Birth of the Demonic Sword

Evan died without revealing anything, the only clues about his origin were the runes on his skin.

Noah looked at the corpse below him, the two holes on his body soon stopped spurting blood, he couldn't help but feel satisfied as he analyzed them.

'A mighty heroic cultivator has died by my hand, I'm more than halfway into that realm.'

Noah thought as he reviewed the battle in his mind.

The assassin had a rank 4 body in the upper tier, Noah guessed that its ability was connected to the fast movement of his hands.

Yet, even if the rank of Evan's body was higher, it couldn't compare to Noah's one.

Also, Evan was limited in his attack methods.

His rank 4 dantian made his martial art extremely threatening but his spells were lacking, they had only been able to repel Noah's flames while being unable to withstand his physical strength.

However, it was mainly thanks to his body that Noah had been able to defeat him, the liquid "Breath" inside his dantian simply didn't allow him to slowly destroy his defenses which had been prepared according to his most dangerous attacks.

'The Mental tremor spell and the Ghostly claws spells are awesome but they can be countered if a cultivator has made enough preparation, I was only able to hit him with the ethereal claws when I hid them inside my flames.'

Analyzing his battles had always made Noah able to see the weaknesses of his battle style and, right now, his most troublesome flaw was the lack of a powerful "Breath" to fuel his abilities.

While Noah was immersed in his thoughts, a powerful consciousness swept his position.

Noah felt it and recognized it, he turned in its direction while performing a bow and speaking through his mind.

"Greetings, Elder Amber, I'm sorry for this mess."

Elder Amber was the heroic cultivator stationed by the Hive in the encampment in Afria nation, Noah had already spoken with her when he had teleported from the archipelago.

"I sensed a huge discharge of rank 4 "Breath" but I didn't know it was you the one battling with it, I would have come sooner otherwise."

Elder Amber descended from the sky as she answered Noah, she wore a long blue robe with golden tentacles embroidered on its sleeves, that color matched her long golden hair that slowly fluttered in the wind.

Noah simply shook his head as he accepted her explanation.

"Your main concern is to keep the encampment safe, there was no need to expose your presence for this small matter."

Noah words made Elder Amber's eyebrow arc, she stared at the reptilian eyes of the man in front of her with an expressionless face for a while before she gave voice to her thoughts.

"Defeating a heroic cultivator, even if not a complete one, definitely isn't a small matter. The power of your mind is stupefying as always, Prince, and it seems that the resources of the Hive have finally managed to produce results, the Patriarch was right in trusting in your potential."

Elder Amber analyzed Noah's body as she spoke, she felt some sort of primordial danger being radiated by him.

Noah understood that the Elder had realized something when he felt her gaze all over his body but he didn't do anything to hide it, he simply felt no reason to do so.

Rather than hiding his power, Noah was mostly interested in finding out who had sent the assassin.

"Elder, do you recognize these runes?"

Noah spoke as he pointed at the skin of the maimed corpse next to him.

"These runes should belong to some cultivation technique created in the Royal academy but I'm not completely sure. Also, they might have been used on purpose to mask the origin of the cultivator… Prince, who would be willing to send a heroic cultivator to kill you?"

Elder Amber spoke, confirming part of Noah's suspects.

The assassin had Noah's profile, he knew about the encampment, and had a rank 4 dantian, only a big nation could have the means to prepare such an ambush.

Among the big nations, the only one that hated and feared Noah to the point of using someone in the heroic ranks was the Utra nation.

"Probably the Elbas family, they must be really scared about losing the Royal Inheritance."

Noah spoke without restraints, the elders of the Hive were aware of the Royal Inheritance after all.

Elder Amber nodded, she had a similar opinion about the matter.

"Do you mind if I take the corpse? I might not be able to obtain anything but I'm sure that the Patriarch can force them to pay us."

Noah turned his head toward the corpse when he heard those words.

He had already eaten the most nourishing part of the cultivator and the runes on his body had stopped working when Evan died.

Also, the body of a cultivator contained far less "Breath" than a magical beast on its same rank, Noah decided that it was more important as a bargaining chip rather than as a quick meal.

Noah's mental waves enveloped the finger of the assassin where his space-ring was and lifted the storage device in the air, making it land directly in Noah's grasp.

Then, he gestured to the elder to take the corpse, Evan's body disappeared as soon as Elder Amber waved her hand.

"We can't isolate ourselves but we can't even create a stable foothold on the continent. The encampments will remain operational for a few more months before we will be forced to retreat, only time will tell if the Coral archipelago can aim to become the fourth big nation."

Elder Amber sighed as she spoke those words, she seemed to treat Noah as her equal as she rose in the air and waited for him to follow her.

"I'm currently unable to fly, Elder, the battle has injured my puppet."

Elder Amber nodded when she heard Noah's words and simply flew above him as he moved on foot back to the encampment.

Just before reaching the encampment though, Elder Amber turned her head and pointed at Noah's face.

"Clean the blood from your face before meeting the human assets at least."

Only then did Noah realize that traces of blood were still on his mouth from when he ate Evan's dantian.