Birth Of The Crafts-God-Chapter 420: Noah Versus The Purple-Haired Master Man

Back at the event centre for the Silver Star Exhibition Show, things had taken a different turn.

Originally, the explosion from earlier had sounded from afar and while it spooked the crowd a bit, they weren't overtly worried. However, after a few minutes following the Mertens group's departure, another explosion reverberated in the area; this time around, it was much closer to the venue of the event.

With the risk rating rising high due to the proximity of the attack, the crowd of guests became paranoid and agitated.

Meanwhile, a few kilometres outside of the event hall, Noah was confronting a mysterious individual.

"You're one of them." Noah said as he stared at the man before him.

Just like the character Lucas and Russell's group met at the hideout, the man who stood before Noah wore a mask. However, the mask didn't shield the entirety of his face, but only the lower half. This made it possible for Noah to identify his gender and some of his facial features.

The masked man had a pair of eyes with a benign case of heterochromia —one blue whilst the other was green. His purple-black hair appeared freshly cut in a half-up half-down style with a small bun on the top.

"Oh, you remember." The man replied calmly. He gave off a nonchalant and emotionless vibe from his eyes, which appeared almost like that of a dead fish.

Noah grimaced seeing him not deny it.

By 'one of them', Noah was referring to the individuals who had ambushed him months ago.

As the city lord of a city-state, it was his duty to defend the city-state from threats. For a city-state like Baylands city-state, which neighbours a Cursed Graveyard, the city lord had more to do than others. Every quarter —three months— Baylands City-state would organise a week-long crusade to curb the number of desolate beasts in the neighbouring vicinity.

For the crusade the last time, Noah had decided to join to prevent his skills from rotting by sitting down and signing documents all day long. Who would have expected that a group of terrorists from the Stygian Abyss were lying in wait at the same time? In the end, Noah was severely injured and forced out of action for over two months.

"It's about time I pay you guys back." Noah said.

"Really? I thought you'd still be out of action for at least another month. I guess I have to make sure of that now."

The masked man stretched out his right arm as a metallic snake crawled from the top and extended out.

According to the agreement between Noah and the Baylands city-state cabinet, the next city lord election would happen three months after the last cabinet session on the topic. Currently, there was still a month and two weeks until the date.

Many presumed that Noah had asked for the three month buffer period to recover from his injuries, and the masked man believed it was so.

"Well, you're about to find out who will be out of action for a month."

Noah's aura burst on the scene, generating an incredible pressure that flapped the attire of both men even in the absence of any wind. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Being the former city lord of Baylands city-state, Noah was definitely not weak. He was a bona fide tenth level Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioner.

"If you were at your peak, I'd be a bit worried. Unfortunately for you, you are not." The purple haired masked man commented as his energy leaked out from his body.

Ninth level Apertures Opening stage. Peak rank.

The purple-haired man's energy flowed through his body, strengthening his physical form and abilities. His stellar energy flowed both within his veins and muscles, as well as outside his body, forming a solid form of protection while also providing an all-round strength boost.

This was one unique method that stellar practitioners utilised stellar energy.

At lower levels, first until fifth level, due to their lack of a large amount of stellar energy and appropriate control, a stellar practitioner's stellar energy was usually used to amplify their vestige or a part of their body. However, as they got stronger, they would be able to imbue or encase their entire body with stellar energy for greater strength and protection.

At the tenth level, one's battle style would change as they now possessed a superpower.

The purple haired man didn't have a superpower, but the quantity of his stellar energy almost rivalled that of a tenth level stellar practitioner. This was incredible especially since there was a chasm between the tenth and ninth levels.

Every three levels in the Apertures Opening stage made a class. This meant that the man was at the last level of the third class while Noah was in the first level of the fourth and final class. Despite this seemingly close proximity, the gap was very wide.

Progressing from one class to another was much more difficult than moving from one level to another in the same class. At the same time, the difference between classes was large.

To be able to rival the stellar energy capacity of a higher class was an incredible achievement usually seen in only talented genius. The purple-haired man. was definitely not a simple fellow.

Impressed by this, Noah's eyebrows raised slightly but he still remained calm.

"Talented, but not enough."

His confidence was from the undeniable fact that a tenth level stellar practitioner was no longer the same as those underneath. From the tenth level and above, stellar energy capacity was just one factor and was less important than it used to be.

Another reason Noah was calm despite facing such a fierce opponent while being injured, was simply because he believed he wouldn't lose in a 1v1.

That's right; the former city lord had never lost in a 1v1 head-on. Even the ambush that left him bedridden for a few weeks was a 3v1 —two assailants and a desolate beast.

The reason for Noah's undefeated streak, apart from his skill and talent, was due to his superpower.

Hyper-Awareness.

The purple-haired man abruptly vanished from the spot, appearing behind Noah as he let out a punch.

Noah remained still, looking as if he had failed to sense anything as the powerful strike loomed just above his head.

At what seemed to be the last moment, the Berg's abandoned son finally made his move.

*Whoosh*

With a speed that could be termed 'unbelievable', Noah turned around while tilting his head to the side, dodging the blow from the masked man —but that wasn't all.

Similar to his opponent, Noah's body was now charged up with stellar energy especially his left arm that was pulsing with an astonishing amount of power.

Noah's fist darted abruptly towards the masked man, creating a small yet violent explosion as it did so; a dead giveaway of the speed of his attack.

*Bang*

*Bam*

At the same time the fist found its mark, the resulting auditory explosion caused by the generated sonic boom of the fist, sounded. The second sound was that of Noah's punch crashing right into his target, albeit intercepted by the masked man's free arm.

*Whoosh*

Despite having blocked the attack, the force of the blow overwhelmed the purple-haired masked man as he was flung away a few metres. It took him forcefully implanting his feet to the ground and dragging them out for three metres before he finally came to a stop.

The left hand that was used to intercept the punch visibly shook as the man dropped it down.

'Powerful!'

A mixture of fear and astonishment appeared in the eyes of the masked man as he stared at Noah.

The information he had received was that Noah had yet to completely recover from the ambush earlier executed by his superiors. That battle had ended in a bloody tie with both sides being bedridden for a long while. Until now, the two combatants from their side were still undergoing recovery and unfit for a battle. As a result, the masked man was sent in their stead to complete the mission.

Even though he was notified that Noah had recovered a bit, the report stated that he was still far from full fitness and only at around sixty to seventy percent of his peak.

Being a peak ninth level stellar practitioner with stellar energy roughly on par with a tenth level stellar practitioner, the masked man was confident that he could take on a weakened Noah. It was even more so since Noah's superpower wasn't an offensive one.

But he was wrong. Even without recovering to peak health, even without an offensive superpower, even with his stellar energy capacity that rivalled a tenth level stellar practitioner, Noah was still more than what the masked man could handle.

'Shit. If I'm not careful, I'll die here.' The masked man began to fret.

"I thought you were something, but you're just a cockroach." Noah's voice sounded in the man's head.

"Hmph." The purple-haired man snorted.

The metallic snake on his right arm immediately extended forward even more so than before. After reaching an extension of 1.2 metres away, it straightened up and stiffened right immediately, becoming a blade.

The purple-haired man decided to take things seriously considering he was outmatched. With a vestige in hand, the nature of the battle would now change.