The underground organizations managed to survive the battles during the first day and successfully defended the peripheral islands.
Reorganizing the troops though was a problem, the three islands where the forces of the continent had attacked had seen harsh battles with a high number of casualties on both sides, but the biggest issue came from the other battlefields.
The Hive controlled about ninety islands, that number was needed to completely isolate the archipelago, not even an island could be lost or the setting of the copying technique would be hindered.
The cultivators on those other islands had to face the assault of the legal organizations, the Hive had far more human assets than them but they also had more enemies to face.
Considering that about two hundred and fifty rank 3 cultivators had to be deployed to face the forces of the continent, there weren't many powerful troops available for the other islands.
Yet, with the many traps laid by the joint forces of the Hive and the cautious nature of the legal organizations, those islands were successfully defended.
The continent and the legal organizations had no idea that the Chasing Demon sect had gained access to the copying technique, they were even unaware that a technique that defied common sense as that one existed!
That's why they would rather take the slow and safe approach than going for a full power offensive, the Hive had fewer troops and couldn't hope in reinforcements, the continent thought that it could slowly drain the Hive's forces and eventually wait for more reinforcements if it was still unable to reclaim the captured islands.
Noah stared with cold eyes at the sh.i.p.s at some distance from the shore, the atmosphere on the island was tense, especially after the elders' orders.
A week had passed since the last battle, the human assets of the Hive had worked at full speed to reorganize themselves and fix or deploy traps and formations, they didn't know when the next attack would come so it was better to be ready at any time.
'We are left with less than forty rank 3 cultivators to defend this side, the next battle will leave us powerless.'
Noah thought as he analyzed the remaining forces on the island that he was appointed to defend.
Many cultivators in the third rank had died in the first wave of attacks, leaving many islands in a defenseless situation.
Cultivators had to be deployed there to cover those battlefields but the Hive was already using all its human assets, it could only relocate the cultivators deployed in the three important battlefields to refill the ranks of the other islands.
Of course, that relocation weakened the forces that had to face the troops of the continent, forcing the various underground organizations to take drastic measures to improve their battle prowess.
Noah turned his head toward the hundreds of stiff youths in the distance behind him, they were rank 1 cultivators who had a rank 1 sea of consciousness, the Hive had decided to deploy even its weakest assets to slightly boost the defenses on the islands.
Also, the Chasing Demon sect had willingly revealed the large number of inscribed weapons that Noah had retrieved from the separate dimension.
Noah didn't know what kind of agreement the elders of the various branches of the Hive had reached, but he could see that most cultivators wielded brand new inscribed weapons, it didn't seem to matter from which organization they came from.
'Hoping that an army of well-equipped ants might bring us to victory is a bit too desperate, I guess the copying technique is nearing completion at least.'
That was the only reason that Noah could think of when he saw the weapons that he had left in the inventory being freely wielded by cultivators belonging to different organizations.
'War and corpses are the foundation of a country, the Hive will experience a rebirth if it survives this tribulation.'
Noah closed his eyes as he sighed internally, he remembered the struggles that he had endured when he was a simple rank 1 cultivator, he knew the feeling of being powerless against the decisions of those controlling you.
That's why securing the archipelago was so important in his mind, the world was filled by monsters and amazing beings, there was a limit to how much one could escape their gaze.
'Not for love, nor respect, nor honor, nor belonging. I must fight this battle for myself, to lay my foundation toward higher ranks.'
Noah steeled his determination with that reminder.
It wasn't that he didn't like the Chasing Demon sect, he had progressed incredibly quickly in its environment and he was also able to retrieve the Inheritance of Divine Demon thanks to it.
Yet, Noah had always put his personal power above everything, pursuing strength had been the strongest drive of his second life, he would think about the well-being of his sect only after he had secured his position.
Another week passed, an eerie silence filled the peripheral islands of the archipelago as the forces of the Hive waited for the next assault of the continent and the legal organizations, only Noah felt glad of each second that passed without signs of attacks.
Then, a buzzing sound reached his mind, a message saying that the sh.i.p.s near the shore were closing in resounded inside his mental sphere.
Noah didn't cultivate in those days, he wanted to be at his peak form before the battle.
He had sat still in a cross-legged position with his eyes closed, he used that time to sharpen his thoughts as much as he could and decide which role would he play in the next battle.
The sh.i.p.s reached the purple shore and Noah opened his eyes before standing up and sending orders through his notebook.
"Attack the sh.i.p.s."
Noah's order echoed in the minds of the cultivators in the island, a torrent of multicolored lights shot from the ground and landed on the docked sh.i.p.s.
The inscriptions on the hulls lit up and shone with a silver color, forming large silver layers around the sh.i.p.s.
The spells of the cultivators of the Hive could only land on those protective layers, the silver light radiated by those shields repelled the attacks uncaringly of how numerous they were.
'Pointless, as expected.'
Noah thought as he ordered to stop the long-distance assault and wait for the frontal clash, the second battle for the control of the archipelago had started.