At the west gate of the Maze, Noah and his group waited as the ape let out a roar before rushing at the crying incapacitated teenager. With a stomp it sent itself into the air and landed precisely in front of him.
"Now." With a calm voice, Noah initiated the ambush. He had purposely thrown the boy about 15 meters away from him and with his Flicker skill having the current range of 25 meters, he could easily reach him.
Within the blink of an eye, he disappeared from his position and reappeared behind the beast, making the audience gasp as they witnessed that near instantaneous speed, with its nape directly before him. Essence appeared around him to coat his arms and Longswords as he charged the Drill Thrust battle skill. He could have acted faster but he slowed his actions while waiting for his teammates to act.
And they did. Mona was quick to release her Battlesoul and execute her Battle Art, launching a bolt of lightning that hit the ape squarely at its chest. The attack seemed to deal little to no damage at all but the beast found itself unable to move which made the others move.
It was at this time that Noah attacked, adding his Gravity Force soul skill as he pierced downwards, leaving a hole in the beast's ape. Unfortunately, the wound didn't seem to be too deep but he had already expected this.
Releasing a blinding light as he appeared, Leonel arrived at the ape's feet slicing out with his spear in a circular manner. "Constellation's Wrath: Orbital Slash!" With the execution of the skill, golden light was released as a trail from his spear's blade to create a ring like attack that stabbed at the ankles of the beast.
Damien had also reached the other foot of the ape with the help of his movement Battle Art and was about to unleash his Battle Art when the ape unleashed an ear bursting roar, releasing a wave of fire that forced the group to jump backwards to safety.
After the attack ended, the ape emerged its eyes red from rage and its arms were now coated with flames as it ran towards them.
"Attack! Just keep it bleeding." Noah said as he looked at the approaching beast. With an explosion, his Silver Dragon Emperor erupted into existence shocking all those watching as they recognized the Emperor Grade splendor, yet they were further shocked as his Overlord Sword Emperor revealed itself and its familiar Emperor Grade splendor. But another series of gasps left their lips as they witnessed the scales and claws that appeared on his two arms.
Among the audience, Luke and Aina also let out gasps, not for the extremely rare dual Emperor Grade Battlesouls that Noah possessed but because of the dragonification of his two arms.
Even the man within the VIP room that had been indifferent the entire match, revealed a slight frown. But he still chose to continue his plan in the end. Noah was too dangerous to be left alive.
***
Of course Noah could guess the commotion happening on the outside but decided to focus on the battle before him. Gravity's Will was a good Battle Art but just like any other thing in the world it wasn't perfect. The Art consumed more Essence the bigger its target was, so using it on the 4 meter beast before him was quite unintelligent since his Essence would reduce at an alarming speed. So he made a mental note to refrain from using the Art during the fight. Instead he chose to use something he had managed to master on the way to the Soaring Star City.
Crouching slightly, Noah's leg muscles tensed before bulging abruptly, releasing steam similar to the time he used Embodiment and increasing his height from 5ft 3' to 5ft 5'. His body leaned forward, similar to when one was falling before he suddenly disappeared from his position and became a blur as he appeared before the ape and slicing at its other ankle. "Azure Dragon Art: Partial Embodiment."
The beast parted its lips to let out a painful roar but was cut short as Mona above it and waved her hands downwards. "Skyfall!" At her call, multiple lightning bolts appeared around her and shot into the open maw of the beast, causing great internal damage. "Electrify!" And with that battle skill, the beast felt its muscles spasm and paused as it felt its inability to move its body again.
"Vertical Cleave." Jumping upwards, Noah slashed at the ape's back as he rose up in the air creating yet another gaping wound on its body.
Leonel had also appeared at this point, a blinding golden light coating his spear as he thrust forward to meet the skin of the ape. His spear penetrated the hard skin of the beast and released a beam of light once in, opening a circular hollow wound.
The ape roared in pain once more but was cut short once more, this time by Damien. Raising his sword as he stood suspended behind the ape's nape. "Lightning Dragon's Claw." Coating his sword with raging lightning, he slashed at the previous injury stationed at the nape. The smell of burnt flesh spread out as the already deep wound worsened.
The enraged ape was quick enough to turn despite its wounds, aiming a deadly punch at the falling Damien. Luckily, Noah's Flicker was quicker. Executing Partial Embodiment on his arm, his dragonified arms expanded while releasing steam. "Azure Dragon Art: Dragon Fist!"
An explosion resounded as the two fists met and, of course, Noah was on the losing end. He would have probably had a chance to get back at the beast if it wasn't so tall.
But it wasn't so Noah was sent flying into the ground. His aim had been achieved though, because he was sure as hell that Damien wouldn't survive that punch. Suddenly his head whipped to the right as he felt a large release of Essence from a relatively far distance.
The weird feeling he felt increased as he witnessed the ape release an ear piercing roar, a vague expression of panic appearing on its face. But its struggle didn't last long as a crimson aura suddenly appeared around it and clung onto its skin. The ape calmed for a bit before a crimson hue appeared in its eyes. A growl escaped its lips as bone breaking sounds left its body.
The group and audience watched as the beast reduced from its large 4 meter height to being a 2 meter tall beast. But that didn't mean its power had reduced, in fact it had increased. From its initial Peak Intermediate Stage, Noah could now sense a Pseudo Adept Stage aura being released from its body. Its muscles not as large as they were before, were more compact now and would definitely pack more of a punch.
The two sides stared at each other for a while, unnerving Noah as this meant that the beast now boasted an increased intelligent. He glanced at the three behind him and acknowledged that the battle had become more dangerous.
"You guys should support me from the side, I'll take the beast on with a frontal assault."
The three of them nodded before backing off a bit while Noah stretched lightly. "Dragon's Vitality." With a nudge, the dead skin above his new one tore off to reveal a spotless body with no injuries. "I'll test my new skill on you, beast."
A familiar battle-intent smile appeared on his lips as his body began to steam despite no increase to his height. "Azure Dragon Art: Flowing Partial Embodiment."