The news of the alliance sealed between the powerhouses of the four nations quickly spread in the old continent.<*>
Peace had been reached once again on the new continent, that period would last until the rank 6 existences of the countries returned from the depths of the piece of Immortal Lands, and the entirety of its surface was mapped.<*>
One-versus-one battles were held on the Old Continent amongst all their Heroic Cultivators with a desire to participate in the Territory battles on the New Continent.
While the Utra and Papral Nation held this battles, the Empire and Forossa had complete control amongst their subjects and hence no tournament battles were needed to decide who would take part in the territory battles.
Many Heroic Rank envoys from all the factions had investigated and analysed all the territories occupied by one another.
This was done in order to assess and determine which cultivator is suitable to fight for the territory, and which territories are worth the effort in order to procure them.
The pact prevented the Shandal Empire from taking part in the battles on the southwestern coast. This had reduced the competition for the territories of Forossa on the Western Side of the New Continent which has Eleum Loyce already built, to only the Utra Nation and the Hive.
As for the Papral nation, they had to fight for the territories on the northern coast which put them at a disadvantage due to the distance they'd need to travel to reach it and the geographical disadvantage.
The Utra nation would try to claim the territories on the southern coast which didn't bother Tallon much.
The news of Noah Balvan having killed Professor Roy of the academy had also reached the ears of the Utra Nation and Forossa.
As all this was going on around the world, the individual in question had gone to hunt down Rank 4 Magical Beasts in preparation for the territory matches, while Tiche continued to escort and protect him.
Time passed in the new continent.
Ships continuously landed on its shores, carrying many ambitious human cultivators.<*>
The alliance between the five nations had delineated the borders of the dominions of the three big countries and brought peace once again, only the manpower needed for the complete colonization was lacking.<*>
Weeks passed by and the envoys that investigated the territories had left to give their reports.
Meanwhile, in Eleum Loyce, located in the Snowy Mountain Region on the southwestern coast, Ranni sat in her suite as she went over the multiple reports and documents in preparations for the territory matches.
*knock* *knock*
As she was glossing over their contents, a knock on the door had garnered her attention.
"Enter." She said.
While she would normally have a maid do something like this for her, today she had chosen to dismiss them.
The door opened and a 2.63 meter tall armor clad individual with a furry cloak, a gigantic greatsword of royal design on his back, and had the head of a wolf entered the room.
Ranni herself was 2.3 meters tall while Tallon and her now deceased father Radagon was both 2.5 meters in height.
"Lady Ranni." The Half-Wolf bowed his head as he said his greetings.
"Blaidd, I didn't expect to meet you so soon."
"Yes me neither, but Alecto had just informed me that the Utra and Papral Nations have concluded the last of their Tournaments on the Old Continent. They heading here as we speak."
"Hm, thank you for informing me but Alecto should have reported this to me personally, while Ariel would notify Tallon in Forossa herself. So why did you come today."
"I'm a bit hurt my Lady, to think you wouldn't want to see me! Oh how cruel my Mistress is!" Blaidd acted feigning that he was hurt emotionally.
"Come now brother, you shouldn't beat yourself up like that, I'm sure someone will take a fancy to that appearance of yours." I smiled as I joked with my Half-Brother and childhood friend.
Blaidd's eyes widened as his jaw dropped and he looked as if he had been petrified out of shock with an expressionof horror across his face.
"H-how could you?! I'll have you know ladies from all across Forossa would fall for me!" He countered back.
"Beastkin don't count..." I said bluntly awaiting his reply.
"..." Blaidd was left speechless as he didn't know how to reply back to that.
"Looks like I win again, what's the score again?"
"*sigh* 16,766 to you and 11,434 to me. Honestly, this has been going on for 8,000 years, at this point your just bullying me."
"You never should have started this ever since you first got the better of me during our childhood." I grinned as he sulked.
"I enjoy this. At least we can be more open about it since we're no longer weighed down by the burdens and responsibilities we carried in our old world. Ranni...I will always be by your side until the very end."
I stood up from the chair I was sitting in and walked around the desk to approach him.
"I know Blaidd, I know..." I muttered as I gave him a gentle hugg despite him wearing armor, the cold metal didn't bother me nor could I feel it. Blaidd in turn gave me a hug in return.
