Chapter 357: Noah vs Lizard "All of you focus on me," Lola commanded with authority that brooked no argument. "That human is under my protection. Anyone who attacks him answers to me directly, and I promise you won’t survive the experience." The parrot squawked with frustration but didn’t dare test her declaration. The three remaining grandmaster beasts found themselves completely locked down by Lola’s overwhelming presence, unable to pursue their actual objective while this peak grandmaster demon monopolized their attention through sheer intimidation and superior power. Noah heard Lola’s declaration and felt both gratitude and pressure. She was creating the space he needed to deal with the invisible lizard and potentially claim the fruit, but that meant he had to actually succeed in this incredibly dangerous task. The weight of their entire plan now rested on his ability to overcome a grandmaster-rank stealth predator while somehow securing the World Tree’s teardrop. The invisible lizard seemed to sense his moment of distraction, launching another attack that Noah barely detected through his wind sensing. He rolled sideways as the creature’s tongue lashed through the space where his head had been, the appendage moving with lethal speed and precision. I can’t keep playing defense, Noah realized as he came up from his roll. I need to force this thing into the open and end this quickly before the situation deteriorates further. Noah’s mind raced through his available options as he sensed another disturbance in the wind currents indicating the lizard’s repositioning. The creature was circling him like a predator stalking wounded prey, waiting for the perfect moment to strike with its venomous tongue or razor-sharp claws. Playing defense against an invisible grandmaster opponent is suicide when my enhancements will end soon, Noah concluded, his comprehension allowing him to process tactical information with supernatural speed. I need to take the offensive and force it to reveal itself. He stopped retreating and instead launched a barrage of wind blades in a wide arc around his position, saturating the area with cutting attacks that would force the lizard to either dodge or defend. The compressed air constructs carved through space with lethal precision, creating a net of death that nothing could pass through unscathed. The invisible lizard was forced to move, and Noah’s wind manipulation immediately detected the disturbance pattern. There—approximately three meters to his left, moving with serpentine fluidity to avoid the blade storm while maintaining its optical camouflage. Noah pivoted and launched his new Striking Eagle technique toward the detected position. The wind construct materialized and shot forward with predatory speed, tracking the disturbances in air flow that marked his invisible enemy’s location. The eagle made contact, and Noah heard a hiss of pain as the technique detonated into its whirlwind prison of rotating blades. For a brief moment, the lizard’s form flickered into partial visibility as its concentration on maintaining invisibility was disrupted by the sudden assault. But the creature’s grandmaster-rank durability allowed it to break free from the whirlwind before suffering catastrophic damage. It vanished completely again, but Noah had confirmed something crucial—causing it pain or forcing defensive reactions weakened its invisibility temporarily. I need to maintain constant pressure so it can’t fully disappear, Noah realized, immediately launching another series of attacks without giving the lizard time to recover. Wind blades carved through the air from multiple angles while Noah used his enhanced agility to constantly reposition, preventing the lizard from predicting his location for a counterattack. Each technique was calibrated to either damage or force defensive responses that would reveal the creature’s position through wind disturbances. The lizard attempted to close distance for a melee attack, its natural weapons far more dangerous at close range than Noah’s. He sensed the approach through air displacement and responded with a point-blank wind blast that sent the invisible creature tumbling backward. Fire manipulation, Noah suddenly thought, an idea formed with perfect clarity thanks to his doubled comprehension speed. I can use it in combination with wind to make the lizard visible! His fire manipulation was only at level 5, far weaker than his wind abilities, but he didn’t need devastating flames for this application. He needed heat and wind that would interact with the lizard’s camouflage in ways that pure wind attacks couldn’t. Noah conjured flames across his hands, the fire responding sluggishly compared to his wind magic but still functional. Then he used wind manipulation to spread the flames outward in a controlled explosion that filled the area around him with heated air and flickering light. The combination had an immediate effect. The invisible lizard’s camouflage was designed to bend light around its form, but that technique assumed relatively stable lighting conditions. The rapidly flickering firelight created constantly changing illumination patterns that the lizard’s magic couldn’t adapt to quickly enough. For a fraction of a second, Noah saw the creature’s outline shimmer into partial visibility approximately two meters