Information in the magical world was far simpler than in the ordinary one.
Newspapers from every region were discussing the advantages and disadvantages this war had brought to the magical world. No matter how it was framed, the benefits clearly outweighed the costs.
War meant death. Even if it was a sacrifice for Earth and the magical world, it was still something people argued over.
As for aftermath issues-pensions, compensation, and similar matters-Noah didn't concern himself with them. The Ministries of Magic in each country would handle that properly.
The benefits, on the other hand, were worth serious discussion.
Over the five years leading up to the final battle, young mages had undergone growth that would have been unimaginable before, all through continuous missions.
That kind of real combat experience was rare. It was the perfect chance to apply what they had learned.
They also received various rewards for completing tasks. Many young mages earned personal guidance from the Master Mages of Kamar-Taj after clearing high-level missions.
More importantly, through this series of missions, mages gained a completely new understanding of the profession of Exorcist.
They now realized those people were genuinely formidable.
Under Exorcist leadership, the amount of trouble mages faced could be drastically reduced. Among teams that successfully completed their missions, one hundred percent had followed an Exorcist's advice to reach their objective.
"As expected of the Supreme Sorcerer. His foresight is terrifying. No wonder he befriended Exorcists when he was young and bound his small magical organization to the Exorcist Agency."
Noah saw sentiments like this in nearly every publication, which made him rub his face.
Back then, he really hadn't thought that far ahead. He'd just wanted to make some money because he was broke.
Naturally, he wasn't going to explain that.
To him, this outcome was fine. At least it covered his real motives. As long as Constantine kept his mouth shut, no one would know Noah had essentially been using child labor-despite having been a kid himself at the time.
Beyond the rise in Exorcist status, other magical organizations were clearly drawing closer to Kamar-Taj.
The newspapers didn't state it outright, but anyone in the upper tiers of the magical world could feel it.
In this war, the reason the allied forces had been so unstoppable-aside from unity, motivation, and Exorcist leadership-was that the young geniuses of those organizations fought with everything they had.
And those geniuses shared one common trait.
They deeply respected Exorcists.
Noah wasn't sure whether their elders had instructed them beforehand, or if they simply viewed him as a goal to chase and learned, along the way, to respect Exorcists and listen to their advice.
After years of effort, Noah had officially released the "Domain" magic to those organizations, exactly as promised. At the same time, they themselves had achieved growth far beyond expectations through the war.
"It really did kill several birds with one stone," Noah said with a smile, unfazed by newspapers introducing the Domain spell. "Even if it's faster than I expected, it's still under control. Letting them know about it early isn't a bad thing."
The announcement had indeed come much sooner than he originally planned.
At first, Noah had intended to wait decades-perhaps even centuries-before revealing it.
But the war had forcefully stimulated the potential of the entire magical world. It wasn't hard to imagine how much these veteran mages would grow in the coming years.
So revealing it now wasn't wrong.
Letting them clearly understand how small they still were would at least prevent major disturbances.
After reading through all the papers, Noah felt a bit embarrassed.
No matter which one he picked up, they were all filled with praise for him as the Supreme Sorcerer. The flattery was excessive enough to make him uncomfortable.
Shaking his head, Noah finally set the newspapers aside.
The documents piled on his desk were a much bigger problem. Just looking at the volume was enough to give him a headache.
"Establish a partnership with the ordinary world? What partnership? Can they even use magic? Even if tech and magic integrate, who's doing it? You? Just go find Tony."
"Tourism channels? Fine, but public security and support measures better be handled properly."
"Trade relations? Sure, but with Tony around, is there really a need to make this so complicated?"
"Final battle mission rewards? Please. I killed almost all the Kree myself. What rewards do I need?"
After flipping through a few more pages, Noah directly tossed the files aside.
These trivial matters were driving him insane.
What he really wanted was to open a portal and head to the Ministry of Magic to find his girlfriend.
Before the final battle, Noah had planned to propose to Hermione, but Thanos' arrival had delayed everything.
Now, he felt it really needed to happen.
What he wanted most at this point was a stable relationship.
Of course, he couldn't rush it completely. He hadn't even prepared a ring yet.
In Noah's view, if he wanted a proper ring, he should have it forged by the Dwarves. Since they hadn't been attacked by Thanos this time-leaving only one Dwarf King-it wouldn't be difficult to get them to work.
"What a mess," Noah muttered.
He raised his hand, and several Infinity Stones appeared in his palm. "And these things... what am I supposed to do with them?"
Thanos was dead, leaving behind a literal mountain of Infinity Stones, which gave Noah a genuine headache.
According to the original trajectory, these stones should be returned to their respective universes. The problem was that Noah had no idea where those different versions of Thanos had even come from.
As a result, the stones were now sitting in Asgard-or more accurately, with Noah.
Thor had no interest in them and handed everything over without hesitation.
"In any case, you're a guardian of the stones. I trust you'll deal with them properly. You can enter parallel worlds, after all. So they're yours."
Those were Thor's exact words.
What Thor didn't realize was that Noah himself was completely lost.
Originally, Noah had only planned to keep the four stones from the Thanos he personally killed, purely for research. Now he had an entire pile.
Staring at them, Noah pressed his fingers to his temples.
He genuinely hadn't decided what to do.
"You can use these Infinity Stones to add rules to your own universe."
The voice echoed suddenly in his mind.
Noah froze.
Looking at the stones, he paused, then closed his eyes. "System. What do you mean by add rules?"
"Yes. Your universe is growing rapidly, and life has already appeared within it," the system replied, mechanical and cold. "However, it lacks corresponding universal rules. The Infinity Stones contain limited rules-only six types-but they are sufficient to meet your universe's basic requirements."
"Basic requirements?" Noah tilted his head. "Has my Domain really reached the level of a universe?"
The Infinity Stones governed Space, Time, Reality, Power, Mind, and Soul.
Noah remembered they were refined from the essence of six singularities that existed before the Big Bang.
Although their power peaked at the Demi-God level, there was no denying they encompassed everything within the ordinary world.
His space already possessed the four elements, the balance of Light and Dark, and Time and Space.
What it lacked were other aspects.
Mind, to ignite divine wisdom.
Reality, to manifest existence.
And the unique authority of Power, which heightened life's aggression.
Life evolved through constant elimination. Even if Noah intended for slow growth, the universe still needed sufficient rules. Otherwise, those life-forms would remain microorganisms forever.
After a brief pause, Noah made his decision.
He would use them.
The stones influenced entire universes, but Noah didn't even know where those universes were. Even if he wanted to return them, he couldn't-for now.
Losing them might cause catastrophic consequences, but such disasters wouldn't occur instantly. They would unfold over time.
"Besides, with Pym Particles," Noah thought, "maybe when I decide to send them back, I can just return to an hour after Thanos left."
The Quantum Realm was something Noah still couldn't comprehend.
Compared to it, even the construction of life felt simple.
He suspected that only after becoming a true god-one whose life level completely transcended the present-could he truly perceive the nature of those quanta.
Shaking his head, Noah opened his eyes and looked at the dazzling gems in his hand.
After a moment, he waved his hand lightly.
The stones vanished without a trace.
"Alright then," Noah said quietly. "Let's do it, System."
He closed his eyes again.
"Even if this turns into a huge mess..."
"If I don't try, it'll bother me even more."