After a few moments of basking in the moment we separated and I looked up to meet his eyes as I asked my question.
"Now I guess we should get back to the conversation we were having. Why did you come here? It wasn't just for a reunion after a few days apart and to give the report someone else was meant to give, is it?
"*sigh* no it is not, there is another reason. I came to make a request regarding the territory battles, one in particular."
Hearing his request I moved and went back to sit back on the chair as I signalled for him to explain more.
"I humbly request to fight for the Desert Region against the Demon Prince of the Hive, Noah Balvan!" Blaidd stated with all due seriousness in his voice.
"That is hard for me to allow, even if I'm Tallon's wife, with the influence and authority of a Rank 6 Powerhouse being bestowed upon me, I can't grant that request as it violates the terms and agreements of the Pact amongst the five nations. Not only that but only Rank 4 Cultivators can fight for the coastlines while Ramk 5 Cultivators will take part for territories more inland. The Desert Region is on the Northwestern Coast. You are of the Rank 5 Liquid stage Dantian, a Rank 5 Mind and Rank 5 Solid Body. Meanwhile, Noah Balvan still has a Rank 4 Gaseous Dantian, a Rank 4 Mind and Rank 4 Solid Body. It would be unfair and would be denied by all the other factions." I explained to Blaidd as this left a sour feeling in mouth.
Blaidd had never once asked for anything of me and this was my first time refusing his first request.
"But...Mistress Ranni...if there was a way to lower my overall rank and power to be his equal, I could use something like those cloaks Lord Tallon made that can hide one's Cultivation level. If I used that then I could surely participate?"
Hearing his explanation I was a little suprised by how well he had thought of this before coming to me.
But there is one problem...
"While that is possible, I still can't force someone of Noah Balvan's position, as Demon Prince of the Hive which is equal to my own station, to forcefully participate in a battle against you."
Blaidd took a knee and lowered his head as he replied.
"That is why I am humbly asking this of you, please. I know this is selfish but please, if there is anything you can do to bribe him to fight me-"
"Why do you want to fight him so badly?" I said as I cut him off mid sentence.
"..."
Blaidd didn't reply immediately and just kept his head down as he stared at the floor thinking of an answer.
After a few minutes of waiting of which I didn't say or do anything hut continued to wait patiently for his answer. Even of it took hours or days staying in this position I would do so without hesitation as this was the least I could do for someone that has given so much to me, and for someone I care deeply about, seeing him like this means that he is deeply affected by this and I WILL listen to what he has to say.
"I want to fight in your name. I want to prove myself to you. I-I found out what happened back in our old world. When you killed your Two Fingers, how I...went 'mad' and tried to harm you-"
"Blaidd..."
"I am your shadow! Apart of your very being! The fact that I tried to cause you harm is unthinkable! I would take my own life before I harmed a single hair on your head!"
"Blaidd..." I called out to him again, this time louder than before.
"That's why I have to do this! I heard of his exploits! How Lord Tallon speaks highly of him, about his importance and significance! How he has garnered the whole world's attention, be it out of admiration or as an enemy! I have to make it up to you by doing this! I couldn't even help you to fight against Maliketh! You could have died! And my only desire and thought at that time was to hurt you! I-"
Blaidd's words were cut off suddenly and his eyes widened out of shock as he felt that his mouth had been frozen by ice?
He looked to Ranni and saw a white mist dissipate from her outstretched hand as some traces of tears stained her beautiful Demigod face.
"Blaidd...I do not blame you. Nor do I resent or hate you. It was the Greater Will that was behind everything. You are a Shadowbound Beast created by them to serve me. The fact that you held out for so many years, resisting the desire to harm me, despite knowing my intentions to go against the Greater Will is proof enough that you have always been loyal to me. I trust you Blaidd, completely. You do not need to do this to prove yourself to me, i have always known, you are someone I hold dear to me. Tallon, my mother, Iji, Rykard, and you. You all are willing to give too much for me, and for that I can only show my love to you all."
Ranni hugged Blaidd as tears trickled down her face after learning how much Blaidd had been effected by what the Two Fingers had done to him ever since Tallon became Elden Lord and the Shattering War ended.
