Chapter 2321. Teamwork
Heaven and Earth had mostly ignored June. They were aware of her peculiar power, but she was simply too weak to partic.i.p.ate in that final battle.
The attack launched toward the landma.s.s had also been too powerful for a single rank 9 existence. Heaven and Earth didn't expect June to be able to affect it, but that outcome didn't worry them too much either.
The battle stopped while June absorbed all the lightning bolts in Heaven and Earth's offensive. Holes opened on her body, and flares came out of them due to the overwhelming amount of energy she was stuffing into her Perfect Circuit.
Everyone could see that June couldn't handle so much power. Her flesh and world had innate resistance toward Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts, but she had clear limits, and the process had already pushed her past them.
The move was nothing but suicidal. June couldn't hope to survive the process, but even Heaven and Earth couldn't predict the limits of her maniacal behavior.
June ignored the many injuries and forced Heaven and Earth's energy to improve her body. Most of her flesh didn't survive the process, but a few chunks reached new levels of power and strived toward a complete evolution.
The evolution was far from painless, and June turned into a gory figure with only a few patches of skin left on her. Even most of her muscles had shattered during her attempt to use that superior energy to improve, but she appeared fine with the damage.
June diverted part of her attention toward her flesh while the absorption continued. The few patches of skin that had survived the process had turned into materials that could endure higher levels of power, and she didn't hesitate to rely on them.
The Perfect Circuit generated energy that went far beyond June's normal limits, but her new flesh endured it perfectly. Other parts of her body weren't so lucky, but she didn't care about them.
The new energy shattered and added power to her influence, allowing her to stretch it until the closest area of the sky. June had already affected the dense sphere, so forcing the storms to fly toward her turned out to be pretty easy.
Lightning bolts left the storms and shot toward June. The attacks crashed on her body and joined the torrent of energy that she had previously absorbed.
The process resumed at that point. June forced the absorbed energy to improve her body before using the few remaining patches of flesh to expand her influence even further.
June's plan became clear to everyone. She wanted to affect the entirety of the storms with her influence. Removing the lightning bolts before the sky wouldn't provide any tactical advantage, but it might provide her with what she needed to advance.
Understanding the plan didn't change the nature of June's actions. Heaven and Earth still believed that she was killing herself. Seizing a small chunk of the storms had already almost destroyed her body. It sounded impossible to absorb all of them.
However, Heaven and Earth had already confirmed that the entirety of Noah's group was surpa.s.sing their expectations. It didn't matter how unlikely an event might be. June had a chance to succeed, and the rulers couldn't let her do as she wished.
"Enough with ants hindering our plans," Heaven and Earth announced before pointing two fingers at June.
June's situation was so frail that a single unexpected wave of energy could destabilize the balance she was struggling to preserve. Her body even contained too much power, so a negative influence would surely lead to an explosion.
Still, as energy gathered on Heaven and Earth's fingertips, a torrent of black energy teleported above them and slammed on their head.
The contact with the lightning bolts destroyed most of the torrent, revealing Noah donned in his fiendish armor. The tips of his blades tried to pierce Heaven and Earth's head, but they failed to go past the superficial lightning bolts.
However, the Demonic Sword and the Cursed Sword had slightly pierced Heaven and Earth, so potential filled Noah's world. The power-up gave new strength to his thrusting motion and pushed the crackling figure slightly downward.
The crackling noises released by Heaven and Earth grew louder, but Noah didn't let go even as sparks left his opponent and pierced his body. Yet, that slight push didn't distract the rulers from their main target.
Heaven and Earth's fingertips brightened, but an unstoppable force suddenly landed on their hand and pushed it slightly away. The rulers had to realign their arm with June, but the figure that materialized at their side stopped them.
"I can't hold them for too long," Wilfred announced as he grabbed Heaven and Earth's arm and pulled it while giving fuel to everything he had.
The muscles on Wilfred's arms bulged until they reached an unreasonable size. Still, his hands and forearms suffered by being so close to Heaven and Earth. The sparks that left their body pierced Wilfred's skin easily and left severe injuries.
Heaven and Earth initially tried to point their arm back at June, but they soon discovered that Wilfred wouldn't move. The sheer physical strength expressed by his pull was almost too much, even for the rulers.
"You'll burn if you keep at it," Heaven and Earth said before pointing their free hand at Wilfred.
"Why don't you burn first?" Alexander's voice resounded in the area before he teleported to Heaven and Earth's left side.
Alexander unleashed an oppressing aura before condensing it in his right palm. The expert pressed his hand on Heaven and Earth's shoulder, and liquid flames seeped into their body.
The scarlet liquid flames worked like an infection that tried to hinder Heaven and Earth's control over their free arm. Of course, that condition was less than temporary. The rulers only had to intensify the power of their lightning bolts to free themselves.
"I feel your resolve," Supreme Thief exclaimed as he materialized before Heaven and Earth. "Why don't you give it to me?"
Supreme Thief's figure transformed into an azure vortex that destabilized Heaven and Earth's lightning bolts. Energy left their body without affecting their overall form, but something quickly became evident. The rulers were losing power.
Heaven and Earth seemed about to speak, but a torrent of silver energy suddenly fell on their face. Sword Saint stood on the other side of the attack and thrust it forward, but his efforts only managed to destabilize the rulers' fabric a bit more.
"A demon is no ant," Divine Demon declared while materializing above Noah and pointing a finger downward.
A waterfall of blood-red energy dived toward Noah and the others without affecting them in the slightest. Yet, when the attack reached Heaven and Earth, it fused with their lightning bolts and slowed down their motion.
Heaven and Earth felt to have lost control of their body in that situation, and the matter only worsened. Noah, Sword Saint, Supreme Thief, Divine Demon, Alexander, and Wilfred's teamwork appeared perfect. Their struggles perfectly fused and increased the amount of damage they could inflict.
That was even more evident with Noah. His swords became able to dive deeper into Heaven and Earth's head, which filled him with new power and allowed him to add more strength to the attack.
The cycle of exhaustion and extreme power resumed before reaching an insane speed. Noah lost track of how many times he was on the verge of fainting. His whole focus was on matching the refilling of his world with new thrusts, and that process slowly led to the desired effects.
A crack opened on Heaven and Earth's head. The fissure expanded from Noah's swords and stretched toward the center of the other attacks. The group seemed about to break that avatar, but the rulers were ready to retaliate.
"Don't back down!" Noah roared as Heaven and Earth brightened.
Danger filled Noah's senses, but something strange joined that feeling as white light filled his vision. His companions shared those sensations, and they all decided to perform evasive maneuvers to leave the area.
"You won't get away!" Heaven and Earth shouted, but a deep growl reached them before they could focus on their escaping opponents. Then, an immense slash engulfed their figure.