2213. Attack
The landmass' various environments thrived as the sky pressed on with its relentless offensive. The encirclement of avatars often underwent modifications as Heaven and Earth learnt to counter their opponents' defenses, but new ones always appeared and made their attacks ineffective.
Noah never ignored what was happening in the outside world, even if he didn't need to pay attention to it. The growth in his ethereal blackness already told him how the exchanges were going, but he still wanted to marvel at the greatness that his organization had created.
The landmass expressed some of the best aspects of Noah's force. Its best experts had implemented great tools, inscriptions, and formations to the outer layers of Noah's creations, giving birth to something that even Heaven and Earth's far superior number of assets couldn't defeat.
That was exactly what Noah had aimed to achieve when creating his force. He couldn't match Heaven and Earth's numbers, but he could overcome their quality.
As the defenses continued to defeat the enemy offensive, the landmass experienced growth beyond everyone's expectations. Each lair, environment, and region saw the density levels of their energy increase drastically and turn into valuable power that benefited the underling's cultivation journey.
The benefits didn't stop there. Those involved with the creation of the landmass and its defenses saw their worlds grow as the sky's offensive kept failing to inflict any damage.
The strongest entity in the entire higher plane was unleashing part of its power, but the landmass managed to thrive under it. That achievement was more than enough to prove that Noah and the others were worthy of reaching the peak of the cultivation journey.
Sadly, that wasn't enough to push those worlds past the limits of the liquid stage. The core members of Noah's team knew that their breakthrough would come, but they were also aware that the war had to reach messier points first.
'I guess they don't care about their energy reserves anymore,' Noah found himself thinking while inspecting the avatars' offensive.
Heaven and Earth had opted for a slow and safe approach that didn't waste their best resources. Still, that tactic was far more expensive than many other possible plans, and the landmass greatly benefited from it.
'Is it confidence?' Noah wondered. 'Do they believe that their victory is set in stone anyway?'
Noah couldn't really blame Heaven and Earth for that mindset. Sure, that relentless offensive was allowing his underlings to improve faster, but everyone knew that they wouldn't be a key aspect of the final battle.
Heaven and Earth had probably decided to disregard the danger posed by the weaker assets of Noah's force to keep their main weapons hidden. That
Truth be told, those who couldn't get much done without significant achievements were all waiting for the battle to move to the next stage. However, that delay could help save lives on Noah's side, so no one tried to break that favorable balance.
Noah and the others could cultivate and perfect their techniques while the whole higher plane was going through something bigger than a worldwide Tribulation. The apocalypse had come, but they lived almost normal lives under it.
Still, the general tension intensified whenever Heaven and Earth forced the landmass to reveal a new set of defenses. Many didn't know how many layers of protection the area had, but they could see how the rulers were getting closer to piercing them.
Attacks after attacks filled the entirety of the higher plane. Centuries went by and made the landmass forget the idea of a peaceful world.
"It's almost time," King Elbas' voice eventually resounded inside the training areas containing the organization's leaders.
"Can we finally join the battlefield?" June asked through the communication device in her training area.
"We won't be the first to jump in," King Elbas responded.
"This is boring," Divine Demon commented.
"Don't start with the jokes now," Noah said before anyone could start the usual chains of jokes. "We have worked hard to reach this point. I don't want to see any mistake."
"Weren't you about to jump on the battlefield right away?" The Foolery asked.
"Elbas, why does the Foolery have access to the communication device?" Noah sighed.
"It doesn't," Pellio replied. "It stopped to have some tea in my training areas."
"Emperor and Queen are also temporarily unavailable," Cursed Reality coughed.
"You are all a bunch of idiots," Noah sighed.
"Please," King Elbas sneered. "You would be in that battle maniac's training area too if you two knew how to control yourselves."
"Do you realize that I can hear you?" June asked.
"Of course!" King Elbas claimed. "I made this damned inscription."
"We made it," Great Builder corrected.
"Well, he is right," June admitted.
"They are all jealous of us," Noah reassured before realizing that the topic had gotten out of hand. "Anyway, who is up next?"
"The orange city is applying some last improvements," King Elbas revealed. "The first army will be ready when Heaven and Earth learn how to pierce most of our defenses."
"I'm still against the idea of hurting this sword," Sword Saint stated.
"Maniacs don't get a say in this discussion," King Elbas declared.
"Aren't we all maniacs?" The Foolery whispered.
"Let him be," Divine Demon replied. "He is enjoying the only time when he can order us around."
"Are we really going to do what he says?" The Foolery asked.
"Well, you know us," Divine Demon uttered, and everyone knew that he was smiling.
"Do your worst once the privileged cultivators appear," Noah ordered. "Hold back until then. We won't have the chance to rest once the battlefield claims us, and we even have breakthroughs to face."
"How is Supreme Thief doing anyway?" Alexander asked.
"He is moody as usual," Great Builder explained. "He reached the solid stage, but it's incomplete, according to him."
"That was expected," King Elbas exclaimed.
"Did we miss something?" Emperor's voice eventually resounded in the various training areas, and a series of insults flew at him among someone's laughs.
The conversation couldn't last any longer since a new set of defenses suddenly lit up and marked the end of that peaceful period. Heaven and Earth's attacks were about to reach the landmass, so Noah's force had to intervene.
"Are you ready?" Noah asked without adding anything else. The target of his question knew what he wanted.
"The platoons are in place," The old rulers replied. "We are waiting for the first encirclement to reach the peak of its vulnerability."
"When is that?" Noah questioned.
The old rulers didn't answer right away. A few silent seconds went by before a clear word resounded from the communication devices. "Now."
The conversation ended in that instant. The group had never stopped paying attention to the battle unfolding outside, but their concentration skyrocketed after that word.
The first encirclement was about to launch another massive attack, but patches of orange light suddenly expanded before the rank 9 avatars. A series of growls came out of them as the teleport ended and brought entire platoons of modified magical beasts on the battlefield.
The avatars still tried to launch their attack, but the magical beasts' influence disrupted their bodies and made the accumulated in the encirclement go crazy.. It didn't take long before the sound of countless explosions reached the landmass.