2357.Life

"What are they trying to accomplish?" Marcella wondered.

The offensive had never stopped. Actually, more experts had left the array of inscriptions to join the assault on the sky. Noah didn't give orders or explanations, but a small army of rank 9 experts had gathered anyway.

"The defeat broke them," Caesar sighed. "Their obsession has long since overcome the realm of insanity. They wouldn't have reached their current level otherwise. Yet, that incredible quality turned into a flaw now."

Noah and his companions launched a relentless offensive, uncaring of their draining worlds or the injuries they suffered.

Alexander, Wilfred, and other experts barely had the time to heal, but they had still jumped into the frontlines to join the assault. June couldn't reset her Perfect Circuit, so the energy she released hurt her body. However, that didn't stop her, and the same went for all the companions in a similar situation.

Caesar was right. Noah didn't explain anything or give orders. Yet, his efforts naturally unleashed ambition that carried his intentions. His influence told a story to anyone willing to hear it, and many minds decided to fall for those tempting words.

The ambition didn't stop at the array of inscriptions. It enveloped the entire higher plane, seeping into the Mortal Lands and corpses that had occupied the world. Noah's influence forced everything to improve quickly, but it also conveyed his innate desire to strive for higher levels of power.

The beings in the human ranks didn't know anything about Heaven and Earth, and the same went for many in the heroic ranks. Most of those lifeforms couldn't even see as far as the sky, and the void between them remained a deadly zone they couldn't traverse.

However, even the void changed while the offensive continued. The appearance of new lands quickened the fixing of the space-time array proper of the higher plane, and a black atmosphere eventually formed.

A chunk of the higher plane remained immersed in the void. After all, Noah and the others were unleashing incredible attacks that could shatter any weak space-time fabric. Nevertheless, they instinctively focused most of their destructive power on the sky, which spared the world from their might.

The scene was incredible from the perspective of the weaker beings. They had teleported inside the higher plane only to appear in front of a colorful spectacle. They couldn't actually see Noah and the others, but some flares and flashes reached their atmospheres and created wonders in their worlds.

The incredible scene only enhanced the effects of Noah's ambition. More and more living beings began to feel a pulling force drawing them toward the distant sky, but none of them could explain that urge.

Noah didn't plan to have that effect on the world. He was merely going all-out, and each attack pushed him closer to a perfect form that could express the best version of himself.

Noah's desire to seize higher forms of power wasn't reasonable. That feeling was an unstoppable urge that had led him into the greatest battlefield the higher plane could ever create. The beings immersed in his influence were only experiencing part of that immense passion.

"What a reckless power," Caesar commented once the army gathered before the sky grew far more numerous. "There is nothing more dangerous than blind ambition."

"Will Heaven and Earth be fine?" Marcella asked.

"Do you think they can defeat the sky by amassing enough ants?" Caesar wondered.

"I'm talking about their energy," Marcella pointed out. "Many will exhaust themselves to death if they keep this up."

"Heaven and Earth don't need them," Caesar explained. "These rebels are nothing more than a quick meal for their awakening. It will save them the trouble of roaming the universe in search of something suitable."

Marcella nodded and let go of the matter. Everything worked as long as the rebirth succeeded. As for Noah and the others, she had already lost interest in them.

The assault continued, and the ambition intensified until many rank 8 existences decided to leave their homes to join Noah and the others. They understood what was at stake there, and Noah's influence convinced them that dying fighting was far better than slowly withering away.

The addition of more people in the assault only reinforced the ambition inside the higher plane, and it didn't take long before many rank 7 existences joined the offensive. The sky's lack of pressure allowed even weaker experts to stand in front of it, so they found no real reason to remain behind.

That trend stopped at some point. Most divine beings had joined the assault, but that seemed to be it. Many lifeforms in the heroic and human ranks had no connection with Noah's cause, and his tempting ambition couldn't force them to abandon the safety of their homes.

Of course, those weaker beings were unaware that their fate was doomed either way. Remaining behind or consuming themselves during the assault would lead to the same conclusion. Every natural resource would eventually vanish, and even the stronger worlds would wither after entire eras spent without achievements.

Time flowed without providing any change in the scenery. Years went by, but the experts involved in the offensive didn't increase. Life thrived on the lands, entire organizations appeared and fell, and legends started to spread.

The presence of Noah's ambition accelerated the breakthrough of many weaker beings. Some became strong enough to leave their homes and make the journey toward the sky in search of higher forms of fuel.

They all discovered that the world had an invisible force that made the journey easier and safer. Those beings didn't know why, but the very higher plane seemed to want them to reach the sky.

Some of those beings managed to get in touch with experts belonging to Noah's time during their journeys. They heard stories about Heaven and Earth and the overall fate of the world, but they struggled to believe them.

Those beings honestly weren't to blame for their lack of trust. The fact that their whole reality was nothing more than a lifeless trap was simply unacceptable. However, those thoughts changed once they managed to get a proper sight of the offensive.

Needless to say, chaos spread through the higher plane. Those weaker beings returned to their homes and told what they had witnessed. Many didn't believe them, and wars happened as different ideologies clashed.

Noah was unaware of those changes. His thoughts existed for the sole purpose of destroying the sky. He was perfecting himself as potential appeared and vanished. He was turning himself into a worthy weapon, but his world was much more than that, and the higher plane benefitted from his improvements.

The weaker beings who believed in the stories about Heaven and Earth gained greater benefits from Noah's ambition. They didn't realize that, but part of their minds had already accepted Noah as a leader.

The innate advantage granted by Noah's ambition allowed those beings to overcome their opponents and win wars. Many organizations that shared the same mindset and purpose came to life and even more changed when they interacted with the beings living in the golden inscriptions.

New schools appeared, and newborns started to fill the lands. The natural resources diminished, but the whole world slowly unified under a single banner. Meanwhile, Noah's ambition continued to intensify.

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Author's notes: Shoutout to Kabbourim for the Spacecraft!