This barrier of golden light did not just prevent spatial movements, any being that tried to break past it without the permission of the Domain Expansion expert that was piloting the Prime Warship would find their actions being all for naught as the barrier locked everything in completely.
The instant the figures of Noah pierced through the stratosphere of the Magus World, they began descending down in a particular direction as both Noah and Athena were using [Fate Discernement] to see where they aura of chaos originated from the most. Their findings were leading them directly to the central lands of the Magus World where the Order of the Black Serpent was located!
RUMBLE!
Their bodies trembled with essence as they shot force speedily, soon arriving at the skies above grand buildings of a now tense capital. At the forefront of these forces, the Snake Queen looked towards Noah and Athena with a looked of furious unwillingness as her overflowing aura began to rise from her body in a maddening fashion.
"This is how you hypocrites wish to humiliate us?! Sending weak disciples to send the message of your strength?"
Her voice was laced with poison as she was not even speaking directly towards Noah and Athena, simply speaking in their direction as her words were aimed at the Celestials and all those that she knew would most likely be watching a similar illusory screen like the one they were seeing.
"Don't you all see? These hypocritical celestials have no moral compass! They will kill whoever they wish under the name of justice and order. In this Light Expanse, they are simply tyrants! It may be my world targeted today, but what's to stop them from doing the same thing to your worlds next? What's to stop them from proclaiming a verdict of destruction on the Flameborn World or the Underworld in a few days?!"
Her unwillingness was portrayed in her voice as her figure became flanked by two beings of similar rank to her. One was a middle-aged man with furrowed brows that held a tall stature, the other was a scantily dressed woman in her prime that held a similar venomous look on her face.
The many worlds being shown the events occurring in the Magus World reflected as they heard the words of the leader of the Order of the Black Serpent, the one to reply being Athena as around her, numerous Empyrean Guards had begun to appear en masse.
"We, the Celestials, care not whether you see us as saints or abominable tyrants."
RUMBLE!
A golden hue covered the skies above them as tens of thousands of Fate Lines could barely be discernible by those proficient in fate, others simply seeing the aura that Athena carried increase boundlessly as the numerous golden figures she summoned turned into streaks of light that fused into her body.
"What we care about is the Order and Balance of this Light Expanse, the balance of this increasingly chaotic universe."
A brilliant golden light shone out as the golden lights finished fusing into her, the appearance of a resplendent figure covered head to toe with a golden armor, expansive shining light wings, and a pulsating golden hammer making its appearance at it aimed itself towards the three figures that fate pointed the most chaos towards, these same figures that were quickly being surrounded by numerous beings at the Void and Saint Realm to protect them on all sides from the attackers in the skies.
"You all...have sown discord and chaos in the surrounding stars, and your verdict is...death!"
RUMBLE!
A brilliant light shone out as she finished these words, Noah glancing at the thousands of beings he could sense above this single central building where the Snake Queen stood at the forefront of, tens of thousands more moving around this central base of the Magi who all held an aura of chaos on their bodies.
Accompanying their ranks were the lifeless bodies of numerous cultivators that wore robes hiding their features, many of them mixing into the ranks of the Magi as they followed their given commands lifelessly!
Noah observed all of this as he sighed and began summoning numerous Empyrean Guards himself, committing to fully saving this Magus World from complete destruction. But for him to be able to do that, he had to dye its central lands red from the blood of all those responsible for initiating this chaos to begin with!
Chapter 346 - Devouring Winged Serpent
The Snake Queen Caara that stood at the top of the Magus World stared at the golden figures shimmering with light as the ideology of the Celestials reached her heart with extreme precision.
They cared not how they were perceived, as long as beings feared and obeyed them, as long as they knew of their terrible power- this was all that mattered! Her furious expression softened as it soon became devoid of emotions, her senses catching the many Magi that were grouped all over the central base cl.u.s.ter around her as they prepared to fight against the two invading Celestials. Looking at this scene, something seemed to have clicked in the mind of the Snake Queen as words devoid of emotions left her red lips as her body began to bubble forth with power.
"So be it. [Devouring Winged Serpent]."
RUMBLE!
A red light shot to the skies as a skill was cast, an immense aura overflowing with power at the Soul Forging Realm was released maddeningly!
This aura held a significance that could be felt by every being around, as those standing at the Soul Forging Realm had stably begun strengthening their souls, the aura of power they released causing a coagulating pressure to descend down upon those that stood against them.
This was the power of the soul, an abstruse force that very few could grasp!
But the beings that the snake queen was up against held even more fearsome techniques that allowed them to use the Supreme Law of Fate, the numerous Fate Lines that they condensed on their bodies giving them the capability to inflict Soul Damage, as well as granting them a level of protection that nobody else had!
The aura of the Snake Queen continued to overflow as Noah observed her body begin to expand rapidly, numerous dark red scales that were meters thick enlarging at an alarming speed as this being began the transformation into a monstrous creature.
