2282 2282. Future

The announcement forced most assets on Heaven and Earth's side to halt their actions. Queen had been clear. Her team would go after any cultivator who dared to hinder the battles among the leaders.

Vesuvia smiled seeing Queen accepting that less important role, but she refrained from teasing her. The situation was too serious to waste time joking. After all, most of the higher plane was about to target them.

Many privileged cultivators had died during the previous phases of the final battle, but Heaven and Earth's side still had a decent number of powerful assets.

The privileged cultivators were only a part of that army. Heaven and Earth's side still had inscribed weapons, avatars, and creatures built to counter specific powers.

However, Queen, Vesuvia, and Emperor wouldn't handle all of that on their own. The higher plane still featured vast forests of roots, the improved dragons, and their incredible leader.

Noah's side had more than enough to keep the privileged cultivators busy, and the latter knew that. Tricks and ploys could probably work and allow those assets to interfere with the leaders' battles, but none found that approach reasonable.

The privileged cultivators gave one last glance at the major assets on the higher plane before focusing on their new opponents. A large platoon flew toward Emperor, Queen, and Vesuvia while the remaining experts approached the dragons and the roots.

A tremor ran through Caesar's aura, and Noah couldn't help but notice the event. Caesar seemed to grow stronger as the various assets took place in their new positions, but those improvements were hard to study due to the faint nature of his world.

"Are you scared?" Caesar joked.

"You," Noah called. "You fulfilled your fate."

"The final battle was always meant to reach this state," Caesar announced while spreading his arms. "My fate is bearing fruits, so my world grows in power and depth."

Potential flowed toward Noah's mind as he tried to find the tendrils of fate that Caesar had planted in the higher plane. He could sense his influence everywhere, but he failed to locate specific expressions of his power.

Caesar seemed to have fused with the entire higher plane. His influence was no different from the void standing right under that dimension. He existed, so the world strived toward his fate.

"Does it even have any will?" Noah wondered. "How did you push your power to the peak of the ninth rank?"

"Softness is not weakness," Caesar explained. "Even a single drop of water can destroy a mountain with enough time and resolve. I simply had to become a waterfall to affect the entirety of the higher plane."

"What a waste," Noah sighed.

"I knew you wouldn't agree with my methods," Caesar smirked.

"Your methods are interesting," Noah admitted. "I would have even admired them in another life. Yet, I feel only pity now."

<br/>"You should defeat me before going all arrogant," Caesar laughed.

"You have turned yourself into a force that can affect the very future of the higher plane," Noah stated. "Yet, you used your power to help Heaven and Earth. What a coward."

"Ignorance is a bliss," Caesar declared. "I don't blame you. It's easy to speak like this when your mind fails to grasp Heaven and Earth's might."

"You simply opted for the safest bet," Noah snorted.

"It wasn't a bet," Caesar corrected. "I never gambled anything. I've only shaped an irrefutable future."

Noah kept his cold reptilian eyes on Caesar before unleashing his aura. There was only one way to find answers. His world had to overcome Caesar's fate to destroy the established future.

Special attacks or specific techniques had no room in that battle. Noah was against a force that had already affected the entire higher plane. To defeat it, he had to summon the peak of his destruction and create an area where Caesar's fate couldn't enter.

The void darkened under Caesar's entertained gaze. Black lines spread from Noah's figure and expanded all around the area. The pale light radiated from the sky behind Caesar stopped stretching toward that small battlefield, but his fate still survived.

Noah didn't stop there. The Cursed Sword released its high-pitched noises while the Demonic Sword roared. Screeches and roars also came out of Noah's figure to add destructive properties to the area.

Dark-red and dark-purple shades flowed alongside the black lines and deepened the destruction they carried. The space-time array of the void seemed to twist under that pressure, but Noah remained able to sense Caesar's faint aura.

'More,' Noah ordered to his world as potential flowed toward the entirety of his existence.

Multiple pulling forces appeared in specific spots of the black lines to increase their power. Flowers came out of those dense masses of destruction, and black gales also started to flow out of his chest.

'More,' Noah ordered again.

The ethereal blackness gave up on any attempt to save energy. The entirety of Noah's potential flowed toward his centers of power and companions to push their abilities past their peak.

The immense amount of energy condensed in that single battlefield made many experts turn their heads to inspect the scene. To their surprise, Noah's destruction had become so thick that their senses failed to grasp what was happening inside the array of black lines.

The Rulers' Resolve, Decumia, Marcella, and the old man couldn't ignore that curious event. They glanced toward Noah and noticed how their basic abilities failed to pierce the black lines. They would have to empower their senses to understand what was happening, but their enemies prevented them from doing that.

Only Divine Architect had the time to study the event. King Elbas snorted when he saw some of the balcony's tiles opening to allow the arrival of multiple scanners. Those inscribed items flew in front of Divine Architect's crystal eyes before a frown took control of her expression.

"What is it?" King Elbas mocked. "Are you worried about your companion?"

"Worry doesn't affect my mind," Divine Architect commented. "I'm merely planning my next creations. Your leader will provide important materials."

"You have acknowledged his power," King Elbas laughed.

"The essence of his destruction is idiotic," Divine Architect pointed out, "But his power is undeniable. It's a pity that I have to wait even longer to get my hands on him."

"You can have him if you want," King Elbas joked while taking out a few inscribed items from his body.

King Elbas tinkered with his inscribed items for a few seconds before snapping his fingers. Divine Architect wasn't paying any attention to him, but her frown deepened when her scanners crumbled.

The event had been sudden. Divine Architect didn't even sense the attack, but she was knowledgeable enough to understand what had happened.

"Your poor taste extends to your behavior," Divine Architect sighed. "Countering mere scanners doesn't prove anything."

"I just want to piss you off," King Elbas stated.

"Such a pointless action," Divine Architect declared. "Very well. Let's put an end to this situation."

"It was about tim-!" King Elbas exclaimed, but a surge of power coming from Noah's position forced him to interrupt his line to focus on the area.

An immense pitch-black sphere had replaced the area occupied by Noah and Caesar. King Elbas and Divine Architect couldn't inspect its insides even after summoning their inscribed items, and the other leaders shared their powerlessness.

Noah's destruction had become so intense that nothing could pierce it anymore. He had created a domain that separated him and Caesar from the higher plane and granted them a personal battlefield that no one could affect.