2216 2216. Sacrifice

The spectacle of light began right away. The improved cultivators dropped the encirclement and their battle formations to charge forward. The battle had changed pace, moving from a still barrage of massive energy waves to countless smaller fights.

The various players on the battlefield chose their opponents depending on their level. The rank 9 experts fought other rank 9 experts and so on. The only difference was with the improved cultivators in the solid stage since only the orange avatars and Daniel could face them in a frontal clash.

Trying to set up battle formations on that chaotic battlefield was simply impossible. Attacks flew left and right, and the area grew messier as the various fights brought the experts far away from their initial position.

The magical beasts were the only assets that could maintain some faint trace of organizations due to the pride radiated by the respective pack's leaders. Even the orange avatars did their best commanding their underlings, but everything else just fought their closest suitable opponents.

The whole area from the sky's edges to the beginning of Cursed Reality's defenses transformed into a chaotic battlefield that found some clarity only in the spots occupied by rank 9 experts. The latter were too dangerous for their weaker underlings, so they naturally created dead zones where they could go crazy.

The fabric of space didn't even bother to resist. The widespread chaos made it so frail that even rank 7 experts began to shatter it. Soon, the whole battlefield took the shape of a spherical area immersed in the void, and many fighters disappeared inside it.

Noah couldn't help but feel a bit proud when he inspected the various battles. He had gotten to know only a small part of those assets, but he could sense how the entire army carried the beneficial traits of his aura.

His ethereal blackness rejoiced to see that so many existences had gained the chance to be part and survive inside the final battle. Many could only take care of rank 7 assets, but that would be enough as long as they proved their superiority.

War was far more than numbers and tactics, especially in that chaotic state. Heaven and Earth had improved their ordinary cultivators by awarding them bodies that could almost match the hybrids. Yet, that couldn't change the flaws inside those laws and worlds.

The improved cultivators were assets that Heaven and Earth had annexed to their world. Meanwhile, the underlings on Noah's side had opposed the tempting offers of the rulers and had decided to fight against them.

That alone showed a stark difference in the experts' mindsets. The cultivation journey was all about imposing individualities on the universe, and Noah's underlings had already succeeded. They didn't give up in front of a huge threat that could destroy them with a single thought.

That difference became evident as multiple battles reached their conclusions. Noah's underlings won a lot and often against opponents at the same level. The quality of their worlds and laws wasn't something that Heaven and Earth's assets could match.

<br/>That was the only proof that Noah needed to know that his path stood above what Heaven and Earth had chosen. He had produced better underlings in a mere fraction of the rulers' life. The higher plane was witnessing his greatness, and nothing could take away that achievement from him.

Of course, greatness, witnesses, and mere shows of power couldn't win wars on their own, especially when monsters that had lived for multiple eras were involved.

Heaven and Earth's forces could use their many advantages freely. The improved cultivators' numbers were far greater than their enemies, and the sky often managed to resurrect those who ended up dying.

The chaos of the battlefield prevented Noah's forces from isolating their killed opponents. Heaven and Earth ended up bringing many of them back to life, even if they lost their improved bodies in the process.

That significant loss in power didn't matter too much on a battlefield so stuffed with fights. Hundreds of assets died every second, and nothing could stop that trend.

Initially, the losses didn't affect the frail balance that had filled the battlefield. Noah's side had the upper hand even in front of the overwhelming superior advantage of their opponents, but that changed as the deaths piled on.

Heaven and Earth could refill their dead with avatars or other creatures built while studying the battlefield, but Noah's side had already unleashed most of its forces. Slowly, Daniel and the others saw themselves losing ground, and they couldn't do anything about it.

That new trend didn't surprise the leaders on the landmass or those on the battlefield. Everyone knew that Heaven and Earth's forces weren't something that value and mere battle prowess could defeat. Still, it would take far more than that to corner Noah's underlings.

When the battlefield threatened to expand in the areas occupied by Cursed Reality's defenses, more orange teleports lit up and released an ominous aura. Noah felt his instincts crying in joy, but traces of sadness inevitably appeared on his cold expression.

Two big dragons left the teleports to take their place on opposite sides of the spherical battlefields. Their appearance was familiar, but Noah only noticed what had changed in their bodies.

The time dragon's green scales had brightened and had gained dark-yellow shades. The light that they radiated seemed able to freeze all the attacks in their range, and the experts who happened to fly nearby also suffered from the same effects.

Meanwhile, the space dragon had turned into an orange figure that didn't carry any detail. Its whole body was a seamless orange spot that illuminated the void and created portals with its sole presence.

The dragons limited themselves to grow without conveying any order or message. Noah could immediately understand that they weren't trying to speak. They were only experiencing an instinctive reaction in front of Heaven and Earth's power.

A sigh left Noah's mouth. He could still sense the laws of space and time that the two dragons carried, but he also noticed how different they had become. The old rulers had twisted their true meanings and existences as a whole to turn them into weapons that had a single purpose.

The weaker dragons that came out of the teleports had gone through a similar change. They seemed to have lost the sharp intellect that rank 9 magical beasts usually featured in exchange for something more useful on that battlefield.

"Is this the path that you have chosen?" Noah whispered.

"I was against this," King Elbas admitted, "But the dragons wanted to be useful. I told them what fate awaited them, but they accepted it anyway."

The dragons were commonly known as the strongest type of magical beasts. That didn't only involve their incredible bodies and powerful innate abilities. Their intellect had always been above average, with some species even standing at the peak of that field.

However, their strength had turned into their weakness due to Heaven and Earth's improvements. The dragons would have been nothing more than cannon fodder in front of the many assets that the rulers had prepared to counter them. So, they threw everything away to gain a place on that battlefield.

The dragons had accepted to become nothing more than mindless weapons as long as their power could hurt Heaven and Earth once again. Their sacrifice was more than necessary, and Noah could only roar at the sky to honor their choice.