Chapter 1644 - 1644. Devils
The laws were rebelling against Heaven and Earth"s system. Natural mutations happened in their true meaning before they started fighting those that didn"t change.
The world transformed under that process. The ground shattered, and large chunks rose into the sky. The air gained unnatural density and acc.u.mulated under the crumbled terrain. Multiple Heaven Tribulations also appeared, but the direction of their lightning bolts was all over the place.
"What can even cause this mess?" King Elbas asked as his curiosity seeped out of his figure.
King Elbas wasn"t in control of that event. His law had acted on its own in front of that spectacular scene.
The other experts had similar reactions. Their mental waves spread through the environment and tried to understand what had happened to the other side of the Immortal Lands.
"This shouldn"t be possible," Althea eventually exclaimed while the experts were busy conducting their inspections. "It"s too soon. Our calculations had placed this event a few millennia from now."
"You might want to explain everything quickly," Noah threatened as growls fused with his human voice.
Althea seemed to struggle with that decision. She didn"t want to reveal things that she had learnt through Heaven and Earth, but the situation didn"t allow her to hold anything back.
The other teams had all turned toward her. Even her two companions appeared unaware of that issue and were shooting curious glances at her.
Althea bit her lower lip, but she eventually gave in to that pressure. "The Immortal Lands are annexing new materials from outside the sky. The lower world involved in the process is forcing the laws to rebel."
"Is that even a thing?"
"How can a lower plane affect the Immortal Lands?"
"Are we in danger?"
The experts stormed Althea with questions, but the members of Noah"s team remained silent. They had recently learnt about the layout of Heaven and Earth"s domain, so they could develop some hypotheses on their own.
King Elbas also appeared to be close to a conclusion. Countless inscribed items had appeared around his figure and were aiding his mental waves in their inspection. The expert wanted to find the source of those mutations.
"I didn"t think that could happen," King Elbas eventually exclaimed in an excited tone, "But there isn"t any other explanation. Simple materials shouldn"t be able to transform the higher plane so thoroughly, especially when they come from weaker worlds."
"Elbas?" Noah pressed the expert to explain himself.
"Materials without wills can"t affect laws," King Elbas explained. "They can trigger a few reactions in specific cases, but this event is affecting even the distant regions. I guess that the new world annexed by Heaven and Earth has developed a will in a desperate attempt to survive."
That revelation was incredible, but Noah didn"t let it take control of his emotions. The event was breathtaking, but learning about it did little to improve his condition.
His eyes returned on Althea. The cultivator didn"t say anything after King Elbas" revelation, and her expression told her companions that she had reached similar conclusions.
"The new world must have been quite big," Althea explained after breaking her silence. "It would explain why its materials are flowing into the Immortal Lands instead of remaining outside of the sky. As for the birth of a will, that can happen on rare occasions."
"Give me something that I can work with," Harold snorted. "I don"t care about cosmology. I only know that I"m in the middle of a world that had gone crazy."
"These are the effects of the new world"s will," Althea replied. "Its influence is strong enough to affect this side of the Immortal Lands, but it lacks order and purpose. It"s only a chaotic ma.s.s of power that forces laws to mutate and escape Heaven and Earth"s system."
Althea suddenly went silent after that revelation. Something had popped into her mind, and traces of fear had appeared on her expression. That rare event could lead to something else, but she didn"t dare to consider that outcome.
Noah landed next to the cultivator, and his Demonic Sword pressed on her neck. Snore, Duanlong, and Night had also appeared around Althea and prepared for Noah"s orders.
The two cultivators from Althea"s group remained shocked about that sudden development. They didn"t sense Noah approaching. He had simply appeared among them.
"How dare you betray us now?!" Lisa from Althea"s team shouted.
"The stories about you were on point," Fred from the same group added. "You are an untrustworthy demon. You have waited for the chance to turn on us since the beginning of the mission!"
The two experts could only shout since Noah"s blade and companions were already on Althea. Their attacks could force Noah to act, leading to the death of their companion.
"She has yet to explain everything," Noah growled while pretending to sniff her hair. "I can smell your worries. What should we fear during this event?"
Noah"s claim made Lisa and Fred hold back their anger. The duo didn"t share the same knowledge about Heaven and Earth, so they were also curious about the whole situation.
The group"s attention turned on Althea once more. Tense and angry mental waves gathered around Noah and tried to inspect the expert, but his companions forced those powers away.
Althea was the only cultivator who seemed to know something about that chaos. He wouldn"t let anyone hurt her.
Crazy laughter suddenly filled the sky and made the various Heaven Tribulations crackle in anger. Althea even shook at that noise. Her great fear had come true.
Noah and the others moved their attention to the source of the laughter, and their eyes widened when they noticed a dark-red figure flying through the sky.
The creature had a humanoid shape, but it was completely dark-red. It didn"t have facial features, and only a large mouth occupied its head. Also, a dense ma.s.s of energy flickered behind its head as if it was hair fluttering in the wind.
The creature wasn"t flying on its own. It had a series of leashes bound to four reddish trails of energy that dragged it through the sky. A faint redness also spread whenever that group pa.s.sed, and more mutations happened in those areas.
The spa.r.s.e dark clouds unleashed lightning bolts with power in the lower tier of the eighth rank, but those attacks fused with the creature"s figure without inflicting any damage.
The creature gave voice to its crazy laugh again, and a lump of dark-red energy came out of its torso before joining the other four trails. Its speed increased at that point, and even more laws started to experience natural mutations.
"What"s that thing?" Noah asked while moving his attention back on Althea.
The dark-red creature didn"t seem to care about Noah"s group, but he couldn"t cla.s.sify it as a magical beast. Noah couldn"t even sense centers of power inside its figure. It appeared as an existence made entirely of chaotic laws.
"I"ve never actually seen one of them," Althea explained, "But I"ve learnt about their existence during my exploration of Heaven and Earth"s knowledge."
King Elbas and the others continued their inspections without failing to listen to Althea. Their ears were on her, but their mental waves were on the environment.
"Heaven and Earth call them Devils," Althea concluded. "They are existences born from chaotic laws that won"t merge with the Immortal Lands. They are poison to this plane, and Heaven and Earth can"t do much about them. Only experts who have created their laws can hope to defeat them."