The troops of the Empire jumped off the sh.i.p.s, safely landing on the parts of the shore covered by the silver shields.
The Empire didn't send troops to probe the situation at that time, the entirety of the reinforcements jumped off the sh.i.p.s at the same time and prepared themselves for the imminent battle.
There were still about fifty rank 3 cultivators on the Empire's side, Noah's group had managed to inflict heavy losses during the last battle, bringing the forces of both sides on a similar number.
Yet, part of Noah's group had been sent to refill the ranks on the other islands, making the accomplishments obtained in the previous battle almost pointless from their perspective.
Sharing the weight of the trials that the world put on their way was one of the reasons why humans gathered together to form organizations, Noah understood the elders' choice.
His gaze was fixed on the shore as the troops of the Empire began to advance.
Some traps soon detonated, fuming spikes filled the area but those aiming for the soldiers were repelled by a series of water domes, the last battle didn't remove the rank 3 mages specialized in defense from the enemy forces.
Also, a seemingly soft breeze blew between the soldiers.
'They did their homework in these two weeks.'
Noah sighed internally when he noticed the breeze, he realized that the soldiers had come up with a way to counter Kate's formation.
The breeze prevented the materials of the formation from acc.u.mulating on the bodies of the soldiers, Kate's weakening formation could be almost neglected without that requirement.
It couldn't be helped, formations were powerful and could turn the tides of a battle if they caught someone by surprise.
Yet, they could also be countered, even with simple methods most of the time.
The stronger the formation, the harsher the requirements for its activation will be, everything had a weakness after all.
The soldiers of the Empire soon reached the area where Kate's formation was laid.
Shining lines appeared on the terrain but they didn't seem to affect the soldiers in any way, only the weaker rank 2 cultivators paled a bit when the light swept their bodies but they quickly recovered, the Hive's defenses couldn't hinder their advance.
At that sight, Noah decided to act.
A frontal clash would inevitably cause heavy losses on his side, the Empire could choose to retreat to contain its losses but the forces of the Hive didn't have that choice, they had to hold the control of those islands!
Noah warped in the air above the enemy's troops, his spell was noticed only by the strongest cultivators in the third rank but even they didn't have time to react to what was happening above their heads.
Noah came out of the black flames, Heilong's wings were spread behind his back as they kept him in the air.
He had a hand stretched toward the troops below him, a black ring could be seen on that hand.
Then, many inscribed items began to appear in front of his hand and fall on the troops.
Noah injected his "Breath" in every item that appeared, what he was using was his personal stash of Instabilities and Hidden blasts, he even used those in the second rank that he had kept since his battles in Odrea nation!
Noah would always keep some of his disposable weapons for himself even when they were needed for defending the sect but, at that time, he was releasing all that acc.u.mulated firepower on the troops of the Empire!
More than a hundred spiked spheres and needles feel from the sky, the rank 3 cultivators on the ground didn't let that sight scare them, they quickly deployed the defensive spells used before.
Noah flew higher in the sky, he didn't want to be too close to the blast and he also wanted to hide the sight of him drinking a potion from the battlefield.
The contents of the potion quickly entered his body, improving the production of mental energy as he kept his attention focused on the events below him.
He felt as if his mind had been split into a hundred different pieces, each one moving in a different direction.
Those pieces surpassed a dense wall and were weakened but they managed to find their targets anyway.
"Attack!"
Noah ordered when he knew that his plan had succeeded.
The truth was that Noah had hidden a Ghostly claw inside each of his disposable weapons!
He had never created that many Ghostly claws at the same time, his mental energy had been depleted in the process but what had been harder was controlling each different spell!
That's why he had escaped in the sky to use his drugs, he needed a safe place where to refill his mental energy while controlling the ethereal claws.
His targets were the rank 3 cultivators in the army of the Empire, especially those deploying the defensive spells.
The ethereal claws squeezed the hearts of the rank 3 cultivators, they had been unable to notice them between the many explosions that resounded on the other side of their defensive spells.
Their concentration wavered slightly, some spikes and needles managed to pass through the cracks created after that lack of focus.
Also, a torrent of spells crashed on the troops of the Empire at that moment, further worsening the stability of the defensive spells deployed by the soldiers.
Some of Noah's weapons, as well as some attacks, managed to pass the defenses of the soldiers and land on them, cries and explosions could be heard from inside the water domes but the exact effects couldn't be seen yet.
Noah didn't wait for the soldiers to reorganize inside the domes, he directly ordered those under him to charge toward the invaders.
A tide of cultivators wielding brand new inscribed weapons assaulted the water domes, it took only a few series of attacks before the defensive spells were broken, revealing the disorganized state of the troops behind them.
Noah's weapons and the few spells that had managed to breach those defenses had killed many rank 2 cultivators and wounded a few in the third rank but the forces of the Empire were still stronger than those of the Hive.
Noah dove into the battlefield, he couldn't let go of that moment of weakness created by using all his stash of disposable weapons.
However, when he was about to reach a defenseless rank 3 cultivator, a thunderbolt and a fireball flew in his direction.
Noah's body quickly turned ethereal, the spells passed through him but were unable to inflict any damage.
Yet, he couldn't stop his descending momentum while using the Ethereal form spell, his figure returned material only when he was about to land on the ground.
Sand rose in the air as Heilong's wings flapped to make Noah land safely but his focus immediately went on two rank 3 soldiers that neared him wielding their weapons.