The Rise of the Black Plain

Upon hearing Minos' questioning, one of those elders boiling in the large pot in front of him then answered this young man while trying not to cry out in pain. "Sir, the power of our organization has no relation to forces outside our region."

"We just knew how to take advantage of the power vacuum left by the Schmidt family. We also had a good relationship with the Walker family these past years."

"Walker family?"

Another one of them then said. "Previously, our family loaned an item to the Third Prince of the Kingdom of the Waves. And unexpectedly, that saved his life in a situation years ago."

"That eventually resulted in a closer approximation between our organization and the Third Prince's forces."

"After that, time passed, and when he finally received the position of the crown prince, that resulted in great achievements for our family."

"From then on, it's not hard to imagine what happened."

"Oh? So, that was it..." Minos said in a low voice, feeling that he had rushed in thinking that the Blood Triangle Pirates had some relation to the wealth of the city he was in at the moment.

This young man knew that none of those four individuals could be lying to him. After all, they were all inside an illusion created by the Infinite Dream, which directly affected Minos' opponents' mental capacity.

And even if there were ways to counter mental techniques or abilities, doing so was not simple, and those four had already passed the point where they could fight.

So, there was no way they could lie to Minos!

And knowing this, that young man soon understood the whole local situation, putting aside his previous questions about the local development.

The Hargraves family was still a medium-level family in the Kingdom of the End, although they had managed to absorb a good part of the territories of the Schmidt family. But precisely because it was a minor power, such an organization had better control over its resources.

Furthermore, it was in a phase of economic expansion, which justified the local opportunities.

Something similar was happening in Dry City, differently, of course, so young Stuart could not help but understand this place better with the answers from those individuals.

The Hargraves family was not as 'charitable' as he was towards his citizens. After all, unlike them, the potential at his disposal on the Black Plain was simply incomparable.

But even though they were not so 'charitable,' this organization needed to use a lot of their resources to hire workers since slave labor was not allowed in this state. And since the Hargraves wanted to grow as fast as possible, hiring their population was the best thing to do.

That could create a positive cycle in the local economy, which could push the family's growth.

Anyway, all this could justify the wealth of that city, something that comforted young Stuart.

"Well, if that's all, I bid you farewell," Minos shortly commented after those people's explanations were over.

He smiled at those individuals as his 'body' slowly disappeared amidst that smoky landscape near that pot.

As for those individuals, they wanted to say something, to ask for mercy, not necessarily for themselves, but for the Hargraves family.

They feared that Minos would come out of that place to exterminate all the people in their headquarters. So, they were even more fearful at this moment, desperate for the dark future their family could have because of this enemy.

But even in desperation, none of them had the chance to say a single word.

As Minos disappeared from that area, the flames below that 'pot' increased in intensity, rapidly raising the temperature of the liquid surrounding them.

And with that, the cries of desperation from those four once again took the surroundings of that illusion as they quickly headed into a maddening spiral.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"AHHHHHHHH!"

...

While those four were suffering immensely from what seemed to last a thousand years in just a few seconds, Minos returned all his attention to his body's surroundings.

'Well, there's not much more to do in this place. Time to go!' He thought about it as he looked at the surroundings, where no one could be seen in front of him, but he clearly felt many fearful auras watching him.

He then commented with a smile under his mask, "I know there are many of you in the surroundings, but don't be afraid."

"I have no interest in continuing to fight in this place..."

"However, I want you to pass on a message to the Carline family." His eyes sharpened, and he looked in the direction of the stronger one who was watching him on the outskirts. "Tell them that time is passing, and what happened here can be their future!"

After leaving his message, Minos immediately used his movement technique to leave that city, heading towards where his mount was.

'Well, that should scare the Carline family a bit, but I'm afraid it won't be effective.' He thought about it as he felt the cold wind of that region in his body.

And after wearing his previous overcoat again, he considered paying a brief visit to one of his friends. 'Perhaps I should visit Kara's family...'

'She is most likely at the headquarters of House Carline.'

An indecent smile then appeared on his lips as he pictured the beautiful redhead who had already succumbed to his touches. 'Well, I haven't had any action for weeks now...'

'If Kara is in the capital of this state, I can scare these people a little more and still fuck her properly!'

"Hahahaha!"

"Will King Carline be home? How will he feel about his daughter being fucked in his own home?" He muttered this perversely, running his tongue slowly across his lips shortly afterward.

'Hehe, let's see what happens!'

...

As Minos headed north, full of impure intent in his mind, the surroundings of the Hargraves family headquarters had already gone into complete chaos.

Many subordinates of this organization were running from one side of the area to the other, trying to control the situation left by Minos and understand everything that had happened.

Several people had seen Minos' arrival in that place. Still, most had realized the previous attack when the only ten Spiritual Kings present in the headquarters were already lying unconscious or dead on the ground.

And with that, many were trying to understand what had happened while also trying to cover the holes in their headquarters' defenses.

Without the medium-level grade-2 defensive array, they were completely vulnerable!

Consequently, chaos had already spread throughout that place, where many feared for the future and others were lamenting the death of the previous four experts.

"Disgrace!"

"How could this have happened? What did we do to deserve this?"

"Sigh..."

"What will we do from now on? Without the elders, we are lost!"

Several voices rose in the surroundings where the bodies of the Spiritual Kings killed by Minos rested on the ground.

Meanwhile, some of them had angry expressions on their faces, prepared to, if necessary, start a chase or do other kinds of crazy things.

Then, the individual that Minos had faced earlier said. "In any case, we should immediately dispatch the information about this great misfortune to our superiors on the Black Plain and the royal family."

"Only they will be able to help us at this time!"

"Tsk!"

"Damn!" One of those people cursed the figure of Minos while feeling a deep disgust that he could do nothing against the enemy that had invaded his city.

But he had no choice but to swallow his hatred and do what that other individual had suggested, as there were no other alternatives for his organization.

And several other people there also felt like that individual, eager for more active actions but knowing that the situation did not allow them to try to act against Minos.

They were only Spiritual Generals. How could they compete with a monster capable of killing high-level Spiritual Kings?

With that, those people endured the hatred they were feeling at the moment and quickly went their separate ways to fulfill their responsibilities.

It was not good to publicly admit to losses like the ones of today. But given the regional situation, the enemy's threat to this state's royal family, those people could not afford to keep tonight's tragedy a secret!