The Rise of the Black Plain

As he faced the one-eyed alien he had met centuries ago, Minos remembered the offer she had made him.

When he first went to the guild to absorb the Flashdrain parasite, he had met this Intermediate Officer in charge of that service in the external part of the city. She had told him to come to her when he became a Sovereign.

Facing her at the inner city post in charge of parasites, Minos greeted her and asked about the opportunity.

"Are you still available to help me?" He asked as she prepared Ruth's parasite, having already implanted Minos'.

She smiled when she heard that. "I don't think I can help you as much now as I could when you joined the guild. Back then, you were only a Grandmaster, and I was a level 106 Sovereign. Now, I'm only at level 108. I can't offer you as much as I could if you were a level 100 Sovereign."

She hadn't expected Minos to come back so strong from his trip, just like Jembei, Maximillian, and several others he knew in the guild thought.

Almost all of them had expected him to return to the guild at level 101, or 102 at best.

However, at the beginning of level 105, Minos was completely different from the one his guild friends knew. "Don't be modest. Now all I have is my strength and my title. I have 20 penalty missions to complete, and a lot of missions accumulated during my absence... Any help you can give me would be appreciated."

She looked at him as she finished implanting Ruth's parasite and moved on to the next of the group. She wasn't aware of the whole situation that Jembei had caused, but she knew Minos would indeed have some problems when he returned. "If you insist, I have some information and contacts that can help you. While you were gone, I monitored your and Maximilian's faction."

"Oh? How are they?" Ruth asked with interest.

"The faction has grown, losing some original members but gaining others. Besides, their position is quite strong in the outer area of the guild, and Maximillian wants to strengthen it in the inner area.

This man is very ambitious, so it may not be long before the faction gains power in the inner area of the guild."

"Have any of our race mates died during this time?" One of the level 107 Sovereigns asked her.

"Two humans have died. Aside from them, three old members of the faction, friends of Minos, left the group decades ago because of disagreements with how Maximillian was leading the group..."

She named some people Minos had brought into the faction, citing their situation, showing that not all of them had turned against him or betrayed him after those decades. Some had remained loyal, distancing themselves from Maximilian when they discovered this man had no qualms about paving the way for Minos' enemies in the Emperor Stuart's absence.

"So that's it..." Ruth sighed in regret at the deaths of their two companions.

Of the group that had set out from the Spiritual World centuries ago to settle the war and then accidentally ended up in Zocarro, only ten, counting Minos and his five companions, remained to tell their stories.

Of those who remained, Maximilian was the highest level, level 108, while the lowest level was Minos, level 105. The three who had been in Zocarro for the last few decades had cultivations between levels 106 and 107.

"We'll visit these four later." Minos said in a somber tone, curious to hear what Maximillian had to tell him. He had no reason to punish the man, since there was no alliance agreement between the two that said Maximillian had to protect Minos in the past decades. But there were certain things that needed to be discussed and settled.

When the one-eyed woman had finished implanting the Flashdrain parasite into the last of them, she said. "Aside from Jembei, watch out for your old opponents. Many of them are stronger and will try to make things difficult for you from now on.

I'd be especially careful with those compulsory missions you mentioned. Since they're punishments, they'll probably be quite difficult, the kind where you'll be exposed."

"Hmm, I know. Don't worry, we'll be careful." Minos said as he thanked her. "Anyway, we're going to start a new faction. If you want to join us, I have a lot of interesting resources for mid and high level Sovereigns."

The alien's eyes lit up with obvious interest in these resources.

She knew that Minos really had some incredible things in his possession. After all, even though he had been away from Zocarro for decades, he had advanced to level 105, and all of his companions were much stronger than she had expected them to be when they returned to the guild.

To have advanced so much, they must have encountered many opportunities on their journey here!

"Just tell me where you're going to organize, and I'll come by to make my membership in your new faction official." She said with a smile on her large lips.

"I will send someone to escort you there when I have everything ready. See you later."

Minos said goodbye and then led his group away from the post in charge of the guild's special parasites.

As they left this place in the guild's inner area, they encountered the four humans who had remained in the guild after all these years.

In front of Maximillian, Minos stood still and watched the man for a moment, only to see that Maximillian was also watching him without saying anything for a moment.

While Minos' expression seemed to be that of a disappointed man, Maximillian looked a little frightened, his expression well marked, while his face seemed to have lost some of its color.

His heart was beating faster, while his back was completely sweaty.

Looking at Minos and sensing this guy's impressive level 105 cultivation, Maximillian had many questions in his mind, but he also had explanations to give.

It wasn't his plan to do this today, but after discovering Minos' current cultivation and abilities that far exceeded his expectations, he couldn't help but change his plans and leave Jembei aside to come to this human.

"Minos, it's good to have you back in the guild." He said with a bitter smile. "Before you misjudge me, I think you should give me a chance to explain myself."