Chapter 1311: Draug and old belief (Part 1)

Nothing Norax did could be called painless or safe, both with Ureyn and with Nollura.

Ureyn could have died if his body hadn’t accepted Norax’s energy, especially considering how much power he used to heal Ureyn’s heart.

Now, something similar was happening to Nollura.

Fortunately for her, she was not injured and did not face the threat of losing a large part of her power as Ureyn had. Even the fact that Norax’s palm pierced her chest right through to her heart was not critical, as no organs were damaged.

But Norax wasn’t going to stop there. He had no desire to torture or cause Nollura pain for no reason, because he had one.

When Ureyn awoke, his power level would be slightly lower than Nollura’s was now, and Norax understood that, as well as the fact that it wasn’t enough.

“Let’s see,” Norax smirked while Nollura trembled from the energy filling her body. “If you are one stage higher, it will work. Moreover, I’m sure you’ve wanted to get out of your cave for a long time, young spider.”

Nollura didn’t hear what Norax said because she was struggling to endure the pain — the energy wasn’t just plunging her into agony, it was gradually beginning to destroy her body.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

The first thing Nollura lost was her eight blades growing from her back, her spider legs that she had had since the beginning of her journey, and that remained after many evolutions. In some ways, her blades were similar to Adam’s needles or Ureyn’s wind, but unlike those two, they were not what could help Nollura reach the top.

However, as soon as Nollura lost her blades, Norax significantly reduced the flow of energy.

His goal was not to kill Nollura; if he wanted to, he could have done it in a simpler way. He was going to keep Nollura on the edge so that her body would reach its evolutionary limit at that moment, but she would not die.

In fact, it was a complex task requiring precision. If Norax overdid it, Nollura would die, but if he didn’t use enough energy, she wouldn’t be able to achieve the best result.

He had done this many times in his long life, so in a way, Nollura was lucky to have a professional doing the job.

After a few moments, Norax nodded slightly and released Nollura’s heart.

Unconscious, she collapsed to the ground as the excess energy turned into a dark blue dome covering her like a cocoon.

“Damn…” Norax muttered as he remembered something. “I did something similar in her cave. Well, I’ll deal with that later. Maybe it’s even good that some of them will have a serious test after they wake up.”

The String Duel was over, and even Nollura received her reward to some extent, not for participating in the battle, but for her desire to help Ureyn. Norax approved of this.

THUMP!

At the same moment, the earth shook as Draug crashed onto the wind plain.

His powerful aura in white flames emanated from him while his menacing gaze showed that he had something to say about the battle and Ureyn’s fate.

“What was that, Norax?” Draug grunted with a great frown.

Norax arrogantly lifted his chin as a glint ran through his eyes.

“What do you mean? I was just watching the String Duel like everyone else, and I helped that pathetic Arachne become a little stronger.”

Anyone who had known Norax long enough would have expected just such a response from him, and Draug was no exception. Still, his anger only grew.

“I know you rigged this fight! It was supposed to be different and follow Gareyna’s plan! You ruined everything, as usual!”

“Ruined? Hah.” Norax smirked. “All you wanted was for Ureyn to remain one of you and use your useless techniques and a needle that doesn’t suit him at all. Under such conditions, he couldn’t reach his full potential.”

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The world shook as the space around Draug distorted. His veins swelled, his muscles tensed, and his old eyes became deep and dark.

“No matter who you are, no one dares to insult the Gray Needle! For hundreds of years, it has been our foundation, you ungrateful bastard!”

Unwilling to tolerate any more disrespect, Draug clenched his fist tightly and slammed it straight at Norax.

But before his fist could reach its target, two dark flashes appeared to the right and left of Draug.

His fist stopped right in front of Norax’s face as the wind from his punch destroyed dozens of meters of ground behind him.

“Hey, old man Draug.” The man with red spiky hair grinned. “With all due respect, we can’t stand by while you attack our leader.”

The girl with pigtails and unusual eyes with black sclera and white pupils nodded deeply.

“Yes.”

Her face was detached and cold, like a ghost ready to kill until she had had enough.

“One more move and you’ll have to fight us.”

She tilted her head at a strange angle, and the man clapped his fists together, releasing scarlet sparks.

They said simultaneously:

“Are you ready to fight us to the death? To the last drop of blood and the last crunch of bones?”

Norax said nothing — there was no need.

It was no surprise that a leader like him had subordinates who were just as chaotic and even insane as he was.

Draug’s people would never dare threaten the leader of another faction without his direct order, but for these two, doing something like that was no problem.

“So…”

After a moment, Norax lingered.

“What shall we do next, old man? We could fight right now and find out which of us is stronger, although…” He chuckled mockingly. “Everyone already knows that, don’t they?”

Draug frowned, the veins in his face ready to burst with rage, but he was in no hurry to rush into battle.

“Or, we can calm down and think about the future. About the next seven years we have before the World Wipe.”