Birth of the Demonic Sword

"What do you mean?" Second Prince could vaguely understand Noah's words, but he wanted to hear him describe them. "I've already lived as a slave. I won't be yours."

"You should feel lucky that I have no interest in killing you," Noah replied as he showed a cold smile toward the Royal.

A chill ran down Second Prince's spine when the reptilian pupils landed on him. He felt n.a.k.e.d under Noah's piercing gaze. Even if the Royal wasn't an actual living being, his survival instincts screamed in fear when death became a possibility in his mind.

Noah could end his life in that situation. Nothing in the world could stop him, and Second Prince didn't have any secret strategy to deploy. The Royal would die for sure if Noah decided to attack.

Yet, Noah soon diverted his gaze to explode into a loud laugh. Second Prince gave up on understanding him after that event, and he limited himself to listen to what he had to say.

"You don't have to do anything too specific," Noah said after he suppressed his laugh. "Live, grow, fight. Do whatever you want, but keep me as your enemy. Be a constant threat in my life. I don't want this war to be the last exciting event that I will see in the lower plane."

Second Prince couldn't believe his ears. It was as if Noah was hiring an assassin to avoid living in peace for the rest of his journey through the heroic ranks!

"Are you crazy?" Second Prince asked, but Noah shrugged his shoulders at that question as he continued to browse through the items in the old lab.

The Royal found that task unreasonable. No living being would choose to add danger to their lives unless that brought clear benefits. Yet, Noah didn't seem to have anything to gain from that.

A smile started to appear on Second Prince's face as that idea settled in his mind. He was King Elbas' heir, so he only needed time to come up with threatening offensives and assassination plans.

"What if I manage to kill you?" Second Prince asked as his smile widened.

"I will just die," Noah replied without stopping inspecting the lab. "I should warn you though. I won't hold back during your attacks, so it will be up to you to survive."

Second Prince's smile froze when he heard that answer. He did not doubt that Noah was serious about his proposal now, but he still didn't know how he had to react to it.

Noah understood that the Royal found it hard to accept his reasons, but he didn't want to give up on that chance. After all, he could solve one of the issues that had bothered him since King Elbas' banishment.

"Look," Noah said before taking a short break to think about words that the Royal could understand. "I will let you live today as long as you promise me not to disappear from the political scene. Don't ask yourself why. Just do your best not to die the next time we see each other."

"Aren't you afraid I will go after the other members of your organization?" Second Prince couldn't give up so soon, but Noah's answer left him dumbfounded.

"Where is the fun in that?" Noah replied. "Shouldn't you prove that you can aim for the sky? What is the point in hunting down weaklings?"

Noah didn't look at the Royal during his answer, and he completed the inspection of the lab while Second Prince remained dumbfounded.

There wasn't much in the lab. The few items and studies that Noah had taken weren't exceptional nor competitive in the current inscription fields.

Still, they carried King Elbas' genius. The most valuable aspects of those studies and items were the ideas that had led to their creation.

Those ideas could inspire the current generation of inscription masters and open the path for the birth of new masterpieces. Noah couldn't let go of the chance to make the experts in his organization grow.

Noah gave another look at the lab before moving toward the stairs. He had already said his piece. It was up to Second Prince to decide what to do.

Noah wouldn't lose anything even if the Royal decided to hide and never show his face again. He had nothing to gain from Second Prince anyway. He could become useful only if he became a proper enemy.

"Does this mean that you think I'm worthy of being your opponent?" Second Prince asked before Noah could leave.

"Recognition won't lead you anyway," Noah replied as he lifted the trap door. "If I were you, I would stop searching for what I am and start looking for where I want to go."

Noah left the lab after that line. Second Prince remained behind, but Noah didn't look back as he set off to return to the new continent.

He didn't have anything else to say. Second Prince had to make his choice now.

The invasion was still in its early stages in the new continent. The five massive puppets had stopped the expansion of the three organizations, limiting them to the western coast and the regions nearby.

The powerhouses among the invaders had found some weaknesses in the Three-headed Dog during their assaults. Still, all the strategies proposed during their meetings had an unavoidable flaw.

The puppets were rank 6 weapons in the upper tier, but the organizations only had access to liquid stage powerhouses at best. The difference in sheer power between the defenders and the invaders was too steep to overcome without external help.

Of course, the powerhouses had made those calculations without considering Noah's power. He had yet to join that battlefield, and the experts couldn't create accurate strategies without knowing how much he had grown.

Noah's return put in motion strategies that had been impossible to apply without him. The invaders could now test the puppets' prowess more accurately and hope to reclaim their lost land.

Great Elder Diana, God's Left Hand, and Noah gathered near the region containing the Three-headed Dog. A month had passed since the events with Second Prince, and the leaders of the three organizations had finally completed the preparations for a powerful assault.

The attack would feature only the three of them at that time. The trio's role was to test the puppets' structural limits and see if they could hope to destroy it without creating something on a similar level.

"You have the highest piercing power," Great Elder Diana said while looking toward Noah. "We'll open a path through the flames. See if you can break that red metal."

Noah didn't answer, but the Demonic Sword flew out of his space-ring and landed in his hand. That gesture was enough to express his compliance with the strategy.

The trio flew toward the mountain chain in the region in front of them, and a golden halo soon filled the sky as flames surged from the ground.

A massive Three-headed Dog came out of the mountains and began to roar toward the three powerhouses. Flames came out of its red skin and amassed inside its mouths.

The Matriarchs attacked before the puppet could gather enough energy to attack. The previous attacks had taught them how long the creature needed to launch its flames, so they didn't fear its offensive.

A series of dense lightning bolts shot out of black lenses and crashed on the golden flames surrounding the Dog. That attack didn't manage to destroy the fire, but it destabilized its structure.

God's Left Hand waved her damaged inscribed fan, and a series of dense gales blew from her figure to converge on the spot damaged by Great Elder Diana.

The fire in that spot crumbled, and a narrow path opened through the puppet's innate defenses. Noah's blade descended at that point. He wouldn't waste the chance created by the Matriarchs.