2212. Defenses
The event reassured most of the weak underlings and filled them with confidence. Heaven and Earth's power reserves were immense, but the landmass could handle them. The final battle was far from hopeless.
Noah and the other strong assets on the landmass didn't share that optimism. They had seen the monsters that lived inside the sky. They knew that the first encirclement was only a mass of disposable forces meant to test their power.
'They won't waste too much energy,' Noah thought as the first encirclement prepared another attack.
The same crackling pillars from before shot toward the landmass, but they disappeared among the layers of realities that Curse Reality had placed around the structure. The attacks carried a lot of energy, but their lack of depth prevented them from piercing the expert's defenses.
The encirclement of avatars launched a third offensive, but they stopped attacking after seeing it fail even to get closer to the landmass. It was clear that something like that won't work. It was actually benefitting Noah's force.
"Don't let the assault bother you," Noah conveyed to the whole landmass through the array of golden lines. "Focus on recovering and increasing your power. I'll tell you when to attack."
Time was a resource that Noah's force had always lacked due to the impending final battle. However, now that Heaven and Earth had decided to attack, the defenses could delay the arrival of a frontal clash and allow the various forces to grow a bit more.
Noah knew that his strongest companions wouldn't achieve anything during that short period, but the situation could differ when it came to the underlings. Some rank 7 assets could have enough time to hit the eighth rank, which was already good considering the tragic nature of the situation.
Sadly for Noah's force, Heaven and Earth were awake now, and they wouldn't waste valuable energy to send meaningless attacks. They had to take down Cursed Reality's defenses, which required a very different approach.
Noah believed that Heaven and Earth would make a few privileged cultivators come out of the sky, but the rulers had a different tactic. The second encirclement advanced as the first retreated. The avatars turned partially ethereal to facilitate the switch in position, allowing the improved experts to reach the frontlines without any problem.
The improved experts didn't have laws of worlds that could pierce Cursed Reality's defenses. They would have become privileged cultivators otherwise. However, there were too many of them, and the energy they summoned reached levels of power that even Noah had to take seriously.
That approach wasn't any different from
The improved cultivators wanted to do the same through their numbers, and Noah believed they could succeed. They obviously wouldn't destroy Cursed Reality's defenses in a single blow, but a relentless assault would definitely damage them.
Noah had faced similar situations throughout his life so many times that his body almost moved on his own. He jumped to shoot toward the improved cultivators and disturb their battle formations, but a series of orange lightning bolts appeared on his path before he could enter the battlefield.
"What are you doing?" Noah growled, knowing that the old rulers could hear him.
"A leader should never join a war so soon," The old rulers' voice echoed in the area. "We have prepared for this eventuality."
Multiple formations lit up on the landmass while those words continued to echo in the area. Massive waves of energy flowed toward them and charged attacks that seemed able to touch the peak of the ninth rank.
Noah remained in the sky as he watched everything unfold. The improved cultivators launched massive attacks that used their entire platoons' power, but the formations on the landmass suddenly released soundwaves.
The soundwaves reached the various attacks converging toward the landmass before they could touch Cursed Reality's defenses. The impact weakened the improved cultivators' offensive and made it unable to damage the multiple layers of separate realities.
The weakened attacks disappeared, and their shattered and filtered energy soon filled the landmass to refill its reserves. Noah only performed a quick inspection, but he could see that his force didn't suffer any loss. It actually gained more power.
Noah could only nod at that outcome. His side didn't need to destroy the encirclement of improved cultivators. Weakening their attacks was enough to prevent damage and continue accumulating energy.
The war didn't follow the previous exchanges' example. The improved cultivators didn't deplete much of Heaven and Earth's energy, so the rulers decided to launch a relentless offensive.
White attacks carrying multiple natures converged toward the landmass, but the soundwaves launched by the formations always weakened them. Meanwhile, energy continued to flow into the dark higher plane, which improved the overall situation of Noah's force.
Heaven and Earth didn't change tactics, and Noah did nothing to hinder the process. He was happy as long as the defenses bought time, so he let everything continue.
Of course, Noah and the others knew that Heaven and Earth didn't lose their mind. Their relentless offensive had a precise goal, and the experts could also understand it.
Noah lost count of how many attacks the improved cultivators launched, but their offensive eventually came to an end. They even began to retreat to switch places with the avatars again, but the sky didn't remain still during the process.
Strads of light shot out of the white surface and fused with the rank 9 avatars among the first encirclement. The nature of those puppets changed, and the same went for their size. They grew, and their crackling noises also gained new rhythms.
'They are countering what they have seen,' Noah concluded before the avatars could even start gathering energy.
Noah landed on the landmass and activated one of the golden lines. The inscription remained silent for a few seconds, but King Elbas' voice eventually came out of it. "Let them study us. It will take the rulers centuries to find a way to counter all our defenses. We'll attack at that point."
The first encirclement launched attacks that resembled those witnessed during the first exchanges. Cursed Reality's defenses made them disappear, but something odd happened when the energy started to flow on the landmass.
Noah and the others could sense that the new energy still carried Heaven and Earth's influence, but they were one step too slow. Those waves of power started to self-destruct and detonate as they spread through the landmass.
A few experts felt the need to intervene and contain the damage, but they stopped when they saw that more inscriptions had already lit up. The violent energy released during the explosions froze before flowing by a series of orbs that had come out of specific formations.
Noah recognized Great Builder's fake cores and coldly smiled when he saw that they absorbed every trace of the explosions before they could cause any damage. Moreover, when those orbs returned inside the formations, the landmass experienced another increase of power.
The scene made Noah decide to go back inside his training areas. The frontal clash would happen, but it would take time to reach that point.. It was better to get as much training as possible before that inevitable event.