The Rise of the Black Plain

The moment Artaud struck Minos' attack, he saw his enemy's counterattack shatter into pieces. His tail lashed out toward the position where three opponents blocked his way.

As Minos' counterattack weakened, Artaud could not defend against the giants' blows. He was struck from both sides, the giants' enormous fists threatening to crush him between them.

Artaud felt the enemy's blow as he lost his fire on Minos and the two strongest Sovereigns in the area, realizing he could not ignore the attacks of these two giants.

Even though these two were currently one level below him, they could both hurt him badly if he gave them the chance!

Pain radiated through Artaud's body as he felt his limbs crack. Realizing he could not ignore these giants, even though they were a level below him, he knew they could still cause significant harm if given the chance.

He retracted his powers and shrunk instantly, flapping his wings to escape from the space between the giants' fists.

Artaud stopped a few dozen meters away, breathing heavily, determination etched on his face.

"Wretches! I didn't think you would push me this far, but fuck you!" he snarled.

A symbol suddenly appeared on his forehead, revealing his invisible Flashdrain parasite, a mark of his high status within the Guild Council.

"Each and every one of you will pay for this!" he shouted as his aura flared.

Sender and the others recognized the battle was about to become even more decisive. As there was no way to avoid this escalation, they prepared for the worst.

Their auras exploded as they too sacrificed their parasites, readying themselves for the final showdown.

Only Minos and the surrounding corpses didn't use this method because of their current state—dead or having recently recovered his parasite.

However, the five living companions who came from the guild with Minos followed Artaud's lead, raising their cultivation to levels 115 and 116.

Artaud increased his own cultivation to level 117, maintaining his advantage.

"You sacrifice your parasites against a superior!" Artaud blanched, realizing his enemies were stronger than he had expected.

"Tsk! What are you complaining about? You're trying to kill us, you son of a bitch!" Sender shouted, feeling his powers surge to level 116. The absurd amount of energy at his disposal was far beyond what he had moments ago.

The other four felt the same surge, with one reaching level 116 and the other three at level 115. For the moment, they were all at the 12th stage!

Minos and the corpses in the area took a few steps back, moving together as they sensed the changes on this battlefield.

Their conflict had just reached a new level. If they weren't careful, the movements of these six temporary Supreme beings could harm them even without being directed at them!

Minos clenched his fists as he felt the power of the enemy, but also of his allies, enough to know that he would be a minor player in the 12th stage battle that was about to begin.

At his command, the ten corpses between levels 110 and 111 gathered around him and condensed their powers to form a powerful barrier.

Although they weren't strong enough to fight in this new phase of the battle, they had no choice but to take a defensive position for the time being.

Minos activated his Indestructible Body to the maximum while covering his entire body with his golden wings, preparing to endure the next few moments of battle.

'The temporary advancement to a higher stage granted by the parasite won't last long. I only have to endure a few moves between them before their cultivation weakens.' Minos pondered as he looked through his wings with his bright eyes.

At that moment, the two giants moved faster than ever, not caring that they had only reached level 115 and the enemy was level 117. Wovar opened his hands and attacked Artaud, eager to show off his new abilities.

Clexvog also moved, kicking the air in front of him as he performed a deadly pole vault into the air, causing a room in his path to collapse under his attack.

"Fucking giants!" Artaud cursed, realizing that his situation hadn't improved much despite his significant power boost.

He felt if he didn't watch out for these giants' attacks, he would end up badly in this fight!

Aware of the weakness of the Flashdrain sacrifice, he didn't want to linger there. Looking at Minos, he flew at the guy protected by the many corpses, leaving the giants aside.

Sender sensed this and moved, creating an additional defensive barrier over Minos, while Artaud went back to having the only human in the area as his first enemy to shoot down.

BOOOOM!

The parasite sacrifice strengthened everyone, maintaining the previous level of difference. However, the difference between the levels of the 12th stage was greater than the difference between the levels of the 11th stage.

Artaud hadn't become as strong as he would have liked, but he was slightly stronger than these men compared to his pre-sacrifice situation.

His attack and Sender's defense clashed, quickly turning the alien slave of Minos pale as the cauldron around that area cracked.

Artaud sensed his opponent's defenses, noticing a painful sensation in his arms from attacking something resistant. Still, he continued, pushing harder until he had destroyed the cauldron and reached the barrier of ten corpses.

Barely touching the barrier, it exploded as if made of fragile glass, the creature's claws following Minos' position.

But having already lost much of their initial attack power by reaching Minos' golden wings, the dragon's claws could not overcome this defense.

Having lost some of his power to the passive ability of the Devouring Art, Artaud's blow was only enough to throw Minos away as the human screamed in pain.

But when he slammed his back against an enormous tree trunk nearby, Minos was still conscious, wounded, but not so badly as to be incapacitated.

'Now!' Minos shouted this warning to his companions, having controlled the entire battle until that moment by talking with his men before every move they made.

As soon as he spoke, a black hole appeared beneath Artaud as sharp, poisonous spider legs attacked the man, along with the subsequent movement of the giants and Sender.