Noah's threat silenced the three cultivators from the Odrea nation. Still, they didn't feel angry about it. The sole fact that he had used his precious time to answer their questions made them appreciate their savior even more.
The truth was that they knew their place. They were just pawns caught in the middle of a game played by a god. They were the nameless casualties that any war had, and they could only blame their bad luck for that.
Joining the meeting with the forces of the Empire served the sole purpose of freeing their minds from the emotions that clouded their path. The other cultivators saved from the Odrea nation shared their feelings and wanted to see their envoys face the force that had kept them imprisoned for years.
Noah and the Demons stretched the separate dimension until they reached the area under the blue dome before contacting the forces of the Empire. After receiving their answer, they set up a door that led to one of the large fissures in those regions.
The world suspected that the Hive had a secret method to transport its troops. The other organizations couldn't explain the events in the Utra nation otherwise. Also, there had been many occasions where the timing of its reinforcements was off.
Nevertheless, suspecting something was different from being sure of it. The Hive could turn a deaf ear to any accusation since the other organizations didn't have any proof.
Resurfacing at the bottom of one of the fissures served that purpose too. Placing the exit under the blue dome would give unnecessary hints to the Empire.
Noah and the Demons dug their way toward the dome and sent another message to their contact. A tunnel appeared in the ground inside the light at that point, and six heroic cultivators appeared behind the protection radiating a divine aura.
They were three women and three men, and they gestured to the group from the Hive to step forward. The blue light didn't hinder their passage, and a new world unfolded once they crossed the borders of the dome.
Countless presences appeared in the range of their consciousness, and the noise caused by the cultivators training on the surface reached their ears even if they were underground.
The Demons and the trio from the Odrea nation marveled at the properties of the blue dome. That divine defensive method appeared to block any noise and aura from its insides other than preventing any consciousness from inspecting those areas.
Noah stopped once all those inputs reached his mind. He wasn't stunned by the sudden flow of information. Instead, the aptitudes of the six cultivators at the peak of the fourth rank that had welcomed them left him speechless.
The Demons didn't understand the reason behind his behavior at the beginning since they couldn't discern their aptitudes as fast as him. Noah wouldn't be able to do it either in standard cases. Still, that situation was anything but ordinary.
Noah could feel a sense of familiarity coming from three of them and a conflicting sensation from the others. It didn't take him even a second to realize that he was facing cultivators with light and darkness aptitude!
"Did you think you and Daniel Udye were the only ones in the world?" A familiar voice resounded in the underground tunnel, and Icy Stare's figure soon became visible to the group.
After fighting with her so many times, Noah didn't feel any danger coming from her. Icy Stare had been a worthy opponent when he was in the gaseous stage, but he had eventually outclassed her.
Noah had fought against a rank 6 cultivator and could express the battle prowess of an expert in the solid stage of the fifth rank. He had entered a world that she couldn't even hope to reach with her current power.
"Why did the Empire keep them hidden?" Noah asked. Having cultivators with the rarest aptitudes could enhance the image of any organization, especially if they had managed to reach the heroic ranks.
"Why bother revealing them?" Icy Stare said as she neared them. "They are below average when compared to other cultivators. All their power comes from techniques and spells created by others, which is why they are stuck at this level. It's not worth to invest more resources on them."
Noah could understand her point of view. Spells and techniques of the darkness and light element cost a lot, and those expenses would be pointless if the nurtured cultivators didn't become stronger than experts with common aptitudes.
Failing to create a unique cultivation technique in the human ranks was a common occurrence. Yet, those six cultivators couldn't make it even when they were at the peak of the fourth rank.
That put them below the average of the cultivators approaching the fifth rank. The experts that had hopes to grow on that level were existences that had started to explore their individualities and were developing their power alongside them.
As for how did the Empire get six cultivators with the rarest aptitudes, Noah didn't even need to think about it. Most citizens of the Empire were cultivators, so spotting commoners with those aptitudes was easy.
"Why showing them now then?" Noah asked. He couldn't understand why the Empire would welcome them in that way.
"To make you understand that we are far from doomed," Icy Stare said as she gestured to the groups to follow her.
The cultivators exited the tunnel and resurfaced in the district that had generated the blue arrows during the last battle. The six cultivators with rare aptitudes dispersed at that point, but the group from the Hive was too focused on the floating structure to care about their departure.
"The Empire still thrives," Icy Stare said as she rose in the sky to fly toward the floating structure. "We expected you to give up once you saw our divine defensive item, but Ravaging Demon's appearance has taken us by surprise. Now we need more territories to stop our decline."
Noah and the others followed her, but their eyes remained on the large landmass floating in the sky. It was as if an entire region had gained the ability to fly and didn't want to return to the ground.
Luxurious palaces and tall castles appeared on the surface of the floating structure. Countless shining lines filled its barren ground, which created a multicolored scene that made the base of the buildings shine with blinding light.
"God's Left Hand is waiting for you in that castle," Icy Stare said while pointing at the tallest structure on the right side of the flying region. "Follow me."
The group followed her and moved toward the tall castle. Noah's gaze often went on the center of the region to inspect a towering structure that resembled a mountain. That was the only spot in the entire area where there weren't inscriptions.
Icy Stare noticed his gaze and spoke while wearing a proud expression. "That's the throne of the Almighty. When he sits there, his divine aura spread through our regions and enlightens the path toward the higher ranks."