Chapter 2018 2018. Influence

Heaven and Earth didn't transform the dark metal. They had changed its nature by affecting it with their world. They had corrupted it by modifying the dragons, but Noah guessed that he could partially revert that as long as he removed the rulers' influence.

Noah didn't want to change the dragon's body. He planned to invade its existence and destroy the parts affected by Heaven and Earth. In theory, the process would allow the dark metal to regain its natural properties.

That approach had two problems. First of all, Noah didn't know if the dragon would survive the procedure since it would lose part of its existence. The dark world could help it fill some blank spots, but the difference in the quality of energy could affect the outcome.

The second problem involved the tools that Noah had to use to perform the procedure. Heaven and Earth's influence would be his opponent, so he had to rely on a form of energy that could invade the dragon's existence and defeat that power.

His darkness had the right features to deal with Heaven and Earth's influence, but it might fail to affect it deeply enough to free the dragon. His higher energy was stronger but also heavier, and it might end up damaging the creature forever.

Noah didn't even consider his primary energy, mostly because he had a perfect option at hand. His mind was in the ninth rank, and his mental energy could devour fuels with similar properties. Moreover, he could rely on his ethereal blackness with that center of power.

That approach removed most of the technical issues that usually accompanied his project. Noah didn't need to create a blueprint for the dragon's new body. He didn't have to perform a thorough study of the creature's functions either. He only had to remove everything connected to Heaven and Earth.

In theory, Noah could start the process right away. Magical beasts didn't develop worlds in the ninth rank, but their auras gained similar properties when it came to their pressure and weight. Heaven and Earth's modifications didn't change that either, so Noah only had to unleash his mental waves and find what had gone through the transformation.

However, the dragon naturally hindered Noah's power, and Heaven and Earth's transformation had been thorough. He expected every cell of its body to carry traces of the rulers' corruption.

Affecting such dense laws with mere mental waves wasn't ideal, but Noah had two trump cards. His bloodlust and ethereal blackness could make him deal with hurdles otherwise impossible to overcome. Yet, he still needed to understand how to force his way inside that hostile existence.

Noah unfolded his consciousness before condensing it into thin strands that approached different spots of the dragon. The tips of those threads vanished as soon as they pierced the dark scales, and Noah added more mental energy to see for how long the dark metal could stop him.

The dark metal had already enlightened Noah about its properties, and he didn't take long to gain a general idea of its modified version. His destruction eventually affected that influence and allowed his mental waves to proceed deeper inside the dragon's body.

Noah quickly understood that the situation was as bad as he had predicted. The dragon had a slim figure due to its skeletal appearance, but every inch of its body carried Heaven and Earth's influence. That feature intensified near an oval organ connected to its stomach since it was the source of the altered dark metal.

The dragon would need far more than precise attacks. Noah had to bathe it in his consciousness to affect all its body, but he didn't start the project right away. He took that chance to perform a few tests that would give him a clearer idea of what he was up against.

Noah initially tested if his mind could really remove Heaven and Earth's influence. He picked a single scale and increased the amount of mental energy there until a reaction happened. His anger and destruction fused with the innate properties of his thoughts to make them devour the rulers' power.

A wave of energy flowed inside Noah's mind and forced the center of power to expand. The improvement was almost unnoticeable, but it confirmed that the approach worked. Yet, the scale didn't remain free of that influence since the rest of the body soon affected it.

The event had been relatively quick, and Noah didn't even retract his presence, but he couldn't prevent the scale from falling back under Heaven and Earth's system. That was a simple, instinctive reaction that he knew far too well. The body of a magical beast would naturally strive for balance, and the dragon was on the rulers' side for now.

'I need to affect more areas at the same time,' Noah thought as a sigh escaped his mouth. 'I'm not only fighting Heaven and Earth's influence. They have turned the dragon on their side, so its instincts have become my enemy.'

Noah performed more tests until he felt ready to start the procedure. He made the dark world create an isolated area that enhanced the properties of his mental energy before confirming that the dragon was still willing to proceed. The creature had experienced a taste of what removing Heaven and Earth's influence felt like, but its resolve remained firm.

Noah filled the isolated area with dense mental waves that used the dark matter to condense themselves beyond their natural limits. They didn't immediately seep inside the dragon. He waited until he accumulated enough power to sweep Heaven and Earth's influence in a quick move.

The hungry pressure that Noah's mental waves radiated worried the dragon. It could feel their desire to devour a big part of its existence, but it suppressed its instincts to run away. That procedure was necessary to stop being a mere pawn in a war that it couldn't affect.

Noah didn't give any warning. His mental energy fell on the dragon and seeped into its body as soon as it reached the desired density level. A wave of pain immediately filled the creature as Noah's consciousness started devouring every law belonging to Heaven and Earth's system, but his actual attack had yet to begin.

The dragon's body opposed the process, but it couldn't do anything when scarlet shades spread among the mental waves. The pain intensified as cracks opened on his scales and blood spurted out of them. The procedure was hurting it deeply, but that was within Noah's calculations.

The external parts of the dragons' body became free of Heaven and Earth's influence in no time, but Noah only increased the amount of energy poured into the process. He dug deeper until only the organ with the dark metal remained unaffected by his mental waves.

That last step appeared insurmountable. Noah's mental energy vanished as soon as it tried to get near the organ, so he decided to use the ethereal blackness. His mind experienced a massive improvement as soon as the black fuel in his incomplete worlds filled it, and the mental waves deployed in the project also benefited from that event.

Noah finally saw his mental waves seeping inside the organ and spreading their destruction among the dark metal, but something strange happened inside his mind as energy flowed inside it. His walls began to release a humming noise that sounded familiar.

Noah let his consciousness handle the rest of the process as he focused on the insides of his mind. Part of the energy absorbed during the procedure accumulated above his mental sea and took the shape of a crackling figure. Heaven and Earth's avatar had appeared inside his center of power.

"What's the point of you materializing here?" Noah asked through his ethereal figure as the black hole sent dark matter to reinforce the area. "You don't have enough energy to hurt me. Your main consciousness is even in a dormant state."

"We didn't miss your arrogance," The avatar said in Heaven and Earth's androgynous voice. "We have an offer to make before you try to enter our sky."