Noah and Furious Water appeared evenly matched. Their attacks kept on clashing without revealing who had the upper hand in those relentless exchanges.
Noah was in his complete Demonic Form, filling a large area around him with corrosive smoke and launching countless slashes. The Black Hole spell was above him, absorbing the enemy's attacks and increasing its power as the battle kept going.
Furious Water controlled a barrage of blue whips that changed form mid-air as they reached for Noah. Most of them clashed with the black lines coming in his direction, and those that managed to cross the first line of attacks ended up absorbed by the gravitational pull of the black sphere.
The two of them seemed to have reached a stalemate, but Furious Water was starting to feel the pressure of fighting a long battle against Noah.
No conventional technique could block the second form of Noah's martial art. Only inscribed items or defensive spells fueled by a stronger "Breath" could hope to stop the incredible power carried by his most potent attack.
Furious Water was solving that problem by pressuring Noah so much that he wouldn't have time to summon the copies of his Demonic Sword, but the battle was slowly escaping his control.
The corrosive smoke was filling the environment, and it had reached a point where Furious Water's whips couldn't even clash with the black lines since the Demonic Form spell took care of them first. Noah was gaining ground, and escaping would only create an opening for him.
The blue pillar started to form, but Noah didn't stop his offensive since the troops of the Council stepped forward to create the golden shield. Some of the blue radiance landed on Noah, but he was pushed back for only an instant, and Furious Water didn't have enough time to retreat.
The rest of the battlefield was in a similar situation. The troops of the Empire were pushed back everywhere, and they could only wait for the activation of the next defensive measure to gain some ground.
The Empire decided to summon the shadows rather quickly since it feared that the current trend would lead to the loss of the territory before they had time to reveal all their defenses. However, there were fewer shadows compared to the last time because the formation didn't manage to copy too much with such short notice.
Noah didn't even care that a shadow had joined his battle and was trying to help Furious Water.
There was a vast cloud made of corrosive smoke all around him and a large sphere that applied an intense gravitational pull above him. The attacks of his opponents couldn't even hope to reach him in that situation.
Generally speaking, the best way to avoid that troublesome effect of the Demonic Form would be to change location often. However, Noah was keeping Furious Water still with his incessant offensive. As soon as his opponent turned to escape, he would launch the second form of his martial art and kill him on the spot.
"Damned monster!" Furious Water shouted as cuts appeared on his palms, and blood flowed in the whips that he was wielding, tainting them with a dark-red color.
The power of Furious Water's attacks suddenly increased, and Noah saw branches appearing on the various whips that started to push back the black cloud. The number of attacks multiplied too, which gave to the cultivator of the Empire some breathing room.
Noah was initially surprised by the power behind his opponent's spells, but he quickly understood why he didn't activate that technique sooner. Furious Water's body had begun to wither as his blood flowed in the whips, and his hands had become nothing more than bones in those short seconds.
The withering didn't stop. It began to spread on Furious Water's forearms too as a drawback for that boost of power.
'It's a secret art,' Noah concluded in his mind as he analyzed the technique and revealed a smirk through the Demonic Form at that realization.
Furious Water saw the mouth of the draconic helmet opening up to form a fiendish smile that showed a series of gaseous teeth. At that scene, he felt as if he was really fighting some kind of monster.
Noah felt pushed back, but he didn't stop attacking. If his opponent had to resort to a secret art to fight him, then he would give him a proper battle!
The roars of some hybrids spread on the battlefield, but Noah ignored them after understanding their level. Those creatures were just some reserves that the Empire had decided not to deploy in the previous battle, but they featured only a single being in the fifth rank. His allies could easily take care of them.
Furious Water's arms had become skeletal after activating the secret art for a few minutes, and the drawbacks were starting to affect his chest at that point. It wouldn't take much before the technique ended up killing him.
Noah wanted to avoid that outcome because he aimed to seize his dantian. So, he kept on attacking and waited until the drawbacks showed a fatal flaw in his opponent's battle style.
However, his instincts suddenly sensed a dangerous presence coming at high speed from below him.
Noah quickly launched the Black Hole spell downward, and the loss of that defensive measure increased the amount of pressure on him. Yet, only a couple of whips managed to hit his body in that situation before the detonation of the dark spere forced both parties to separate.
Noah shot an annoyed gaze downward, where another rank 5 cultivator of the Empire was staring at him with a surprised expression.
Spark and black smoke had spread everywhere under Noah. It seemed that the newcomer had tried to take him by surprise with a spell of the lightning element, but his superior awareness had managed to notice the arrival of that powerful spell.
Yet, Noah now had two rank 5 cultivators and an annoying shadow as opponents, which was a level of power that he couldn't handle on his own.
Two cuts had appeared on his shoulders due to the empowered whips, but the armor had managed to block most of their power, creating only superficial injuries. Noah was basically at his peak, but he still couldn't face such strong opponents together.
Nevertheless, Elder Austin came to his help at that point, even if he remained at some distance due to the black cloud.
The Empire though couldn't sustain its losses anymore and triggered its next defensive method. The castles lit up, and seven giants appeared on the battlefield. The Empire had decided to activate the Elemental formation in the end, but the invading forces were more than prepared to fight it.
Noah deactivated the Demonic Form, and the rank 5 Elders of the Hive landed on the air next to him when the corrosive smoke had dispersed in the air. A metal orb then appeared in his palm, and Noah started to fuel it with his "Breath".
They were ready to assault the castles.