Noah didn't want to fight.
He was in an unknown territory that the three big nations had explored for more than four years, there were simply too many variables that he couldn't possibly be aware of.
Yet, the woman from the Papral nation didn't want to let him go, she chased and attacked him through the western coastline.
Noah's companions were far away, it would take them at least one day of full-speed flight to reach him, and that was only in Elder Duke and Elder Morgan's case.
The others were over the lava lake on the southern coast, and there was no way that Elder Austin and the others with a fire aptitude could come in his aid anytime soon.
Noah was left with two options: Either use all his abilities to escape the pursuit or fight!
The issue with the first option was that he would most likely reveal his identity and, consequently, the involvement of the Hive in the exploration of the new continent.
He didn't believe that the three big nations would attack the Coral archipelago because of its actions.
Still, the Hive would inevitably be forced to abandon the piece of Immortal Lands, which was something that Noah wanted to avoid at all costs.
That and the fact that the woman seemed to be alone pushed Noah toward his second option: Go all out and fight!
The fire spears converged and exploded in Noah's position right after his figure was enveloped in black flames, the shockwave released by that spell made the whole area tremble.
Black flames appeared in the sky above the woman, Noah had decided to teleport at a few hundred meters from his enemy to launch his attack.
His skin caved in as he swung his left arm, a black saber shattered the air in its path while radiating an ominous aura that sent chills down the heroic cultivator's spine.
The rank 4 Demonic sword made its first appearance in battle!
The woman was a heroic cultivator that had reached the peak of the gaseous stage of the fourth rank.
She was one of the many old cultivators that had chosen to explore the new continent looking for ways to improve her rank, and she had an incredible amount of battle experience.
She immediately knew that Noah's attack couldn't be blocked easily, she would need to use most of her defensive methods to stop it.
Hundreds of fire spears appeared between her and Noah and formed a thick wall, a giant eagle made of flames appeared at the center of the wall and covered that spot with its folded wings, a pale sheet came out from her space-ring and created a circular protective layer around her figure, she had even chosen to use disposable inscribed items to protect herself.
The air reformed as soon as Noah completed his slash, and a wide fissure appeared on the defensive methods of the woman.
The fire eagle was severed in two, and even the wall of spears was split in half, a corrosive black smoke appeared on the borders of the fissure and continued to consume the spells as it spread through their surfaces.
The circular defensive layer managed to endure the remaining power carried by Noah's attack, only some faint traces of his black smoke had reached the layer, but the woman's "Breath" quickly dispersed them.
Noah's attack wasn't even able to touch her.
Noah quickly stuffed a piece of one of the magical beasts stored inside his space-ring in his mouth, he needed to maintain his body in a healthy state since he knew that he would need to use the secret art many other times.
'She perfectly evaluated the power behind my attack and activated the suitable countermeasures… This will be hard.'
Noah thought as he stuffed another piece of a magical beast inside his mouth, his mind tried to find the best way to deal with such a powerful enemy.
Of course, the woman didn't wait for Noah to find a solution.
"Who are you? Which organization has managed to keep a heroic cultivator of the darkness element hidden?"
She asked as she raised her hands on the sky, she had understood Noah's aptitude, but it seemed that she didn't manage to link him to the Demon Prince of the Coral archipelago.
Noah was only thirty-seven after all, no one would think that someone that young had been able to cross the human ranks in that short period.
The barrage of flame spears appeared again, and an inscribed item in the fourth rank appeared in her hands.
The item seemed a simple piece of wood, but a blue flame burned on its tip, it resembled some sort of inscribed torch.
The torch began to affect the spears around her, blue flames covered the tips of the spears, which increased the dangerous aura that they radiated.
'Amazing.'
That was the only word that Noah could use to describe the scene.
He was fighting a heroic cultivator that had trained herself for decades, if not centuries, her spells, her weapons, her instincts had reached a harmony that Noah couldn't possibly achieve since had been forced to bend his fighting style to the techniques and spells in his possession.
The spears shot in his direction and he waited until all of them were about to converge in his position before performing the Shadow sprint martial art while activating the secret art.
Noah reached an insane speed when his martial art was matched with his secret art, the woman was able to find his figure only after his burst of speed ended.
Noah had neared her with his last sprint, he was wielding two black sabers at that time, he had decided to wield even his second rank 4 Demonic sword.
Two slashes shattered the air in front of him as he attacked the woman, she didn't have the time to be surprised by the appearance of a second rank 4 inscribed weapon in the hands of her opponent since she felt once again that a threatening attack was reaching for her.
She focused, a large amount of mental energy and "Breath" were injected inside her torch as she called upon the connection between her weapon and the flame spears in the distance.
Noah had dodged the spears with his martial art, but they hadn't exploded that time, only a few of them had broken when they converged in his position.
Yet, when the energies fueled the torch, the flames that made the hundreds of spears in the distance disappeared, only to reappear in the form of an expanding blue sphere that had the woman at its center.
Two fissures appeared on the expanding sphere made of blue flames, they pierced its surface and released a corrosive black smoke that threatened to fill its insides.
However, the blue sphere detonated at that moment, releasing a shockwave that expanded outward and that flung Noah away from the woman.