Noah didn't need to spend much time on the Ghostly sabers spell during the two years before the attack. So, he could focus on other abilities after completing the modifications on the Mental saber spell.
Of course, he had prioritized the abilities that didn't require much "Breath", and one of them was the Will-consuming rune.
Noah had yet to create another personal rune, but he had used that time to improve the saber-shaped one that he had made in the past. His mind had become able to condense stronger emotions when it reached the fifth rank, which allowed him to create a stronger version of his first rune.
Thomas saw hundreds of small, black sabers with power in the solid stage of the fourth rank filling the ground under him.
The sabers began to absorb the "Breath" in the environment and even the primary energy that Noah's spells had previously released with their destruction. Their power multiplied, and they seemed to near the peak of the fourth rank in just a matter of seconds.
The density of the "Breath" in the area quickly plummeted as the runes absorbed it, but Thomas couldn't focus on it since a series of ethereal sabers shot from the ground toward him.
It was clear that Noah was planning something and that he didn't want Thomas to interrupt his strategy.
Thomas snorted and surrounded his figure with gales again while also waving his fan many times. His mind felt the strain of using powerful attacks and defenses at the same time, but the situation required him to push himself to his limits.
Also, Noah was still nowhere to be seen. It was as if he had disappeared after the last attack flung him underground.
The raging, dense air around Thomas fought against the incoming ethereal sabers while the winds released by his fan crashed on the array of black runes on the ground.
He didn't want to fall in a passive position against an opponent that used mental attacks. After all, he had already been injured due to one slight distraction.
However, that approach lowered the might of both his attack and defensive method.
Thomas was only a rank 4 mage, but he was using abilities fueled by "Breath" in the fifth rank. There was a limit to how well he could handle two of his strongest skills at the same time, especially since their power surpassed the capabilities of his mind.
His mental energy depleted at high speed to control both abilities, but he managed to obtain some initial success with that approach. The black runes fell apart and released the energy that they had previously accumulated, and the ethereal sabers struggled to pierce the dense winds that surrounded him.
Yet, that positive trend was bound to stop as the reserves of his sea of consciousness kept on diminishing.
Thomas' focus reached its peak as he poured more energy to destroy the runes on the ground, and he moved his attention to the Ghostly sabers only when the other threat was taken care of. The winds around him became more violent when the last saber-shaped rune fell apart since Thomas could use all his concentration on the mental attack after that.
Nevertheless, he suddenly felt that an unstoppable force was tearing apart his defensive method.
Noah had hidden underground and used his Dark cover spell to conceal his presence while his spells kept his grandfather busy. Thomas had been so focused on the various sabers that he didn't notice that Noah had come out from the ground behind him and had directly charged at him.
Thomas' defensive method countered mental attacks, but it couldn't do anything against Noah's physical strength.
The winds dispersed under the pressure released by Noah's punch, and only then was Thomas able to feel the immense danger that Noah radiated.
Something inside him told him that he would die if that punch landed on his body.
Thomas' aura suddenly changed when death became so close to him, and he decided to forsake his mansion to use his most potent ability at that point.
Noah heard his grandfather murmuring a few words right before his fist connected with the center of his back. "The wind blows from within me."
Noah's knuckle touched Thomas' back, but a dense wave of condensed air landed on his body and flung him back directly to the other side of the outer ring.
His body had already been wounded in the last attack, but even his bones began to crack when that wind hit him.
Noah quickly ate a large number of Daniel's pills to fill his body with nourishments as he crashed on the opposite defensive walls and created deep cracks on its surface.
Meanwhile, his consciousness remained fixed on his grandfather and the destruction that he was unleashing with his new ability.
A series of tornadoes originated from Thomas' low-waist and spread in every direction, destroying everything on their path. The buildings of his mansion fell apart under the might of those strong winds, and their suction force further wrecked the area around him.
Thomas had suddenly become the center of a storm that didn't care for allies or foes!
However, his posture was off as he floated toward Noah, carrying his destructive winds with him.
'I broke his spine, but I didn't expect his individuality.' Noah thought as he stepped on the air.
Thomas was gravely injured, but the power of his individuality had pushed his most suitable rank 4 spell through the boundaries of the fifth rank!
On the other hand, Noah was holding back on some of his abilities to protect his identity. He still had the Demonic form and his sabers at his disposal, but he would instead use skills that the world had yet to see.
'A battle of individualities it is.' Noah set his mind at that thought and deployed his saber-shaped runes in the environment once again.
Then, he cast the Ghostly sabers spell on top of those runes.
In the end, he released a large amount of his liquid "Breath" and spread his mental waves to quicken the creation of primary energy.
"You dare pretending to be someone else even when I gave up on my family to fight you!?" Thomas shouted when he saw that Noah wasn't willing to use any of his renowned abilities.
His spell was too violent and had an area of effect so large that most of his mansion had been destroyed in a matter of seconds. Nothing could remain intact when a force that neared the power of the fifth rank appeared in the open.
Of course, Thomas didn't doubt about the assailant's identity for even an instant.
His instincts told him that the figure that did everything in its power to cover its face was his grandson, and he trusted them.
Yet, the fact that Noah wasn't willing to reveal himself even when he was going all-out angered him to no end.
That anger though vanished when he sensed that the saber-shaped runes had reached a power in the fifth rank.