"Not of your concern?" Saintess Elizabeth's golden hair rose against the night sky, her aura a bursting gold radiance that threatened to brighten the night, "Humanity cannot fall, you know their importance well"
Noah stretched out his hand, cocooning the trio inside a ball of darkness and swallowing Elizabeth's light.
"Refrain from such an outburst, we are here under the cover of night after all"
Her radiance died down slightly, though not completely, as wisps of light escaped from her lean figure from time to time. A tinge of anger remained etched onto her brow.
"I won't stand for this"
Emerald smiled, "With all due respect, I'm not sure you'd want a fight right now, nor does the faction you lead"
Elizabeth snapped her cold gaze to the secretary, "With all due respect, you are merely at the Divine level. This is between me and the Harbinger"
"That's enough you two"
Noah's usually leveled voice was raised by several octaves, its sharpness cutting through the tense atmosphere with a chilling coolness that ran up Elizabeth's spine. Her expression turned into one of flushed embarrassment.
A Saint level being that lived for thousands of years feeling fear from just a few words. It would have been unprecedented to believe such a thing was possible considering Saint-Supremes were basically the apex of this world, but Noah existed outside of conventional standards.
Elizabeth called back her light, allowing the trio to drown in the inky blackness of Noah's cover.
"Once again, I stand by my intent on helping humanity"
"I never said we were going to let them get wiped out," Noah interjected, the corners of his lips curling up into a smile, "Let them develop while longer, I assure you that humanity will prove themselves capable"
The tension was suffocating, though after what felt like an eternity, the Saintess of Light sighed. She turned around and sliced her arm through the air.
A thin line appeared along the black walls, before parting like a curtain for Elizabeth to walk through. She craned her head back slightly, enough to look at Noah in the eyes as the black shroud started closing up again.
"I hope you are right"
Right as Noah and Emerald were fully covered again, Elizabeth's figure flashed with a faint brilliance. In the blink of an eye, she was gone completely.
Emerald smiled knowingly, before turning to Noah, "Everything is developing smoothly on the human end"
"Will they be able to fend off the Sanctuary?"
She shook her head in a chuckle, "No, not in this decade at least"
The woman showed Noah her tablet screen, its blue glow softly illuminating the darkness, "My satellites detected some strange movements from the Holy Sanctuary. Bishop has disappeared, most likely at the location where they hid the Oracle Stone. Around the same time, two Saint class entities have entered the Holy Sanctuary's main branch here at New Providence"
Noah cast his gaze down, his eyes piercing through layers of darkness at the Saint Garden Cathedral. Several energy signatures suggested Ascendants and Spirits stationed there, but no higher level entities were discovered.
"I can't sense them, the only way that is possible is if they built an entire chamber out of Etherium"
Emerald's eyes glimmered with interest, "Is it really that powerful?"
He nodded, "Indeed, its the second most durable metal in the world and the one with the most annoying property, absolute stealth. Unless you know the exact coordinates, you won't know where it is"
She pondered for a moment, twirling her hair in thought, "I've never been able to get my hands on any samples..."
Noah smirked, "Well, lucky for you, I think the opportunity will come up soon enough"
Reaching into his robes, Noah procured a fist sized chunk of a white metallic solid and proceeded to toss it gently at Emerald.
Stretching her arm out, Emerald caught the metal chunk just in time, her expression quickly turned into one of shock.
"This thing is practically weightless!"
She then took it between her palms and exerted all her strength. A faint boom exploded from her palms, contained barely by Noah's shadow membrane. Separating her palms, the metal remained undented, still glimmering with faint silverish light.
With a flick of his wrist, Noah brought the metal to his hand and squeezed down on it. The air in the confined space grew restless as the metal turned a bright orange hue, before quickly returning back to normal once he let go.
He tossed it back to her, "It takes a Saint-Supreme level flame at the very least to melt it, and its hardness makes even the strength of several Saint-Supremes redundant"
Emerald gingerly stowed the chunk of metal away in an inner pocket, "I'll see what I can do with this. The quantity is a bit low after all"
"I'll see what I can do, for now see what you are able to create out of that. How are the Void Subjugation Corp's training progressing so far? I haven't checked on them in a while"
The secretary's eyes curved upwards and a knowing smile encroached upon her lips, "Perhaps it's best that you check it out for yourself, you may be surprised by their progress"
Noah narrowed his eyes slightly, "...Very well"
He waved his hand, causing the black membrane around them to dissipate into thin air.
"One last thing," Noah pulled out a rolled up piece of blue paper and tossed it at Emerald. She caught it deftly and unfurled it, pursuing its contents with growing shock.
It was a detailed illustration of a dome like structure, complete with highly advanced technological designs and weapons at a continental scale.
She frowned, "This just isn't possible, there is simply not enough space to fit something of this scale. Its construction will attract immediate attention"
"I never said to build it here," Noah pointed at the night sky with a slight smile, "Surely you understand"
Emerald's eyes widened behind her frames, "But that's-"
"Very much possible," Noah cut her off, "I know you won't stop at just a few satellites"
Hearing this, Emerald burst into a chuckle, before catching herself and bowing her head slightly, "Don't worry, I'll complete it for you"