Birth of the Demonic Sword

The old Capital had lost any importance to Noah and other thieves after the migration into the new continent. King Elbas had even placed the dimensional portal in the Utra nation, which decreased the value of what had once been one of the world's most advanced cities.

Too much had happened back when Noah was still performing raids with the Demons. That eventually led him to never think about the old Academy and Capital again but seeing Second Prince's memories had ignited his curiosity.

King Elbas was a monster, and he was even more impressive when it came to the inscription fields. If there was even a slight chance that his old lab contained some of his studies, Noah had to seize it.

Moreover, he had the faint feeling that Second Prince still had some connections with that place. After all, King Elbas had appeared twice in the memories obtained through the red crystal.

Noah browsed through his inscribed notebook before deciding to make the travel on his own.

His underlings and the other organizations were still busy studying the Three-headed Dog, and they weren't even close to defeating it. Noah had time for a trip to the old continent.

'It acted like a Bloodline Inheritance,' Noah thought as he inspected his mind, 'But it didn't improve my sea of consciousness.'

Noah felt slightly disappointed that the memories obtained through the piece of crystal didn't improve his mind. Second Prince would have instantly become more valuable if his consciousness could work as a Bloodline Inheritance.

Yet, King Elbas didn't create Second Prince with that feature. His mind resembled a Bloodline Inheritance because it carried intense emotions, but his memories didn't have the same miraculous effects.

Noah flew toward the Utra nation and stopped to inspect the area once he reached the old Capital. The lands there barely had any vegetation left, and even the city's tall defensive walls had suffered from the existence of the dimensional portal.

King Elbas had left the portal open before departing for the Immortal Lands. The consumption of energy had continued during the five centuries that the three organizations had spent inside the separate dimension.

The Utra nation was on the path to become a desert. The only feature that had stopped its degradation was the mountain chain in the distance since it contained a lot of energy.

Still, it didn't meet the standards of other habitable lands anymore. There was simply nothing valuable left in those regions. Even the weaker magical beasts and normal animals had left that nation and the ones nearby.

Noah didn't feel much by staring at that desolation. He had embarked on the cultivation journey in that nation, but there wasn't anything left there. Only ruins and bitter memories could appear in his vision.

The buildings inside the Capital had it a bit better than the defensive walls due to some "Breath" blessings left behind during the migration. Still, even those resources had suffered from the effects of the dimensional portal.

The tall structures envied by the entire world had become nothing more than ruins. The city's luxurious streets and quarters had turned into symbols of the era before the new continent.

Noah never forgot who he had been before finding the Hive. He was nothing more than a human cultivator when he had started to live in the Capital. His job as a hunter and the memories of his secret missions were still vivid in his mind.

It felt strange returning there as the leader of the most powerful organization in the world. Noah could barely believe how weak he had been in the past.

He still recalled the struggles to obtain techniques and the constant suppression that he had to overcome to reach his current status. Time had made all of that vanish, but those memories would live forever in his mind.

Those memories surged inside his mind as he descended toward the streets of the Capital. Only one thought kept on echoing through his mental walls as he looked at the scene: 'The cultivation journey is ruthless!'

Not even the best city in the world could survive the passage of time. The Royals didn't think twice before abandoning the Capital to make new homes in the new continent.

Humans cultivators who couldn't even walk on the piece of Immortal Lands had migrated without giving the matter any second thought. They had left everything in the hope that the new world could give them a chance to reach the peak.

Noah didn't linger too long in his memories. Those ruined streets and buildings made him pensive, but he had a lot to do, and he couldn't waste time.

The world wouldn't wait for him. Every second lost was a chance given to his opponents to catch up with him. Noah didn't have threatening enemies in the world, but his mindset never allowed him to relax.

Noah didn't need to search for traces of King Elbas' old lab. He had sensed a familiar aura with his innate awareness as soon as he landed inside the Capital, and he walked directly toward the source of that trace.

He soon arrived in front of a crumbled building. The debris was all over the place, but he could see that someone had moved them recently.

The debris crumbled into a pile of dust as soon as Noah's consciousness touched them. His mental waves blew the dirt away and revealed the same floor he had seen in Second Prince's memories.

Noah wielded the Demonic Sword and started tapping the floor with its tip. His consciousness couldn't sense anything specific there, but he knew that the owner of that familiar aura had stopped there.

His sword sensed something at some point, and Noah stabbed it on the floor before tilting it to lift the trap door. King Elbas' old lab appeared in his vision, and Noah analyzed the insides with his consciousness before walking down the stairs.

Dust, books, scrolls, and a few inscribed items appeared in his vision. Most of them were old or broken, but there was something that the passage of time didn't ruin.

Still, the items didn't go past the fourth rank in terms of power. For a powerhouse like Noah, most of the stuff inside the lab was nothing more than junk.

Noah couldn't focus for too long on the lab. He had noticed even before entering that place that there was someone else there, and he could place his eyes on the other powerhouse after he had descended the stairs.

"You are a tough one," Second Prince said as he inspected his forehead with a series of inscribed items. "No wonder my Father respected you so much."

Only half of his crystal had fallen when he had performed that reckless evasive maneuver, but it seemed that it had mostly regrown during the short period after his battle against Noah.

Noah looked at the Royal before losing interest in him. No tension formed in the air even if the two of them were in the same room. None of them wanted to fight at the moment.

"Are the other main descendants like you?" Noah asked as he picked a random item from a desk near him. His mind didn't sense any energy coming from that, so he placed it back where it was.

Second Prince appeared slightly surprised by that question, but he answered anyway. "No. He has labeled me as a failure, so he has created the others through normal methods. Well, normal for his standards."