On either side of her expanding figure, two Magi floated in the skies as they looked at the Snake Queen's transformation, their expressions those of unwillingness as they turned towards the shimmering figures of Noah and Athena, and even further above to the horrible Warship that could disintegrate them and their entire planet.
They did not fear the two Void Realm beings in the skies as they were confident in their own power at the Soul Forging Realm, but what they feared was the actions these celestials would ultimately take once they killed the two disciples in the air!
They felt like an aura of death was approaching them as their gazes focused on the humongous ship that was barely discernible in space, but their gazes were in the wrong direction as this would most definitely not be the cause of their deaths.
The two Magi activated their own Bloodline abilities as their bodies also expanded and began to change, numerous scales spreading as one held a fully black aura, with another shining with a red light as their sizes quickly exploded to tens of meters.
The numerous powerful beings watching across worlds wore grim faces at this show of power, the illusory screens above their stars showing the majestic form that the leader of the Magus World had transformed into- and it was the terrible form of an expansive Nine-Headed Winged Serpent!
ROAAAR!
The air trembled at the resounding roars of its numerous heads as the [Devouring Winged Serpent] floated magnificently in the air, its nine heads waving menacingly as each one shone with its own color that symbolized expert control of multiple elements.
Many watched this overwhelming power at the Soul Forging Realm as they affirmed that the opponents the Celestials sent were extremely mismatched. They knew the power of the being called the Snake Queen from rumors and the spies, but they never witnessed it close hand as her grandeur was clearly portrayed in the illusory screens above the numerous stars. This was affirmed even more as her resounding voice that was laced with fearsome power rang out as if
she was standing right in front of them.
"If that hypocritical grandmaster above doesn't come down to face me himself, then he can simply come to collect the bodies of his disciples along with mine!"
Yes! The Devouring Winged Serpent floating in the skies knew that with the intrusion of the Celestials, she, along with all of her forces, would be facing their death today!
But still, amidst this terrifying feeling of unfairness and despair at a greater power coming out of nowhere spouting what seemed like bullshit in their ears, they could not do anything to stop it and had to simply accept it. So they would accept it...but they would also take down others as well, especially the disciples of the ones responsible.
The numerous eyes of the Devouring Winged Serpent focused on the shimmering golden figures of two beings standing less than a mile away from her, her tremendous body nearing 40 meters in size trembling with power as it was joined side by side by two slightly less fearsome Winged Serpents.
The two Soul Forging Realm Magi that were standing beside her had transformed into a Dark Winged Serpent and a Flame Winged Serpent as they each adopted their own spectacular forms that were just a few meters smaller in size than her own.
The Dark Winged Serpent had tendrils of darkness rolling through its scales as its body pulsed with menacing power, while the Flame Winged Serpent had molten flames spurting out all around its body, rapidly increasing the temperature of the surroundings.
An overwhelming feeling of strength released from them as slowly, the gaps in the skies began to be filled with numerous different forms and colors of snakes and basilisks that held fearsome expressions!
The forces of the Order of the Black Serpent had fully withdrawn their fear as they used the power of their bloodlines to transform into a frightening army of an assortment of fearsome serpents.
The skies soon became blotted with dots of beings from the central base of power of the Magus World, their numbers nearing tens of thousands as they ranged from Legendary and all the way to Void Realm. Among their ranks, the dead cultivators devoid of souls that were turned into beings similar to the Celestial's punishers were filling the gaps of these ferocious Magi.
These were only the members of the Order of the Black Serpent that held power above Legendary Rank, with millions more that held lower power levels spread out across the central lands of the Magus World as they watched the unfolding events with uncertainty and fear.
Leading the gathered forces in the sky, at the forefront was a Devouring Winged Serpent at the peak of the Soul Forging Realm, her power seemingly being able to overflow into the next realm at any moment. Flanking her two sides was a Dark Winged Serpent and a Flame Winged Serpent that trembled with elemental energies of their respective bloodlines!
The most powerful beings of the Prime World that was known as the Magus World, the Bloodline Magi of the Order of the Black Serpent that all knew in their hearts death was coming for them in the hands of the Celestials- they had all fully prepared and transformed as their angered and despairing gazes turned towards the two beings calmly floating opposite to them.
In front of this ever so expanding army, the brilliantly shining golden figures of Athena and Noah raised their weapons forward, their eyes shining with confidence as they didn't seem to think this tremendous force was anything much!
Chapter 347 - Shining Blades Pierce the Skies
The numerous forces of multiple Prime Worlds watching this scene portrayed in the point of view of Noah and Athena found it breathtaking to watch as they could so clearly observe the converging of essence from the army of the many serpents standing opposite to these two beings.
In their hearts, they knew they never wanted to be in this situation in their lifetimes!
Yet the two beings facing this terrible army held calm eyes as one was shining a resplendent gold, her body covered in full golden armor and shining golden wings where only her unshaking eyes could be seen. The other held an even more unique look as a golden robe dr.a.p.ed over him regally, from his back the appearance of grandiose white-gold feathered wings erupting out in a glorious array of colors as his face was that of calmness!
