. We didn't expect your fusion with the Devils, but that power alone can't lead you to victory."

Noah kicked Lady Phyllis on the c.h.e.s.t, but the halo stopped his leg. Her light resembled a dense membrane capable of absorbing every impact. Yet, it had connections with Heaven and Earth's laws, so Noah could destroy it with his influence.

Ambition seeped through the light and allowed Noah's leg to pierce the halo, but metal layers materialized above Lady Phyllis' skin and blocked the attack.

"Are you done?" Lady Phyllis asked, and Noah replied by engulfing her figure with flames.

The flames burnt the defensive halo, but the light transformed during the attack. It grew denser and darker, and Noah's fire soon found itself unable to affect it anymore.

"We also studied your flames," Lady Phyllis explained. "Fusing two innate abilities and empowering them with your body was smart, but we can still counter it."

Lady Phyllis then raised her arm and pointed it toward Noah's c.h.e.s.t. He tried to peek under her sleeve to understand the nature of her inscribed items, but a wave of sharpness landed on his body and pushed him backward.

The sharp energy resembled Noah's singularity, but it lacked the features usually expressed by his law. The attack was Heaven and Earth's version of Noah's offensive.

The sharpness shattered roots and pierced his robe made of dark matter. It landed on his skin and opened a spiderweb of cracks that spread through his c.h.e.s.t.

Noah could quickly stop his momentum, and a tinge of annoyance appeared in his mind when he saw that Lady Phyllis didn't bother to exploit that chance. She remained still, and her smile never left her face.

'Do her abilities have something to do with her position?' Noah wondered as his reptilian eyes inspected the area.

"It's not a trick," Lady Phyllis explained. "Heaven and Earth have recorded all your abilities. You can grow stronger, but their core will always remain the same."

Noah didn't give up. He raised his blades, but his attention wasn't on those weapons. His mind was expanding through the Shadow Domain, and a series of Instabilities soon materialized inside the expert.

"Miss Void's technique," Lady Phyllis commented. "Quite a threatening ability, but creating new dimensions is part of Heaven and Earth's expertise."

Lady Phyllis opened her robe and cut her c.h.e.s.t open to show the result of Noah's technique. He could see the many spikes piercing out of her organs, but no blood seemed to flow out of those injuries.

The expert took a step forward, and the Instabilities slid through her body without injuring her insides. It was as if they weren't there at all. They didn't even react to Noah's order to detonate.

Noah's mind eventually managed to reach the Instabilities and forced their explosion. Yet, the storms of fuming spikes didn't cover the entire area. They remained inside a circular space that was unable to touch Lady Phyllis.

'She created a separate dimension as soon as I planted the Instabilities in her body,' Noah quickly concluded. 'My disposable weapons have never reached her flesh. They have only ended in a space similar to the Shadow Domain.'

The amount of control required to use such a difficult technique was incredible. Lady Phyllis had opened her separate dimension as soon as the Instabilities were about to reach her flesh.

That told something important to Noah. Lady Phyllis was a solid stage cultivator who had lived in the cities in the sky, but her achievements didn't come from her power.

It was impossible to generate a separate dimension in the exact moment when the Instabilities touched her insides. Even Noah wouldn't be able to pull something similar off.

The technique had to be automatic, and Noah began to think that the same went for her other abilities. It wouldn't make sense otherwise. No solid stage cultivator could predict his moves, not all of them at the same time, at least.

"How many inscribed items do you even have?" Noah asked while inspecting the injuries. "Do they activate as soon as I deploy an ability? I bet you can't even control them."

"It depends on the item," Lady Phyllis laughed. "I bet you can understand your situation now. You have the Devils' power, but I have an endless source of energy and items that will counter all your abilities. You have no chances of winning."

Noah admitted that the situation appeared quite ugly. He didn't have a precise plan there. Lady Phyllis basically had a set of inscribed items ready for all his techniques and spells.

'Is it the same for the dark world?' Noah quickly tested that thought.

His dark matter created a dense black sea that tried to keep Lady Phyllis suppressed. However, a white flare soon shot out of her figure and began to tear holes in the technique.

The flare continued to run through the dark world until Noah decided to disperse his technique. It was pointless to waste energy in that way.

'She should have something similar for my companions,' Noah thought.

Having more abilities actually put Noah at a disadvantage in that situation. He had to throw away his battle style focus everything on the techniques that would most likely succeed.

Noah stored the swords, the roots and suppressed the Demonic Deduction technique. Then, his ambition started to intensify, and his cultivation level suddenly rose.

The enhancement didn't feature his dantian or his mind. It involved only his body, and even Lady Phyllis began to grow wary of Noah's new power.