Chapter 17: The Hive makes their move
The three big nations began to plan their next moves, even rank 5 cultivators were sent to better explore the new land and to assess how valuable those traces of divine beings were .<* >
The Dark Gourge found by the Utra Nation.
The first Water Stele found by the Empire.
The different second Water Stele found by the Papral Nation.
The Divine Cut, Lava Lake and Earth Footprint found by Forossa, while the Water Stele that Forossa let the Empire take temporary control over will soon be back in Tallon's hands.
The Shandal Empire had also found a forest where shining fruits grew, their brilliance was able to momentarily improve the mental capabilities of the heroic cultivators that had found them, it was unclear how effective they would be once eaten.<* >
As time passed on the four Nation's Leaders became more paranoid, yes even Tallon, and so they had sent more Cultivators in the Heroic Ranks, while Tallon had sent thousands of Rank 3 Cultivators to the his territories on the New Continent to increase the speed of his Rank 3 assets at rising through the ranks and become Rank 4 Heroic Cultivators as soon as possible.
To enable them to safely cultivate on the New Continent, Tallon had already prepared a solution years prior to the New Continent's emergence in the world.
He created obelisks similar to the ones that the Utra Nation, but his had a different feature since it would make it so that the Breath in the surroundings would be reduced and absorbed by the obelisk.
The obelisk was created by him personally so it would easily be able to handle the large amounts of Breath in the environment while Cultivators can absorb the Breath from the Obelisk, or the Obelisk would send that Breath into the various other Formations and Runes throughout the territory allowing for said Formations to remain active indefinitely.
While wveryone was fighting for control over the New Continent, the Archipelago or more specifically the organisation that now rules the Archipelago, The Hive led by Chasing Demon, had taken advantage of the distraction of the New Continent and traveled to the Old Continent.
Once there they had been able to recruit more and more Cultivators from the other nations on the Old Continent to joining The Hive.
Even though they were stronger and had more Heroic Cultivators than they did in the original timeline thanks to Tallon's interference in this world, they were still the weakest faction when compared to the other Nation's Forces.
Especially when they had learned a fifth Faction had mysteriously emerged out of nowhere and had already been colonising the New Continent ahead of any of the ither big Nations.
Forossa was an unknown, and Chasing Demon was taking any risks, he needed more Heroic Cultivators in The Hive if they were to stand a chance against the others.
The Hive was able to infiltrate the Papral and Utra Nation to recruit individuals but not the Empire.
It was because the Empire had a central power able to control the entirety of its cultivators, the Utra nation and the Papral nation could only gain access to a percentage of the entirety of their heroic assets.<* >
That was caused by their political system, the noble families held a large percentage of the heroic assets in the Utra nation and the same went for the sects in the Papral nation, the Royals and the Council couldn't deploy powerful cultivators as easily as the Empire, not without giving away part of their profits at least.<* >
That inevitably led the Council and the Elbas family to give up to part of their control over their areas of influence to match the Empire in its exploration of the new continent, opening many paths were the Hive could infiltrate.<* >
New encampments were created, the Hive decided to directly affect the nations under the control of the Utra nation and Papral nation that time without even trying to hide its operations that much.
Of course, the Hive could move so freely on the old continent because it was completely forsaking any claim on the new land, at least for the time being.<* >
Like that, time passed<* >
The Hive continued to recruit human cultivators from the nations that sought freedom while the four big nations kept exploring and investing resources on the new land to find other leftovers of divine beings and to make some areas livable by their human assets.<* >
Also, their heroic assets were making incredible gains there, many cultivators were enlightened or found the resources that they needed to continue in their respective experiments.<* >
Simply speaking, the human assets of the Hive became stronger while the three big nations increased the power of their heroic ones .<* >
The latter was obviously benefiting more but there wasn't much that the Hive could do, it could only wait until it was strong enough to claim a piece of the new land .<* >
Every organization seemed to have entered a frenzied state and each one of them was managing to avoid useless battles, it was pointless to fight in front of such an abundance of resources, the war for the most resourceful territories would come after the entire continent had been explored .<* >
It was then, four years after the Piece of the Immortal Lands has fallen that Noah Balvan on island nineteen of the Coral Archipelago had his Tribulation and became a Rank 4 Cultivator.
The exploration and colonization of the new continent were continuing and its deepest parts had yet to be reached but some information began to leak outside of the three factions studying it .<* >
The environment of the archipelago had also changed, more defenses had been built and even the structures on its poorest islands had been completely improved .<* >
Also, its population had doubled since the war with the continent, cultivators filled the streets of the cities on each island .<* >
• Elder Julia (Rank 5) <Leader >
• Elder Austin (Fire Rank 5) <Co-Leader >
• Noah Balvan (Darkness Rank 4 Gaseous) <Demon Prince of The Hive>
• Elder Hope (Wind Rank 4 Liquid)
• Elder Duke (Rank 4 Gaseous)
• Elder Laurel (Fire Rank 4 Gaseous)
• Elder Morgan (Water Rank 4 Gaseous)
• Jason (Rank 4 Gaseous)
• Pansy (Rank 4 Gaseous)
Two Rank 5 Cultivators
One Rank 4 Liquid Cultivator
Six Rank 4 Gaseous Cultivators
This is the forces that the Hive had decided to send to the New Continent.
