2322. Kneel

Shafu roared, and the landmass growled as the massive slash engulfed Heaven and Earth. The attack pushed the crackling figure away as it flew toward the sky.

The slash crashed on the storms and pierced them without meeting any resistance. That massive amount of energy crashed on the sky afterward, and it remained there until it depleted the entirety of its fuel.

Once the slash dispersed, the spectators in the higher plane could see that the sky didn't suffer any damage. Yet, the crackling figure had also disappeared.

Noah didn't believe for even a second that the battle was over. The sky still shone, and the storms continued to rage. Heaven and Earth's energy reserves were probably too big to calculate, so that simple attack couldn't have defeated them.

Nevertheless, nothing happened after the slash dispersed. The higher plane tried to fall silent, but Shafu and the landmass prevented that. The dragon thrust the massive blade, and a piercing attack flew toward the exposed spot of the sky.

Noah ignored the matter for the time being. He couldn't do much for the landmass, and he felt actually pleased that the sky was keeping it busy.

June remained immersed in her suicidal procedure, and her influence grew with every completed cycle. More chunks of the storms were falling prey to her power, but her condition kept worsening.

Noah teleported next to June but decided to remain silent. A second layer of dark matter flew over his reptilian eyes to prevent his innate pressure from affecting the procedure while he inspected his lover.

June was a gory mess. Only minute chunks of skin had survived, and her muscles weren't any better. Her skeleton was in the open, and the same went for her organs.

Noah could see how the damage had spread throughout June's figure. She was sacrificing her flesh to give birth to a small amount of superior fabric, and Noah didn't know if there would be enough of her left once the procedure was over.

Calculations happened in Noah's mind as he studied June. He hoped that his violent thoughts could come up with ideas to help his lover, but nothing could work in that situation.

June was too distant from Noah's knowledge. He knew her world better than anyone else, but that didn't make him able to patch it up. He lacked understanding in those unique fields.

"Stop staring at me," June snorted, but her voice carried tremors that Noah inevitably noticed.

"Are you going to die?" Noah asked.

"Not before reaching the peak," June declared.

"Make sure not to die even at that point," Noah ordered. "The universe is too big to limit ourselves to the ninth rank."

"I'll focus on surpassing you for now," June smirked before expanding her influence once again.

Lightning bolts left the storms and flew toward June. Multiple rivers of energy had already formed around her, but she wasn't even halfway through the process.

Noah shot another glance at June before teleporting away. The situation didn't allow him to be concerned. All his thoughts had to focus on winning the battle.

Divine Demon, Sword Saint, Supreme Thief, Alexander, and Wilfred had gathered in a random spot of the void during that break, and Noah reached them. The experts didn't say anything about his short trip toward June, and he pretended not to notice the many injuries on their bodies.

Everyone had suffered during the previous exchanges. Noah, Alexander, and Wilfred had large holes on their bodies, and some even pierced them from side to side. Divine Demon, Sword Saint, and Supreme Thief were worse off due to their weaker bodies, but their healing techniques were already at work.

"What do you think?" Alexander broke the silence. Everyone was staring at the exposed area of the sky, but no one could predict what would happen.

"The sky is too tough," Noah responded while the landmass launched another attack that failed to scratch the white layer. "Heaven and Earth can probably hide inside it and create a worldwide tribulation to finish us off."

"Only cowards would do that," Divine Demon pointed out.

"I can come up with something to lure them out," Supreme Thief announced.

"We should find a sword that can pierce the sky," Sword Saint exclaimed.

"We are ignoring the sword maniac, right?" Wilfred asked.

"I have some interesting sword paths," Supreme Thief revealed.

"I can make sharp stuff," Alexander added.

"Heaven and Earth are the sky," Noah grunted. "We kill them, and the sky falls."

"Killing is definitely better," Divine Demon declared.

"What if they hide?" Alexander wondered.

"They won't," Noah stated as his eyes fell on the smiling Caesar in the distance. "They have to use us as stepping stones. That means defeating us thoroughly."

"So, since their previous effort failed," Supreme Thief guessed.

"Yes," Noah continued. "They will probably come up with an avatar that can deal with us."

"Let's kill the next one quickly," Divine Demon uttered. "I don't want to waste time dealing with weak versions."

"Isn't it better to go step by step and improve along the way?" Wilfred wondered.

"I think we are better off going all-out once and for all," Noah replied.

"Nice thinking, my heir!" Divine Demon laughed.

Noah didn't answer. He honestly didn't know which plan would favor his organization. He could only trust his instincts, and they were telling him to go wild.

"I can force Heaven and Earth to bring forth their best avatar," Supreme Thief claimed.

"You just want to steal their weaker creations," Alexander pointed out.

Supreme Thief wanted to contradict Alexander, but the sky suddenly lit up and forced the experts to disregard their squabble. Noah and the others kept their consciousness unfolded to be ready for any attack, but Heaven and Earth didn't bother hiding.

A tall, humanoid figure became visible behind the exposed area of the sky. Details grew clearer as the creature approached the white surface and crossed it to enter the higher plane.

Bright white crystals shone throughout the humanoid figure. The avatar seemed made of those blinding minerals, but Noah and the others could sense that there was much more hidden under and inside them.

Dense lightning bolts ran inside the crystals, and a rhythmic crackling noise resounded under them. The avatar seemed to have a loud core. It had a heart that Noah and the others couldn't study.

The avatar's power wasn't too different from before. It was a slightly superior quasi-rank 10 item, but there was something far deeper in the current version.

'They brought their meanings with them,' Noah thought.

The avatar hovered in front of the sky for a few seconds before pointing its face toward Noah's group. Its mouth opened, and sparks accompanied the words that came out of it.

"Do not worry," Heaven and Earth said in a buzzing tone that resounded throughout the higher plane. "We are done playing around. This form embodies our true power."

"Were you tired of losing?" Noah mocked.

"There is no need to fake confidence," Heaven and Earth announced. "It's perfectly normal to be in awe of our might."

A suffocating pressure came out of the avatar and filled the higher plane. Noah and the others felt an unstoppable force landing on their bodies and pushing them down. Heaven and Earth wanted them to kneel.