2346.Frozen

The Eternal Snake had never given much thought to its actions. To its very core, the creature was a magical beast, so it took pride in its instinctive behavior. Its anger also overcame its few reasonable ideas most of the time, which only led to constant reckless stance.

Still, Noah was aware of what could trigger the snake's anger. A creature with great pride would see any lack of respect or consideration as an incredible insult. Similar reasons had started its battle with Marcella and even fueled its enmity with Noah.

The Eternal Snake was by no means Heaven and Earth's ally. The creature actually planned to destroy them, but Noah came first in its mind. Yet, nothing in the white offensive specifically targeted it, so its anger moved on the rulers.

"They don't think you can hurt them," Noah added fuel to the anger. "They don't see you as something able to affect the battle."

Noah's words thundered in the Eternal Snake's mind and caused repercussions on its overall concentration. Cracks opened on its frozen armor until the entire structure crumbled, revealing the giant body hidden inside.

Meanwhile, the snake kept its reptilian eyes on the various currents. It saw some attacks converging on Noah and forcing him to launch countermeasures. The clash often generated random flares, but none of them used that chance to fly toward the creature.

The Eternal Snake obviously suffered damage often. It was too big to remain untouched among that thick mess, but none of that counted when the offensive lacked attacks aimed specifically at it.

Noah only needed a look at the Eternal Snake's face to know that his words had the intended effect. The creature wouldn't care about him anymore with all that anger filling its mind.

Truth be told, Noah didn't expect the Eternal Snake to do much in the final battle. The creature was by no means weak, but Heaven and Earth were simply too strong.

Nevertheless, destroying the crystal figures while running away from the snake would be a bother, so Noah redirected its anger toward the sky. It couldn't hurt to add such a big and troublesome target to his team, especially during an offensive that covered the entire higher plane.

"I can't stay here," Noah eventually continued while a series of black lines shot out of his body and cleared part of the storms. "I'll see you once the battle is over."

"You aren't going anywhere," The Eternal Snake promptly replied before snapping its mouth at Noah.

The snake had used its immense body to launch an unavoidable attack, but that wasn't a problem for Noah. He found himself at the edges of the creature's mouth, but the latter couldn't close it since his body was too resilient.

"What are you even doing?" Noah sighed as he prepared to cut away the entire lower part of the mouth.

"I'll put an end to this battle now!" The snake hissed, and Noah saw a torrent of silver liquid filling the giant mouth.

Noah could easily block that attack. The silver liquid didn't carry much momentum or destructive properties. A mere punch from him could disperse that torrent, but his instincts told him not to interrupt the attack.

The space-time array around Noah shook for a second, allowing him to leave the mouth and fly away. That evasive maneuver didn't hurt the Eternal Snake, and Noah even decided to remain in the area afterward.

The Eternal Snake lifted its head and spread its mouth as much as possible while silver liquid kept flowing out of it. The attack inevitably fell on the white currents, and chunks of them even froze, but the overall offensive eventually shattered those parts.

Noah had the chance to leave to search for other crystal figures, but the process felt too captivating. The Eternal Snake was up to something, and his instincts told him to inspect the scene.

The ice never managed to accumulate, and the Eternal Snake also continued to suffer injuries in that mess. Yet, its flesh always reappeared, but the same didn't happen for the frozen chunks of crystal energy.

Noah waved his swords left and right to keep himself safe, and an explanation slowly appeared in his mind. He could understand what the snake had become, so its tactic also became clear.

The white storms seemed to quiet down while the snake was busy spitting silver liquid. Nothing had happened yet, but Heaven and Earth had already sensed the change.

Noah sensed something pretty soon too, and his companions followed. All of them stopped fighting and moved their attention to their surroundings to inspect the imminent change.

Suddenly, immense frozen landmasses materialized all around the higher plane. They couldn't stop the entirety of the white offensive, but they hindered its advance and created many safe areas.

The ice eventually appeared right before the sky and spread until the entirety of the white layer fell behind that frozen barrier. The Eternal Snake's ability even thickened, and Heaven and Earth's light slowly stopped spreading through the higher plane.

The sky didn't freeze, but the Eternal Snake had accumulated enough ice to block its influence. The entire world was now covered in a silver layer that reflected a pale radiance over its many floating landmasses.

The amount of crystal energy in the world decreased exponentially, clearing most of the area and allowing Noah to locate the remaining avatars. His companions also noticed them, and the entire team hurried to get rid of those items.

Multicolored explosions expanded through the higher plane while Noah and the others flew left and right to launch their attack. Their ruthless approach soon removed every trace of the crystal figures, which put an end to the white offensive.

The world had transformed by then. The Eternal Snake had turned the entire higher plane into a frozen spectacle filled with icy landmasses. Noah's group even struggled to sense Heaven and Earth at that point, which pushed them to group around the giant creature.

"This guy turned out to be useful," King Elbas commented when the snake finally closed its mouth. "Surprising."

"What's so surprising about this?" The Eternal Snake hissed. "I'll kill you."

"Calm down!" Noah snorted while landing on the snake's head to keep its mouth closed. "Anyone knows what happens now?"

King Elbas and the others glanced at the sky. The silver ice prevented them from studying Heaven and Earth's reactions, but the higher plane had other clues that could help them.

Marcella had started to fight with Queen and Vesuvia, but the arrival of the ice had interrupted their battle. Decumia had also remained in the area, but neither privileged cultivator showed any worry about the current state of the higher plane.

Emperor and his opponents had also stopped fighting when the ice arrived. The privileged cultivators didn't know how to react to the event, but Caesar continued to show his broad smile. Intense confidence reeked out of his body, and that was enough to provide an answer.

"It would have been too easy otherwise," Divine Demon laughed as he gathered energy in his palm to create a cup of wine.

"We only have one option left then," King Elbas sighed.

"Indeed," Noah responded while throwing a punch under him to prevent the snake from talking or launching an attack. "We must destroy the sky."