Noah wasn't at his peak. The loss of his Blood Companion had removed one of his most reliable weapons, and he didn't have time to find a replacement during his period of healing. Also, he had to review the Body-inscription spell to understand why it didn't suit his darkness, which was something that didn't allow him to express its full power.
However, he wasn't too weakened either. He had already stopped relying on his Blood Companion in the battles against the rank 5 cultivators of the Empire because he had far stronger abilities at hand.
Of course, the lack of his last line of defense would force him to be a bit more careful in case another old monster snapped and unleashed their centennial accumulation on him. Still, he didn't plan to hold back or, rather, he wasn't sure that the situation allowed him to do so.
The troops of the Empire set off from the castles and rose in the sky to face the three armies that had gathered in that territory to take control of the traces left by divine existences. The army that they formed appeared majestic. It featured twenty rank 5 cultivators and more than a hundred experts in the fourth rank that looked at the enemies with resolute expressions.
They appeared ready to die to defend that area.
A swarm of human cultivators followed their appearance. The surface of the mountains became crowded, and thousands of warriors prepared themselves for the imminent clash.
Noah felt surprised to discover that most of those human troops were cultivators in the third rank!
'The reserves of the Empire are amazing,' Noah thought. The number of human assets of the Empire was simply incredible. No other organization could even come close to that manpower. However, the Empire wasn't facing just one force.
Noah moved his attention to his side, where heroic cultivators dressed with three different types of robes hovered in the sky and analyzed the battlefield.
The Elbas family had deployed eight cultivators in the fifth rank and more than forty in the fourth rank, and it had relied even on the noble families under its control to fill those spots. All its assets though wore the golden robes of the Royal family and performed a series of analyses with items that Noah didn't recognize.
June wasn't among them. Noah guessed that she was still busy tuning her techniques and spells to her new lightning. After all, she didn't spend thirty years testing and improving them as he had done, and her new energy required even more attention than his darkness.
Her well-being didn't worry him since she had the key that opened the separate dimension with her. Even if the Royals started to suspect something, she would just leave.
The Council counted eight rank 5 cultivators too and a bit less than forty rank 4 Elders. Its assets wore green robes filled with protective inscriptions, and they assembled in peculiar battle formations as they prepared for the imminent battle.
Noah didn't see Faith either. Yet, she and June were basically on the same level, which meant that she was probably tuning her abilities too, or simply preparing for a significant breakthrough.
'June should be far stronger now,' Noah had that random thought as he moved his gaze toward the cultivators next to him. He believed that the centers of power of the two women were on the same level, but June had access to higher energy, which put her far above her peers.
The Hive had deployed many assets too, but their numbers paled compared to those of the allied forces. There were only twenty-five rank 4 Elders on Noah's side and six cultivators in the fifth rank if Noah included himself.
Elder Justin didn't return to the territories of the Hive when Noah rejoined the battlefield because the fight in front of them was simply too important. However, Noah was surprised to see Amos Udye wearing the robe of the Hive and standing side by side with the other Elders and Danielle.
It seemed that the Hive had decided to give a chance to the Udye family and was using that decisive battle as a sort of test.
Truth to be told, all the heroic cultivators of the Udye family had to swear strict oaths when they joined the Hive. Those oaths weren't like those of the Elbas family and didn't restrict the freedom of the nobles. It just prevented them from ever betraying the Hive and forced them to follow the orders of the higher-ups of their new organizations.
Nevertheless, Chasing Demon didn't want to welcome those nobles too soon and had left them inside Noah's dome to see how they behaved. The current battle then arrived, and the Patriarch decided that it was time to test Amos' reliability by making him join the fray.
The human troops of the invading forces arrived too and prepared for the battle. They formed a sea of cultivators that used various methods to defend themselves from the pressure created by the environment of the new continent.
The Hive had to deploy actual human cultivators together with the hybrids since the chaos caused by Peaceful Storm. Yet, the overall power of its human troops didn't decrease since there were many elites among them.
"Prince," Elder Julia neared Noah when she noticed his arrival, "Do you need another explanation of the defenses of the area?"
Noah shook his head at her question. She had already sent him a detailed report that described the protections uncovered by the Council during its first attack.
The castles acted as the cores of a vast formation, but the area had multiple defensive methods, and the Council had managed to trigger three of them during their previous offensive. Its troops had to face the blue pillars found in the other cities, strange shadow figures that imitated their abilities, and a series of hybrids caged inside the mountains with special chains.
There were bound to be more defenses, but the invaders had more heroic and human assets, which gave them some confidence in challenging those protections. However, none of the three forces believed that they would conquer that territory in just one assault.
They knew too little about that area, and they would have to face the army of the Empire at the same time. The odds weren't in their favor.
"The Elbas family will record everything and prepare countermeasures for the next battle," Elder Julia began to explain their strategy. "The Council will take care of defending against the defensive methods with their battle formations. As for us, we have to reduce their number of heroic assets. We stand no chance if we have to deal with the army and the formations at the same time."
Noah nodded at her words. The plan made use of the specialization of each organization and would limit the casualties on their side if nothing unusual happened.
The Demonic Sword roared as Noah wielded it and scanned the battlefield to look for a suitable opponent, only to find Countless Wings staring at him with clear battle intent in her eyes.