Chapter 1927 1927. Mirrors

The empowered dragons, the dark world, and the teleport fell apart when the blade descended into the environment. Its sheer weight released a sharp pressure that didn't let anything survive. All the disposable creatures crumbled and the almost solid dark matter shattered during that simple attack.

The pressure forced Noah and the others out of the teleport, but he made sure that the three meant to endure most of the blows ended up blocking part of the attack. Noah, Divine Demon, and Wilfred saw massive wounds opening on their bodies. Chunks of their flesh directly disappeared, and the same went for their internal organs.

'I guess that's the best I can do,' Noah thought as pain spread from every inch of his body.

The dark hole sent dark matter to cover his injuries and slow down the weakening of his tissues. It even copied the missing organs and black vessels that would affect his battle prowess in his absence. Part of that energy also flew toward his two heavily injured companions, but it couldn't be so thorough with its patches since it didn't know how the experts worked.

The experts under the trio ended up suffering only slight injuries since their companions had endured most of the blow that had reached that position. Their eyes wanted to go on their three friends, but they didn't waste that chance and focused their attacks on the solid stage cultivator.

Noah didn't joke when he called the trio cannon fodder. Their role in that impossible battle was to endure blows that would kill their friends or leave them with long-lasting injuries. Noah and Wilfred's hybrid status made them the best for that task, which Divine Demon's power was simply unreasonable. He could replicate the superior resilience that only magical beasts should have through his fiendish form.

Robert threw a massive dark-purple sphere toward the solid stage cultivator, and Steven surrounded the attack with his invisible energy. Instead, Sword Saint waited as his hands glowed with a silver light. He wanted to attack, but he had sensed that King Elbas was up to something, so he let him go first.

The massive sphere of toxic energy was incredibly slow in the solid stage expert's eyes. He raised his hand and failed to launch an attack, but the event didn't faze him. His mind wasn't working well enough to produce emotions of actual reactions, so it remained stuck on its initial desire to cast an ability.

The solid stage expert could try to launch an attack many times in the time that the toxic sphere would take to reach him. There was a high chance that he would succeed in stopping it, but a series of golden mirrors suddenly materialized around the expert and released golden beams that converged on his body.

Many of King Elbas' items had crumbled during the second swords descent, but some had survived, especially those with annoying abilities. The golden mirrors could turn ethereal and affect the stability of every material, but their actual offensive power wasn't exceptional.

The golden beams pierced the cultivator's figure without opening any injure on his body. They almost appeared harmless due to the lack of evident effects on the solid stage cultivator, but their purpose soon became clear.

The solid stage expert's cultivation level fell again. More hair fell from his head as patches of his scalp separated from his skin. The moment of weakness made it lower his hand and gave the toxic sphere the chance to reach its target without meeting any hindrance.

Dark-purple light filled the area without managing to get past the golden radiance that lingered in safe spots of the battlefield. That direct hit gave the experts hope, but their expressions turned dark when they saw that toxic energy shattering.

Robert and Steven spat multiple mouthfuls of blood as that violent destruction of their abilities spread until their existence. Robert managed to disperse those adverse effects by throwing away part of the tainted purple energy inside his body, but Steven had it far worse. His determination didn't come in different aspects, so that backlash ended up affecting his core.

Steven suddenly grew weaker. His cultivation level felt the need to fall from the peak of the eighth rank, but Sword Saint attacked at that point. He discharged the silver energy in his hands to create a wave of sharp power that fused with the environment.

The solid stage cultivator walked past the rain of dark-purple drops that had surrounded him after destroying the sphere. Those toxic beads shattered to transform into primary energy when they touched his skin. His innate defenses seemed to protect him even when his level fell, but they couldn't stop the next attack.

Silver light began to shine on the cultivator's skin. The sharpness radiated by Sword Saint seeped inside his flesh and started to sever everything in its range. The expert's innate defenses didn't seem to activate at all against that attack.

The sharpness peeled off the cultivator's skin and made his flesh explode into a gory spectacle. Confusion appeared on his face before even that body part transformed into a skull that only had a few bloodied patches hanging from it.

The cultivator transformed into a skeleton that made Noah remember at his first meeting with Skully, but he didn't take any satisfaction in that event. He could still see a few muscles, organs, and the centers of power sending energy to the expert's existence. The battle appeared far from over, but his group had confirmed that Sword Saint' techniques were effective.

Steven gasped for air as the force spreading through his insides vanished. The last attack had forced the solid stage expert to lose control of his aura in the distance, so Steven could finally stabilize his existence. He felt the need to hide and seclude himself for centuries to fix the damage suffered in that exchange, but the power released by his figure intensified when he decided otherwise.

King Elbas controlled his mirrors and made them take their place around the expert again, but they crumbled when a surge of sharpness flowed out of his figure. The few muscles still lingering on the expert's skull twisted to create a wicked smile, and the same hoarse voice from before resounded in the sky even if that skeletal body didn't have vocal cords anymore.

"That's what you have stolen," The cultivator announced. "Give me more. Give it back!"

The recent weakening didn't make the cultivator's level fall into the liquid stage, so the attack that followed his announcement forced everyone to deploy defensive abilities again.

Lights with different purposes filled the confers of Noah's eyes before his darkness shrouded everything. The dark world expanded as soon as his instincts alerted him of the incoming threat, and he immediately teleported everyone away.

A third immense sword fell on the environment and forced Noah, Divine Demon, and Wilfred to endure most of the shockwaves that the event generated. Their bodies fell into pieces, but warm golden light enveloped them and aided their healing properties. King Ebas had even made those items perfect for each existence in his group, so their power was technically incredible.

The shockwave sent everyone backward, but Sword Saint didn't hesitate to launch another attack. He relied on a simple wave of silver energy at that time before creating a blade that flew forward and dug a huge hole in the cultivator's chest. The latter's level fell again, and it finally abandoned the solid stage.

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Author's notes: One hour or so for the next chapter.