2166 2166. Calculations

Deep tiredness began to fill every corner of Noah's existence as he flew through the tunnel. He had unleashed all of his power and the entirety of his potential to break free from Caesar's fate, but the feat had inevitably triggered his drawbacks.

The whiteness hindered Noah's worsening senses. His vision grew unclear, and his consciousness struggled to expand as his centers of power suffered from his last energy discharge.

Noah was paying the price for his incredible battle prowess, and he usually didn't mind ending up in that awful condition. However, the mission had just started, so he didn't want to stop to rest already.

The situation wasn't completely terrible. The ethereal blackness generated potential quickly as its unclear edges stretched forward. Noah had pierced through the world of one of the strongest experts in the higher plane. That achievement didn't go unnoticed by his existence.

Power began to flow through his centers of power as the ethereal blackness used part of its potential to mend the damage caused by the drawbacks. Noah continued to feel extremely tired, but each step forward brought a new energy that came seemingly out of nowhere.

Noah wasn't going through any healing process. His existence remained tired even as strength filled its fabric. Soon, he felt exhausted and full of energy at the same time, which gave birth to an annoying condition that didn't allow him to express the entirety of his power.

Nevertheless, Noah pushed himself forward. He didn't care if his cracks appeared on his skin and dark matter filled those injuries. He wanted to add his power to that mission because he knew that his breakthrough was close.

King Elbas and the others were obviously flying faster than Noah. The latter couldn't find his companions along the way, but he noticed traces of battles or familiar techniques.

Orange sparks, golden lights, currents of blue energy, blue plants, and areas with unstable space-time arrays began to fill Noah's path at some point. It was clear that his companions had to unleash their techniques, but Noah couldn't find the remains of their enemies.

Gaining an idea of the type of enemies that Heaven and Earth had sent forward was impossible in that environment. The rulers' energy was everywhere since their whiteness carried it, and the valuable remains of avatars of similar beings had already gone back inside the sky.

Noah didn't feel scared about the lack of clues. He was curious about Heaven and Earth's improvements, but he knew that he would eventually meet what they had created during those years.

The ethereal blackness continued to expand even as Noah crossed familiar environments. The tunnel wasn't completely straight, and large areas featuring tall buildings appeared from time to time. The cities still existed, but they were empty, and their intact state confirmed that his companions didn't meet any hindrance there.<br/><script>ChapterMid();</script>

Noah also found empty oval areas that resembled the spaces from where he had stolen prisms in the past. Those locations lacked their incredible features now. They appeared abandoned, which felt strange since they didn't match Heaven and Earth's newfound clarity.

To put it simply, Heaven and Earth had greater control over their power and world now. Unused space was a waste of energy, so the rulers theoretically had to fix that issue.

The matter wasn't even external to Heaven and Earth's power. The issue affected their world, so it would typically be a priority to streamline it as best as possible.

However, the rulers did nothing to remove those empty spaces. They didn't even put traps or similar arrays to use them to hinder eventual invaders. Heaven and Earth had decided to let part of their power go to waste.

'Are they doing this on purpose?' Noah wondered as he performed quick inspections whenever he found an empty area.

It would make sense for Heaven and Earth to shed away part of that energy. That waste was even less risky than their previous approach since it wouldn't give birth to another monster. Yet, it was slow, and Noah believed that there had to be something deeper at work.

Of course, Noah wasn't in the condition to perform thorough inspections. He could force himself to focus on those areas, but that would only slow him down even further. He would never catch up with his companions if he decided to add tasks to the mission.

Noah easily found the path taken by his companions every time the environment changed. The tunnels were impossible to miss, and their energy also left tracks that Noah followed without any effort.

The lack of responses from the whiteness around Noah made him suspicious, but he couldn't find answers in his current condition. He limited himself to chase after his companions, and they eventually appeared in the distance.

The scene that unfolded in Noah's vision was amazing and shocking at the same time. King Elbas, Queen, Emperor, Cursed Reality, the Foolery, and Pellio stood among the whiteness, surrounded by hundreds of giant avatars and privileged cultivators.

Every avatar was in the upper tier, while the privileged cultivators' level varied between the liquid and solid stage. Needless to say, that show of force wasn't only massive. It was even terrifying.

King Elbas and his solid stage companions would generally have the power to deal with that threat. They didn't necessarily have to win. Even escaping to find a different path toward their destination would work in that situation.

However, the group appeared tired. Their worlds didn't reach their usual width, and the same went for the weight they applied on the higher plane.

Heaven and Earth had worn out the invaders before deploying their main force. It was a simple but effective plan, and Noah's companions appeared beyond cornered.

"He finally arrived," King Elbas commented when Noah's aura reached the group.

"Were you waiting for me to save your ass?" Noah mocked.

"You wish," King Elbas chuckled as he raised his hand to unleash a wave of golden light. "I had a countermeasure ready, but you would have never been able to catch up with us if I activated it before your arrival."

The golden light transformed into currents that fell on each member of Noah's group. Even he saw that power converging on his body before enveloping his figure. He could obviously oppose the event, but King Elbas clearly had something in mind, so he let the event unfold.

A teleport activated once the golden light touched every expert in Noah's group. The avatars launched torrents of lightning bolts to interrupt the process, but a barrier appeared in front of their attacks and sent most of them to their source.

"Heaven and Earth are crazy to use their energy against me," King Elbas sighed. "I'm starting to believe that they want us to cause trouble."

The teleport ended when King Elbas finished speaking, and the scenery in the group's vision changed. The area remained filled by a blinding white light, but a series of prisms became visible in the distance.

The prisms didn't have the shape that Noah recalled. There were nine of them, and they rotated to create a spherical structure that left a blinding trace capable of remaining visible among the whiteness.

"Why didn't you activate the technique earlier if you knew where our destination was?" Queen complained.

"I didn't know where to go before entering the sky," King Elbas explained. "Though I calculated various scenarios and guessed where Heaven and Earth would place one of these cores. I activated the teleport afterward."

"What now?" Emperor asked.

"Now," King Elbas exclaimed while taking out the black weapon contained inside golden barriers, "We unleash chaos."

****

Author's notes: I have the plane in less than 8 hours, and I stayed awake for far too long. I'll write during the travel and publish once I land.