Noah's attack was dense, and it carried the intrinsic piercing properties of the lightning element. It was even a copy of the Heaven Tribulation, which made it one of the strongest kinds of lightning bolts in the world. Also, Snore's horns had condensed the black sparks to make it more potent.
The black smoke radiated by the lightning bolt improved its already high piercing ability, and the spells of the Elders left a path where it could pass without wasting too much energy. It had to clash with the flames multiple times, but it still managed to cross the entirety of the scorching sea to reach the figure at its center.
A loud explosion followed the impact between Noah's attack and Ravaging Demon. The ice that was spreading in the area frozen in time shattered at that point and a large cloud made of corrosive smoke enveloped the powerhouse.
The sea of flames dispersed when it freed itself from Flying Demon's ice. The rank 5 cultivators didn't know if their offensive had worked, but they felt happy to see that they had survived Ravaging Demon's second flame.
"Did you hit him?" Elder Regina asked, disrupting the silence that had fallen on the area after the flames dispersed.
"The attack landed," Noah said with a rough voice that was a mixture of roars and human words, "But I lost the connection with the lightning bolt right after the impact."
Elder Regina wanted to ask how a cultivator with a darkness aptitude could create a spell of the lightning element, but she suppressed her curiosity. That wasn't the right situation to investigate Noah's power.
The group eventually turned toward Dreaming Demon whose sea of consciousness was still under the effects of the pink liquid. The four of them could use their mental waves to investigate the area inside the black cloud too, but they didn't dare to expose themselves to a rank 6 cultivator.
After all, Ravaging Demon had a sea of consciousness in the sixth rank. Weaker cultivators had to be careful when interacting with the mind of such a powerful existence.
The powerhouse could have mental attacks or use his superior mental waves to startle those who tried to probe him. Among those on the scene, only Dreaming Demon could investigate his status without risking to suffer an injury.
Dreaming Demon's mental waves had started to reach for the area filled with corrosive smoke even before the four cultivators' gazes went on her. However, a series of flames sprouted from the black cloud and burned the gas, revealing Ravaging Demon's figure.
The powerhouse was still smiling, but his expression wasn't as happy as before. Also, the upper part of his robe was in pieces, with only a few ragged strands hanging out of his belt.
There was a large hole on his left shoulder, and his arm didn't fall only thanks to a small strand of skin that kept it attached to his torso.
The five cultivators had managed to injure Ravaging Demon, but his wound was nothing serious. It wouldn't affect his battle prowess.
However, the scene that followed the powerhouse's reappearance ruined the mood of the rank 5 cultivators. Ravaging Demon's shoulder turned into flames that remained in place for a few seconds before solidifying again in the form of a perfectly healthy shoulder.
The Demon now appeared completely fine, with only his ruined robe to indicate that Noah's attack had hit him.
Noah and the others revealed ugly expressions. They could try to attack him again since Dreaming Demon didn't deplete her divine item during the last offensive. Yet, the result would be the same. They had already used their most potent attacks in the end.
The Divine Deduction technique made Noah analyze all his possibilities in less than an instant. He evaluated battle plans of various kinds, and there were even some that included the detonation of his space-ring.
Nevertheless, all of them led to the same conclusion. Noah and his four allies would die as soon as Dreaming Demon used all her pink liquid.
The Demons and Elders had similar thoughts. They considered and evaluated every battle plan that came to their minds. Still, there was no way out of that situation. The sheer power of a rank 6 cultivator made every trick pointless. The difference in their level was too large.
'I was too slow,' Noah thought as he accepted that he could die in the following exchanges. 'I might have killed him if I were near the peak of the fifth rank.'
His mind sharpened as he thought that. Noah was ready to die, but he would fight until the end. He would show to that old monster what he had managed to achieve in two hundred years of relentless training.
Still, Ravaging Demon didn't raise his palm like the last time. He didn't show to the rank 5 cultivators his third flame. Instead, his gaze went on the sky to stare at something that Noah and the others couldn't even sense.
A massive figure covered the sun at that point. The entirety of the Empire's domain went dark as something enormous cut off the sunlight.
Noah and the others raised their heads, but a mountain fell in front of them, causing an earthquake to spread in the regions nearby.
Massive cracks appeared on the ground. The falling mountain had avoided all the assets of the invaders that were still on the battlefield, but it hit Ravaging Demon, who didn't even try to move. Also, it created multiple clouds of dust after its impact with the ground, which blinded the cultivators on the scene.
Noah wanted to investigate the cause of that sudden phenomenon, but a familiar aura soon spread in the environment. All the surviving members of the Hive couldn't help but smile at that point since they knew that their Patriarch had come.
Everyone's gaze went on the sky, and astonishment spread among the various groups. The scene above them was too spectacular for them not to lose themselves in their amazement.
There was a massive giant in the sky. It had a humanoid body and facial features that vaguely resembled Chasing Demon. The titan carried a mountain in its right palm, while the other was still stretched toward the ground.
Chasing Demon sat on the giant's shoulder. His gaze went on the surviving cultivators of the Hive for a short second before focusing on the spot where the mountain had hit Ravaging Demon.
Ravaging Demon's laughter echoed through the battlefield at that point, and flames spread from the mountain that had just fallen, turning it into a pile of ashes that dispersed in the wind.
His figure became visible again. There were multiple spots where his body was nothing more than a mass of flames, and even a corner of his head lacked its tissues.
"You raised them well," Ravaging Demon said as he showed his arrogant smile once again. "They have managed to seize their only chance to survive. They won't have one the next time."
Chasing Demon listened to his words but didn't answer. Instead, he controlled the titan to launch the second mountain at him.