Noah didn't recognize Adrian, he had barely interacted with the higher-ups of his family after all.
Yet, he was sure that the cultivator who was facing Elder Hope carried the Balvan bloodline.
He knew far too well how the noble families handled their cultivation resources, a medium-size noble family would have never given the means to reach the heroic ranks to someone without blood ties.
Noah flew at high speed toward the area inhabited by ape-type magical beasts, he was sure that Adrian had appeared on the new continent for a reason which most likely concerned him.
The Elbas family would never give the privilege to fight for the territories to a medium-size noble family, there were no benefits in promoting such small powers.
Also, he knew that the elders in the desert would inform Elder Hope about his departure, he wasn't worried at all that Adrian would leave before he arrived there.
Three days had to pass before Noah was able to see the two figures waiting for him in the air and an hour for him to reach Elder Hope.
"Hello, nephew. We have never met, I'm Adrian Balvan."
Adrian introduced himself as soon as Noah arrived, but the latter simply inspected him with his cold reptilian eyes.
Adrian did the same, but he couldn't sense anything particular from Noah's aura, it was as if he contained all his emotions.
"We can give up on this territory, the Hive has already obtained enough on the western coast. Just a word from you and I will-"
Elder Hope began to speak, but Noah placed a hand over her shoulder and interrupted her phrase.
Noah wasn't applying any strength, but Elder Hope still felt as if a mountain was threatening to crush her shoulder, she couldn't help but wonder how a cultivator in the gaseous stage could give her those sensations.
"I'll handle this, don't worry."
Noah calmly spoke before retracting his hand and crossing the border of the battlefield.
Adrian showed a satisfied expression when he saw his gesture and retreated to give space to Noah.
Elder Hope stood still, she didn't return to the desert, she remained over the rocky wasteland with her eyes fixed on Adrian.
She didn't know if Adrian's presence there was some sort of trap of the Elbas family, so she chose to remain to watch the battle and to intervene in case Noah was about to lose his life.
Of course, that action would make the Hive lose the match, but she couldn't care less about that territory, she only wanted to do everything in her power to preserve the life of the most promising heroic asset of the Coral archipelago.
"You resemble her, it seems like yesterday that Rhys brought a commoner back to the mansion. Father was so mad at him, but he had always spoiled Rhys, my little brother has never understood that his actions could have consequences. Well, he learnt that after Fabian's death."
A slight smile appeared on Adrian's face as he spoke those words.
Noah couldn't understand what his uncle's intentions were, but he didn't care about them, he limited himself to listen to him only to see if he could gather more information about his family.
"I'm different though. Father has raised me to become the next patriarch of the Balvan family, I won't mourn the deaths of a few heirs that couldn't even overcome a bastard who has trained without any support. Yet, I must thank you. Your betrayal forced the Royals to compensate the family, our foundation has never been so stable, I believe we will have a third heroic cultivator in the next sixty or so years."
Adrian continued to speak, but he soon lost interest in interacting with Noah since the latter didn't show any reaction.
Not even the slightest trace of emotion appeared in Noah's aura, he resembled almost devoid of them as he continued to stare Adrian.
"My presence today is just a whim of mine, I wanted to see with my eyes if your betrayal was a fortunate event or if the family has lost as much as the reports say."
Adrian retreated even more after he gave voice to those words, his robe was torn apart as his muscles bulged, and his skin turned yellow.
Also, a seemingly metallic defensive layer appeared over his figure.
In a few seconds, Adrian had transformed from a burly middle-aged man into a four meters tall giant with silver skin.
Noah watched the transformation in silence, he had no intention of stopping him.
Yet, when he saw that Adrian seemed to wait for him, he decided to speak.
"Are you done?"
Adrian listened to the emotionless tone of his nephew and laughed, but a wild aura soon swept him and forced him to focus on his opponent.
Noah's mental energy began to release cold and wild mental waves, Adrian felt as if thousands of incorporeal blades were crashing on his giant body.
Also, he felt the deep hatred contained in them.
Noah had always held his hatred back.
It didn't matter how much he improved, he couldn't just barge in the Utra nation and go after his family, he knew that he didn't have the power to defeat Thomas Balvan.
He wanted to avenge his mother but he couldn't throw away his life to attempt in his revenge, there was no point in killing Rhys if he had to die afterward.
That forced him to contain the hatred for his family as he continued to grow stronger, he knew that one day he would face them again, but he had to pursue the power that he wanted first.
However, now that Adrian had willingly appeared in front of him, those feelings exploded.
Adrian felt as if he was facing a wild magical beast, he had never seen a cultivator radiating such a savage aura.
Black smoke came out of Noah's body as he took a step toward his uncle, he immediately activated the complete Demonic form as he slowly neared his opponent.
A fuming sphere appeared next to him, Noah's centers of power fueled the Dark blast spells as he wielded his sabers.
Adrian couldn't see it due to the armor of smoke, but Noah's skin was caving in, he had activated the secret art before sprinting toward his enemy.
Noah reappeared in front of Adrian in an instant, his Demonic swords were already tracing two vertical lines as they descended toward the giant figure.
Adrian's skin released a humming sound that slowed Noah's offensive.
Two black lines crashed on him, but only a few cracks appeared on his body, his defensive spell had managed to stop his nephew's martial art!
Yet, just as Adrian was about to counterattack, Noah's head shot toward his face.
Adrian felt a stabbing pain coming from the left side of his face, and he hurriedly decided to retreat.
His skin rereleased a humming sound, slowing Noah's chase and giving him time to understand what had happened.
When he raised his gaze again to stare at the fiendish figure, he saw that its fuming maws were slowly consuming a silver ear.