Blaidd tensed his canine jaws opened causing the ice that encased it to shatter allowing him to speak once more.
"Ranni, I know. But I have to do this...for myself as well."
...
...
...
"Very well Blaidd, I will see what I can do if it means this much to you."
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A few days later...
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Forest of White Woods: The Hive's secret Base of Operations on the New Continent
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Noah Balvan, Tiche, Elder Julia, Elder Austin, Elder Laurel and Elder Morgan were all present within a single room within the White Woods Outpost the Hive had created.
The White Woods was their first and most vital Outpost since they had already established a teleportaion matrix here.
This was one of the two territories that they needed to win control over.
The other was the Desert region which had the Divine Dragon's Prison. Many rare and unknown materials of Rank 5 quality, even some of Rank 6 could be found within the Divine Dragon's prison!
That territory was far too valuable and all that is without even mentioning the existence of the Rank 8 Divine Dragon imprisoned within it!
However, despite their attempts at trying to keep the Divine Prison a secret, it had failed since Forossa had found out about it.
And thar is what's causing the current situation as the major forces of the exploration group for The Hive had gathered to discuss the message that a envoy of Forossa had sent.
The abridged and supervised version of the message essentially says that Forossa knows about the Divine Prison and about the Demon Prince's unique Body Nourishing method.
Forossa will reveal this information publicly but will not do so only if the Demon Prince of the Hive, Noah Balvan, fights their Rank 4 Solid Cultivator for ownership of the Desert region.
Win or lose, Forossa will honor the deal and not disclose this information to the other Nations.
Neither of them could do anything since Chasing Demon was preparing to leave with the other Rank 6 Powerhouses to explore the central regions of the New Continent.
That was why they had to deal with this matter on their own otherwise, they would have been able to get Chasing Demon's help in this, but he was powerless to do anything given the time.
"This must have been sent by the Frost Monarch's wife, Lunar Queen Ranni." Elder Laurel said after everyone had examined the contents of the missive.
"That's what I assume as well. Only she would have the authority and power to directly threaten another Nation sized organisation to this degree with such confidence. She must be hinging on her husband's power to support her decision." Elder Austin voiced out.
"I heard that there are two Rank 6 powerhouses of Forossa. The Frost Monarch and one other. Who is it?" Noah Balvan asked, having remembered the short report Chasing Demon provided about the Rank 6 powerhouses meeting.
"That would be his mother, Mistress Lilith Luminous. They were once apart of the Utra Nation but after an incident in their territory and a deal with the Royals, they left after the Frost Monarch's marriage to Queen Ranni before departing to Frossa. Their next appearance was here in the New Continent." Tiche informed everyone in response to Noah's question.
'The Frost Monarch...' Noah thought in his mind about the Rank 6 powerhouse and ruler of Forossa.
Noah Balvan had only ever encountered him twice in the past.
The first was when he was quite young and was still in the care of his mother Lily as he was still a child at the time.
Four years after the Dragon had attacked the Balvan mansion of which the Patriarch and grandfather of his, Thomas Balvan, saved his and Lily's life was the first time they met.
Thomas seemed to have been previously acquainted with the Frost Monarch and even treated him with a great deal of respect.
After all, Thomas was still a Rank 4 Solid Cultivator while the Frost Monarch was a Rank 5 Cultivator.
Noah had been learning and evasdropping on the conversations around the Manor when he was caught by the Frost Monarch.
"You're certainly a odd one child. If you want to spy on people, you should learn to make it less obvious. Cultivators can sense your presence as easily as breathing. The only reason you haven't been caught yet is because no one bothers to examine their surroundings since the thought of betrayel in the family is an impossibility. But I'll be generous and give you a gift, if you survive to become a Cultivator, then this will prove useful one day."
Those were the Frost Monarch's words to him. They didn't meet each other again since he had soon departed from the Balvan mansion.
The item he gave Noah was a thin golden needle of beautiful design.
On the Needle it had many unknown characters, but there was some writing that seemed new and were engraved into it.
'This is Miquella's Needle, for Unalloyed Gold will make the mighty Heaven and Earth pass you by.'
He had still been unable to Divine the meaning of the words ever since.
'Maybe the Divine Dragon could help me find out its hidden meaning.' Noah thought to himself.
