The Rise of the Black Plain

Two weeks after the battle with Jembei's group, Minos and his party were in the Obsidian Valleys, an area further north in the Magma Barrens.

Having completed Ruth's mission in the Central Caldera days earlier, Minos was now amid his quest to collect the remains of a long-lost creature in the Obsidian Valleys.

In this area of glowing black volcanic glass, where deposits of rare minerals lay, Minos' group of companions sat in lotus positions in the area while he walked along a burning path in the area under constant fire.

Minos endured the torture of the flames as he walked through the bluish flames of the area where sand was forming glass in large quantities with loud cracking sounds.

At that time, his cultivation had reached the peak of level 108, and he had borrowed the power of one of his group mates. Meanwhile, his flame-resistance ability was in action, with red flames covering his body and protecting him from the area.

Sweating profusely as he felt the pressure of the area trying to prevent him from reaching the central point of the funnel-shaped slope he was climbing, Minos used his physical and mental strength to finish this fiery ordeal.

With the Dragon's Eye fully activated, as well as the mental protection of the Infinite Dream, all the imaginary forms of the flame monsters resisted him as he tried to manipulate them. Meanwhile, he felt his resistance to the flames finishing its improvement, evolving after challenging the burning area for more than a day.

With his last step, Minos reached the top of the slope and suddenly felt the fiery aura of the area no longer pressing down on him, even though the flames around him remained the same as they had been a moment ago.

A special flame exploded in front of Minos, forming a semi-transparent body of a conscious being, but with no definite shape. "Congratulations on surviving the ordeal of the flames. Enjoy my legacy, young prodigy." As Minos turned his attention to this creature, it quickly disappeared after its words.

As if something had changed, the flames on the top of the burning hill extinguished, revealing the shiny black skeleton of what appeared to be a winged creature.

Next to this skeleton, three colored eggs covered in a special kind of scale caught Minos' eye.

His goal was to collect the skeleton in front of him. But as for those eggs, he was under no obligation to give them to the guild!

'Interesting.' He stored the skeleton and the eggs in his spatial ring, wondering what they would give him.

But as he turned to leave, he felt a sensation in his body similar to a breakthrough and stopped. It wasn't a breakthrough, even so, Minos didn't hesitate to sit down to calmly process what was starting in his body.

'My ability is developing!' He realized where this was coming from, quickly feeling his ability to control and resist flames as he covered his body in flames, even without his command.

The red fire that covered him changed color, gaining bluish patches that grew as Minos' breaths passed.

In less than a minute, Minos' entire body was covered in blue flames, while instead of the suffocating sensation he had felt a few moments ago, he felt something liberating, as if all the pressure on him had suddenly disappeared.

Even as his cultivation began to return to normal, he continued to feel free and at home in this area.

At the same time, without even realizing it, the piece of sand that touched him turned into a crystal, an obsidian crystal!

Obsidian was a special material, an important material for making powerful weapons, with many properties, including spiritual reflection, super-resistance, and powerful against spirit forms.

According to the legends about obsidian, weapons made of this material could easily wound the souls of their targets, even if their users didn't have the power to wound the soul of an opponent.

Sender saw this while he was the only one watching Minos, and he noticed how much easier it had been for his master to complete his own mission in the Magma Barrens compared to the other three who had already completed theirs. Not only that, but he couldn't help but sigh in appreciation of Minos' natural ability to seize opportunities.

'He seems stronger now. Minos really is a monster. Now I see how foolish we were to stand up to him.' Sender thought to himself as he saw the time approaching for them to leave for the group's final destination in the Magma Barrens.

After a few minutes, Minos finished his skill and left the summit, returning to the side of his companions.

Ruth and the others soon left their meditation states before the group moved on after another victory.

Now they had only one more mission to complete. After that, it would be time to return to Examire!

...

As Minos and his party made their way through the Magma Barrens, news of Jembei's death had already reached the guild's headquarters.

With his death confirmed by members of his own faction, Jembei's information had already been removed from the Records Hall, and news of his faction's succession was already circulating downtown.

Amid all this, the General, Jembei's contact, received payment that afternoon for the mission Jembei had discussed with him earlier.

At that moment, facing the new leader of Jembei's faction, a level 112 Sovereign, this General looked into the eyes of the alien in front of him and asked.

"When do you want me to deal with him? I can't do it now. According to the schedule Jembei left, Minos' probably finishing his mission or has already finished it. It would be almost impossible for me to reach him now."

"Make your move on the first external mission he does after returning from the Magma Barrens," said the one in front of the general. "We'll take care of his other companions on our own, General."

"Hmm, all right... By the way, do you know how Minos dealt with such a powerful group?"

"No. We suspect that Sender somehow fell under Minos' control and must have helped his new leader delete the group's automatic communication devices before we received the mission transmission." The faction leader said, somewhat annoyed by this failure and loss.

Not only had they failed to kill Minos, they had lost one of their own to the enemy!