Chapter 1850 - 1850. Departure
Noah's eyes lit up as soon as he heard those words, and the same went for the experts behind him. The group had managed to see the cities in the sky from Lord Lewis' memories, but they didn't expect one of them to be among the storms.
"Did it fall recently?" Noah couldn't help but ask as doubts surged in his mind.
"Some things stay inside the storms forever," The time dragon explained. "Dead zones rarely leave these areas since Heaven and Earth don't want them to reach crowded lands."
Noah revealed a cold smile as a tease escaped his mouth. "Do you really want to send us to a dead zone?"
"Cub, I've seen countless existences rise and fall," The time dragon growled. "I understand existences better than themselves at times. I just wish that you will respect my approach."
Noah glanced toward King Elbas, who was still on the surface. He struggled to contain himself in front of something that interested him so intensely. However, he nodded to express his agreement with the time dragon.
"We won't ma.s.s-producing dead zones," Noah announced, "But I have a few things to ask first."
The other dragons had long since spread throughout the region. Most of them had eaten some of the scarlet bushes and fallen asleep to recover from the injuries suffered during the battle, while others directly started mating. Only the four leaders and Noah's group remained in the sky as their conversation continued.
Steven and the others couldn't help but feel strange in front of that scene. Four upper tier magical beasts were calmly conversing with a mere rank 8 existence. They knew that Noah had never been normal, but that felt too much nonetheless.
Of course, his oldest companions had understood that Noah seemed to suit the four fundamental aspects of the world expressed by the dragons. They had seen him deploying techniques that matched them perfectly, and his status as a dragon had never been a secret.
Noah also was one of Heaven and Earth's major rebels. It only made sense for him to go along with those dragons. The only issue was the overwhelmingly stunning scene that featured their leader speaking on even ground with creatures that would normally never bother to care about him.
The experts could understand the ancient time dragon to have enough patience to deal with him. They could even accept that the long-necked dragon loved its underling too much to scold them. The group had even helped save the s.p.a.ce dragon, so the creature didn't feel the need to complain about that long and a bit disrespectful conversation.
However, the death dragon had never tried to hold back its rude character before, but it remained completely silent now. Its empty eyes had even taken a strange shape as it inspected Noah from head to toe.
"You need to tell us as much as you can about this city," Noah stated, "And I don't want to stop training with your existence. I wish to gain access to your four aspects."
"That's a lot to ask without giving anything in exchange," The time dragon sneered.
"I'm giving you myself in exchange," Noah snorted. "You are gaining the best possible ally in the war against Heaven and Earth."
"You would have fought them anyway," The time dragon continued.
"But you want to win," Noah replied in a cold voice.
There didn't seem to be an actual conclusion to that discussion, but the time dragon soon stopped talking when it accepted that Noah wouldn't take a no as an answer.
The time dragon gave voice to a low roar, and its three companions echoed its cry. The four creatures' auras shot out of their figures before condensing in four different spheres that floated toward Noah.
Noah could barely contain his excitement when he saw those items. He could sense the dragons' power whenever his mental waves neared the spheres. He felt able to study the understanding that they carried by simply glancing at them.
Waves of dark matter came out of Noah's c.h.e.s.t and enveloped the four spheres before storing them inside the separate s.p.a.ce. They weren't heavy, but the pressure that they radiated was quite intense. His darkness would have morphed under their influence, but the higher energy appeared able to endure that power.
"The city is a dead zone that doesn't belong to us," The time dragon suddenly explained. "It has gone through many rulers, but the apes have managed to keep it for a few eras already. You should be careful. They aren't easy opponents."
Noah and the others nodded as the dragon continued to throw information at them. Apparently, the city had multiple secret areas, and legends said it carried a piece of the old sky. The news inevitably made the group even more excited, and the wait slowly became unbearable as the explanation continued.
The dragon had seen the city fall, but it couldn't learn much after it became part of the storm. Still, it had kept track of its various rulers and wars that had involved it.
The group decided to rest for a while after the explanation ended. Noah's companions didn't spend much energy during their battle, but they had partially inspected a fight among peak rank 9 existences. They wanted to cultivate and try to commit to memory all the images that they recalled.
Noah did the same, but his seclusion in one of the caves of the dead zone turned out to be quite messy. He couldn't hold himself back from studying the four spheres, and a general understanding of his expertise appeared in his mind after a few months of training.
Noah's creation and destruction were some of the oldest aspects of his law. It felt easier to inspect and devour the understanding contained in the black and silver spheres. His destruction actually was one step above his creation due to the latest developments in his power.
The shadowy dark sphere that carried the s.p.a.ce dragon's understanding of its aspect of the world came right after. Noah struggled to remain immersed in the knowledge contained inside the item at times, but he forced himself to keep going even when his mental walls started to tremble.
The situation was far worse when it came to the almost invisible sphere created by the time dragon. Noah nearly depleted the entirety of his mental energy to remain immersed in that knowledge for mere days. It was clear that his understanding of that aspect of the world was far worse compared to the others, but he didn't mind that too much.
Noah wasn't trying to obtain that knowledge. The aspects of his laws that matched the dragons were inherently different from their abilities. He didn't get his power from the world. He had developed it on his own, so it obviously suited his existence.
His goal was to improve the aspects of his law instead of copying or inheriting them. His abilities had to remain part of his existence, not legacies of a world that had almost lost against Heaven and Earth.
Still, the time to depart eventually arrived, and everyone returned to the surface. The time dragon seemed aware of their intention to leave, so it waited for them at the center of the dead zone with the s.p.a.ce dragon lazily sleeping next to it.
"I bet it's pointless to ask you if you have changed your mind," The time dragon sighed before nodding toward its companion.
The experts experienced the same event witnessed on the battlefield against Heaven and Earth's followers. They didn't feel any pressure, and their vision didn't go dark. However, everything around them changed in an instant.
Crumbled silver buildings replaced the dark plain filled by scarlet bushes, but a faint pressure suddenly landed on the entire group and made them unable to concentrate. When they turned toward the source of that force, they noticed that a Kesier rune was standing high in the sky right below the storms.