Icy Stare had managed to escape from Noah's attack once again, but her ally wasn't as lucky. By the time the black cloud dispersed, the Second Life formation had already replaced the cultivator in the gaseous stage with a magical beast.
The Hive had managed to kill two experts in the fifth rank, but the Second Life formation had rendered those achievements vain.
Icy Stare was too far away by then. She had kept on retreating toward the floating structure and had yet to charge the course of her flight. Noah could only think that she had decided to withdraw for good, that her role in the first battle over the Empire's domain was over.
Noah glanced at Amos before studying the entire battlefield. The invaders were doing well overall. A few casualties among the rank 5 cultivators of the Empire had happened, but the Second Life formation had always intervened to save their lives.
However, the same didn't happen for the heroic assets in the fourth rank. They would die without any hope to see a red light bringing them back from the dead.
As for the invaders' side, it saw casualties among its ranks too, but in far lower quantity. The three forces outnumbered the assets of the Empire and could use that advantage to limit the losses suffered on the battlefield.
Still, the formations of the Empire were annoying to deal with. Many powerful cultivators had suffered injuries when they fought against the Tyrannosaurus, and the blue arrows worsened their situation.
Even if the invaders saw fewer deaths, the quantity of wounded and incapacitated cultivators on their side was immense.
Noah was about to send Amos away and search for a suitable battle when the central buildings in the districts near the floating structure lit up again and released the now-familiar blue arrows. There were two of them coming in his direction at that time, but one was slightly tilted and didn't point at him.
It took Noah less than an instant to understand that Daniel had become a target too, and quick math in his mind made him realize that his ally wouldn't have to face the shockwave if he relied on his speed. Even Amos would be in danger since there was a limit to how fast he could fly with his injury.
Noah didn't say anything and grabbed the two nobles from their robes before throwing them upward. Then, he activated the Merging spell to follow them and perform an evasive maneuver.
Daniel and Amos became aware of what had happened only when they saw the arrows missing them by a few hundreds of meters. Still, they managed to stop their momentum only when they were even farther away from their original position.
Noah reached them one instant later, and he resumed his analysis of the battlefield without even glancing at them.
"Thank you," Daniel muttered. He knew that he wouldn't have dodged the arrow if it wasn't for Noah.
Even as a cultivator of the light element, Daniel didn't have access to a defensive spell that could protect him from that powerful arrow. Noah didn't have it either if he didn't count Snore, but his awareness allowed him to react in time to escape that attack.
Amos didn't say anything. His life wasn't in danger, but he was in no condition to fight. It would be better if he left the battlefield immediately so that he could start to recover.
Meanwhile, Noah found his other allies.
Elder Austin and Elder Ingrid were busy fighting two rank 5 cultivators in the liquid stage, but it seemed that they had the upper hand in the battle. Elder Justin was against a soldier on the same level, and they appeared to be even. Danielle was in a similar situation, but the threat of the arrows was affecting the power that she could express.
The Elders of the Council were handling the cultivators in the gaseous stage. The enemies outnumbered them, but there was an Elder in the liquid stage among them who balance their power.
The only ally that was in trouble was Elder Julia. She didn't lack the expertise or power to match her opponent in the solid stage, but the many arrows flying toward her kept interrupting her offensive.
The same went for Elder Regina and Andrew Elbas. They were against opponents with a similar cultivation level, but the blue arrows aimed at them tilted the scales of their battles toward the enemies.
Noah didn't use much mental energy during that battle. The runes used the primary energy in the environment, and he had relied on the mental spells only a few times. Also, he had activated the Demonic Form only for a short while, and the same went for the Black Hole spell.
He had mental energy to spare, especially in a place where he found it hard to go all out.
Noah activated the Divine Deduction spell and reviewed the few exchanges with Elder Julia's opponent. He soon accepted that he didn't feel confident in facing him without Snore's help. Yet, he wouldn't be alone in the battle, and his support could benefit the entire war.
Noah turned toward Daniel, but the latter spoke before he could even say a word. "Go, I'll just use the divine emblem if an arrow comes in my way again."
Daniel knew that Noah couldn't act as a bodyguard. His power gave him the chance to make a real difference on the battlefield, and restricting him to one place would be an insult to his strength.
Noah limited himself to nod at Daniel before activating the Merging spell to fly where Elder Julia and her opponent fought. The two of them exchanged a series of powerful attacks that affected a large area of the sky and shattered the air with every clash.
Countless wind slashes assaulted a series of metallic birds. Elder Julia's offensive appeared endless, but she hid much more under that sheer display of power.
Her individuality made her attacks hard to sense, and she could create slashes anywhere in the area that her consciousness could cover. On the other hand, the cultivator of the Empire had sturdy and robust birds that could withstand dozens of those attacks before showing some cracks.
The only issue was that Elder Julia could attack him from any side while the birds had a limited area of effect. The leader of the Empire was a bad match for the Elder.
However, five shining arrows suddenly flew through the barrage of wind slashes. They forced Elder Julia to stop her offensive and retreat.
She had learnt to sense that defensive measure by then, but her opponent would always try to hinder her path with his metallic birds. His timing was quite impressive too, which made her guess that he was in contact with the cultivators controlling the shining buildings.
Elder Julia ended up suffering small injuries and depleting a lot of energy with every clash, but something was different at that time since no birds appeared on her path.
When she turned to look at her opponent, she saw that a black cloud had appeared in its place.