Chapter 1824 - 1824. Mansion
Noah immediately realized that something was off. The mult.i.tude of dragons wasn"t the issue there. The problem came from the long-necked dragon"s level.
His current level allowed him to evaluate rank 9 existences properly. Noah could clearly sense that the three dragons at the bottom of the pit were in the upper tier, and his instincts reacted accordingly. They begged him to run away in front of creatures that could kill him with little to no effort.
However, Noah recalled his previous meeting with the long-necked dragon. His power wasn"t even close to being able to evaluate the creature"s level, but it still appeared far weaker compared to its current form.
Noah had found the long-necked dragon while his team was digging through the underground world of the stormy regions. The meeting had been short due to the obvious danger that accompanied the presence of a rank 9 creature. Yet, he recalled the encounter, and the images from back then were completely different from the scene in front of him now.
Rocks and terrain had prevented Noah from inspecting the entirety of the creature"s body in the past. Still, nothing obstructed his view now. The long-necked dragon stood proudly as its silver scales reflected the faint whiteness that managed to seep past the storms that surrounded the calm area.
The size of the creature didn"t match Noah"s memories either. The dragon had retained its fat body, long neck, and gigantic figure, but it appeared even bigger now. It was so tall that it could stare at the various underlings standing at the edges of the hole.
"Did it improve during this time?" Noah wondered before disregarding that idea.
Noah couldn"t sense the dragon"s level back then, but he had instinctively placed it in the lower tier of the ninth rank since he had been able to stand its presence. The pressure released from the creature"s body was far heavier now. It belonged to a completely different realm. Noah felt able to remain in that region only because the pressure didn"t have bad intentions.
It was impossible to get so strong in that period. Many millennia had pa.s.sed since the encounter, but they weren"t enough to bring a magical beast from the lower to the upper tier. The same even applied to the gap between the middle and upper tier, so Noah felt quite out of ideas.
Noah could guess that the creature had been in the solid stage all the time and that he had found it during a special situation back then. Yet, the dragon didn"t feature any injury as far as he recalled.
A long period of hibernation could explain the misgiving weaker aura, but even that explanation was a stretch. After all, the dragon would have revealed a brim of his real power during its awakening.
Noah even considered the idea that the destruction of the higher plane had something to do with the sudden increase of power, but that felt impossible too. Skipping an entire tier in the ninth rank would require eras of hibernation to improve the flesh and scales.
"Finding answers on my own is impossible," Noah concluded in his mind as he exchanged glances with his group while continuing to dive toward the hole.
King Elbas and the others were far from happy about the current situation. They had guessed that something big was up, but they had never imagined that they would find themselves in front of three upper tier creatures. The very peak of the cultivation journey was right in front of them, and they could only remain in awe at that scene.
The dragons that had led the group in that region took their place on the stands and cavities. The lower tier creatures stopped quite soon and occupied areas near the top of the hole while the middle tier specimen dived deeper until it reached magical beasts at the same level.
Noah and the others immediately understood where they had to sit after inspecting that behavior. They landed on the s.h.i.+ning pale-blue ground and took their place next to the edges of the hole. All the other dragons were right under them, and those creatures couldn"t help but nod when they noticed their actions.
Seeing dragons accepting the group so easily triggered different reactions in the experts. They mostly felt surprised at the organization and calm that those creatures could show. Yet, Noah and Divine Demon experienced different feelings.
Divine Demon was in a daze. His eyes shone, and his mouth remained open in a broad smile as he inspected the entire pit. That immense pack of powerful dragons clearly suited his tastes, and the expert didn"t even try to hide that detail.
Instead, Noah experienced a mixture of confusion, astonishment, and respect. It often happened for a pack of magical beasts to have multiple specimens in the same rank as their leader, but it was rare to find so many of them in the same group.
Certain species were exceptions due to their innate abilities of features. The rat and Noah"s packs were an example. They both featured multiple specimens that were in the same rank as their leaders.
Still, it was strange to see the same happening in creatures that lacked those peculiarities. Most of the dragons there even belonged to different species. They would normally have no reason to be together, but Noah couldn"t deny what he was seeing.
The most surprising feature about that scene was the calm shown by each specimen. Roars resounded as the dragons conversed in a language that only Noah, Wilfred, and Alexander could understand. Yet, they didn"t carry any aggression. They didn"t behave like magical beasts at all.
"What is even happening?" Noah shouted in his mind as his eyes fell on the unfamiliar upper tier dragon.
The long-necked specimen stood on the opposite side of a forty meters long dragon with a far slimmer figure. Black scales covered the entirety of the creature, and wings that featured a few holes in them grew from its back. Moreover, its eyes were so dark that its eye socket appeared empty.
The dragon between the two creatures was bigger than the black specimen but smaller than the silver one. Opaque-green scales covered its ma.s.sive body, and rust seemed to spread from their edges. Its front limbs were even longer than its rear legs and forced it to take a sitting position to be comfortable.
Different auras leaked out of the three leaders. Noah couldn"t study them properly, but his senses allowed him to understand the general feeling that they were trying to convey.
The long-necked dragon"s aura was heavy but gentle. It almost seemed to embrace the entire pack. Noah even felt safe when he tried to inspect it.
The slim black dragon was the exact opposite. His aura was a suffocating poison capable of killing even by staring at its invisible shape. Noah felt a deadly aura trying to spread through his mind when he tried to inspect the creature. His instincts told him that his mental sphere would shatter if he continued.
The opaque-green dragon was harder to describe. It appeared stronger than its two companions, but its aura didn"t carry clear power. It didn"t even apply the same pressure as them.
Noah tried to uncover more of its features, but his mental sphere suddenly started to tremble, and a humming noise suddenly came out of the mental walls. His mental energy acted on its own while under the influence of that sound, and images eventually ran through his vision.
The world around him disappeared as he found himself in a place that he barely recalled anymore. The corridors of the Balvan mansion unfolded in his eyes, and a familiar figure stood at its end. Noah could see Lily smiling at him even if bruises filled her face.