Chapter 1204: 1204. Settling

The invasion continued for a while even after Third Prince and Second Princess retreated. There were still defenses active on the regions involved in the attack, but the powerhouses didn't take long to defeat them.

Without the healing light, those formations weren't as threatening as before. The powerhouses could defeat them slowly and group up whenever they needed.

The Royals had also recalled all the valuable assets, which made it even easier for the invaders. They had already gained the advantage in that battle, so the fights could only lead to one outcome.

The invaders conquered the western coast and the regions nearby during their first attack. Not even a day had passed since they left the separate dimension, but they had already regained some footing on the new continent.

Of course, they couldn't directly rebuild habitations and similar structures. The invaders had to take care of all the inscriptions hidden inside the terrain and perform a thorough inspection of the whole area.

Five hundred years weren't a long time for heroic cultivators, but they were enough to place traps and similar protections on the whole new continent.

Luckily for the invaders, the Hive had an asset capable of identifying most inscriptions. Only divine formations could escape his eyes.

Noah sent Thirty-seven and other powerhouses of the Hive to explore all the regions conquered in the attack. He prohibited to set foot on the new continent until his underlings completed that analysis.

The army could only hover above the sea while they waited for the powerhouses to complete the inspection. The experts in the heroic ranks helped the human cultivators, and all of them trembled in excitement at the scenery that filled their eyes.

Those assets were eager to reach those lands, but they respected Noah's orders. Waiting a few weeks wasn't hard after five hundred years spent in the barren separate dimension.

God's Left Hand and Great Elder Diana used that time to negotiate with Noah. They knew how much he hated handling political issues, but they needed to decide a few things before their organizations started settling in those regions.

"The Shandal Empire should get as many regions as the Council," God's Left Hand argued. "We might even split the coastline into three equal parts."

"I disagree," Great Elder Diana said. "The Empire doesn't have the assets to defend so many territories. It would be a waste to leave these lands in your hands."

"We can't grow if you keep on giving us nothing but scraps," God's Left Hand complained. "The Empire is the weakest organization only because the entire world has continued to suppress us since the Almighty's departure."

God's Left Hand mentioned Shandal to remind the leaders that her Patriarch was still in the Immortal Lands. The god of the Empire would return one day, and she wanted to make sure that they didn't forget that.

"That's exactly what the Empire has done for millennia!" Great Elder Diana replied. "The Council didn't forget the centuries spent fighting in the old continent. This is simply payback for those years."

Noah remained silent while the two Matriarchs discussed next to him. Both of them wanted him to pick a side, but he couldn't care less about their arguments.

Also, those discussions bored him. He only wanted that invasion to be over so that he could start looking for something to do until he reached the seventh rank.

"We'll divide the conquered territories equally," Noah said, and his words put a smile on God's Left Hand's face. Yet, his following lines made her expression freeze.

Noah wore a cold as he turned toward the Matriarchs to continue speaking. "Yet, I suggest you take what you can defend. We don't want to create tension among our organizations so soon, right?"

The Matriarchs understood the meaning behind Noah's words, and God's Left Hand couldn't help but curse in her mind when she heard them.

The Empire only had two powerhouses in its ranks. That amount of power was nothing against the numerous assets of the alliance.

Nothing would stop the Hive and the Council from attacking the Shandal Empire once they established themselves on the new continent. God's Left Hand could only decide to be humble in that situation and aim for a lower number of regions.

Great Elder Diana did the same. The Hive was stronger than the Council, and the Matriarch wanted to convey that she accepted Noah's leadership inside the alliance.

The world would still see her and Noah on the same level, but they would know who was in charge of the alliance.

Great Elder Diana's behavior surprised Noah. He wondered how such an old monster could accept a new leader so easily, but he guessed that she was smarter than most powerhouses.

The events in the past centuries had established the Hive's superiority, and Great Elder Diana wasn't willing to fight to reject that statement. She had accepted her new status and was already looking at how that could benefit her.

Noah felt a bit disappointed by that outcome. Great Elder Diana was the only existence in the world who could face him in battle. Second Prince was probably still around, but Noah had never considered him his equal.

Without opponents, Noah could only continue training alone. The only adventurous idea that appeared in his mind was the exploration of the other world's core, but he didn't even know if King Elbas had left the dimensional portal open.

'Don't tell me that I have to remain in seclusion until I reach the divine ranks,' Noah thought before suppressing his worries.

He did not doubt that he would reach the Immortal Lands, but he didn't know how boring the journey toward the higher plane would be.

The group of powerhouses and Thirty-seven spent a few weeks inspecting every inch of the territories involved in the invasion. They found a few traps and some inscriptions that had survived the battle, but they took care of them on the spot.

The cultivators from the dimension could finally begin to settle on the new continent at that point. Noah gave the ok on the matter, and the army divided itself as the assets followed their respective leaders toward the appointed regions.

Noah did the same with the Hive, but he limited himself to assign roles to the higher-ups before choosing a region that could work as his temporary training area.

In the end, he settled in the area that had once featured the azure plain. King Elbas had transformed it into a green prairie after he burned it, and Noah couldn't find anything better when it came to the density of "Breath" and sturdiness of the ground.

The three organizations went silent at that point. All their higher-ups and inscription masters began to reinforce their borders and build structures that could accommodate their underlings.

There was a lot to build and even more to reorganize, but they neglected the projects that would take many years to focus on creating defenses that could blow a few assaults.

The experts knew that their invasion wouldn't stop there. It was pointless to create robust defenses in regions that would lose their status as edges of their domain soon.

It was better to focus everything on stabilizing their situation so that they could resume the invasion without worrying about their new homes.