Birth of the Demonic Sword

The entire mountain chain shook as the three powerful attacks spread their power through the lands. The grounds, the rivers, and the mountains vanished as the different abilities unleashed their destructive might.

A storm of violent dark matter continued to rage through the mountain chain even after Divine Demon and Sword Saint's abilities finished discharging their power. Still, a small area in the region appeared unaffected by that phenomenon.

"Why did you attack?!" Steven shouted while looking at the trio.

"It's quicker to find them like this," Noah answered.

"I wanted to cut something," Sword Saint added.

"I just went along," Divine Demon said while shrugging his shoulders.

"Shouldn't you try to recruit them?" Steven complained. "How is launching deadly attacks helping the mission?"

"That's usually how I recruit experts," Noah replied, and Steven remained speechless when a few members of the group nodded to confirm his answer.

"We almost killed each other in the Mortal Lands," King Elbas explained.

"I love him," June replied while wearing an annoyed expression, "So I launch a few lightning bolts at him every once in a while. Isn't that how relationships work?"

"I almost killed him when I cooperated with the Crystal City," Luke continued.

Steven turned toward the other experts almost expecting similar answers, but they didn't follow that trend. Yet, their words didn't make him feel any better.

"He is my heir!" Divine Demon shouted. "I only throw him into other fights."

"I fought him only after his ascension," Sword Saint continued. "Cutting him before he learnt decent sword arts would have been pointless."

"The Legion only tested his physical strength back then," Jordan explained.

"I did try to kill him now that I think about it," Robert added, "But I died a few times after that. Does it still count? It's not the same life in the end."

Steven firmly believed that he had ended up in the most dysfunctional team in the entire higher plane after watching that scene. All of them seemed completely crazy. Even the most stable among them had done something that would normally prevent a peaceful relationship with their current companions.

"Something is coming," Noah announced while the storms on the ground started to disperse.

The previous attacks had ended up destroying many inscriptions. The Rotway family had a large mansion hidden near one of the mountains in the area, but the offensive forced the building to reveal itself.

Noah and the others could see the mansion among the dispersing violent dark matter. The Rotway family had built some additional structures around it, and many of them featured holes that led directly inside the nearby mountains.

'The mines must be there,' Noah concluded in his mind, and his companions shared his thoughts.

A series of figures suddenly came out of the mansion and shot toward the sky. They didn't immediately attack Noah's group. Instead, they stopped at some distance from the experts to hold a conversation.

Five cultivators appeared in the sky. Most of them were old, but two of them had a solid stage cultivation level. The others were liquid stage experts who couldn't help but stare at the enemy group in fear.

"Why did you even attack us?" One of the solid stage cultivators asked. "I didn't leave the human domain for too long. The other forces should still remember the name Elmer Rotway."

One of his companions inspected the enemy group before whispering something in Elmer's ear. The cultivator's eyes widened at those words, and a confused expression soon appeared on his face.

"Why is Defying Demon here?" Elmer asked. "I thought you had gone to the other side of the Immortal Lands with one of my promising descendants. Where is Harold?"

"We don't know anything about any Harold!" Divine Demon shouted, but Noah patted his shoulder and took control of that conversation.

"Harold is one of my underlings now," Noah revealed. "He lives in the Legion's domain."

"How can we even believe you?" Elmer asked. "We didn't receive any word from him, and you are here attacking us now. How do you explain this behavior?"

"It was quicker than waiting for Steven to complete his inspection," Noah replied.

"Steven?" Elmar asked. "Steven from the secret organization?"

"Why did you even expose my identity?!" Steven shouted.

"Who cares?" Noah snorted. "They'll become allies or corpses anyway. What's the point of keeping your name a secret?"

"Let me decide that!" Steven complained.

"You lost that chance when you became my underling," Noah exclaimed.

"I have never become your underling!" Steven yelled, but King Elbas promptly nodded to confirm that line.

Moreover, a tinge of helplessness came out of King Elbas' figure during that gesture. Steven could sense that his recruitment didn't go smoothly either.

"Are you done?" Elmer asked. "I won't listen to the non-sensical words of my enemies."

"You might want to hear me first," Noah announced. "I'm creating a large army to fight against Heaven and Earth. Are some of you interested?"

The sudden question left the five cultivators speechless. Noah had gone from attacking their home to trying to recruit them for a massive battle in an instant. His words didn't respect any political tradition.

"The Rotway family won't bend itself to your request," Elmer explained. "Our beliefs are none of your business."

"I don't care about them either," Noah laughed. "I only want experts willing to break free of this intricate social array."

"Do it somewhere else then," Elmer proposed. "Creating wars over these topics is pointless."

"How would I know that you aren't failures otherwise?" Noah asked.

Noah had chosen his words casually. He could sense the experts' auras, and his instincts began to inspect their figures.

It was hard to understand whether an expert was Heaven and Earth's follower, but Noah had access to a powerful tool in his arsenal for that task. His anger could detect the rulers even if the cultivators tried to hide their influence, and that feeling inevitably found something among the group from the Rotway family.

"I guess you all know that three of you work for Heaven and Earth, right?" Noah asked as a cold smirk appeared on his face.

His instincts had never failed to gain a clear picture of his opponents, and his anger had only helped in that situation. Three members of that group carried faint traces of Heaven and Earth, and they were even trying to hide them with multiple abilities.

"Our beliefs don't change the fact that we are an organization," Elmer continued. "It doesn't matter who we worship. We are still members of the Rotway family."

"Harold didn't think the same," Noah laughed before pointing toward Elmer. "It's easy to defend your position when you are one of those worshipping Heaven and Earth."

A tremor ran through the faces of the five cultivators. Elmer's companions inevitably turned toward him, but Noah wasn't over.

"The woman there is the same," Noah explained. "The young-looking guy also is Heaven and Earth's follower. The Rotway family must have many of them if its upper echelon is in this state."

"Your words can't break the trust built through generations," Elmer shouted. "Look at my companions! Do you think any of them will ever start to doubt my worth over mere words?"

Elmer turned at that point, but his expression froze when he looked at his companions. They were inspecting each other and him while keeping their heads lowered. It seemed that Noah's taunts had worked.