The Second Life formation was still in place, and all the invaders became aware of that after Daniel killed his opponent.
They had always known that the Empire was bound to have robust defensive measures in its main territory. Still, they had believed that having more assets would eventually grant them a victory.
However, that belief had started to waver as the invaders learnt about the many defenses of the Empire.
There were battle formations capable of injuring rank 5 cultivators, arrows flying through the battlefields and disturbing fights, and even the Second Life formation. On top of that, the Empire had many powerful cultivators ready to fight for their lives.
Also, the invaders didn't know if the Empire had some other defensive methods hidden somewhere.
The situation couldn't help but appear grim. Casualties were inevitable in a war, but the Empire seemed capable of making the invaders suffer.
Hesitation spread among the attackers. Many of them wondered if they should give up on those lands and let the powerhouses handle the war. However, they quickly suppressed that thought.
They were fighting for techniques and resources useful in the cultivation journey. Taking the Empire out of the political picture would give to the other organizations more lands where they could grow.
Letting the powerhouses handle the matter would remove any gain from the eventual victory. If a battle between rank 6 cultivators were to happen in those lands, there would be nothing to retrieve afterward.
Also, the fact that the Empire was doing its best to appear challenging to conquer now didn't mean that it would be like that forever. Each defensive measure depleted a large number of resources. After all, they were formations that could threaten cultivators in the fifth rank!
The invaders could use the same approach that they had used in the new continent and slowly exhaust the reserves of the Empire. That would go against their original idea to assert their dominance right away, but it would still place them in a favorable position.
Of course, they would still try their best to defeat the Empire as soon as possible, even if they knew that the war might take a while to end.
Icy Stare kept on flying toward her ally, uncaring that Noah was right behind her, ready to join the group battle. On the other hand, Daniel and Amos were pressing the remaining cultivator with a sea of spells.
Multicolored flames created whip-like forms that tried to entangle the soldier in the gaseous stage of the fifth rank. A halo made of pure white light surrounded them to enhance their destructive properties.
The expert of the Empire could dodge the multicolored fire, but the light around the flames flickered from time to time and radiated a dangerous shockwave every time its brightness spiked.
Noah couldn't help but analyze Daniel's light in the back of his mind. Its energy carried properties similar to the corrosive smoke of the Demonic Form, but it was in the shape of a calm halo that hurt everything that it touched.
Also, Daniel's light didn't have the same violence as Noah's smoke. It didn't express a destructive meaning. It was something similar to a forced purification.
'Similar effects with opposite meanings,' A random thought appeared in Noah's mind as he chased after Icy Stare, who had started to use her ice to help her ally.
Icy Stare knew that such improvised attacks couldn't stop Noah. So, she chose to do her best to keep her ally alive to preserve her chance to survive.
Hundreds of icy-shapes flew toward the duo from the Udye family. Daniel and Amos had to redirect their attacks toward Icy Stare's spells since the threat of a cultivator in the liquid stage was too great for them to ignore it.
Daniel's light expanded and created a spherical defensive membrane that melted the outer layers of the icy-shapes when they touched it. Amos supported him by enveloping their figures with his multicolored flames.
Amos and Daniel would have a hard time if Icy Stare focused all her attention on those spells. Yet, she could only launch basic attacks that reflected her individuality with Noah chasing her.
The flames and the white light defeated the last of the icy-shapes right before crossing the layer of multicolored flames. Still, there were now vulnerable spots in their protections, and the cultivator in the gaseous stage didn't hesitate to exploit that temporary weakness.
A small lightning bolt flew through the empty spots of the duo's defenses and exploded when it crossed the layer of flames. The detonation made the fire and light disperse and replaced them with a gray cloud.
Icy Stare reached her companion at that point and started to cast a spell only to interrupt it when she saw two black lines coming in her direction. Layers made of ice appeared in front of her as she resumed her retreat, taking her ally with her.
It didn't pass enough time for icy-shapes to form though. Noah's slashes pierced right through the ice and reached for the cultivators behind it before exploding into a cloud of corrosive smoke.
Everything had happened so quickly that both clouds were still in place even when Noah reached his companions. Only then did the gray smoke disperse to reveal the two nobles.
Daniel was fine. A dense layer of light acted as a second skin and made his entire figure shine. Yet, there were cracks in that protection, which indicated that the lightning bolt had managed to inflict some superficial damage.
On the other hand, Amos had lost part of his torso in the explosion. Almost the entirety of the left side of his upper body was gone, and Noah could even see his internal organs from his injury.
There was something peculiar about Amos' stance too. He stood in front of Daniel, right in the trajectory where the lightning bolt had flown. It seemed that Amos had decided to step forward right before the lightning bolt exploded to protect Daniel.
That kind of injury wasn't enough to kill him. Amos' expression was grim due to all the pain he was experiencing, but he was alive, and his centers of power were intact.
Regrowing the internal organs and arm lost in the battle wouldn't be a problem with the right drugs. The important thing was that his journey as a cultivator wasn't over.
Daniel placed his hand on the left side of Amos' neck, and his second skin shattered to converge its light on his wound. Relief soon appeared on Amos' expression, and his injury stopped bleeding in a matter of seconds.
Noah's eyebrows arched when he saw that Daniel's light had that ability. He didn't know how strong its healing properties were, but it was something that expressed his individuality nonetheless.
Amos nodded at some point, and Daniel retracted his hand. The three of them then turned to look at the black cloud since it had finally started to disperse.
Once the cloud vanished, Noah could see red light enveloping a magical beast cut in two halves and Icy Stare's escaping figure.