Chapter 1826 - 1826. Time

Waves of shock filled the experts in Noah's group again. The three leaders had basically confirmed what the lower tier dragon had said. The trio really believed to express fundamental aspects of the world, and Noah could conform from the various complaints that the entire pack shared that belief.

"How can this be?" King Elbas whispered while turning toward Noah. "Did you know about this?"

King Elbas had expressed his inferiority to Noah in the magical beasts' field multiple times already. He felt no shame in questioning him now that the situation appeared so unreal.

However, Noah could only shake his head at those questions. Those fields were beyond the simple magical beasts. They involved the whole world and the laws that ruled them. After all, space, time, life, and death were true meanings that only Heaven and Earth could completely control.

The matter was even stranger when the experts considered the nature of those creatures. The dragons were magical beasts that didn't have dantians. In theory, they had to be pure power connected to a few innate abilities.

Still, it was clear that the trio's innate abilities expanded in realms that went even deeper than laws. The green dragon had managed to bring the experts' minds back in time after a single glance. That event shouldn't be possible without a discharge of energy unless the creature embodied that true meaning.

The expert couldn't stop thinking about the contradictions with those powers. The species of the dragons wasn't the only issue. Cultivators and hybrids had gained access to laws connected to space, time, life, and death, but they had never fully mastered those aspects of the world since they had multiple true meanings bound to their nature.

Noah had Shandal's ability and had added his understanding of space to his law after a long study. Yet, he could only stop time for a mere instant, and his control over the fabric of the world was far from complete.

Complete control of space would make Noah able to open cracks that led to the void without deploying additional abilities. Instead, he could only use his understanding to facilitate that process when he used different attacks.

His understanding of space even helped with the Shadow Domain, movement techniques, and dark world, but it never went too far. He was improving as his level grew, but he knew that he lacked an understanding of certain laws connected to that power.

The group wondered whether the dragons were the same, but something told them otherwise. Noah and the others were only rank 8 existences, but their senses became more aware of the three leaders' great differences from the other specimens.

The words used by the lower tier dragon were the best description of their auras. The leaders didn't control the four fundamental aspects of the world. They were expressions of those powers.

King Elbas' eyes grew bloodshot as he started to scratch the side of his head maniacally. His aura tried to improve his study of the three leaders, but he always failed to learn more about their nature, and that outcome created evident backlashes.

King Elbas spat a mouthful of golden flames at some point. The fire fell on his legs and fused back with his body. His figure even began to shake as he failed to satisfy his curiosity.

"I don't get it," King Elbas muttered as his body relaxed and his condition improved. "Why can't I get it? Shouldn't they be laws? Why can't I study their laws?"

"Do you want the simple explanation or one of my crazy theories?" Noah teased as a helpless smile appeared on his face.

"Both, of course," King Elbas snorted.

"We aren't rank 9 existences," Noah announced. "We can't understand the depts of their nature."

"What's the crazy theory?" King Elbas quickly asked after disregarding that boring answer.

Almost everyone in Noah's group had accomplished feats that went beyond the limits of their current level. They always managed to understand something even if their power didn't allow them to gain a complete picture of certain matters. Still, that didn't happen when it came to the dragons.

Noah took that feature as a clue of the dragons' power. The fact that he couldn't understand their nature meant that they had connections with deeper rules of the world. Only Heaven and Earth could touch those realms according to his knowledge.

"Do you know the theory about magical beasts and their role in Heaven and Earth's fairness?" Noah asked as the faint guess that had appeared in his mind expanded and grew more detailed.

"The magical beasts might be Heaven and Earth's punishment," King Elbas promptly replied. "They are the price to pay for the control over the world."

"Dragons are commonly known as the strongest species of magical beasts," Noah continued after nodding at the expert. "What if some of them got special abilities meant to punish Heaven and Earth?"

"You are founding this theory on a single word?" King Elbas asked, clearly referring to when the green dragon had used the word "chosen" during its speech.

"I'm a flaw in Heaven and Earth's system," Noah laughed while shrugging his shoulders. "Breaking this world is in my nature. My mind might be the same. I might be able to gain insights on other flaws due to my unique nature."

"Don't use this to prove your other theories if you are right," King Elbas reminded. "Though, I bet they also ignore why they have such powers."

The dragons inside the pit had resumed arguing, but only the three leaders used roars that all the experts in Noah's group could translate into human words.

In their minds, their leader was to blame for falling into a trap. That small group argued that a new chosen would be better since it would avoid being so careless, but the leaders never budged.

"The character rarely changes," The long-necked dragon explained. "We are all shadows of our previous selves. Our behavior will naturally match the previous chosen."

"Attacking now will also give us an idea of Heaven and Earth's next step," The black dragon continued. "Knowledge is the key to destruction."

"Let's not waste time," The green dragon eventually announced in an ancient male voice. "Who is against saving the leader?"

A bit more than half of the dragons raised their heads toward the sky and spat multicolored flames. The poll had already found its winner. Noah could have joined that vote, but he didn't feel like getting involved in matters that he didn't understand when they involved upper tier creatures.

"So many of you have forgotten the real nature of our task," The green dragon sighed. "You prefer to live in Heaven and Earth's creation than fight to weaken them. I pity what has become of our species."

Danger suddenly filled Noah's mind after the dragon finished speaking. Everything went still as his instincts raged. Even the storms high in the sky and around the area stopped blowing.

Some creatures seemed able to move a bit. They could shake their bodies and roll their eyes, but everything else seemed impossible inside that technique.

Noah's eyes were on the pit when time stopped flowing, so he could inspect the entirety of the scene as it unfolded. The dragons that had announced their d.e.s.i.r.e to let the leader die showed strange expressions as a foreign force spread inside them.

Some teeth and claws eventually started to fall off. Their scales followed, and dark patches spread through the muscles under them before tearing them apart.

A bit more than half of the powerful group of dragons transformed into nothing more than skeletons, but even those bones crumbled when they touched the ground. The body parts that had fallen on the terrain turned into dust that created small piles in their caves and stages.