The two Celestials were completely unfazed by this tremendous scene of an entire army in front of them.
In the Prime Warship floating above the space of the Magus World, the Grand Master was looking at this scene closely, his power ready to jump in at any instant if something went wrong.
Even though it seemed like his actions of allowing Athena and Crixus to go into the Magus world were easy to arrange, he had to send messages to various Grandmasters before he got his way. He affirmed that this experiment would only be for the training purposes of these two exemplary disciples, and that no harm would come to them under his watch. Thus he was watching with even more interested eyes than the numerous forces that were watching the illusory screens above their planets.
"Death it is!"
The furious Devouring Winged Serpent voiced out loud as her words acted as the trigger for the start of the battle.
OOOOH!
Immense waves of energy erupted out as Noah observed with calm eyes the rushing of numerous serpents towards them.
It was a scene of terror as those watching from a distance of multiple planets far away felt their hairs rise at the scene of this humongous force rushing towards the two beings floating in the skies.
As a response to this rushing force, Noah turned towards Athena and asked this valiant looking figure.
"Shall I make the first move or will you?"
His mind continued to be that of slight interest towards this impassive and noncommunicating senior disciple that he had sparred with multiple times over the span of the last month.
Every time they fought he always held an edge over the battle as she limited herself to the same number of fate lines that he held. But his skills that were fully enhanced with skill points and the numerous passive boosts that he received from multiple other abilities made it so that she could never get a winning edge over him. Yet after the end of each battle, he only felt that the fight was becoming harder and harder for him.
This monstrous Athena was adapting extremely fast at his power, even while limiting herself to a specific number of fate lines. At the last few sparring matches, even with his enhanced abilities, the matches were actually coming out as a draw! This was the shocking talent of this being that was apparently also holding a Noble Fate!
He could already see the shining light within her eyes, the fact that she loved battle being the only thing that he understood about her.
Athena's eyes were locked onto the singularly most powerful Devouring Winged Serpent that was rushing towards them at a fast speed as she replied.
"Junior Brother, since this is a mission that you proposed, why don't you start us off and show me the skills that you could not show me before?"
Feeling the enormous source of strength from the golden robe that dr.a.p.ed over his body as well as the glorious wings from his back that came from [Empyrean Armament], Noah couldn't help but shake his head at the insane boosts of the skills he obtained from the Celestials.
After putting the maximum skill points in the two abilities, [Empyrean Guards] allowed him to summon 6 beings made of immense light as [Empyrean Armament] granted him a boost of 30% to Soul Damage, Physical Damage, Speed, and Defense for every Empyrean Guard that he absorbed!
This granted him a shocking boost of 180% to all the aforementioned features in the form of the golden robe that dr.a.p.ed over him, granting him tremendous defense and making his body feel even lighter than he thought possible as he put into account the [Lesser Cthulhu]'s Child of Space ability.
The golden sword and shield he held on either of his hands also made him feel like he could defend and attack against anything that came towards him, this confidence only being shot higher as he felt his Fate Lines resonating within his body.
He still did not fully understand and could not quantify the boosts of these spect
acular Fate Lines that allowed Celestials to fight beings of higher levels than them, but he would gradually come to know, with this battle today granting him a chance to learn many things.
As for the words of Athena, during their sparring matches he had only ever used [Empyrean Guards] and [Empyrean Armament] as both Athena and he knew very well the next two skills were ones that could deal Soul Damage when cast, that they were not skills to be used in a spar and thus Noah or Athena had never cast these skills before.
Noah's thoughts moved fast as he looked at the first one he wanted to try, confirming the changes of the skill when he placed the maximum number of allowed skill points onto it.
[Smite of Liberation](5/5) :: Cleanse the souls of those that stand against you as you smite them with a Blade of Liberation. The blade is incorporeal and yet physical at the same time, granting +300% Physical and +300% Soul Damage. Limit of 5 Blades of Liberation per cast.
Noah gazed at the spectacular numbers of the skill and the added description of the number of blades as the numerous figures of deadly serpents that were rushing towards him, the three at the forefront being the most dangerous. An impassive look appeared on his face as he breathed out and steeled himself, ready to test whether he could defeat those of the next level with ease while using the abilities of the Celestials, his mind fully prepared and ready to carry out a bloodbath.
It would be the bloodbath that would go on to save this planet, only taking down those responsible for sowing the abundant chaos that was going to spread across the stars. He knew he was walking on an extremely tight rope here as he had joined the ranks of Celestials and was even carrying out missions similar to them, yet he did not want himself to completely be against them as he did not agree with the way they did things!
It was a very thin line to walk on, and this test, this bloodbath on the Magus World, would be the first step to seeing whether he could do things differently than them.
Infinite Mana In The Apocalypse c1-705 Page 142
