Elder Julia's suggestion was on point. The Hive had the separate dimension and could explore the Odrea nation and its Mausoleum unnoticed. Yet, the other countries would eventually notice the absence of its heroic assets, especially if one of them was the flashy Noah.
It was better to involve the other forces in that mission. After all, the Hive could count on a series of allies that didn't mind keeping secrets from their organizations.
Faith had long lost her interest in the Council. She was more loyal toward June and Noah since they treated her fairly and didn't stop her from acting how she wanted.
The Council even trusted her and felt the need to make up for how it nurtured her. Her peace had benefitted more from breaking its rules than from isolating herself from the world in the end.
The only real issue was the Elbas family.
June wasn't a Royal, and there was a limit to how much the Elbas family trusted her. There was a high chance that it requested for an actual carrier of King Elbas' bloodline to be in a mission that concerned the secrets of the god of the Empire.
"I'll set up a few meetings and keep you updated," Elder Julia said toward the end of her mental message. "Try not to destroy Divine Market city in the meantime."
That matter ended there. It would be up to the higher-ups of the three forces to find an agreement now.
Noah knew that the Council and the Elbas family wouldn't just let the Hive go alone in the Odrea nation. Still, there was a chance that Elder Julia could create favorable conditions if she were subtle enough with her offers.
Every force was busy making up for the losses suffered during the war, and the pieces of information concerning the Odrea nation weren't wholly reliable. So, it was possible to reach an agreement that the Hive could exploit.
More years passed in the neutral city, and the gatherings in Noah's underground quarters continued right under the curiosity of the heroic assets of the other forces.
June and Faith would always return to the structures of their organizations carrying traces of battle, so most heroic cultivators believed that Noah was giving combat lessons. The tremors didn't stop either, and they even became proper earthquakes at some point since Noah kept on increasing the amount of darkness used in his experiments.
Yet, his tests didn't cause any damage, and the other heroic assets didn't dare to complain. Most of them were scared of the fame that accompanied the Demon Prince, but others wanted to join his private circle.
That desire was quite popular. After all, Faith was often in his quarters, and any rank 4 cultivator would feel blessed if someone like Noah taught them how to fight.
Yet, the higher-ups there knew that the Hive was planning something. Elder Julia had announced her interest in exploring the mysterious Odrea nation, but the negotiations proceeded slowly since the other forces had many doubts about her actual intentions.
The offer was compelling though, and they couldn't control the behavior of rank 5 cultivators anyway. Also, the only danger appeared to be the formation around the country, but no one believed that they couldn't convince the citizens to open it when they wanted to leave.
As for what concerned the limitation of the defensive formation, Elder Julia told the other forces that Noah had obtained some key during his stay there.
The fact that the Hive could grant access inside the Odrea nation to heroic cultivators put it in an advantageous position during the meetings, and Elder Julia eventually managed to use that to obtain favorable terms.
Four years after Noah's conveyed the idea to Elder Julia, he, June, Faith, and Daniel left the neutral city to fly toward the western coast of the old continent.
The four of them didn't make any stop and reached directly for the spot where Noah had once left to fly toward the Coral Archipelago. The coastline of the old continent was too far away from the islands, so the Hive's influence was weak there. Yet, the four years of meetings had given it enough time to make the necessary preparations for the task.
Noah took out an inscribed item at the peak of the fifth rank when they reached the beginning of the formation. His mind now was powerful enough to notice it, so finding the perfect spot where to make any potential onlooker lose their traces was rather easy.
The group dived in the sea and dug the rocky seabed right next to the beginning of the formation. Then, Noah threw a soft curtain above him and the others.
The curtain was an inscribed item similar to that used to cover the door inside June's quarters. No rank 5 cultivator would be able to see past it, and their position in the depths of the sea further hindered any investigation.
Noah sent a mental message through his notebook at that point, and a formation lit up under the group's feet and led them inside the separate dimension where the two Demons were waiting for them.
"I hope something is interesting there," Flying Demon said. "I can't even take a look at that damned Stele due to all this secrecy."
Faith couldn't help but show her surprise when she saw the Demons and the separate dimension. However, she had already sworn a pact with the Hive as requested by the agreement. She was expecting to learn some secret.
Noah ignored Flying Demon's words and went directly for the formation in front of him, and Dreaming Demon smiled at her lover before following him. The rest of the group was right behind Noah in a few seconds, and the formation lit up when they stepped on it.
When the halo vanished, Noah found himself in an environment that he hadn't seen for more than a hundred years.
'To think that I'll come back here,' Noah thought as he looked around before setting off toward the sole city in the entirety of that country.
The Odrea nation still lacked any species of magical beasts since the defensive formation, and Mausoleum made use of most of the "Breath" in the area, but Its number of soldiers appeared to be the same.
Noah swept the area with his mental energy as he flew, followed by his companions. The various human assets on the ground couldn't escape his consciousness, and they didn't notice his presence either.
The group reached for the hidden city and landed in front of the castle built at its center. The guards patrolling there noticed their presence at that point, but they fell asleep as soon as they entered in contact with Faith's aura.
When they reached the main hall of the castle, they found an elderly woman wearing a golden crown smiling at them and greeting them with calm words. "Welcome. I'm happy that the Hooded Devil has decided to return."