Three months had passed since Noah had locked himself in the hidden realm. At the time, the situation outside was peaceful at first. But gradually, things started to go south.
First of all, it was the demonic beasts that had been warded off with the alliance of outside forces. They were supposed to be defeated eventually. But the alliance did it faster than Noah's calculation.
When his apprentices reported him, Noah thought it odd. But not suspicious.
Secondly, the families united council had doubled the number of men in Noah's pursuit.
It was also expected. Since they might have discovered the root cause of the demonic beasts' attack, in anger, they must double the number of people in his pursuit.
Before this, every two years or so, Noah hideout would be discovered and he would have to go for a lookout in a new place. It cost him time and resources.
With the men doubled, it was just a matter of time before he was discovered.
"Master, guards from Atkinson family were spotted outside the mountain range." An apprentice reported as Noah sat in the meditative posture. He couldn't leave and could only issue instructions.
"Go outside and clean of any signs of human activity"
The apprentices did as instructed. But a few days later, another apprentice came with bad news. "Master. A magic stone in the concealment array suddenly self detonated."
"Self detonated?" Noah's eyelid flew open. Although it wasn't something unheard of, it was rare. "Go take some from the backup and replace it."
"All the level five magic stones have been used." The apprentice replied in fear.
Without any hesitation, Noah took out his wand and threw it. Before hitting the Earth, it disassembled into its components. A few magic stones were scattered around.
"Go use this."
But that was not all of it, just as Noah approached the end of the process, another report came. "Master, our spy in the council sent a word. The council has discovered unusual mana concentrations in the Northwest region. They just sent a party of level seven and eight mages to investigate the anomaly."
For them to dispatch level seven and eight mages, it was more than just an investigation.
"Our hideout has been discovered," Noah said.
"Master, what are the instructions?"
"Go, activate the defence arrays," Noah instructed before closing his eyes.
In any case, he had come so far.
He couldn't step down.
A battle it was they wanted then a battle would be what they get.
The fight outside continued for a week. Noah let loose all of the contracted spirits. Puppets and beasts. All his cards were used. All means deployed.
Noah could feel the Earth shaking at times when the attacks grew particularly fierce. But he didn't let anything deter him. There was just one more step before he would have his hands on the level nine magic stone.
"Master, they have broken through the concealment maze."
"Hold them back for a moment, I just need some time," Noah instructed, a frown line delved between his brows, beads of sweat running down his temple.
As his order, all the apprentices jumped on the frontline.
As Noah sat in the same meditative posture, a bloody fight ensued outside.
One by one his men were sacrificed.
"Master, we can't hold them back anymore." Lenny came back heaving for breath. From head to toe, he was covered in blood. It was unknown whether it was his blood or the enemy.
Just at this moment, Noah opened his eyes. Something like the shape of a closed oyster descended from the sky before falling into Noah's hands. However, unlike the natural white colour, the shell was a mesmerizing black colour. At the moment, Noah didn't have the time to admire its appearance.
What made his heart beat faster was the stone hidden underneath.
However, it was still not time for it to open.
The cracks appeared over the black shell.
According to that scroll from the olden eras, the process couldn't be forced.
The shell should naturally disintegrate before the level nine magic stone could be retrieved.
If forced, the stone will disappear.
"Let's leave," Noah had just said this when the hidden realm shook.
With the ground so unstable, it was difficult for the two people to stand still and they staggered back and forth.
"You bastard, do you think we would never find you?" A voice called out filling the entire realm. An opening was created in the sky. From the distance, it looked like small specks. But with their speed, they quickly approached Noah.
Unperturbed, Noah turned around and came face to face with a crowd of wizards who were here for his blood.
"He..." One of the wizard eyes settled over the oyster in Noah's hand. "He actually succeeded?"
"Hand over the magic stone, someone like you doesn't deserve such a treasure. Only the council has the right to keep something like this."
"To go against the council, you really thought that you could win all of us like this?"
The place was already rich in mana. The ensuing fight was accordingly fierce. Two against dozens. Noah was the one at disadvantage here. With his wand disintegrated, he was quickly cornered at the end of the cliff.
Lenny was only a level six wizard. He could not be of much help either.
"Lenny, activate the escape array." He commanded. However, his apprentice kept standing before him, not moving to go by his wishes.
"Lenny..."
"Master, just give up. Hand over the magic stone. We can't escape." When Lenny spoke out of term, Noah was surprised.
"I asked you to set those escape arrays."
"Master, you don't really understand, do you?" Slowly, Lenny turned back. Facing Noah, he let his cloak slide. At the base of his neck, there was a butterfly motif. "I have already pledged alliance with the council."
"You...!" Noah's eyes widened. For the first time, a thread of uncertainty entered his eyes.
"They have already promised me a place in the council." He said before stepping back, away from Noah. Each step he took, he got closer to the crowd who wanted Noah's blood. "How do you think a magic stone of the concealment array would suddenly detonate? It had been stable until now, why must it go down now?"
Noah had found it suspicious back then.
But since all his focus was towards the nurturing of the magic stone, his thoughts couldn't proceed further than the basic suspicion.
"Once we had the magic stone, the benefit you would have had by staying by my side was going to be far greater than a meagre position in their council." Noah calmly said.
"What benefit? When forever I am going to be your slave." Lenny smirked before saying. "Do you think I don't know about the curse you have put on your apprentices?"
Noah didn't say anything. Since Lenny didn't fear betraying him, it was likely he had already discovered that curse. In fact, he must have already had someone from the council redo it. Otherwise, Noah must have detected him beforehand.
"Master, your reign has ended. Give up." Lenny smiled. A spark of excitement spurred in his eyes. For how long had he wished for this moment. When finally, he could raise his head before Noah and say those words.
When he no longer needed to act as a mere subordinate before him.
"Give up?" Strangely enough, even at this stage, Noah didn't panic. With a mere twitch of lips, he stepped back, freely falling off the cliff. "That would never happen."
Lenny's eyes widened and he stepped forward to look down. Before he could begin to understand why his Master who always knew when to retreat and when to advance would make such a stupid choice as suicide, a detonation occurred burning the entire mountain range to ashes.
...
Lenny was an orphan who was picked up by Noah. He was destined to live the life of a mortal, a non-magic person. As a son of the farmer, what rested ahead of him was working in fields from dusk till dawn before his body grew old enough that he couldn't work anymore.
It was until a great mage noticed him.
Noah took him under his wing. Helped him train, provided him with resources and reach a level he didn't even know even existed.
All around the middle plane, Lenny was known as Noah's shadow, his right-hand man. Someone who would put his life on the line for Noah.
And Lanny was confident too. When it came to secrets, Noah never kept anything from him. Unlike the other apprentices, Lenny knew more about Noah than anyone.
So when he had decided to revolt against Noah, he was certain with him going against Noah, Noah would have nothing to bargain with.
So at his last moment before death, when he got a glimpse of a level seven soul transference array, an array Lenny had no knowledge of, he couldn't help but wonder. "Did Master really trust me?
If he really did, why would he set this array as a secret from him?
But before his thoughts could proceed, death came upon him.
Not only him but all those grand wizards from the great bloodlines died.
Year 6459, when a great tragedy happened in the fifth middle plane.
The corrupted Mage ended his life. The great council was crippled, fell into chaos and disintegrated.
The political system of the fifth middle plane lost its stability and collapsed.