Because the Hive was stronger than the original timeline, they were able to deploy more assets in the Heroic Ranks to explore the New Continent.
In the original novel, Elder Austin, Jason and Pansy were some of the additional reinforcements sent to the New Continent once the teleportation matrix was created.
However, this time they are part of the exploration group.
Tallon was aware of where they would first arrive at and as such he had sent Alecto and Tiche to personally spy on Noah and his group. Tiche would forever be Noah's shadow, always knowing where he is and what he was doing.
I had full confidence in Tiche since she and her mother were the ones to capture a Demigod like Godwyn the Golden who alone had defeated the Dragon Gransax, who's body I was in the process of reviving to be my personal Dragon mount and Oath-sworn Dragon.
Not only that but Godwyn had defeated Fortissax and befriended him long ago during the Dragon Wars.
Tiche was capable of remaining hidden from even him in his prime, that is something to not scoff at since I had personally tested the Black Knife Assasins.
The result was that I legitimately could not detect Tiche even with my strongest sensory abilities, however I was able to sense all the others completely and Alecto slightly.
If I could not sense Tiche, then not even Chasing Demon would be able to, let alone Noah himself.
As for Noah and the group, they had arrived at the same region they did in the original by going around the New Continent to arrive at the Desert region on the Northern Coast.
The Rank 4 armoured Sandworms had attacked Noah's group while Noah used his Hybrid status to release a roar to subdue the worms and deal with them.
Noah lied when the others asked on how he could imitate a magical beast's roars.
Noah was elected to the position of temporarily leading the group in finding a suitable and safe location for the Hive to claim as their encampment location, since he was the expert amongst them regarding magical beasts.
They went north, along the coastline, the desert expanded for a few kilometers before being replaced with small rivers that favored the birth of some vegetation.<* >
The group soon discovered though that the rivers were inhabited by packs of rank 4 Poisonous frogs that had tainted that environment with their toxic saliva, altering many of the magical plants there .<* >
As they continued they came across a thick forest which followed the area with rivers, small trees with large crowns occupied the environment, their white leaves gave an eerie atmosphere to the area.<* >
"These are White woods, they are magical plants that release toxins in the air to kill any living beings that enter their range . They then let the corpses nourish the terrain from which they take their nourishment. This place can work!"
Elder Laurel spoke but a series of confused gazes were shot in her direction .<* >
Even Noah felt confused, she had just said that the air around them was toxic, how could that area be suitable for the creation of a foothold?<* >
Yet, he didn't feel any threat coming from those trees, even his dragon's instincts didn't sense anything .<* >
"The toxins of the White woods become more powerful when the trees are starving or when they are attacked, the air is virtually clean now since the terrain is rich of nourishments . This area is perfect as long as we don't affect the vegetation" Elder Laurel explained.
The terrain of the piece of Immortal Lands was filled with "Breath", the amount of nourishment that it provided was more than enough for those White woods, they simply didn't need to hunt thanks to that .<* >
"This will do then . Elder Duke, Elder Morgan, begin the preparations for the teleportation matrix . Elder Laurel will assist you to be sure that your work doesn't affect the magical plants here . I and the Prince will explore the surrounding areas . "<* >
Elder Hope ordered and flew higher in the sky, Noah followed her while the other three elders went on the ground, immersing themselves in the white forest .<* >
"Pick a direction . "
Elder Hope spoke to Noah when he reached her, his consciousness spread in the surrounding area and his reptilian eyes analyzed the environment far in the distance but he couldn't find anything peculiar .<* >
"East . "
In the end, Noah simply chose the direct
ion that would bring him deeper into the continent .<* >
"Good, I'll go back on the desert and explore the southern coast, let's meet here in five days . "
Elder Hope ordered and began to fly south to return to the desert where they had met the rank 5 Giant sandworm .<* >
***************
Black Knife Assasin, Tiche the Demigod Slayer pov:
Having trailed behind the group on the ground was an annoyance but one that didn't interfere with carrying out the orders given to me by Lord Tallon.
Lord Tallon had used his Godly powers after slaying the God Marika to create a loyal mount for me possessing tremendous mystical powers and abilities to further aid me in my assignments.
The shadow horse was also given as a reward for my past achievements.
The fisrt was in aiding in the capture of Godwyn the Golden on the Night of Black Knives and the other was because I had succeed in a test meant to see which one of us were worthy of carrying out the assignment I am now carrying out.
However, I had once asked my Lord of why he gave me the title of Demigod Slayer when I have killed none.
His answer was that I would have had he not been the one to kill Godwyn, instead that would have fallen to me. In addition, my exceptional abilities had even surpassed my mother in his own words as not even he could detect me while I did my best to remain hidden from him.