The second time Noah met the Frost Monarch was indirectly. When he was stuck in the snake valley, he had discovered a notebook, which was written by the Frost Monarch, with which he had learned the Body Inscription Technique to have Magical Beasts as Blood Companions.
Noah knows now that the Frost Monarch himself also has Blood Companions of his own, and yet there was no rumours or information that indicated he ever used them.
That meant his battle prowess was far greater than his enimies that he never felt pressured into using them unlike Noah who constantly fought opponents stronger than himself.
"Forossa is going all out to claim the territory for the Desert region. Prince, we can't lose it, and yet..." Elder Asutin said but his voice lost its volume as he continued to speak.
"Only Rank 4 Cultivators can fight for that zone, they will surely send someone in the Solid stage to be your opponent." Elder Julia said finishing Elder Austin's words.
"Isn't that a good thing, Master has a battle prowess that can rival those old monsters that have been at the same Rank for decades and centuries. If anyone can win it'll be Master." Tiche said nonchalantly on the side as she beamed a smile towards Noah.
Noah's eyes twitched as he saw the sadistic assassin smiling at him with the subtle message 'I put you in the spotlight, you better win now!'.
'This damn woman!'
"Your right! The Prince can surely do this!" Elder Morgan said as she smiled 'innocently' towards Noah catching onto Tiche's plan.
Elder Austin and Elder Laurel simply nodded their heads along with Morgan's words.
"Well, I guess it's settled. Fortunately, Forossa will be providing a small overview of the opponent you'll be facing to make it more of a fair match. We tried verifying the authenticity of the document but couldn't. We can only take their word for it." Elder Julia said.
A tick appeared on my forehead as my left eye twitched at the sadistic assassin's plan having succeeded.
Elder Julia gave me a scroll with the information regarding my opponent.
"Oh..."
It says here that my opponent is a Half-Wolf, possibly a Humanoid Magical Beast of some kind or a half-breed of the offspring between a wolf type Magical Beast and a Human.
'Could he be a Hybrid as well having used a similar method to what I had done? This won't be an easy match as I had thought'
The scroll had information to even the name, personality and general fighting style of the opponent.
'His name is Blaidd and he serves Queen Ranni directly, not even the Frost Monarch can order him as his allegiance is solely to Queen Ranni, which the Frost Monarch doesn't mind. He is the honorable sort when it comes to a formal one-verses-one battle such as the upcoming territory match. He is quite an aggressive fighter but his fighting style is quite the opposite as he fights with excellent proficiency with his gmgreatsword almost as if it was an ordinary longsword. This will be a tough match indeed.'
Noah knew that he had to win this battle and feared that in order to do so he would need to expose more of his power and abilities to do so.
"Prince, there is one other thing regarding the match you will participate in." Elder Julia said and I brought my attention yo her from the scroll.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Queen Ranni has also set rewards for the winner of the battle. Should this 'Blaidd' win, she would reward him appropriately what he desires. Should you win, Forossa is willing to provide the Hive with many Martial Arts and Spells of various elements and ranks the likes of which the other nations have never heard of since they are all custom made. She is also willing to give Martial Arts, Spells and Cultivation Techniques of the Darkness element from Rank 0 to Rank 5 and a single Rank 6 Darkness scroll of your choice. Be it a Cultivation Technique, Spell or Martial Art."
My eyes widened in shock before they contracted the next moment.
"Can you verify this?"
In response to Noah's doubt, Elder Julia took out a 3 scrolls and placed them on the table in front of Noah, allowing everyone present to also view them.
"This scroll is for a single Martial Art, this one is for a Spell, and this one is for a Cuktivation Technique. Queen Ranni said in the second missive that as a show of good faith, you may chose a single one of these three scrolls. When you touch it, pour Breath into it and project what you desire from whichever one you chose. It can be from any Rank but cannot be of Rank 6 origin. Each scroll is sealed, in order to undo the seal you must accept the Rank 6 Oath. Both you and Queen Ranni will be bound by this seal made by both Chasing Demon and the Frost Monarch. Only with both their consent can it be undone."
Elder Julia finished as she had pointed to each scroll as she spoke and revealed a small token that radiated the power a Rank 6 item.
