Birth of the Demonic Sword

The second battle ended with another victory of the Hive, but both Dreaming Demon and First Princess earned the right to join King Elbas' mission.

The Royals' leader didn't care about the territories. The tournament's sole purpose was to test the new powerhouses' prowess, and both women had succeeded in meeting his standards.

The third group battle started a few months after the last one. Flying Demon, Elder Regina, Second Prince, and True Speed gathered on the battlefield and began to fight without many foreplays.

The only exciting exchange of words happened between Second Prince and Flying Demon. The Royal had stared at the Demon for so long that he ultimately questioned him about that.

"Do you like me or what?" Flying Demon asked in a mocking tone, but that didn't affect Second Prince's smile, who replied honestly. "I can't wait to see the individuality of a god."

The fact that Flying Demon had inherited Shandal's individuality wasn't a secret. He didn't disclose the matter to anyone. Still, every expert of the world had paid a great deal of attention to the God of the Empire.

They couldn't possibly fail to recognize such a similar individuality, and it was enough for one force to notice that for everyone in the world to learn about it.

Flying Demon didn't care about Second Prince's words, and the contenders quickly returned to their borders to start the battle.

True Speed tried to fight at that time, but the three powerhouses ganged on him to kick him out of the battle. No one wanted to see the Shandal Empire on the new continent again, so he was the natural enemy of all three organizations.

Second Prince had to deal with both Flying Demon and Elder Regina once True Speed conceded. The two experts were allies, and they both knew that their opponent was the strongest among King Elbas' underlings.

Elder Regina surrounded the Prince with an army of earth-puppets. Magical beasts of various kinds charged through the fiery walls protecting him and detonated once they were about to fall apart.

Flying Demon's white flowers grew among the flames and spread ice among them. His individuality even stopped their flickering before frost covered them.

The Royal relied on his blood to fuel spells capable of destroying both ice and puppets. His figure often exploded into a sea of flames, and fiery snakes always covered his body to protect him.

The fiery creatures spewed dense flames too. The area occupied by Second Prince was nothing more than a massive fire that took different shapes depending on his needs.

The Royal didn't use any inscribed item to match his opponents' offensive. His dense flames were enough to melt the ice and keep the puppets at bay.

That spoke for his prowess, but Elder Regina and Flying Demon didn't care about proving themselves better than him. Kicking him out of the group battle was their main goal.

Second Prince fought bravely. His flames used ten drops of his blood as fuel at some point and transformed into a nine-headed hydra that occupied half of the battlefield.

That spell was massive, and the scorching aura radiated by its flames was enough to melt any of Flying Demon's attempts to freeze it. The intensity of its pressure fended off Elder Regina's puppets too.

The allied powerhouses found themselves cornered at the borders of the battlefield. No rule stated that they couldn't cross them, but that didn't help them solve the situation.

Flying Demon and Elder Regina exchanged an understanding glance as they dodged the pillars of flames launched by the hydra. They would go all-out together.

Flying Demon's aura surged, and his consciousness covered the entire region, engulfing the hydra in his individuality. Countless flowers grew in the sky, but they didn't spread any ice.

Instead, they exploded to create a storm of ice-shards that melted before they could reach Second Prince, who was at the center of the massive beast. The spell seemed to be over, but more flowers suddenly grew from inside the hydra and detonated before the flames could melt them.

Second Prince generated a sea of flames inside the dense fire and melted the new attack. However, his focus had wavered for a second, and a flower grew on his neck due to that distraction.

Ice quickly spread from the flower. Half of Second Prince's torso had turned frozen by the time Second Prince took care of the storm of ice-shards.

The ice didn't only stop the functioning of his tissues. It influenced his very existence, freezing it in time due to the laws contained in Flying Demon's individuality.

Elder Regina didn't fail to exploit that chance. Flying Demon's attack had rendered the hydra motionless, so she could send an army of puppets through its flames without losing too many of them.

The puppets eventually detonated right before Second Prince regained control of his body, and the hydra dispersed in the explosion.

Trails of fire came out of the gray cloud that had formed after that clash. They converged higher in the sky to reform Second Prince, who appeared to had suffered some slight injury.

Part of his skin carried scarred spots due to the forceful removal of the ice. The most significant wound was a red mark on his neck that exposed his skin's lower layers.

King Elbas appeared in the middle of the battlefield at that point, forcing the three powerhouses to stop their offensive. The leaders in the sky didn't know what he was up to, but they descended to make sure that their underlings were safe.

"The three of you are worthy of joining my journey," King Elbas announced. "This land will go to the Hive."

His last line confused Elder Regina. She felt that King Elbas didn't give her a chance to prove herself against Flying Demon. However, right before she could give voice to her complaint, she saw that a white flower had appeared on the back of her right foot.

"You bastard," Elder Regina said as she shot a hateful stare toward Flying Demon, but the latter spread his arms to express his helplessness in the matter.

He was a demon. He had to put the Hive's best interests before any alliance or pact. Their cooperation had given him a chance to take his ally by surprise, so he had seized it.

The third group battle ended with the Hive still undefeated. That didn't increase its domain since the won territories had previously belonged to it already.

Still, the prowess showed by its powerhouses demonstrated to the world that the Hive had earned its spot among the strongest organizations. Its current position didn't come from the Copying Technique alone.

Chasing Demon and Great Elder Diana held a long meeting after Flying Demon's actions, but the two leaders eventually let go of the matter. The two decided that they would think about their domains after the battles ended.

The fourth group battle featured Elder Julia, Elder Laura, First Prince, and True Speed again.

Elder Julia and First Prince were on another league compared to the other two powerhouses. True Speed was the first to surrender since he found the three opponents ganging on him again, but Elder Laura suffered from a similar fate.

Elder Julia and Elder Laura were fighting against First Prince as everyone expected them to do. Yet, the Royal didn't mind relying on inscribed items in his battle.

While a torrent of wind slashes and water arrows destroyed his flames, First Prince activated a golden rune that made him reappear above Elder Laura.

That was an instant teleport. Even matrices wouldn't be able to be so quick in their effects.

Elder Laura's last line of defense activated on its own when she saw a fiery snake slamming on her figure and pushing her toward the ground.

A broken water giant became visible on the ground after the cloud created in the clash dispersed. Elder Laura was inside it, but a large chunk of her waist had disappeared after the attack.

Her dantian was safe, but she felt the need to concede anyway. She preferred to treat her injuries now to express her full power in the next battle.