Kate was extremely talented in the formations' field.
She was a solid stage cultivator in the third rank who had spent most of her life studying the formations that the sect managed to save in its escape from the Papral nation, she could be considered an expert in the field.
She and Noah had worked together to set traps throughout the most valuable islands but Noah had only provided the Instabilities and explained how they worked, everything else had been handled by Kate.
The first formations would act as a trigger for the Instabilities, the "Breath" contained in the Credits that powered the formations would be used to trigger the explosion of the disposable weapons, but that wasn't their only purpose.
The explosions would disperse the materials that composed the formations in the battlefield, said materials would then attach themselves to the unaware invaders and could be used by other mechanisms.
The materials resembled dust which the invaders couldn't bother to clean from their clothes in that tense situation, they didn't expect for said dust to be used to restrain them.
The lines of a formation shone on the soldiers' bodies, they resonated with the area, lighting up other formations on the ground.
All of sudden, a large area was filled with shining lines, affecting the cultivators that had been tainted by the dust with effects similar to Noah's Death area spell.
The soldiers from the Empire felt their movements being affected, they anxiously turned toward their leaders, hoping for orders or solutions to that troublesome situation.
Yet, the cultivators of the Hive arrived before they could decide anything.
A series of spells followed by the appearance of the hiding cultivators forced the soldiers of the Empire to put the matter about the formation on hold and focus on defending.
Noah analyzed the battlefield, his forces were less numerous than the enemies but, with the help of the formation, that advantage was affected, almost bringing the two armies on the same power.
His mind deduced at high speed, he wanted to take the course of action that would affect the battle the most.
'It's useless to keep the strongest of them busy in this situation, there are simply too many of them.'
The tactic used during the conquest of the islands wouldn't have the same effects with armies so big and being another rank 3 cultivator fighting among the crowd wouldn't affect the outcome of the battle that much.
Also, there was a high chance to hurt those on his side unless he decided to not use the Demonic form.
'I should just take care of the ants.'
After he thought of that, Noah jumped from the building in a spot filled by rank 2 soldiers, a black dragon was next to him when he landed.
Twenty ethereal sabers were created around him, the First Form was performed in the middle of the enemy's army.
Usually, rank 3 cultivators wouldn't lower themselves to take care of those in the second rank but Noah didn't care for honor and pride, he only cared about victory.
His sabers released a black corrosive smoke as they slashed at the powerless rank 2 cultivators around him.
Those soldiers did their best, they deployed defensive spells, martial arts, and even some protective inscribed items.
Yet, against Noah's First Form backed by his gaseous "Breath", his Demonic swords, and the partial Demonic form, those defensive measures were pierced as if they were paper.
Soldiers immediately died under Noah's offensive, Heilong trashed its body on the crowd, uncaring of the attacks that landed on its scales.
Noah swung his sabers relentlessly, no one could escape nor defend against his attacks.
Casualties mounted on the Empire's side, not even a minute had passed but Noah had already killed more than fifty rank 2 cultivators, the power of the third rank couldn't be underestimated.
Then, Noah felt a dangerous sensation coming from above him, he instinctively retracted Heilong and deployed it in that position to block the incoming attack.
Heilong was hit by a spear made of compressed air, its scales were pierced but they managed to deviate the spell, allowing Noah to simply sidestep it to dodge it.
His eyes went in the sky, he saw an old cultivator with long white hair and a short black bear, Noah was able to recognize him, he was the rank 3 cultivator that had tried to assassinate him on the battlefield in Odrea nation!
Yet, his cultivation level wasn't in the gaseous stage anymore, what was standing in the air was a rank 3 cultivator in the liquid stage!
"We have a matter to settle, Hooded devil."
There was no arrogance in his tone, only a pure battle intent was radiated by his words.
Noah looked at him with cold eyes, the soldiers around him didn't dare to attack him, they simply retreated as they shot grateful gazes at the man in the air.
Heilong silently entered Noah's body and a pair of wings appeared behind his n.a.k.e.d back.
The wings flapped, Noah slowly rose into the air, his gaze never left the elderly man.
He couldn't continue to slaughter the weak soldiers if a rank 3 cultivator attacked him, it was better to take care of the biggest threat first.
"I've reached the liquid stage in these years while you directly reached the third rank, I don't feel that much shame anymore seeing how talented you are."
The man spoke when Noah reached his height, Noah guessed that he was speaking about the assassination attempt in the past.
The battle continued below them, cultivators that could fight in the air before the heroic ranks were rare and they usually had some restriction that accompanied that ability.
The man in front of Noah was standing on a platform made of air, it was a spell of the wind element that allowed him to move in the sky but that was different from flying.
Two spears appeared on the man's hands, they were the spell that the man usually used to fight but Noah was sure that he had some kind of hidden ace.
However, he wasn't the same cultivator that he had tried to assassinate in the past, he was the heir of Divine Demon, as well as the Demon Prince of the Chasing Demon sect.
His legs kicked the air, a shockwave resounded under his feet when they hit the black cloud that propelled his speed.
The man saw Noah's sudden acceleration and prepared himself for the imminent clash.