Chapter 1069 1069. Pain
Noah had received two crucial mental messages while the Royals prepared their offensive.
The first one came from Elder Julia and spoke about the alliance. The a.s.sets of both Council and Hive had started their a.s.sault while Noah fought in the Academy.
The second one came from June. She had successfully seized the potion that would improve her centers of power and had returned inside the separate dimension through the exit that Thirty-seven had kept open.
Everything had gone according to his plan, and Noah didn"t find any reason to remain there after those messages.
Nothing could stop him if he used his movement technique to fly higher in the sky, and he only had to escape from the range of the Royal Academy"s formations to be safe.
The sounds of countless battles echoed through the sky as he flew. The alliance had started a full-scale invasion on its enemy"s domains, and it didn"t spare any border.
Noah flew toward the region"s borders and found armies of the Hive venturing through a wide array of Spiked Roots.
The Elbas family had eradicated most magical plants and turned those on the borders into a defensive formation. The Hive had sent only a few heroic cultivators there, so the invasion proceeded slowly.
Noah recognized Bruce and Sarah among the Elders in charge of the army of human troops. Bruce was still in the lower tier of the fifth rank, while Sarah had reached the peak of the fourth rank in that period.
The two of them fought together with other Elders in the fourth rank to eradicate the magical plants and charge toward the region"s insides. Still, those were defenses that even peak rank 5 cultivators would take time to breach.
The army stopped when it saw Noah flying in its direction. The Elders and the human troops cheered at the sight of the Demonic Prince. They knew that he had kept the Royals busy, so they couldn"t help but feel in awe in his presence.
"Back down," Noah ordered, and everyone followed his commands without raising any complaint. The world lost its light for a second, and a starry sky filled the ground after the troops retreated.
Every Spiked Root burned until only ashes remained. Even the s.h.i.+ning lines that empowered and controlled those magical plants disappeared without leaving any trace after Noah"s flames filled the area.
The Elders stared at the power radiated by his casual attack in wonder, but more cheers soon resounded on the battlefield. The Demon Prince had taken care of that hindrance for them. Their invasion could finally begin!
Bruce and the others performed polite bows as Noah crossed them to fly toward the separate dimension"s nearest entrance. Their battle resumed as soon as he became nothing more than a black dot in the distant sky.
Noah returned inside the separate dimension and used a series of teleportation matrices to arrive in his mansion. He found the two Demons guarding his inner quarters" entrance, and Thirty-seven inspecting a suffering June inside them.
An empty bottle laid next to June, who was sitting cross-legged at the center of the room. Sweat and a smelly black liquid came out of her pores, and her expression revealed how painful that process was for her.
Noah"s dark sphere spun faster as he focused on suppressing his sharpness. Soft mental waves came out of his mind and inspected his lover"s centers of power.
June"s dantian was shaking. The walls of her organ contracted and relaxed as the muscles around it became thicker. The connections with the rest of the body became st.u.r.dier too as the transformation continued.
"There is nothing we can do for her at this point," Thirty-seven said as Noah retracted his mental waves. He had reached that same conclusion. It had only taken him one glance to recognize the hybrid transformation.
Noah had to admit that the experts of the Elbas family were terrific once again. They didn"t know how to trigger the transformation, but they had managed to replicate its effects on the centers of power.
Of course, the potion was still in the testing phase. Every Royal would have centers of power carrying the st.u.r.diness proper of a hybrid otherwise. There was a chance of failure in that procedure, and they had yet to perfect it.
Thirty-seven didn"t understand the potion"s composition, so he couldn"t do anything to facilitate or improve the procedure for fear of making it worse. June was on her own.
"You can leave," Noah said as he sat right next to June. The Demonic Sword flew in his grasp, and he began to cultivate while his lover fought for her life.
Being next to her was the best he could do. If she died, she would do it with him by her side, doing what they had done countless times before during their short cohabitations.
Minutes pa.s.sed, but nothing changed. Hours had to go by before the pain became too intense for June to remain in her position. She laid on the floor, and Noah promptly moved to put his lap under her head. He then resumed cultivating while she struggled over him.
Noah"s centers of power eventually returned to their peak, and he could only let go of the Demonic Sword to stare at the suffering lover on his lap.
June"s veins bulged, and black liquid came out of her pores. Noah"s robe became dirty and smelly as she clenched and convulsed on it, but he didn"t mind that in the slightest.
Noah was scared even to touch her. He didn"t know if the heat radiated by his skin would negatively affect the procedure, so he limited himself to stare at her.
Even with all the dirt on her face, Noah couldn"t imagine being with anyone else. Looks didn"t interest him, but her existence had been able to make both his emotions and instincts react.
It was as if Noah"s individuality had chosen her as his partner for life, and seeing her in that condition made his mind devoid of any thoughts and sensations.
June"s convulsions became more intense at some point, and she crouched as she crawled over Noah"s lap. Her fingers tried to pierce his skin, but her fingernails released screeching sounds when they slid over it.
Then, she went limp, threatening to slam her head on the floor. June would barely feel the impact, but Noah grabbed her anyway. His hand supported the back of her neck while his thumb caressed her dirty cheek.
"H-hey," June exhaled in a weak voice. Noah smiled at her while his soft mental waves inspected her body to check her condition.
Her dantian had reached the solid stage during the procedure, and the overall structure of her body had improved. More connections among her centers of power had appeared, and her insides" st.u.r.diness had surpa.s.sed the human limits.
A black spark crackled inside her dantian, and higher energy flowed freely inside her body without causing any damage.
June was stable. The potion had worked!