directly in front of him. The lizard realized its mistake immediately and attempted to relocate, but Noah had already committed to his attack. He generated wind currents superheated by his flames, creating a vortex of fire-enhanced air that tracked the lizard’s movements through combined visual and wind-sensing data. The technique was crude compared to what a true dual-element specialist could achieve, but the synergy between fire and wind created effects his individual elements couldn’t match. The superheated vortex caught the lizard mid-dodge, and this time its invisibility completely failed as the extreme heat created thermal distortions that overwhelmed its camouflage magic. The creature became fully visible, its mottled scales now clearly defined as it writhed in pain from the burning air. Noah didn’t waste the opportunity. He launched multiple wind blades enhanced with traces of fire that made them burn as they cut, targeting the now-visible lizard with precision strikes aimed at vulnerable points he could actually see rather than just sense. The lizard’s tongue lashed out desperately, trying to poison or strangle Noah before he could finish it, but his enhanced attributes allowed him to dodge with speed that seemed to surprise the creature. His vitality made him far more durable than the lizard had calculated, while his temporary boost to all attributes meant he was operating closer to grandmaster levels than his official rank suggested. Noah created distance and conjured another combination attack—flames spread by wind in motions designed to maintain constant illumination that prevented the lizard from re-establishing its invisibility. The creature was now fighting at a severe disadvantage, its primary survival mechanism completely negated by Noah’s innovative application of his dual elements. The lizard charged forward in desperation, recognizing that its stealth advantage was gone and only overwhelming physical force could save it now. Its claws extended to full length, each one capable of tearing through steel, while its tail whipped around to create a three-pronged attack that should have overwhelmed anyone below grandmaster rank. But Noah’s swordsmanship training and enhanced comprehension allowed him to read the attack direction and respond appropriately. He deflected the claws with precisely angled wind blades while using his aura-enhanced physical strength to parry the tail strike with his actual blade. The exchange left the lizard overextended, its momentum carrying it past Noah’s position while leaving its flank exposed. Noah capitalized immediately, conjuring his most powerful wind blade technique and launching it at point-blank range directly into the creature’s vulnerable side. The compressed air construct, enhanced with fire that made it burn as well as cut, carved deep into the lizard’s torso. Blood sprayed outward as the attack penetrated through its scales and muscle to damage critical internal organs. The lizard screamed, a sound so alien and terrible that it made even the distant master-rank beasts flinch. Noah didn’t allow mercy or hesitation to slow his assault. He followed up with another Striking Eagle, the wind construct slamming into the wounded lizard and exploding into its overwhelming whirlwind prison. This time, with the creature already severely injured and unable to maintain proper defenses, the rotating blades carved through flesh with devastating efficiency. The lizard thrashed desperately within the whirlwind, its blood spraying outward to paint the nearby crystals red. After ten seconds of constant, sustained damage from hundreds of cutting attacks hitting from every angle simultaneously, the creature finally collapsed and stopped moving. [You have killed a Tier 5 Camouflage Lizard!] Noah dismissed the whirlwind and stood breathing slightly heavier, his body aching from the intensity of combat against a grandmaster opponent even with his temporary enhancements. But he had won, eliminating a threat that should have been far beyond his capabilities through tactical thinking and the use or combining his available abilites. Meanwhile, Lola’s battle with the three remaining grandmaster beasts had intensified to catastrophic levels. The entire clearing had become a war zone of competing elemental forces, with earth constructs erupting from the ground to clash against walls of flames while energy bolts rained down from above. The jade turtle had committed fully to defensive tactics, creating layer upon layer of earth armor that Lola’s flames slowly melted through despite their extreme temperatures. The creature was buying time, hoping exhaustion would eventually compromise the demon’s overwhelming power output. The ethereal cat phased constantly between solid and translucent states, attacking from unexpected angles while attempting to bypass Lola’s defenses with a sneak attack. Each strike was precisely calculated to exploit perceived weaknesses, demonstrating her long years of combat experience against powerful opponents. The rainbow parrot remained airborne, using its altitude advantage to bombard Lola’s position while staying out of direct retaliation range. Its energy attacks weren’t individually devastating but the constant barrage created pressure that forced Lola to maintain defensive awareness in multiple directions simultaneously.