Chapter 694: 694. Indifference

The two Demons waited for the group to leave the formation before launching attacks on the barren ground of the dimension.

The shining lines just created fell apart under the might of two rank 5 cultivators, and any trace of the door disappeared on the outside word alongside them.

Creating doors that worked both as entrances and exits required a series of precious materials.

Still, the Hive was confident in covering those expenses with the resources plundered in the attack.

Also, losing money wasn't a problem for the Hive since the elders knew that they would start to make some real gains only when their assault started to target medium-size families.

"They were powerless."

Daniel whispered as he lowered his hood.

It was clear that he didn't like joining the human assets in the raid.

Killing human cultivators while being in the heroic ranks was simply too easy, and having to do that had affected his morale.

Leaders would often forget the cruelty of the slaughters among the pawns, and Daniel didn't ever experience it before.

The chaos of the battlefields was something that Daniel couldn't possibly know due to his lofty status, but that wasn't the most disturbing aspect of the raid in his mind.

That battle had made him feel for the first time that a human life wasn't so important.

His thoughts were enough to kill the human assets of the Carner family, and his role had forced him to take care of any escaping soldier or cultivator.

That experience affected his view of the world, and some parts of him began to understand the reason behind Noah's past actions.

Life was worthless unless there was enough power backing it.

Daniel had taken a glance at that mindset, and he was finding it hard to understand how he felt about that.

There was the Cause on one side, and what he believed was the behavior that a cultivator should have on the other.

That contrast left him confused, but Noah didn't care about his mental state enough to slow down their plans.

"Let's return to the Udye family and reorganize. You stay here and wait for further orders."

Noah ordered, and the two Demons immediately followed him after the human assets gave their gains to the trio.

Daniel took a while to notice that they were moving, but he chased after them when he saw that they were leaving him behind.

Of course, Noah didn't assign that role to Daniel on purpose.

He simply wanted to remain alone when he seized the dantians of the heroic cultivators, but the Udye family wanted Daniel to witness the attacks.

Killing the human cultivators was the only available role, so Noah had tasked him with that.

The raids were supposed to be a real-life training for the troops of the Hive, but Daniel's presence eased the already low difficulty of that task.

However, even though Noah noticed that Daniel's mind was going through some changes, he didn't care enough to ponder about it.

He didn't care that his casual decision was forcing Daniel's mindset to improve.

The news of the assault on the Carner family soon reached the medium-size family that controlled it.

The situation was strange since no trace of the assailants could be found around the mansion.

All the cultivators present during the assault had simply been killed, and most of their resources had been seized.

Also, Lord Carner couldn't be found anywhere, and there were only traces of his blood left inside his training area.

Worry mounted among the medium-size family's ranks, which immediately notified the large-size family in that domain.

There weren't many forces that could attack and destroy a noble family without triggering the defenses of its mansion, nor that had the power to do so.

Actually, there were only two powers that could do something like that in the Utra nation: The Royals and a stronger noble family!

Those speculations led to the only known conflict in that nation, and the name "Cause" often appeared during those investigations.

However, another small-size noble family saw its destruction just three weeks after the Carner family.

That family wasn't even in the same region of the Carners, but it experienced a similar raid, and the corpse of its Patriarch had disappeared too.

One time could be an isolated incident, but twice in three weeks hinted to some sort of conspiracy.

Yet, the Elbas family didn't intervene even at that point and simply relegated the matter to the loyal large-size noble families still inside the Utra nation.

Noah and the elders purposely held back their offensive for an entire month after their second attack, but they could only be pleased when they learnt that the Royals didn't want to interfere.

'Elder Austin was right. They have already lost any interest in this land.'

Noah thought when the Udye family updated them about that matter.

Destabilizing a nation was a slow matter that had to be approached carefully.

Also, the Hive always had to make sure not to leave any trace.

After all, the big nations couldn't allow for an ability like the separate dimension to remain in the enemy's hands.

Nevertheless, Noah and the elders were set on continuing their raids as long as no one started to blame them.

Ten more small-size families fell in the following months.

Noah kept on taking care of the leaders in the heroic ranks, and Daniel continued to oversee the work of the human assets.

There were times when the doors didn't lead the group directly in the training areas of the patriarchs and matriarchs, but Noah's awareness prevented any problem from appearing.

He always had to face cultivators at the bottom of the fourth rank or that weren't even complete heroic existences.

They didn't even have the time to react to the invasion, so there was very little that they could do when a hybrid in the fifth rank shot toward them during their surprise.

The other families decided to take harsh countermeasures when the twelfth small-size noble family fell, and they couldn't find any trace of the culprits.

The remaining weak nobles were forced to move their mansions next to the medium-size families that controlled them, which gathered the heroic assets in the Utra nation.

That put a stop to the Hive's offensive since it couldn't find easy targets anymore.

"Why aren't they acting? Don't they care about their credibility?"

"I don't know, Prince. I think we are past the point where they can pretend not to care."

"Which means that they are up to something."

Noah, Dreaming Demon, and Flying Demon said as they reviewed the situation of the Utra nation inside the separate dimension.

The fact that the Elbas family didn't act was good for them, but the complete lack of reactions was starting to bother them.

Then, Noah decided that it was time to take the raids to the next step at that point.

"Let's force their hands."

The Demons showed cold smiles when Noah gave that order.

They knew that their time had come.