Noah and the others couldn't know how effective the emblem would have been, but it did far more than its description implied.
The item had taken care of all the threats in a large area, destroying the entirety of the formation that kept the group trapped. It had even affected Noah's Demonic Form, but it seemed unable to hurt living beings since the hybrids were fine.
The Ghostly Snakes' minds were at their limits, and their instincts were about to take control of their bodies. The emblem would have targeted them if it could affect living beings.
The only drawback of that divine item was the amount of light needed to recharge it. It wouldn't be a problem for a divine cultivator with a light aptitude to keep it always ready, but Daniel was only a being in the fifth rank.
No one in the group knew how long it would take for the emblem to become operational again. Daniel's only hope was that Chasing Demon decided to relocate some of the resources of the Hive for that purpose.
Nevertheless, the state of the emblem was the last of the group's problems right now.
Noah performed the second form of the Dragon's Claw martial art as soon as the Demonic Form reactivated. A tall fissure appeared in the sea and created an empty path that connected Noah and the cave in the distance.
Without the obstruction of the formation, Noah's attack managed to reach the control center and create a deep crack in that area.
An earthquake soon filled the bottom of the sea, but no one came out of the destroyed cave. It seemed that that place was abandoned and only functioned as the core of the formation.
June and the others were ready to charge, but the outcome of Noah's attack made them stop their tracks. Their enemies weren't there.
"They have to be near!" June shouted as she unfolded her consciousness to search for the assailants.
She knew that the inscriptions didn't store the spells inside the formation. They required someone nearby to use and redirect them into specific matrices meant to teleport the attacks inside the isolated area.
Nevertheless, the fact that their enemies had yet to appear meant that they had no intention of revealing their presence. It was highly possible that they had considered the ambush a failure already and that they had started to run away.
After all, that area was near the Coral Archipelago, and Daniel had just activated a divine item. The experts in the islands couldn't miss that disturbance and would investigate the matter.
Also, Noah and Daniel were late for their appointment in the Archipelago.
The mission was over by then, and the group had to split so that everyone could return to their respective organizations. The battle didn't last much, but the Elders of the Hive hadn't been able to contact Noah and Daniel in that period.
Noah was sure that reinforcements were already on the way, especially since the rank 5 Elders knew that the group was probably walking into a trap.
However, Noah didn't want to let the assailants go. He wanted to know which organizations were involved in the ambush.
The current political situations wouldn't allow him to exploit the eventual capture of one of them. Still, Noah could at least understand who was so bold to attack them while the Empire still had a rank 6 existence.
Of course, his suspects were the Royals. Yet, there was a chance that the Council had decided to join the ambush due to its greed.
Noah's consciousness expanded to its limits, but it didn't manage to sense any living being. That area of the sea even lacked magical beasts!
Yet, his mental energy wasn't his only hunting tool.
Noah deactivated the Divine Deduction technique and let the sensations felt by his body fill his mind with countless pieces of information.
As a cultivator that had fused with a Cursed Dragon, Noah found himself at a disadvantage when hunting underwater. However, he was still superior to any cultivator in that field.
Noah sensed the faint trace of a warm current coming from the distance, and his body reacted instinctively to that input.
He roared and used the Merging spell to sprint where his instincts pointed him. According to his body, something alive was at some distance in that direction.
The Demonic Sword in his hands echoed his battle cry, and the two of them shot through the sea as they chased after that faint trace of life.
Noah understood that the trace of life was trying to escape as soon as he became close to it. Still, he was faster, and his mental energy was able to sense the existence in the distance rather quickly.
It was a rank 5 cultivator in the gaseous stage, and Noah couldn't understand more even when his eyes became able to see the escaping figure.
The assailant was wearing a black robe that hid their gender. Noah could only understand the cultivation level of his enemy without being able to gather any other clue.
More hooded figures soon showed their presence inside the range of Noah's consciousness. It seemed that they were converging in the same position from different spots.
'A teleportation matrix!' Noah shouted in his mind when he understood what they were up to. The group of assailants probably had only one escape route.
That was to be expected since they didn't have much time to prepare. Noah guessed that they had set the teleportation matrix before even knowing when he and his companions were about to come out of the separate dimension.
'They were ready for this eventuality even before the end of the mission,' Noah thought as coldness filled his body. He knew that he was flying alone toward six rank 5 cultivators, but he didn't slow down.
He would gladly endure one of their attacks just for the chance of uncovering their identities.
The assailants didn't turn back and moved at full speed toward a seemingly random spot in the sea bed.
The sandy ground lit up when the first assailant stepped on the area that featured the teleportation matrix. The halo radiated from the array started to fill the environment as the shining lines prepared themselves for their activation.
Noah understood that he wouldn't reach the group on time. Each one of them had started to fly before him, and even his superior speed couldn't make him stop them.
So, he stopped and executed the second form of his martial art.
The other five figures reached the teleportation matrix and jumped straight into its halo, but a fissure soon appeared in that spot and made part of the light disappear. However, as the lines stopped shining and the halo dispersed, Noah couldn't see anyone standing on top of the destroyed formation.
There were some traces of blood, and even a hand that belonged to a man had remained behind.
Noah sighed and dispersed the Demonic Form as he reached for the hand. Yet, he stopped when the tattoo of a horned human head suddenly appeared on its back.