Phoebe saw blood coming out of Manuel's mouth.
She saw how the anger in his eyes slowly turned into astonishment before vanishing altogether.
The light in his eyes disappeared as life left the noble, Manuel died right in front of her eyes.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"
Phoebe screamed.
She could have never imagined that a student from the academy would kill the heir of a noble family!
Noble families were the most powerful organizations after the Royal family after all, who would want to antagonize himself with them?
However, Noah wasn't a common cultivator.
When Manuel attacked, he had already decided to kill both of them.
First, he had come there to test himself, there was no better opponent than an injured cultivator with a rank 4 body.
Second, those two were isolated from the rest of their group.
Once Noah saw that nobody else was coming, he decided that it was better to take care of that unexpected threat.
Third, he knew that his rank 4 body had been exposed, the woman in front of him simply didn't realize it just yet.
Lastly, he needed a bait for the Excavating worms.
If large quantities of "Breath" were to be expended in that room, many magical beasts would be attracted, preventing Noah from walking into a trap.
"I killed him."
Noah plainly answered, inspecting Manuel's body to gather all his belongings.
"Do you understand what have you done? The Gousho family will never let you off the hook, they will make you pay and no amount of protection can save you!"
Noah picked a space-ring and Manuel's weapon and turned toward the woman still sitting on the ground.
"You really don't understand the kind of situation you are in, do you?"
Noah shook his head after he said those words and slowly neared her.
After that phrase, something clicked inside Phoebe's head and her eyes widened in understanding.
She remembered that Vance was younger than Manuel and yet he managed to defeat him just by using his brute force.
'That shouldn't be possible, unless…'
Her thoughts raced until she finally reached a conclusion that surprised her even more.
"You have a rank 4 body. But how? You are too young."
Noah nodded but never stopped nearing her.
"See, when you are blessed with wealth and power, you usually forget that you aren't so special. You can even be a Royal but, in this place, rules can't protect you."
Then, Noah began to run at full speed toward her.
Phoebe was surprised and forced herself to stand up, wielding her spear to block the incoming attack.
However, her injury was heavily hindering her movements, she was far from her peak strength.
'I can win this, he is the strongest student of his generation but I've cultivated for three years more than him, he can't be that powerful.'
Yet, her beliefs were shattered after their first clash.
Noah immediately used the first form of the Ashura, creating twenty ethereal sabers that attacked Phoebe from every direction.
She was surprised once again and hurriedly rotated her spear to block the incoming attacks.
The spear vibrated at an unusual rhythm, slowing Noah's attacks when they became too close to it and reducing their might.
Most of Noah's attacks were blocked by that defensive from but some of them managed to slip through her defense.
The sabers slashed her robe, which blocked many of them, allowing only two cuts to appear on it.
Yet, when the attacks surpassed the defense of the robe, they were unable to injure Phoebe.
Noah felt as if he had hit a hard rocky wall and he was unable to break it.
'This is annoying, her defense is tight and I can't waste much time.'
Noah saw that his attacks were ineffective and decided to use the ability of his body.
The membrane around his heart tightened and poured in his circulatory system the liquid "Breath" that it contained.
Phoebe had used her best defensive methods to block the attacks and was amazed to discover that the man in front of her still managed to touch her skin.
'I have the best defense of my generation but he can break it!'
Then, she saw how Noah's veins turned black and began to pulse at an even rhythm.
More attacks came in her direction after that and she had no time to think about that sudden change.
Her spear rotated again, emitting the same vibrations as before.
Yet, that time her technique wasn't able to completely block the attacks and she was slowly pushed back by the relentless assault.
It had to be said that she was injured, she could not exert her full strength since her legs were wounded.
Also, Noah had stopped trying to find weak points in her techniques and began to focus on her weapon while using the full power of his body.
Phoebe was continuously pushed back.
Her legs hurt and her hands slowly became sore and numb, she could not last much longer if she limited herself to defend.
'What should I do? I can't properly attack in my current state and this Vance isn't showing any signs of getting tired. I should stall as much as I can and wait for Lord Daniel to arrive.'
She decided in her mind and focused all her energy on defending as much as she could.
The vibrations created with her martial art increased and began to affect a larger area in front of her.
Even Noah's movements started to be affected by those vibrations, yet he had already reached another conclusion in his mind.
His attacks began to emit a black smoke that accumulated all around Phoebe.
'A spell? But I'm using a rank 4 martial art with a rank 4 body and a defensive inscribed item in the second rank! Is he getting anxious?'
A trace of hope appeared in her eyes which was immediately shattered when she saw the effects that the spell had on the battle.
The smoke destroyed the vibrations that she was creating, allowing Noah's attack to freely clash on the spear and pierce her defense.