I was shocked that i surpassed my mother to the point that our God Tallon could not even sense me!
That is why I trained Night and Day with this new body which required no rest nor biological needs.
I chose to become a Hybrid upon my Lord's offer when be approached me about becoming one, without hesitation knowing I could enhance my current abilities and level of power to better serve my God!
(A/n Tallon revered as a deity for his fairness and benevolence to all those that were once persecuted or suffered at the hands of Marika. Hewg was tortured into obedience by Marika and imprisoned at Roundtable Hold to help the Tarnished Player to make a weapon strong enough to kill the Elden Beast. While the Black Knife Assasins were punished and blamed for the Night of Black Knives for Godwyn's death. But Tallon undid all that and rewarded them greatly thus gaining their complete loyalty and he is worshiped as a God since whoever is the vessel of the Elden Ring, just like Marika (and Radagon), then they are literally a God in Elden Ring verse. In game, Tiche is killed protecting her mother Alecto when fleeing the Capital in one of the Sieges of Leyndell after the Shattering War began. Alecto is found in an Evergol prison to the North-West of the Moonlight Alter Site of Grace. She drops Tiche summon ashes upon defeat. Which is the best in the game since Tiche deals Destined Death damage type)
My Lord presented me with a "Beast Mimic Tear" as he calls it, which I touched upon his command.
Once I the silvery slime being solidified and became a large and unique creature of the Darkness element.
My Lord was suprised by my aptitude being Darkness but also that the creature the Beast Mimic Tear created was what he called a "mix between a wolf, dragon and raven".
(Image)
This was the beast which i fused with and became a Hybrid of.
*boom*
I stopped reminising on the past and how I got here as I saw that my target, Noah Balvan had suddenly kicked the air, creating shockwaves that resounded in the area as he disappeared in an instant to a great distance ahead.
I couldn't pursue him on groumd anymore as he was travelimg at his maximum speed without holding back.
The horse which I rode on that I named Shadow, a simple name but one I prefer, began to gallop at full speed as he slowly ascended high into the skies above as a shadowy platform formed under each one of his hooves I rode him after Noah Balvan.
I had ensured the two us were concealed with various spells to the point that no one could see us even during the day whilst in the open.
It didn't take long for us to appear in the forest of White woods .
A plain expanded after the forest, azure bushes grew from the terrain.<* >
I was aware of what these bushes were and where we are.
These bushes are unique since they contained high traces of Breath inside them.
Lord Tallon had already sent a team here to escavate and harvest some of these bushes along with the terrain for further experiments in the hopes of mass producing them in Forossa.
If Tallon was present with Tiche, he would be saying "who said money doesn't grow on trees?" By now. Because that is true, these bushes were essentially his personal money farm for something similar to Obsidion Credits.
Roars resounded in the plain as soon as his presence was noticed, a pack of rank 4 Saber-toothed tigers exited its lair and charged towards Noah.<* >
Noah let out his beastial Hybrid roar as he descended to face the magical beasts in battle.
Noah's roar scared most of the tigers which slowed down their charge, their legs trembled when they felt the might of the creature behind that cry.<* >
Yet, another roar resounded in the plain and a rank 4 Saber-toothed tiger in the upper tier appeared in the open and fixed its gaze on Noah who had just landed on the azure ground.<* >
He removed the upper part of his robe and must have placed it inside of his Space Ring as to prevent it from getting damaged.
Noah faced down the Saber-toothed tiger that was one Rank higher than him as an upper tier creature while he was currently in the middle tier (peak).
It was then that I saw him completely lose his mind and was about to interfere to save his life but my instincts told me to trust him.
And it didn't let me down as he held the beast back with the sheer strength of his body.
He gripped the beast by its fangs but he was slowly being overwhelmed and pushed back by many meters, creating a long pair of deep trails in the ground below them.
After almost a hundred meters of being pushed back, the power behind the beast's charge had dissipated.
Grabbing the creature by its fangs tightly, he lifted it high into the air before slamming it to the ground.
He swiftly moved over to the magical beast and snapped its neck with all his might in one swift movement.
Noah stood up and released a beastial growl that frightened the Magical Beasts instantly.
However, a loud draconic roar off in the distance had frightened and commanded the Saber-toothed tigers to head towards the source.
It was as if whatever creature had commanded then, ordered the Saber-toothed tigers to go to it than to fight Noah.
It was strange, why would they behave like this?
Noah seemed to realise this but didn't pomder over it too much as he continued his adventure.
He examined the Azure Plain bushes and fought many other Magical Beasts until he received a message from one of his party members.
I don't know what it was that his companion said, but it had to have been very important otherwise he wouldn't have blasted off with full speed back towards the Desert region with the armoured sandworms had it not been.
I sighed knowing how hard this would be just to keep up with him alone, that martial art he's using is very troublesome for me to follow him at the same pace.
I pulled on Shadow's reigns and signaled him to chase after Noah at a full gallop.