As if to flaunt his newfound powers, Noir started off by firing beam-like attacks all over the place. It was an indiscriminate and powerful attack, hitting not only the god tamers but even us, who were further back.

*ZING!*

The beams flew in a straight line at the speed of light. It was almost impossible to dodge!

Zeshion’s team managed to move for a bit, but they still ended up being peppered with burnt holes all over their bodies. Fortunately, not a single one hit their vitals, so they survived the first wave… No, Noir probably missed their vitals intentionally, wanting to let them all suffer first. .

On our side, everyone was also hit, even downed, after only a single barrage. Ember gritted her teeth despite the numerous holes opened all over her body, maintaining the barrier and protecting everyone from the corrosive Void of Space.

Me? For some reason, my body was moving against my will once more. I ran out of Ember’s barrier right before Noir fired the beams, erecting a barrier on my own that covered nothing but my body.

The beams flew by, but as if they were evading my body, not a single one landed. Wasn’t this an indiscriminate, random attack coming at the speed of light? How the hell am I dodging this?

Despite my doubts, I ran at my top speed, reaching right below Noir in a moment. A step forward, and my hand then swung with fluid motion, tracing a familiar skill but with unbelievable power.

“Myriad Phantom Blades, Ultimate Form! Raging Dragon Rising!” 𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ

A blue eastern dragon, formed from blue energy, flew from my sword straight up to Noir. Still, given that he was at the level of beyond-god, such a slow attack couldn’t even touch him.

A useless struggle, you brat!

His words reached my mind once more, causing my vision to blur for an instant. However, my eyes kept tracking the blue dragon as it rose up, hitting Noir cleanly!

“…”

No. Rather than hitting him, it was more that he didn’t even bother dodging. The blue dragon, with enough strength to injure even a god tamer, didn’t leave as much as a scratch on Noir’s body.

Will, Will, Will… You have thwarted most of my plans every single time. However, this time, it’s different! Now that I have reached my ultimate form, you no longer have a chance at winning!

Along with his words, beads of red and gold started forming above his head, their numbers reaching hundreds. Seeing that, my body reacted before I could even process what was happening. A millisecond later, the beads flew, turning into the same beams from before but with more destructive power compared to previously!

“D*mn! Even though you just raised your own death flag, it looks like I don’t have enough strength to collect it!”

I grumbled as my body dodged every beam as if I could see the future. Noir visibly got disturbed as his new and more powerful, instantaneous attack was being dodged like it was nothing.

You… How the hell can you dodge this?!

His anger flared before he let the beams start to follow curved paths instead. However, even with that added variability, I could still dodge everything like it was second nature to me.

The number of beams fired at me increased, while those aimed at others decreased drastically. It was now creating a symphony of high-pitched notes as they passed by my face, making my ears ring.

It was fortunate that the attacks on others decreased, giving them time to cope with the situation, but it was slowly becoming harder for me to dodge unscathed. Slowly, the beams started to graze my arms and legs, enough to leave a burnt trace. It wasn’t enough to stop me completely, however, so Noir’s temper was slowly reaching the limit.

That’s it! Playtime’s over! Now, DIE!

As if fed up with me dodging his attacks, he decided to use a wide-area attack instead. With that, dodging would be impossible! I thought so too, but it looks like my body thinks otherwise.

Noir was collecting a large amount of energy between his palms before him, creating a ball of black and red energy swirling in a dizzying manner. Seeing that, my body decided to do a drastic maneuver.

*SWISH!*

I threw the sword!

The sword I threw wasn’t anything that could injure Noir, but since he was concentrating on his attack, he had no way of dodging it. The sword flew true, hitting the center of the gathered energy and dispersing it.

*KABOOOOM!*

Before he could even send it to our side, the energy ball exploded, engulfing him in a large conflagration. I hoped that was enough to kill him, but my body moved right after, as if believing that Noir was still alive and would soon launch attacks.

WIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLL!

An angry roar, filled with traces of both pain and anguish, echoed in my mind. Beyond the dust cloud, tentacles started to attack. It looks like Noir was still alive and kicking!

The tentacles attacked, but for some reason, my body dodged it exaggeratedly, keeping more than a meter distance from the incoming tentacles. I was confused at the start but soon noticed something as another tentacle passed.

Thin hair… No, tentacles as thin as piano wires, about a meter long, were attached to the bigger tentacles! The ground that they ended up striking instead got turned into dust in an instant, a testament to how sharp and brutal those thin tentacles were!

As if not satisfied with the tentacles missing their targets, Noir then added in the beams from inside the dust cloud. It was completely coming from a blind spot, but for some reason, my body could still dodge everything as if it could see them coming before they even formed.

I could dodge his attacks well, but just dodging isn’t enough. If I don’t damage Noir in any way, then I will definitely lose as time passes, succumbing to fatigue.

*CLANG!*

“…!”

At that moment, a sound of metal-to-metal hitting echoed, dispersing the dust and smoke covering Noir. Zeshion finally managed to chip in, attacking Noir!

𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