The Rise of the Black Plain

Immediately after the last blade of air had been hurled toward Oliver, this man shivered in fear as he felt the killing intent that Minos had released.

This young man had only made one precise sword movement without answering that Spiritual King's questions.

'Shit!'

Swooish!

Quickly a red layer appeared around Oliver's body, almost at the same time as Minos' attack was finally only millimeters from this man's neck.

Clash!

Puff!

Finally, the attack hit the red layer around Oliver's neck, causing many sparks to form during the collision.

After this, the layer created by that Spiritual King's defensive technique slowly began to lose its strength. Such a thing was swift, and in just a second, it had become more and more transparent until a cracking sound reverberated through that area, and a cut appeared on Oliver's neck.

"Ahhhhhh!" He cried out in pain as he brought both hands to his neck, trying to stop his blood from continuing to flow through the small cut that Minos' attack had made on him!

As Oliver tried to stop his 'life' from flowing down his neck, Minos spared no effort and suddenly appeared behind such a person.

In doing so, that young man immediately used the blade of his medium-level grade-2 sword to attack his opponent's defenseless back.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Oliver screamed again as he unconsciously removed his hands from his neck, causing a gush of blood from the previous cut.

"Miserable... Are... Are you going to..." He tried to say something, but more blood flowed out of his mouth with each attempt, making his speech exceptionally inconsistent.

"You... You're going to..." He continued trying to make his final threat until his eyes began to darken, and his body fell to the ground.

Puff!

After that, Oliver's body fell forward onto the ground, quickly beginning to form a pool of blood below his neck.

He had died!

"Sigh!" Seeing that it was all over, Minos let out a long sigh as he looked at the back of the dead man in front of him and thought about what to do next.

Killing this Spiritual King had been a little easier than usual since this individual had made the mistake of trying to protect the crow from before by using a barrier made with part of his own soul. Consequently, by the time Minos acted against him, Oliver was much weaker than a level 54 cultivator would typically be, making this young man's mission even easier.

But despite not having had a mortal fight against such an opponent, Minos was somewhat stressed at the moment. After all, some mental issues could be even more stressful than fierce battles.

'I wonder how the rest of the groups did? Are there any other Spiritual Kings in such an enemy group? Maybe other crows...' He thought about this as he stooped down beside Oliver's body and collected that man's items.

After doing so, he immediately burned that corpse and headed towards the bodies he had left on the way to this place.

Besides the level 49 Spiritual Generals from before, some other people had tried to stop this young man from pursuing Oliver earlier. As such, there was a trail of corpses between that place where some of the carriages of the Silva family group were and the easternmost side of the local wall.

Other than that, some other members of Oliver's team had tried to escape through that area, and Minos' remaining attacks had killed some of them.

Hence, young Stuart was quick to give to the corpses in his way to Dry City the same treatment he had given Oliver's.

'I guess I'd better take the Maritime City as soon as possible, or I'll have no way to surprise the Brown family...'

...

After almost 90 minutes since the start of the battles around the local wall, all the cultivators who had left Dry City to solve the problem had returned!

At the same time that the 600 or so people from Minos' forces had returned to the area protected by the Dry City dome, hundreds of people had left the local wall.

These individuals were lower-ranking soldiers who had seen some of the battles earlier, plus a few higher-ranking citizens, as in the case of Regina and Angela.

They had all been amazed by the great battle that had taken place outside the local dome. Still, after those many fights were over, each of these people returned to their respective responsibilities.

Watching fighting was usually very pleasant for cultivators. However, this was not just ordinary fighting, but rather the life and death of people. Hence, such spectators had had little entertainment and much dread while watching that.

However, as many of them wanted to help, only by getting stronger and gaining the status necessary to do so could they do something. So, several of those spectators returned to the interior of Dry City in silence, thinking about the whole situation as they followed many of the soldiers who were returning from their respective battles.

There were a few soldiers wounded more seriously to the point of having to be carried. On the other hand, most of them were fine, walking independently without significant battle marks.

Anyway, with everything over, the local borders were once again closed to any visitors. At the same time, the many soldiers went off in different directions. Some of them were heading for the local hospital, where the most wounded could receive specialized treatment.

On the other hand, those soldiers in better condition were heading back to the headquarters, where some doctors were on duty. Plus, the training site where they could cultivate and recover their energies.

Finally, Minos and some of the key individuals from those soldiers went directly to the local government mansion.

...

"So, what happened to each of your groups?" Minos asked this to the four people standing in front of him.

These individuals were the leaders of the three groups from before, with the addition of Eliot, who had participated in such an operation and was there to talk about what happened.

Finally, upon hearing the young local sovereign's question, each of the three soldiers, Humbert, Eduard, and Celeste, quickly described what had happened in their respective battles.

Lastly, Eliot related what he had seen and felt on the battlefield, letting young Stuart know everything that had happened in today's battle.

"So, that's what happened..." Minos muttered those words as he leaned his back on his armchair and looked at the people sitting at different points in that office.

"Tsk! We were lucky that we didn't have to encounter a group with more Spiritual Kings... But the next time the Silva family acts against us, we can expect something much more challenging..."

"What do you mean?" Eliot asked in a low voice.

"A lot of people died today, so the Silva family command will probably be much more careful about the Black Plain... While that could be good if they stay away from us, that could be bad if they decide to involve other powers or even send an even more significant force..."

'In fact, if it were the Miller family that had lost a thousand members all at once, we would treat such a thing as being a matter of life and death...' Eliot was thinking about this when suddenly he remembered something. "Perhaps not, young Minos. After all, no matter how many people from the Silva family perished here, probably only a few individuals had their vital signs stored in soul lamps."

"In this case, there is no way for them to be sure that the group was wiped out."

Upon hearing this, Minos brought one of his hands to his chin and said. "That might help us a little, but the loss of a level 54 Spiritual King should be enough to make the elders of that power lose their composure..."

"But, let's put that aside for a moment." Minos then turned to Humbert and asked. "By the way, how were the numbers? Any losses on our side?"

"No, young master, all the soldiers who left returned. And although we have some soldiers who will need a few days of rest, they should have no after-effects."

"On the other hand, the enemies were all killed, and we managed to bring a thousand spatial rings to the headquarters!" Humbert calmly said while looking at some scrolls that were in his hands.

Each group had accounted for such a thing, and after everything was over, this data had reached this Sergeant.

"Oh?"

....