The three powerhouses didn't move after Ravaging Demon's death. Chasing Demon stored the sheet and joined his ally in her stare toward King Elbas.
The leader of the Royals' behavior would decide how the situation would unfold. They could have an all-out battle there, or retreat and return to their respective domains.
Of course, the leaders of the alliance didn't want to fight there. King Elbas was a formidable opponent, and his stash of inscribed items would most likely keep him alive against the joint offensive of his two enemies.
That was the best outcome that Chasing Demon and Great Elder Diana could picture in their minds. There was the chance that King Elbas could overwhelm both of them.
Moreover, the Council and the Hive would gain the most out of a break in the hostilities. They could slowly suppress the Elbas family in the safety of their domains and eventually launch a war once the Royals declined.
King Elbas' flames showed signs of instability from time to time. Absorbing the dying Ravaging Demon wasn't a natural process, and any sudden increase of power usually required a period of cultivation to stabilize the improvements.
The leader of the Royals couldn't suppress that instability. No matter how hard he tried, some of his flames would flicker, exuding Ravaging Demon's destructiveness in the process.
The alliance's powerhouses didn't overlook that, and they tried to memorize the instabilities' rhythm to use it to their advantage in case a battle happened.
King Elbas noticed their attentive gazes, and his expression became pensive as mysterious thoughts filled his mind. He seemed busy performing profound calculations in the span of those short instants.
Then, he abruptly turned and left to fly in the direction of his domain.
Chasing Demon and Great Elder Diana heaved a sigh of relief at that scene. The sole fact that King Elbas had considered the idea of fighting both of them was a sign that he could do it.
The two powerhouses couldn't possibly guess the real value of the assets created by the existence known as the best inscription master in those Mortal Lands. They didn't know what he had managed to build in the years spent ruling his family.
The two of them flew toward each other and exchanged a few words that the trio on the ground couldn't hear. The war against the Ravaging Demon sect was virtually over, so they needed to discuss how they would divide the gains.
The terms of the alliance would typically force them to divide everything equally, but those territories were the Council's home. The Hive could give them back in exchange for more assets and some concession.
Many cultivators of the Ravaging Demon sect had survived the battles. They were too valuable to be executed. It was better to turn them into manpower that could slowly gain the trust of the victorious organizations.
Great Elder Diana left first, and Chasing Demon neared the trio on the ground. There was a complicated expression on his face. Part of him appeared happy, but there was helplessness behind his smile.
The Demons wore a similar expression when they looked at their old friend. The pain that had festered for a thousand years was still there, but they had managed to find closure in the end.
Their emotions surged as they reunited, and Noah distanced himself from them out of respect for their sorrow. Since no one had given him any explicit order, he flew back into the underground hall to meditate in front of Divine Elder Tabitha's statue.
Noah reviewed the images of the powerhouses' battle as the eerie aura helped his mind explore the world of the laws. His thoughts felt smoother near the statue, and understanding soon dawned upon him.
The rocky ground around the statue trembled slightly as Noah's consciousness expanded, carrying the understanding he had just gained. The dark matter came out of his heart and fused with part of the terrain before two golems grew out of it.
The golems initially had vague facial features, but they became clearer as Noah lost himself in his craving for life. Details appeared on both of them, and even robes soon shaped around the two rocky figures.
Noah opened his eyes when he felt that the process had ended. The innate coldness in his reptilian eyes vanished as he turned toward the two golems to inspect them.
They were different from Chasing Demon's powerful puppets. They were golems that depicted two crucial figures that Noah had lost during his cultivation journey.
One of them depicted Lily, whom Noah still remembered down to the slightest detail. The puppet had managed to represent her delicate features and caring gaze, and it even showed some of her usual bruises.
The other depicted a young William Challi wearing a sleepy expression but with an expression similar to Lily's.
Noah stared at them without showing any emotion. He knew how Heaven and Earth handled the souls of living beings, so he was sure that a proper resurrection was impossible. Yet, looking gave birth to a soft sorrow inside him.
Noah didn't forget that the two of them had been essential at the beginning of his cultivation journey. Without them protecting and training him, Noah's power would have never grown so quickly.
Anger appeared inside him too. Part of him regretted the aloofness that he had carried with him from his past life. Lily and William had given him nothing more than love and care, but Noah had rewarded them with coldness and death.
It couldn't be helped. Noah could only think about his power back then, and it had taken him a long journey to accept his human side.
He had to spend decades fighting, betraying, and escaping to awaken that part of him, which culminated with his love for June.
Noah's stare toward the golems became intense. Understanding of the laws of creation became clear in his mind as his emotions surged.
He knew he could turn those puppets into proper lifeforms now. There was little that he couldn't do in that particular mental state. He could even copy their personality, making the golems resemble those two important figures quite vividly.
"The past can only drag you down," Chasing Demon's voice suddenly echoed in the underground hall. Noah didn't need to turn to sense that the three Demons had entered the area.
"I know," Noah replied as his hand rose to point at the two golems. "This feeling can force life into inanimate matter, but it can never bring what you lost back."
Chasing Demon sat next to Noah, and the other Demons did the same. The four remained silent, lost in their thoughts and emotions as Divine Elder Tabitha's statue enhanced their mental capabilities.
Noah slowly closed his hand after a while, and the two puppets crumbled. His emotions became sable again, but that craving for life remained and became part of him.