The Rise of the Black Plain

When some of Minos' men heard his words, they soon understood what it was all about since the emperor had already decided to go to the capital of Vogel after this confrontation.

But some of the individuals who were nearby and were Vogel natives, unaware of Minos' plans, could not help but find this fellow's command strange.

They had fought side by side and were happy to achieve their goals together. But they were still members of local forces in this area and would worry about Minos taking high-level Spiritual Saints to their most important city.

With that, one of the few Spiritual Saints there with such an origin soon approached where Minos and his wives were and asked. "Your Majesty, can you tell me what your purpose is in going to visit the capital? Perhaps I can take the opportunity to guide you and introduce my family." He said so as not to appear to be questioning Emperor Stuart.

His family was not in favor of Minos as the local ruler. After all, this man was not a native of the area and still had deep relations with an enemy organization. But this house was also not one of the most opposed to the emperor and was even capable of negotiating.

With that background, he did not fear some peculiar action on the part of Minos or those high-level Spiritual Saints in the area when he made that inquiry.

The other natives of Vogel joined this individual's side and waited for Minos' response.

As the place became a little quieter, Minos thought for a while and said. "As sovereign of Vogel, even though I do not have full power over this area, I still have powers that allow me to observe and even investigate the Assembly. So now that my state has eliminated its greatest threat, I am curious to know how you have been developing..."

This person had used a lame excuse to question Minos without offending the state leader, and Emperor Stuart had given a response on the same level without saying what he wanted. Both sides knew their words were not all they had in mind, but they simply accepted it, ignoring the problem between them.

So Minos 'thanked' the man's offer of a guide and promised the Vogel people to visit them in the coming days.

When those people wished him good luck and said goodbye to those with whom they had fought, Minos dispatched his men to their respective posts.

Some would return to Vogel, where the Black Plain Army also had bases. Others would return to Cromwell, Brown, and the other smaller territories of the empire to finally bring normality and peace to the lives of the local population.

Only 20 people were to make the trip to the capital of Vogel, including Minos, his wives, one high-level Spiritual Saint, three mid-level, and five low-level ones. The rest were Spiritual Emperors, people who had previously been active in the capital, along with the rest of Elen Nash's group.

Minos needed a guide, but these would be his men, not people he did not know.

So, when it was already night in that area between Vogel and Cromwell, their group set off towards the capital of that area.

That was not a long trip since that city was close by, considering the army's teleportation ports between one city near where they were and another near the capital of Vogel.

...

Because Minos had an advantage over the natives of Vogel who had taken part in the previous confrontation, even before the information about Abe's death spread through Vogel, his group reached the capital.

Minos and his group had moved in secret when they arrived in the vicinity of this place, followed without identifying themselves or drawing attention because of the means created by Elen's group.

He had planned from the beginning to act against the local forces in case they turned against him. So there was a tunnel structure in this city connecting the nearby army outpost with an administrative building that Elen had ordered built in previous years.

Utilizing this, Minos and his group reached this place without any problems, having arrived in front of Elen and some of the imperial guards working there.

"Your Majesty!" Those people were profiled in front of Minos' group, not the least bit surprised since they had been communicated days ago about the emperor's intention.

Elen looked at Minos, whom she had not seen in years, and smiled, feeling how much stronger he had become.

"Your Majesty, how was the mission against the terrorist group? Any success?" She asked after greeting Minos, his wives, and the Gray Clouds Sect elders who had come with them.

Minos then said. "Abe Vogel is dead."

Hearing that, all the people there smiled, feeling that nothing else would stand in the way of the empire until they developed their own Spiritual Saints and, who knows, maybe even acquired Spiritual Sages!

"And what are we going to do now?" Elen asked.

"We're going to follow through with the plans sent by the soldiers at headquarters over the past few days." He said as he made his way out of the basement of that building, already intending to begin his work. "I will meet with those who have already agreed to stand by my side, as well as give a speech in the Assembly, talking about the results of the conflict against Abe and what will happen from here on out."

"We will follow the next few days by talking about it."

Elen was pleased to hear this, feeling that Minos could not miss the opportunity to act while things were still 'hot' in the dead of night.

If he waited to act, the local forces would probably act in concert to prevent even his entry into the Assembly, so he could not afford to weaken at this point!

"Where should we start?" She asked, realizing that Minos did not intend to stay in that building.

"Let's go straight to the Assembly." He said. "I intend to temporarily take that place and start my talks with allies and friends in that building. Then you can notify those people immediately."

"All right, Your Majesty."

As Elen and the soldiers there left to carry out Minos' orders, he was escorted by the Spiritual Emperors who were there to guide him through this city, heading toward the Assembly of Vogel.

They were hiding their identities as they moved. So even if someone could easily probe their strengths, none of them found a problem walking through this city's central streets in the middle of the night.

That was true for at least most of the way to the Assembly building, which had been built on the site where most of the old royal palace stood.

Upon arriving at the local seat of government and beginning to walk up the stairs that surrounded that oval building, Spiritual Saints from the local guard immediately set their eyes on those twenty people.

"What? Level 78?" One of them exclaimed as he sensed the cultivation of the person next to Minos, someone who was wearing a hood that hid his entire face, similar to that of the other people in Minos' group.

With that, several Assembly guards turned their attention to that spot where the cry of a soldier had come from, as Minos' group stopped at that post.

...