2206. Snapping
Why were Heaven and Earth allowing their invaders to roam freely inside the sky? Why did the privileged cultivator stop chasing Noah and the others as soon as they retreated too much?
Those and many more questions often appeared in the experts' minds as they continued their clumsy exploration of the sky. Everyone had different theories, but the most valid explanation came from Heaven and Earth's dormant state.
The rulers had planned countermeasures for an eventual invasion, but Noah and the others didn't know if they were flexible or fixed programs that would activate after triggering specific conditions. The current situation hinted at the latter, but answers were impossible to obtain when the sky was involved.
Nevertheless, the group did their best to exploit that apparent flaw that Heaven and Earth had left in their defenses. They crawled, escaped, and crawled again, but the environment never seemed to change.
Noah tried to put that loophole into words. A path probably existed among the sky, but reaching it would trigger the arrival of privileged cultivators. There had to be a thin line that he could travel to obtain what he wanted without starting another battle.
Different thoughts also made their way inside Noah's mind. Caesar was a constant threat even if he wasn't around. There was always the chance that he had planned that situation to improve the power of Noah's organization and increase the value of their defeat.
Doubts over doubts piled on Noah's mind, but he showed no hesitation during his advance. Defying Heaven and Earth's pre-established path was what he had always done, and he wouldn't stop now due to faint fears that everything could be part of someone's plan.
'One problem at the time,' Noah often repeated in his mind to add power to his resolve.
The time spent in relatively safe areas was the only positive aspect that came out of that slow and clumsy journey. The group was recovering from the previous battle, even if the sky's radiance seemed to slow down that process.
King Elbas tried to map the sky's insides, but the lack of important findings prevented him from leaving checkpoints in that project. Heaven and Earth also seemed able to modify their world's insides freely, so his efforts felt pointless.
Still, King Elbas persevered in his project for a simple reason. He had nothing else to do during the journey, and the same went for his companions. They were all advancing blindly, hoping that something valuable eventually appeared on their path.
A change happened at some point, but not due to Heaven and Earth's flaws. Supreme Thief grew bored of stealing random laws while his desire to approach his breakthrough intensified.
That gave birth to greed that Supreme
The event made Supreme Thief land at the head of the group. He began to decide where the drill had to dig, and no one complained. Everyone had grown tired of that aimless travel, so they accepted the possibility of cutting their mission short.
"This is garbage, garbage!" Supreme Thief often cursed during the flight, but no one addressed him.
The annoying aspects of the trip were starting to wear down the experts' mental resilience. The final battle was imminent, but they were wasting so much time inside the sky. The lack of results also affected their mood, and the worst eventually happened.
"I'm tired of this," Divine Demon exclaimed. "A demon should never crawl for so long. I'll just destroy everything."
"Don't speak your usual nonsense!" King Elbas shouted. "We should stop and study everything thoroughly to build a weapon that can destroy everything."
"You all speak too much!" The Foolery squealed. "Give me everything you have so that I can eat everything."
"You are all annoying," Supreme Thief cursed. "I'm the main character in this mission. I should be the one to steal everything."
"I can't stand this light any longer," Steven announced. "My anger is boiling. Let's remove everything Heaven and Earth have achieved."
"You are all idiots," June commented. "We should just cause a mess and start the final battle to kill everyone."
The mental weariness was taking out the worst aspects of the experts' characters. All of them pointed toward the destruction of the sky through different approaches, and Noah had to watch everything unfold.
Truth be told, Noah was suffering from the same issues. His companions even roared or shouted in his mind, which made everything worse. Yet, he didn't voice his disappointment to avoid causing even more chaos among his team.
Part of Noah also wanted his friends to unleash their bad aspects. He knew that the team needed a sharp change in the approach to the mission, and letting those experts express their anger would definitely bring it.
"Fine, everyone will work on their own," Divine Demon exclaimed during the discussion. "We'll see who can get some results first."
"Do you really think you can beat me after witnessing my might?!" King Elbas challenged. "It's about time I proved you wrong."
"I'll start to eat then!" The Foolery squealed.
"You are one step behind me!" Steven shouted as he launched dark strands of energy inside the sky.
"Wait until I show you who is the true expert among us," Supreme Thief laughed.
"Wait, fight me for the chance to be first!" June exclaimed, but Noah pulled her back and sealed her mouth.
"You need to recover first," Noah whispered to June's ear, and the latter gave up on fighting for the time being.
The experts began to attack the sky through different methods. Most of them didn't do much due to the sheer power carried by that white layer, but the change in the pace felt pleasant to witness.
The narrow tunnel transformed into a relatively vast area as the offensive continued, and Noah, June, the odd dragon, Maribel, and Sepunia hovered at its center to inspect the scene. Noah felt the urge to join that reckless assault, but he held back to prepare for Heaven and Earth's reaction.
Strangely enough, Heaven and Earth didn't immediately respond. They let the group cause a mess in the area, even if the damage was relatively limited. The sky was so powerful that even King Elbas and Divine Demon struggled to pierce it on their own.
Supreme Thief was the only one who was getting somewhere. His ability to steal laws weakened the sky before him and tainted its fabric, making it easier to pierce. The area expanded faster on his side, but that only made the others work harder.
"Your group never changes, does it?" A familiar voice eventually resounded from the sky and made everyone stop what they were doing.
"Can we get to see someone else?" Noah sighed. "I would like to understand what else Heaven and Earth have in store."
"I'm sure you would," Caesar chuckled as an ethereal version of his body materialized next to Noah. "Please, keep going. I have something to discuss with your leader."
A series of snorts, curses, and displeased comments resounded, but the experts eventually went back to their relentless offensive. Meanwhile, Noah nodded at the companions next to him, and they understood that they had to let him have some privacy.
Noah expanded the dark world, leaving only Caesar's ethereal figure and June inside it. The privileged cultivator glanced at her, but he quickly decided to speak anyway. "We have Alexander and Wilfred."
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Author's notes: I had to take a power nap. You'll get another chapter now and the three for today's release.. I plan not to miss a single chapter this month.