2245 2245. Awakening

Noah teleported next to King Elbas without saying anything. The latter also remained silent, and the two limited themselves to watch as the sky released all the experts and assets it contained.

"It's better like this, right?" King Elbas eventually asked. "We don't want to stick to Caesar's plan too much."

"I stopped taking his fate into consideration long ago," Noah sighed. "He might have predicted something like this, but who cares? We'll act as we please."

"That's the whole point of this organization," King Elbas stated.

"Are you defending maniacs now?" Noah teased.

"Do you think a regular cultivator would have chosen to create all of this?" King Elbas asked.

Noah smirked as countless lights filled his vision. Most of them belonged to avatars, disposable weapons, and strange creatures, which created an overall white environment. Still, that halo didn't prevent Noah and the others from finding the privileged cultivators.

"Are you sure this is all of them?" Noah asked as he tried to evaluate the army's strength.

"Only one of them had a chance of resisting my creation," King Elbas announced while glancing at a massive structure hovering right past the sky. "She is here, so it's safe to say that this is everyone."

Noah followed King Elbas' line of sight. He was studying a giant castle that had nine towers rotating around its main structure. Its upper part featured a vast balcony, and a middle-aged woman was sitting at its exact center.

The solid stage aura radiated by the woman was intense and familiar. King Elbas couldn't possibly fail to recognize her, and Noah's instincts also helped him find an answer.

The middle-aged woman on the balcony could only be Divine Architect. She had replaced her eyes with white crystals, and her long black hair seemed alive as it fluttered behind her back.

Divine Architect wore an aloof expression. She seemed unable to gaze at the environment, but Noah and King Elbas sensed that her attention was on them. She was watching them, and her strange eyes also carried a faint annoyance.

"She is definitely mad," King Elbas laughed, and Noah couldn't help but smirk while he continued his inspection.

Divine Architect wasn't the only major expert who had left the sky. Noah could find four more incredibly powerful auras that managed to stand out from the rest of the army, and his eyes met theirs for a few seconds.

'They are strong,' Noah instinctively thought, and the problems didn't end there.

Heaven and Earth had accumulated assets for entire eras, and they had also adapted them to the various threats that appeared on the higher plane.

A few assets were clearly incomplete, but others were incredibly strong. Noah could see rank 9 avatars fueled by higher energy that could adapt to their opponents, entire swarms of insect-like creatures with a wide variety of attacks, and proper giants that carried unfathomable amounts of power.

A third figure materialized next to Noah and King Elbas, and the stench of blood filled the area. Alexander inspected the battlefield for a few seconds, but his hand eventually rose to pat King Elbas' shoulder.

"That was smart," Alexander announced in a rough voice.

"You are filthy," King Elbas snorted while burning the spot of blood that had tainted his shoulder.

"And hungry," Alexander continued. "At least there is food now."

"I'll also have some fun before going for the big ones," Noah added. "We can't really let our army fight so many opponents."

"It would be proper to let them handle them on their own," Divine Demon's voice resounded in the area before his figure materialized at Noah's side.

"Did you already pick your opponent?" Noah asked.

"I'm still thinking," Divine Demon revealed. "I'll drink in the meantime."

"I have a date in the castle," King Elbas stated.

"We know," Noah sighed. "I'm more worried about the other maniac."

"Isn't he having some sword-related dream?" Alexander wondered while glancing at Sword Saint.

"He will wake up," Noah exclaimed. "He won't remain asleep when the landmass wakes up."

Alexander and Divine Demon glanced at the landmass, but Noah and King Elbas didn't bother to turn. They knew what was happening even without sending their mental waves in that direction.

King Elbas obviously knew what his actions would have caused, and Noah understood the landmass deeply. Countless new auras had filled the higher plane, and most of them were heavy.

The general danger level on the battlefield had multiplied. Heaven and Earth's army couldn't reach those numbers and quality even during the initial stages of the fight, and the landmass' instincts inevitably reacted to that change.

Daniel and Faith did their best, but nothing seemed to work anymore. Earthquakes spread through the landmass as the creature sensed the countless threats that had appeared on the world and prepared to fight.

The whole defensive array that had taken many years to place expanded and flashed with multiple lights as a deep growl came out of the landmass and made the entire higher plane shake.

Many buildings shattered even if they were proper rank 9 items. Everyone's attention inevitably fell on the creature, and King Elbas glanced at Noah only to snort when he shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you even want me to do?" Noah asked. "I would also be pissed if I had countless useless buildings on my back."

"I can't believe you actually made us build on that thing," King Elbas scoffed.

"Don't be rude toward our home," Alexander scolded.

"Why do I even try?" King Elbas sighed.

"Come on," Noah laughed. "We have countermeasures for this."

"You mean that I built countermeasures for this," King Elbas corrected.

"That's not completely true," Cursed Reality's voice resounded in the area as he materialized above the group. "You still had to rely on my dimensions."

"And on my centers of power," Great Builder added while teleporting next to Cursed Reality.

"Where is the pig when we need a joke?" Divine Demon wondered.

"It was still fuming after its battle," Noah revealed, "And I mean that literally. I think it will need some time to recover."

"Call the tea maniac," King Elbas ordered.

Pellio teleported in front of King Elbas before Noah could do anything. The expert opened his eyes to inspect the landmass before turning to talk with the group. "Is it time?"

"Yes," Noah stated. "Preserve the inscriptions and everything else. We will need them soon."

"I won't be able to help right away if I do that," Pellio warned.

"It's fine," Noah reassured. "Everything is about to turn into a mess. I bet Heaven and Earth's forces didn't know how to move inside it."

"They have probably forgotten," Alexander chuckled.

"Even if they recalled how to do it," Divine Demon stated, "Our chaos isn't something that these cultivators can handle."

King Elbas rolled his eyes before whispering a simple "well said".

"I'll start then," Pellio exclaimed before turning toward the landmass again and opening his eyes.

All the structures and inscriptions around the landmass slowly turned ethereal and slid past the central structure. The creature was too big to allow their passage quickly, but another event happened before at the same time.

Silver light flashed at one end of the landmass. Sword Saint shook his head as he glanced at the trembling creature and at the buildings seeping past it.

"You want to show what kind of sword you are," Sword Saint whispered. "I shall help you."

Sword Saint touched the landmass at that point, and his silver aura spread over the dark surface. The process continued until the creature's edges lit up and unleashed thick sharpness that filled the whole higher plane.