Chapter 79: Consolidate!

The surroundings of the devastated area calmed down as the results revealed themselves, the bodies of over 10 Blessed that were in the surroundings of the last blast Warlord Steel released being heavily injured as one even lost his life!

Noah considered it a heavy loss as he wasn't able to obtain a Subjugated DIAMOND Blessed at the end of it all, but at the same time the shocking reality of him being able to take down one of the most powerful experts of the Ethereal Realm settled in.

Granted he was injured and he laid out a sneak attack! The event...was still of immense significance!

In the skies, he looked at the surrounding rubble and the figures of Blessed making their way over to understand the scene, sending commands to the uninjured Gold Blessed to move out and quell the commotion as others were commanded to secure the area and make sure no news of what had just occurred here spread.

The collision between Noah and the Diamond Ranked Warlord had taken just a few minutes, only the Silver level Blessed trying to make their way towards the perimeter that Noah locked down as the vast majority of beings were unable to see anything!

But Noah still left behind 5 Gold Blessed to clear up the commotion he caused as well as ensure news about it was not relayed outside, using the identities of the subjugated Blessed as Golden Commanders to establish orders as none of the Blessed they commanded could have even imagined that their higher ups were under someone else's control.

"What a waste…!"

Noah sighed in the skies as he looked at the decimation below, sending commands to the Conflagrant Pegasus to make his way back to Academy City while returning the Gold Blessed he utilized back into their own Cities. For the period that followed...he had to consolidate the power he had gathered and obtained, with the cities within his hands not being under the influence of the Dark or Wild Continent as he now had to make sure the same atrocities were not done under him.

THRUUM!

He crossed the skies rapidly as he appeared from a flash of golden light above the Villa he occupied and used as a command center in Academy City, a myriad of Blessed going in and out of this Villa in droves as they carried out commands of two girls. 

Rose was taking the lead as she had experience from the Imperial Capital and had watched the Ethereal Royals rule, Noah choosing to dump the majority of the work that had to be done for the next days onto her and Annalise while he cleared the Tower of Champions and the Shattered Planes Elemental Rifts!

"Brother!"

His figure flew down from the skies and into the balcony of the villa as Annalise saw him from the hall, coming towards her older brother with worry and seeing he was perfectly fine. Noah smiled towards her as he patted her head.

"I told you not to worry. We were able to take care of one of the strongest combatants we would have faced, even though I wasn't able to make him join the ranks of people I control!"

His words caused Annalise to look towards him in shock and wonder as she glanced over his body up and down, shaking her head as the two of them walked into the hall where Rose was surrounded by communication medallions and papers that detailed too many things!

Noah nodded towards this Ethereal Princess that had a strong expression, the silver hair dancing to her shoulders glimmering from the morning light. Noah's voice rang out towards her and Annalise as he looked around the hall.

"I'll leave it to you guys to manage the subjugated cities in the next day or two before we move forward. It would have been infinitely hard of a task...but you have my subjugated Gold Blessed to command! Just say what you want for any of the Gold Blessed in Cities 1 through 10 by giving the command to Stephon or any of the other subjugated blessed, and this command will be passed on…"

Noah gave the girls directions as in the next second, he waved his hands to release things from his inventory.

WAA!

Waves of mana emanate out as thousands of peak Silver Cores that glimmered like mountains were brought out, along with tens of thousands of Bronze Cores, Equipment, and Skill Books!

"Use these as you see fit, we'll have even more of them in the future. And for you two…"

After causing a mountain of loot to appear with a mere wave of his hands, the two girls were already looking towards him in a stupor as he turned to them and caused 10 Gold Cores to appear in front of each of them, along with 2 gloriously shining Gold Rank Equipment!

"...use these to step into the Gold Rank. You'll need all the power you can get your hands on for the days to come!"

The girls looked towards him with shining eyes as Annalise put down the glimmering gold cores and came in front of Noah, pulling her older brother into her arms as she spoke with a voice that was filled with care.

"You've worked hard, Brother. All the cities unjustly taken over, we're now in the process of taking them back and establishing order. From the lowest ranks of Blessed, you've now risen all the way to Gold as you can even give out resources of such a level! You've worked hard…"

Tears fell out of the girl's eyes as she held her brother, thinking of events days ago when they lost their parents! Her expression only became firmer as time passed, looking into Noah's deep blue eyes as she continued.

"You've worked hard, so please take a step back to realize it all while getting some rest. Slow down just for a second!"

Noah looked into the eyes of the caring girl as he nodded, realizing he actually had not slept at all for the past days as he moved from cities and into the Tower or Shattered Realms. His stronger soul and power made it so that he had more resistance when it came to exhaustion, but he still had not reached the point of power where he didn't need to worry about food or sleep!

He looked towards Annalise and Rose who was nodding in agreement, Noah giving the girls a light smile as he left them to carry out a mountain of work while he retreated into one of the grand rooms of the villa. His back hitting the comfortable bed within, his eyes didn't take long before they closed as he was lulled into the realm of sleep.

The unknown Ruler that had moved in haste without any rest in the past days finally laid down to rest as his actions...were causing wide ranging consequences at this moment!

Hours passed as many pieces moved in place.

The Light Continent bathed in their victory for the battle of the Wandering Plains as they stopped the advancement of enemy forces, while the Dark and Wild Continent were still reeling from the defeat as in a certain hall of a majestic castle deep in the heart of the Dark Continent, the Dark King had a cold expression as he listened to the Communication Medallion beside him!

"I haven't been able to reach Steel for the past hours, and when I checked with the Golden Commanders that returned with him...they actually weren't able to find him in the place he had locked himself in to recover!"

RUMBLE!

The words caused the eyes of the Dark King to turn into slits, his voice ringing out in return.

"Since that Protector Chen didn't follow and our forces didn't see any commotion, your Warlord might have just chosen to take time in isolation to heal from his injuries! It just means we've lost a piece that we could have used when the full scale war occurred."

"This full scale war...sigh." The words of the Ruler of the Wild Continent ended with a sigh as he seemed contemplative!

"Is all this death and bloodshed worth it? Just to regain access to the Diamond Rift within that city for hope of breaking through into the Platinum Rank?"

The words were filled with tiredness, causing the eyes of the Dark King that heard them to shine with a light of brutality and disappointment as his voice rang out calmly.

"We've already come this far for our goals. For a better future of our people...remember?! We do not want to be stuck as frogs in the bottom of the well that is the Ethereal Realm. There is a vast world outside of this filled with even more opportunities. For us to reach those opportunities...we have to break through to the rank of PLATINUM and gain the capability of leaving this Realm to obtain greater possibilities!"

RUMBLE!

"Only then can we gain enough power to bring happiness to the subjects we rule...and we have to move with even more care to not end up like our glorious Ethereal Emperor that was taken out the moment he stepped out of this well that is our Realm…"

A shocking truth behind the aims of the forces of the Dark and Wild Continent was revealed, a truth that shed light on what the forces of the Light Continent were doing, and why exactly the past Ethereal Emperor that had reached the rank of PLATINUM had fallen!