Chapter 474 - 474. Nests
The journey to arrive at the Granite Abyss had been quite troublesome.
Efrana nation was in the opposite part of the continent, Noah had to use the teleportation matrix inside his mansion to return to the Coral archipelago and then use another matrix there to reach the closest encampment to his destination.
The Hive had set a total of four encampments throughout the continent, three of them were in the area of influence of the Empire while one of them was in the Papral nation.
It had been impossible for the Hive to pass unnoticed in the area of influence of the Utra nation, the Elbas family was too afraid that the information about the Royal Inheritance would reach enemy forces now that Noah had a foothold so the western coastline and the city of Slyfall had been put under strict surveillance.
Then, Noah had to move on foot alongside the mountain chain that divided the two big nations to lower his chances of being discovered and leave its perimeter only when he neared the forest around the Granite Abyss.
Noah's experiments had exposed the encampment in Efrana nation but the other three were still hidden, the Hive couldn't use its cultivators to escort him due to the risk of revealing itself.
Also, he couldn't even bring his mansion with him, the priority of the Hive was to recruit cultivators and the encampment in Efrana nation would remain in place only for a short time since it had been exposed, the archipelago had sealed peaceful relationsh.i.p.s with the three big nation but it couldn't steal their resources out in the open, not for too long at least.
Yet, leaving his mansion behind didn't mean that Noah had been left barehanded.
Noah had the flags filled with protective runes with him, Elder Iris had personally filled them with her "Breath" so that he could simply lay them on the ground and they would activate.
Also, there was the talisman created by Chasing Demon.
He had met Chasing Demon again when he returned to the archipelago, he didn't explain the details behind his experiments but he had said that the journey concerned the creation of his technique.
Chasing Demon didn't hesitate to make the necessary preparations after he heard that and he created the talisman while giving him unclear explanations to its functions.
'He only said to break it if I'm about to die, I wonder what it does.'
Noah thought as a pair of wings spread behind his back and he jumped off the cliff, flying toward the depths of the Granite Abyss.
His consciousness enveloped his descending figure, the layers of mental energy had kept him hidden from the magical beasts during his voyage, allowing him to reach his destination without being attacked by those creatures.
Noah intended to do the same as he explored the Abyss but he soon noticed that something was off about that place.
'It's strange, this darkness is unnatural.'
The sunlight could only illuminate the initial part of the canyon but Noah had a rank 4 body and a rank 4 mental sphere, seeing in the darkness wasn't a problem for someone with those centers of power.
Yet, as he descended in the darkness, he realized that his sight was restricted to a distance of a few dozens of meters.
'It's as if any trace of light has been forcibly removed…'
Noah thought as he slowed his descent.
Being unable to rely on his eyes wasn't really a problem, his mind was far better on that field.
However, Noah couldn't help but wonder about the cause behind such a peculiar phenomenon.
His thoughts were soon interrupted though since a series of presences began to near and encircle him.
'It seems that, in this narrow environment, my mental energy isn't enough to hide my presence. Well, maybe they are simply too used to living in the darkness.'
Noah stopped his descent when he felt that those presences continued to near him, his mind could already identify their species and their rank.
'Five rank 4 Abyssal dragons, four in the lower tier and one in the middle tier. I guess it's time to see how strong I am right now.'
A cold aura surrounded Noah as his consciousness fixed itself on the five dragons that had encircled him.
Then, part of his mental energy and "Breath" was depleted and a barrage of ethereal claws appeared in the air around him.
The Ghostly claws spell began to show its real power now that Noah had become a rank 4 mage, more than three hundred claws materialized around him and shot toward the five huge figures.
The dragons couldn't even react, the ethereal claws crossed their scales and reached for their organs in less than a second, their hearts directly exploded under the assault of Noah's spell.
Dying cries filled the gorge as the wings of the Abyssal dragons stopped their motions and their corpses fell lifelessly in the darkness below them.
Five magical beasts in the fourth rank couldn't even make Noah wield his sabers, his power was half-way toward that of a complete heroic cultivator by then, the spells that used mostly mental energy were his most powerful weapon.
The Granite Abyss seemed to take life when the five corpses fell, dragons came out of their nests to try to seize the falling magical beasts.
Tongues of flames, roars, and battle cries filled the gorge as more and more dragons appeared and began to fight for the five dead creatures.
Noah studied the scene for a short time before he decided to resume his descent.
He didn't care about those dragons, his target was somewhere at the bottom of the canyon if the reports were right and if that species had managed to survive until that day.
Also, there were more than one hundred dragons in the fourth rank engaged in battle, Noah didn't want to go all out to clear the passage, he would rather sneak past them while they were busy fighting.
Heilong's wings flapped behind his back as he crossed the crowd of powerful beasts fighting each other, some dragons would notice and attack him as he descended but Noah simply released another series of ethereal claws to take care of those foolish creatures.
Just like that, Noah crossed the battlefield and flew deeper into the darkness, his mind was already able to find traces of the bottom of the Granite Abyss.