Chapter 2101: Fruits
The ma.s.sive amount of energy unleashed by Noah"s attack created a barrier that cut the entire battlefield in half. The tree suffered similar consequences. The black layer severed its trunk horizontally and divided the crown from the roots.
The division didn"t affect the actual functioning of the tree. Both halves continued to work independently and express their nature by using the energy absorbed from the environment and the dragons. Still, Noah"s attack destabilized the magical plant"s overall structure, which inevitably led to a dispersion of fuel.
The trunk tried to bring its halves back together, but the dark layer appeared impenetrable. Energy escaped from the severed edges and spread through the void before falling prey to the many pulling forces in the area. Something vanished forever, but the tree managed to preserve most of its power.
Noah surprised everyone with his prowess, but his companions didn"t hesitate to exploit that opening. The s.p.a.ce dragon raised its head to voice a roar that halted all the vortices and the pulling forces before relocating the dispersing energy far away from the tree.
The death dragon flew inside the trunk before s.h.i.+ning with a dark glow. Its figure transformed into a dark ma.s.s that traveled through the upper half of the tree and spread its destructive power.
The life dragon did its best to save as many creatures as possible. The leader unleashed its white aura and connected its body to its underlings through faint flares. Even Noah ended up with a channel on his chest.
The time dragon forced the dispersion of energy to accelerate. The tree"s glow lost intensity as its trunk, roots, and crown saw fuel leaving their structure to vanish in the void or teleport due to the effects of the s.p.a.ce dragon"s ability.
The other dragons limited themselves to launch flames or innate abilities at the tree. Instead, June decided to jump inside the lower half to let the magical plant drain her energy and force her Perfect Circuit to generate even more power.
An intense wave of energy entered Noah"s body and began to heal his injuries. His skin grew over the crystals that covered his muscles and insides, but his hunger and greed soon started to affect that process.
The aspects of Noah"s world began to drain the white channel and steal energy from the life dragon. He had no control over the process, and the intensity of that absorption matched the number of nutrients that his a.s.sets would need once the drawbacks arrived.
The life dragon ended up turning toward Noah. He could see the surprise on the creature"s face. The leader couldn"t believe that Noah needed so much energy. Even its upper tier body struggled to keep up with his requirements.
Noah swung the Demonic Sword toward the white channel and severed that connection. He limited himself to nod at the life dragon before moving his attention on the tree again. He appreciated what the leader had done for him, but he wouldn"t let it suffer the burden on his drawbacks.
The life dragon felt relieved for a second before focusing the entirety of its power on the remaining underlings. The glow of its white connections intensified as it empowered the other creatures. The weaker dragons experienced a boost in their might, which led to a temporary nigh-immortal state.
Noah"s decision didn"t change his situation. He still needed a ma.s.sive amount of energy to deal with the drawbacks, but he knew where to find it. Yet, seizing it would be troublesome, especially since the tree had no intention of giving in.
The leaders" abilities were incredible, but the tree quickly adapted to them and began to unleash its power again. The vortices returned, and the same went for the blinding liquid and heavy pulling forces. Nothing the dragons did seemed able to put a permanent end to those features.
The battle soon transformed into a ruthless struggle that saw the dragons and the tree unleas.h.i.+ng the peak of their power without resorting to precise strategies. The magical plant didn"t have weak points, and the pack only had a limited number of abilities capable of hurting it.
Noah studied everything for a few seconds before deciding to shoot forward. The dark world expanded around him as he reached the rectangular dark layer and fused with it to launch attacks on both halves of the tree. His blades swung non-stop, and more abilities flew out of his figure as Duanlong, his greed, and his hunger tried to seize as much energy as possible.
Sharp shards of dark matter flew out of the dark world and accompanied Noah"s slashes. The companions also launched their best abilities to destroy entire chunks of the tree. He was going all-out right in the middle of the severed trunk, and the outcome of his offensive was hard to evaluate.
Currents of energy converged toward Noah constantly, but he also wasted a lot of power to unleash his abilities and keep his empowered state active. The ethereal blackness generated more potential that slowly pushed him toward superior realms, but his actual prowess never improved too much. Only the s.p.a.ce-time array of the void flashed in his eyes from time to time.
Noah was pus.h.i.+ng his existence toward a realm where he could affect the universe, but those achievements were never complete, and they rarely lasted longer than a fraction of a second. He didn"t have the chance to learn from those events, so he limited himself to memorizing everything he saw while unleas.h.i.+ng his storm of attacks.
The relentless offensive eventually started to put dents in the tree. The magical plant shrunk as it continued to waste energy. It had enemies everywhere, and they all appeared able to resist or counter its innate abilities.
Noah slashed up and down in an endless cycle of attacks that launched giant slashes into the glowing trunk. His energy dispersed quickly, but the occasional lack of pulling forces from the tree"s side allowed some blows to destroy large chunks of the white substance and use it as fuel.
It was impossible to understand how the battle was going from his position. Noah was immersed among the deepest darkness, with a blinding white environment all around him. The scorching powers carried by the trunk didn"t help his situation either, but he was exactly where he intended to be.
Giant feathers, roots, black lines, and other attacks tried to join Noah"s offensive properly, but that environment didn"t allow much. The scorching white energy was too dense, and every mistake gave the tree more power.
The black lines generated by Noah"s destruction often fused with the dark aura released by the death dragon. Explosions happened whenever the two similar aspects of their power touched, and the tree paid for those events.
The whiteness lost intensity as the battle continued. Noah thought that the tree wouldn"t be able to last much longer, but the latter reserved everyone an important surprise. Its leaves abruptly widened and stopped opposing the s.p.a.ce dragon"s restrictions to transform into proper fruits.
The fruits were round, big, and grey. They didn"t feel like the result of Heaven and Earth"s manipulation, but no one dared to touch them for now. Still, they ended up exploding almost immediately, and some dragons fell prey to the white liquid they released. Even the life dragon saw its scales darkening after that substance touched its body.