The Rise of the Black Plain

"50 years?" Aurae quickly grasped how Minos had ascended to level 99 so swiftly. Time had passed differently for him than for them!",

Advancing so many levels in just 50 years highlighted the spiritual richness of the region where he had spent those years.

"Time flows differently there compared to here. Fortunately, my group found a place where we could advance without worrying about being away from here for too long," Minos explained soberly.

"But I must admit, until recently, we weren't aware of how much time had passed for you. I'm relieved it wasn't longer than we expected."

"What is this place?" Rowan asked his father.

"It's called Zocarro, a colossal world, even more formidable than the one that gave rise to the Spiritual World. This place offers incredible opportunities and perils beyond level 100," he disclosed.

His followers had already suspected that something like this might exist in the universe, given his earlier suggestions that level 100 was not the ultimate limit.

"What happened to the others who left with you? Why did only a small group return?" Vico asked, curious about the current levels of individuals like Maximillian, but also about the fate of the allies who had departed with Minos 15 years ago.

Minos responded just as the first of the three ape Gods plummeted from the sky, lifeless. "Most of our party perished on our first day in Zocarro.

That planet is exceedingly powerful and home to creatures several levels above 100. We were fortunate to land in one of the weakest areas of the Oqia continent, but even there, several of us fell on our first day. Gradually, we adapted to the conditions of the planet until we joined a guild where we could find stability and face fewer dangers.

Since then, we've strengthened within that group. When we left Zocarro, we were 13 survivors, including myself, Ruth, and those who returned with us."

"That's it?" Gloria opened her mouth to ask, realizing how many in the group had died.

"Yes. Of the 13, seven stayed behind of their own free will. Zocarro is very good for cultivation. To give you an idea, Maximilian was already close to level 104 when we left. By now, he should have made his breakthrough and started his quest for level 105." He said, to the shock of Vico, Callie and Aurae.

"Level 105? Is it that easy to advance in power in this place? What level are the strongest people there?" Aurae asked, feeling her heart beat faster.

"I do not know. The strongest one I saw had a cultivation of level 116."

"Impressive!" Kendrick said as he smiled hopefully, wondering what it would be like to go to that world.

He was clearly interested in getting to know this place called Zocarro!

"Ruth is currently at level 101, while my other companions on this trip are between levels 102 and 103. The two strongest in level are in The Adamant Land to finish massacring the aliens, and the other three are in the Spiritual World to attack the enemies. Ruth is near.

I can feel it," he said as he turned his attention away from the two giant apes who had finished killing each other and looked at his family.

Ruth's children, her family, Gloria and Abby were naturally happy about this, eager to see the black-haired woman again.

"What about the wings on your back?" Sarah asked, something that was on the minds of many there.

"This is an absorbable weapon. It's a powerful thing. I was lucky enough to get it from the egg I found in the Spiritual World before I left," Minos said, and his family members remembered the thing he had taken to the Spatial Kingdom and left there for a while.

After he said that, the native Demigods of the Spiritual World finished killing the 10th stage alien nearby, while the strongest level 100 ape killed its opponent. This creature was still alive despite its fatal wounds, which would surely take its life in a few minutes.

Minos wasn't interested in waiting any longer, and with a single stroke of his sword, he cut the creature in half, exterminating the soul of the last level 100 ape.

The battle in this area of the Central Continent was over, resulting in the first victory for the forces of the Spiritual World in months!

Minos looked at the three surviving Gods of his world and asked. "Only you survived?"

"Yes, but it wasn't the damned apes that made us bleed so much. It was the damn aliens from the Mechanic Empire that got us into this situation. It was only when Callie moved in that things stopped getting worse for us gods," Vico quickly summed up what had happened.

"So it was them... Where are they? I heard they came to our world to hide from Irpoll's forces," Minos said with a bloodthirsty expression on his face.

"They are in the Ancestral Sea," Abby said to her husband, also eager to see the end of the aliens from The Adamant Land.

Minos looked narrowly in that direction and said. "I will deal with them later today. But first let's meet Ruth. I want to clean up the Central Continent before I go to the Ancestral Sea."

"That'll be quick," Aurae commented. "With their current powers, dealing with them will be easy. Although they've already taken over an impressive amount of our continent, there should be less than 3,000 apes in the entire area of the former Flowers Kingdom, Evergreen Empire, Blackrock, and Flaming Empire."

"Former?"

"The Black Plain Empire has absorbed them," Gloria commented to her husband.

"I see... That's a shame. I feel like so many of my old friends have died." His regret was not that these territories were now part of his state, but that too many people from these states had probably fallen for such a thing.

'Now we can only avenge them by killing every single one of their enemies.' Minos thought to himself as he led his people towards the nearest enemies in this area, knowing he would reach Ruth in this south-central region of the continent in no time at all.

Thus, all the local natives would follow at Minos' side, watching him brutalize the enemies along the way, showing just how strong he had become.

Amid the action for the next few dozen minutes, Minos would also allow the group to fight a few enemies, proving how good it felt to kill enemies that had seemed invincible in the recent past.

The murderous trail of Minos and his group would soon meet the trail of Ruth, who had now killed over 500 aliens in this southernmost area of the continent.

Finally, the Stuart family was fully reunited in the Spiritual World!