"When did the Patriarch have time to make this seal with the Frost Monarch?" Noah asked as he realised something was off.
"It was immediately after the meeting with the Powerhouses. The seal only had one condition on it at the time. 'The seal must have fair conditions that benefit both parties in one way or another and must be honored or death will result in the offending party.' Queen Ranni was then able to create all the conditions on the seal as you can see for yourself. So What will you do, we can't refuse the match in the first place, this is simpl- WHAT?!"
Everyone yelled out as they saw that Noah had already examined the Rank 6 Oath and already agreed to it, causing a marking to appear on his right hand.
Noah immediately grabbed the scroll for the Spell, he poured Breath inside it and focused on wanting to obtain a customisable and adjustable Rank 4 Martial Art with little Breath consumption.
A moment later, the other two scrolls vannished along with the Rank 6 Oath token.
The one that Noah had touched changed into a Black Scroll.
Noah opened the scroll and read the name of the Martial Art and its general ability.
[Void Slash] - Rank 4, Darkness, Martial Art - Uses the Darkness element to manipulate a higher form of energy known as Dark Matter to warp Space. Allows for the user to attack from any direction and can bypass most distances. Can sometimes be used to distort Space and bypass practically all defenses including defensive barriers. While lited to the Darkness element, a Cultivator of another element can recreate this technique to suit their own. Original Creator of [Void Slash], Elden Lord Tallon.
'Elden Lord Tallon? Who could that be...there isn't even a last name..."
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I originally wanted Chapter 22 to be the territory battle that Diallos Hoslow would fight for but I scrapped the idea, it was meant to be a chapter that shows what other characters and citizens of Forossa thinks of Tallon as.
Instead I chose to make it revolve more around other characters like Ranni and Blaidd and how their lives have changed since encountering Tallon and leaving the Elden Ring verse and Noah's point of view before the battle.
The following below is the scrapped Cut Content version of Chapter 22: House Hoslow.
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Chapter 22: House Hoslow
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Mountain Snakes Region:
Territory battle - Rank 4-Gaseous Dantian requirement
Forossa vs Papral Nation
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Diallos Hoslow pov:
• Juno Hoslow and Lanya (his childhood friend and servant) come to talk to him before match starts
• They talk and say that Lord Tallon is watching all the matches from the Elden Throne back in Forossa and would only watch some battles thar interest him in person
• Diallos accepts that someone as lowly as him wouldn't have someone like his ruler Lord Tallon come to see his battle but would have loved to personally win the Territory for him while he was present
• Lanya cheerfully says that they are here and that's all that matters
• Match starts
• Fights Papral Nation 4 G Cultivator
• Diallos is heavily pressured by skill of his opponent who used many earth spells to make defences and repel his offensive
• Diallos is struck mostly
• He sees his brother Juno smiling and put his helmet on while doing House Hoslow gesture, Lanya also does the same
• He sees Lanya signal him to look somewhere
• Having repelled and gained enough distance and breathing space for himself he quickly glances to where Lanya signalled him to look at
• Diallos does and is shocked to see his Lord, Tallon, present and sitting on a Throne in the flesh.
• Tallon does the House Hoslow gesture
• Diallos is motivated to not fail his lord and to succeed for House Hoslow which he is representing no longer hiding in the shadow of his brother but instead as someone that his Ruler has graced his presence to watch HIS battle and not his brother's
• But his Lord suddenly said "The Tale of House Hoslow is told in blood!"
• He hears this and fights far superior than he ever had done before now having a firm resolution
• Overwhelms his opponent with pure battle IQ, utilising his Hoslow steel whip
• In the aftermath of the battle Juno and Lanya met up with Diallos and celebrated his victory
• Moments later, Tallon appeared in front of them and they all took a knee to the ground
• Tallon asks Diallos to give him his helmet and what inspired him to fight that way and win
• Diallos said it was to serve him
• Tallon uses his power to create a horn using the spilled blood of both Diallos and his enemy on the battlefield to mold it onto the helmet and create a single red horn at the forehead area
• Tallon gives the helmet back and says that the horn represents Diallos' resolve to confront his adversary and whatever obstacles stands in his ways to serve both his Lord and House Hoslow
• Tallon vannishes and Diallos stares at the edited helmet he was given