Birth of the Demonic Sword

What had once been the snowy plain now shined with a bright red color. Flames filled the entirety of its surface, and their tongues rose toward the sky, illuminating the areas nearby.

The flames flickered and trembled in the night without ever dispersing. It was as if King Elbas' spear had given birth to a perpetual fire that nothing in the world could suppress.

The experts observing the battle noticed the strange features of the flames.

The snowy region containing the tall mountain didn't suffer from the increased temperature. The fire didn't affect the sea past the coastline either.

The spear had created a fiery cage that isolated that region from the outside world. As for the actual condition of the land, only King Elbas could know that.

Chasing Demon stared at the fiery scenery while Elder Julia waited for his directives. The two of them had shared the weight of the Copying Technique, but she was out of options now.

The flames blocked any offensive. It was pointless to create copies on the borders since their attacks would melt as soon as they touched the fire.

That had now become King Elbas' private land. Nothing could pass there unless he decided otherwise.

Elder Julia knew about Chasing Demon's divine golem. The Hive still had a chance to fight for that territory's ownership, but she didn't know how far her Patriarch was willing to go.

The same helplessness pervaded the experts watching the scene. Only inscribed items could help once the solid stage powerhouse showed his real power.

The difference in their cultivation level was too steep to overcome with the Copying Technique alone. It would be different if the Hive had captured a peak rank 6 creature, but no one in its ranks could pull off that task.

Also, there would be a problem containing the creature afterward, and that without considering the "Breath" needed to copy it.

Chasing Demon stared at the raging flames in silence. The red radiance filled his vision even if he was at some distance along the southern coast.

Eventually, he decided to send a message to announce the outcome of the battle. "We lost the snowy plain, or what's left of it."

No one felt at a loss once those words echoed from their inscribed notebooks. The Hive had done its best and more. Chasing Demon didn't have any fault in that defeat.

The world now knew how strong the Hive was. Every organization would think twice before deciding to invade its territories.

King Elbas didn't know that Chasing Demon had officially given up on that territory. He stared at the snowy mountain in the distance and waited for his opponents to make a move.

However, as time passed and nothing came to attack him, he showed his arrogant smile to the world before descending toward the flames. His figure eventually disappeared among the fire, leaving every spectator unsure of what would come next.

King Elbas had announced that he would reclaim two territories when he learnt about the new political borders. The second region was a neutral land of the alliance, so it didn't have the Copying Technique to defend it.

A massive call to arms spread among the ranks of the alliance. Every cultivator and hybrid who had a cultivation level in the solid stage of the fifth rank or above had to join the defense of the last territory.

An army of experts gathered in the bushland next to the region featuring the forest of Silver-yellows. Noah and the other higher-ups prepared themselves for the incoming mayhem.

Ten powerhouses stood in front of almost sixty rank 5 experts in the solid stage. Those troops were elites among elites and possibly the strongest force in the entire world.

Yet, their opponent was a solid stage powerhouse, and they had no confidence in dealing with him without the Copying Technique. The defensive formations could block some of his attacks, but the battle wouldn't be as entertaining as the last one.

The priority of the alliance was to salvage troops. The Hive and the Council didn't want to lose essential assets for a region that wasn't vital to their organizations.

Still, they wanted to put up a fight. The alliance would consider the defense a success if it managed to force King Elbas' hand once again. As long as the region became worthless, that wouldn't be a loss.

Days passed, and nothing moved inside the Royals' domain. The Princes and Princesses even returned to their respective regions without performing any flashy action.

The days eventually became weeks, and then months. The Elbas family had gone silent during that period, and no battle started even among the human troops on the other borders.

It was as if peace had returned. Still, the alliance's experts couldn't shake off the feeling that King Elbas had yet to stop interacting with the political situation.

Tension built among them. Both Chasing Demon and Great Elder Diana didn't know what was going on, but they didn't believe that King Elbas would go back on his word.

Something eventually happened after six months of tense waiting. The five Princes and Princesses came out of their lands and gathered above the bushland to announce their Father's will.

"Father wishes to express his respect for the Hive's power," Second Prince shouted when the five Royals lined up in the sky above the southern border of the region.

His words echoed through the land and reached the allied troops hidden in a temporary military base built on the western border. No one moved though. They had to hear what the Royals had to say before deciding on their next action.

"Father says that he doesn't want to destroy an entire region again," Second Prince continued, "But he can't let the strongest organization in the world have so little land either."

Noah heard a few snorts resound next to him. Elder Julia and many rank 5 cultivators couldn't help but disagree with the claim that the Elbas family was above them in terms of power.

'It's not the organization,' Noah thought with a tinge of helplessness, 'One existence is enough to make that claim true.'

He didn't like to hide, but he had to respect his opponent's strength. There was a thin line between being reckless and suicidal, and Noah had no intention to cross it for the sake of his pride.

"King Elbas has invited some of you to a formal meeting," Second Prince spoke again. "I'll call now those that he has personally invited to this event."

Chasing Demon and Great Elder Diana nodded at each other when they heard those words. That was the best outcome, in their opinion. Other battles at that level would only hurt the world, and no organization desired that.

Some of the new continent's central territories were still recovering from the battle against the quasi-rank 7 Winged Beast. That alone explained how damaged the world would be if that trend against King Elbas continued.

"Great Elder Diana of the Council!" Second Prince began to announce those invited to the meeting. "God's Left Hand of the Empire! Chasing Demon of the Hive!"

The audience felt shocked when they heard God's Left Hand's name. They thought that the invitation involved only the alliance's members, but it seemed that King Elbas wanted the negotiations to feature every organization.

A moment of silence followed those names. The Patriarch and Matriarch of the alliance began to discuss the preparations needed before the meeting.

Everyone thought that the list was over. Second Prince had already called the highest members of the three organizations in the end. However, he surprised the audience by adding a last name.

"Noah Balvan of the Hive!" Second Prince announced as his smile became wider. "The four of you are invited in the fiery land to join King Elbas' banquet. The date is three years from now. There shall be peace until then."