Chapter 31: Noah's Evolution
Two forces prepared for a decisive battle. The Avatar Collective within the Aegis of the Seven Heavens hovered in the air, its body glowing like a supernova ready to explode. Every slight movement created cracks in the fabric of reality, the air around it sizzling like acid burning through dimensions.
I stood on the ground, which had been turned to black crystal by my power, dark wings spreading to obscure part of the night sky. Dark flames blazed around me, each lick scorching the air itself until it smelled of acrid ozone.
"Did you think this was over?" my voice echoed in a lower, more dangerous tone. The power of darkness flowed through your veins like lava that had been stagnate for millennia, finally ready to erupt.
The Avatar Collective let out a laugh that sounded like a thousand different voices blending into a terrifying harmony. "You still don't get it, do you? I am the manifestation of the millions of souls I have absorbed. Every attack you make only makes me stronger."
Without warning, my body exploded forward at a speed beyond physical limits. The ground behind me shattered into pieces, creating a crater tens of meters in diameter. My left fist, enveloped in pitch-black flames, flew toward the Avatar Collective's face.
CLAAAANG!
The sound of clashing metal, amplified by cosmic energy, created a shockwave that shattered the distant mountains. The Avatar Collective managed to block with both hands clad in bluish-gold energy shields, but the impact pushed them back hundreds of meters.
"Now it's my turn!" The Avatar Collective raised both hands to the sky. Seven orbs of different colored energy appeared above their heads—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and glowing white.
[SEVEN HEAVENLY DEVASTATION]
The seven orbs merged to form a single, gigantic ball of energy the size of a skyscraper. The heat they radiated boiled the atmosphere around us, creating bubbles of energy that exploded like giant firecrackers.
I smiled coldly. "Not enough."
My hands reached out, and from my palms emerged two orbs of absolute darkness—not just blackness, but a void that absorbed all forms of light, sound, and even time itself.
[VOID ANNIHILATION]
When the two attacks collided, reality itself seemed to tear apart. The sky shifted into an inexplicable spectrum—colors that should never have existed in the perception of any living being.
The shockwave from our collision created a miniature black hole that sucked in all matter around it before vanishing in an instant.
The Avatar Collective was thrown back, its golden armor cracking in several places. Silver blood dripped from the corner of its mouth. "Impossible... this power..."
"This is just the beginning," I snarled as I gave chase. My dark wings flapped once, creating a shadowy tornado filled with microscopic energy blades. Each blade was capable of cutting through atomic structure, disintegrating matter at the subatomic level.
The Avatar Collective executed a perfect evasive maneuver, its body moving in a deadly dance through the air. But I had anticipated this. From the shadow cast by my own wings, I appeared directly behind it.
CRACK!
My elbow, imbued with destruction energy, slammed into its back with enough force to destroy a small planet. The Aegis of the Seven Heavens armor creaked loudly, but it held.
"Interesting armor," I muttered as I watched the cracks begin to spread. "Made from the crystallized soul energy of the millions of beings you killed, huh? What a shame."
I grabbed the Avatar Collective by the scruff of the neck and slammed it into the ground with full force. The impact created a kilometer-deep crater, and lava began to gush from the cracks it created.
The Avatar Collective slowly rose to its feet, its body trembling. "You... you don't understand the consequences of what you've done. If I perish, the cosmic balance will—"
"SHUT UP!"
A surprise knee strike slammed into its stomach. This time the cracking sound of its armor was even more audible. The energy core in its chest began to flicker unsteadily.
The Avatar Collective recoiled, clutching its stomach. "This power!!!! Where did you get it from?"
"From despair," I replied coldly. "From built-up anger. From hatred for beings like you who toy with life."
I stepped forward slowly, each step creating cracks in the ground that spread like a giant spider's web. The flames of darkness around me intensified, creating visual distortions that made the entire landscape look like a melting painting.
The Avatar Collective unleashed all its power. The Aegis Armor began to glow with blinding intensity. "If I must perish, I will take this entire dimension with me!"
[ FINAL JUDGMENT - HEAVEN'S WRATH ]
The pure energy of the seven heavens began to gather around its body. The air temperature rose to thousands of degrees Celsius. The ground began to melt into magma, the air turning to plasma. This was a desperate final blow—a kamikaze attack that would destroy everything within a radius of thousands of kilometers.
But I was ready.
"NOA... EVOLVE."
The gauntlet in my right hand began to resonate with the damaged energy core of the Aegis Armor. I could sense the potential hidden within the armor's core—the crystallized power of the millions of souls the Avatar Collective had absorbed over the centuries.
With movements faster than the speed of light, I charged into the energy storm unleashed by the Avatar Collective. Every cell in my body screamed in pain, but I kept going.
My left hand gripped the Avatar Collective's face with a crushing grip. "Thank you for the 'donation.'"
My right hand, protected by Noa's gauntlet, plunged straight into the heart of the Aegis armor. The rainbow-colored energy core vibrated violently in my grip.
"NO! LET IT GO! IT IS—"
"MINE NOW!"
With one brutal movement, I ripped the energy core from the Aegis armor. The results were catastrophic—the entire armor began to crumble, the crystallized souls within screaming in terrifying harmony before finally dissolving into pure energy.
The Avatar Collective, stripped of its armor, was now nothing but a humanoid with pale skin and blank eyes. "I... I am—"
"No more."
My final energy blast struck its body, disintegrating every atom in its structure. The Avatar Collective vanished like dust in the wind.I stood amidst the destruction, holding a pulsating energy core in my right hand. Noa's gauntlet began to transform, absorbing the essence of the Aegis of the Seven Heavens. The gauntlet's jet black began to blend with the seven colors emanating from the armor core.
The gauntlet's material evolved—from ordinary metal to crystallized void energy enhanced with the soul fragments of millions of beings. Its design became more complex, with seven small gems embedded in the knuckle area, each representing a layer of the seven heavens.
"Noa Genesis," I murmured, feeling the new power flowing through the gauntlet. "A perfect combination of destruction and creation."
This evolved gauntlet was not only capable of destruction on an atomic level, but could also manipulate soul energy, create temporary dimension pockets, and most importantly—absorb and convert the energy of every attack received.
I raised my right hand, observing the new gauntlet glowing with a hypnotic rainbow-black aura. This power, this was just the beginning of something greater.
As I turned to watch the other battles, small cracks began to appear in the air.
And in the distance, I could sense another presence watching. A stronger and more dangerous enemy.