Chapter 1078 1078. Invasion
Chapter 1078 1078. Invasion
"I almost believed you!" Night chirped while it flew around Noah's head. "You dared to deceive a divine beast! This fate is even worse than death! Just put me back in my cage!"
Night's new body had the shape of a small bird that didn't seem to have any unique feature. Noah had built it following the characteristics of the Night-blade Pterodactyl's species. He had left the insides empty, creating only its edges.
That was only an approximation of the Pterodactyls' bodies. He would take his time to study the corpses in his ring in the future, but Night would have to use that small puppet until then.
"Shut up," Noah said as he flew toward the exit of the Gorge. "I'll give you a new one once I see how useful you are. Most importantly, do you remember how to fight?"
Night went silent while it gave a proper inspection of its new body. It kept on mumbling some complaints from time to time, but it also sprinted at a speed that surprised even Noah.
The beast became almost invisible in the darkness of the Gorge. It flew through the entirety of the valley in a matter of seconds. Noah had to stop his ascent to keep track of its movements.
'It wasn't joking about its prowess,' Noah thought as he inspected the small bird.
Night's new body was a puppet in the lower tier of the sixth rank. It could potentially surpass Snore's power when it came to raw strength, but it lacked the features that made the Blood Companion a threatening asset.
Nevertheless, Noah had to reevaluate the Pterodactyl's claims. The beast had fused with the new body less than an hour ago, but it could already express a speed that surpassed Noah's wildest predictions. It even reached the structural limits of the puppet!
Noah felt lucky that the Royals didn't feed the weaker specimens. Clearing the Gorge would have been troublesome if he had to fight the three rank 6 Pterodactyls at their peak.
"Awful, awful!" Night shouted as it returned near Noah. "This thing is about to break already! How do you expect me to fight inside this trash?"
"You won't get a new one until you achieve something in the next battles," Noah's answer was firm, but he felt slightly excited.
Night had been able to express spectacular power already. A tingling feeling spread through his fingers when he imagined what it could do with a proper body.
The Pterodactyl chirped angrily, but it didn't try to rebel. It continued to circle Noah as he resumed his ascent toward the surface. However, it abruptly stopped at the sight of the sunlight.
"The sunlight isn't deadly for you anymore," Noah said, but Night didn't move. It appeared paralyzed in fear, and even his mental orders weren't enough to make it step into the light.
'I guess it carried most of its instincts out of the cage,' Noah thought. Night had lost most of its memories, but it had kept the abilities gained in its countless experiences.
It didn't remember what it could do or how it used to fight. Still, its instincts allowed it to perform the attacks and movements that it had honed throughout its life.
Night's instincts gave it the ability to fight even if it didn't remember how. Noah could feel its annoyance through their mental connection, but he knew it would eventually become used to its new condition.
That was another reason why Noah didn't make Night a proper body. The Pterodactyl's mind would eventually adapt and grow again, which could potentially lead to a rebellion.
Night was different from Snore. The Pterodactyl didn't go through the Body-inscription spell, so its mind was a separated existence. It could live without Noah as long as it had a body.
That gave it more freedom. Night didn't need a trail of higher energy attached to Noah to survive. It was more similar to the Demonic Sword when it came to the type of existence.
Noah feared that Night's mind could outgrow its restrictions, which was why he wanted to keep its growth in check for a while. He wanted to be sure that it harmonized with its new condition before improving.
Night remained stuck among the darkness, but Noah promptly grabbed it and threw it toward the edges of the Gorge. Curses chirped out of its mouth, but Noah ignored them as he followed its new asset.
When Noah resurfaced, he found Night staring at the sun. There was no cultivator in sight, so he let the creature experience that moment of peace.
"The light doesn't seem so bad," Night said, and Noah cast some corrosive smoke while the beast admired what it had been unable to see for all its life.
Noah spewed some flames too, and Snore's head formed to launch some of its elemental attacks. The peaceful environment above the Gorge became a dangerous battlefield filled with powerful abilities.
"Can you fight through them?" Noah asked, and Night didn't hesitate to shoot inside the various attacks.
Noah kept track of the creature's movements and felt satisfied when it returned to fly around him. Night was even faster when he moved through the darkness that he produced. It was already an asset that he could deploy in battle.
"I think I'm hungry," Night said. It didn't completely understand its new body's sensations, but Noah grabbed it before sprinting in the distance.
Night's body was a disposable inscribed item. Noah could fix it with his dark matter, but he didn't intend to make it last. The beast would have to endure any sensation for now.
The reports concerning the battlefields stated that a few crucial regions stopped the advance of the allied forces. The Elbas family couldn't defend the peripheral territories of its domain, so it had focused its defenses on important areas.
The snowy regions on the southeastern coast had fallen, but the Hive couldn't seize the entirety of the Dark Gorge territory due to the Royal Academy.
The forest of Siver-yellow woods had become part of a powerful formation that could fend off powerhouses, and the Royals still owned it after months of battle.
They had kept their share of Divine Market city too. The Elbas family had prepared countermeasures after losing access to the Divine Stele in the past, and the allied forces had yet to break its defensive formations.
Most of the areas featuring obelisks had survived the invasion, and only those that had seen powerhouses directly attacking them had fallen. The alliance's gains were small, but that was understandable since their opponent had five rank 6 cultivators in its ranks.
Noah didn't go toward the Royal Academy. That place was almost impenetrable, and the alliance only had three powerhouses on its side. June had managed to seize the potion only due to her knowledge of the place, expertise, and Noah's help.
Divine Market city was the same. Noah preferred to isolate it before starting a long siege. That was the best approach when against defenses that could fend off rank 6 cultivators.
His targets were the territories around important areas that had yet to fall due to their many defenses. His goal wasn't to take away as much as he could from King Elbas. He wanted the alliance to have territories that it could defend once the Royals' leader returned.
Noah used a series of teleportation matrices to reach the northern side of the eastern coast. A series of obelisks were there, and many cities had appeared in that region in the past centuries.
Two of the five enemy powerhouses defended that area, and a series of defensive formations created a powerful array of protections.
Chasing Demon and Great Elder Diana had gathered there after giving up on the Royal Academy and Divine Market city. The forest of Silver-yellow woods was too dangerous to approach without a plan, so that was the only viable target for them.
When Noah arrived, he found the armies of the alliance fighting the assets of the Royals. The battle looked harsh, and multicolored lights shone behind the enemy forces.