The Rise of the Black Plain

After some time, Minos and Abby finally arrived in the capital of the Kingdom of the Waves, where, just as in Mirabella, they had been received with the honors that only monarchs could enjoy.

All the members of the local royalty had welcomed them at the entrance of the royal palace while the local troops played instruments and the like.

After such a welcome to the person who had slaughtered the core of this family, Minos and Abby were taken by Blake to the royal throne hall.

Then, arriving in that place, Minos promptly sat down in that seat belonging to Blake, with Abby on his lap, while this family core stood in front of them.

Thus, they had arrived at the current situation, where the Spiritual Kings who were guarding the area, dressed in the uniform of the royal guard, were trembling while looking at that dangerous couple.

"Your Majesty, may I know the grace of your visit?" Blake asked in a low voice, trying not to look directly into Minos' eyes.

At the same time, his mother and the former state queen stood side by side with him and Wilfred, profiled in front of the royal throne, each silently staring at the ground.

"Hmm, I want to know how this state is after your ascension. Are there any problems? Are you managing to deal with the migrations?" Minos asked this as he relaxed in that place, with one of his hands on Abby's waist and one on the right arm of that throne.

As Abby watched in Blake's direction, this level 52 fellow answered sincerely. "After I took over the family's leadership, my group has managed to suppress all opposition, and we are implementing even difficult measures without much difficulty."

"Aside from the political aspect, we have several problems with the population of parts of the kingdom that were disturbed by the bold actions of certain houses during the war."

"But be assured, Your Majesty, we are fully capable of resolving this without causing damage to Black Plain."

Abby then asked. "What about the families in your Kingdom with connection to the Scourges of the Devil? What are you doing?"

All the regional royal families already knew about that list of organizations with the potential to cause trouble and were already taking action regarding that. In the Kingdom of the End, for example, Minos and Abby had already heard about what House Carline had been doing and potential methods of action.

Blake then replied. "We have two families in the Kingdom with their names on the list sent by King Snow. We are already investigating these families, and if we notice any non-compliance with the laws imposed by the Black Plain, we will immediately deal with them."

"We already have plans for that, so Ma'am can rest assured about those two families."

"In any case, they are not strong, and only a few of our Spiritual Kings are enough to deal with them in case of trouble."

"Oh? That's good."

"As for migration," Blake continued. "Most of our population had already opted for regular migration to the Black Plain. But after the recent news of what's been happening with illegal migrants, our concerns at the borders are diminishing by the day."

"At the current pace, we can reach a sustainable level to stop illegal immigration completely in the next three months."

"So, even if we still have many people trying to cross the border in advance, the situation is going well, Your Majesty."

"Hmm, I see..." Minos smiled, feeling that the regional situation was developing more or less as he would like.

"Well, if that is the case, I am satisfied with your work so far. However, I have an important mission to give you..." He looked at each of those people, especially the previous queen, who was the strongest in this place and also the oldest.

"Actually, I seek a certain information..." He took the map out of his spatial ring as he saw the curious eyes of those who were also a little apprehensive.

After all, Minos was dangerous, and it would be much better for all of them if he just wanted to know about the local situation. But missions, well, that might not be good for any of them!

'What does he want?' Wilfred's mother, level 57, wondered as she saw an old map appear in Minos' hand.

"That's a map that Abby and I got recently by breaking into the Scourges of the Devil headquarters..." He paused and looked more seriously at those people. "That map indicates an area in this region of your state."

After that, he threw the map in the direction of those people, allowing them to observe that.

"Do you know something?" Abby looked at them with interest, waiting for those people to answer.

And upon seeing that, those four people opened their mouths in shock, surprised to see such an item in Minos' hands.

"How can that be?"

"Did the Scourges of the Devil also have a key?"

"What?" The Queen Mother looked in disbelief at her former harem sister. "Is that really what I'm thinking?"

That level 57 woman then shook her head positively, incredulous to see that her family's secret was not exclusive to them.

"Oh? It looks like you know about it, huh?" Minos said as an arc formed on his lips and his other hand fell on Abby's firm thighs.

"Tell us what you know," Abby said excitedly.

Gulp!

"Your... Your Majesty... Ma'am..." Blake said with difficulty, looking at his mother and then at Wilfred's mother, uncertain what to do at this difficult moment.

"Sigh..." Wilfred's mother sighed in defeat, feeling she would have to hand even that over to Minos. 'There's nothing to do. A treasure has no value if we can't use it...'

'It's not worth dying to keep it!'

She then stepped forward and began to explain. "Well, that's a long story, one intertwined with House Walker's formation."

Hearing that, Minos and Abby became more interested in listening to that woman, surprised that such a thing had more relation to this family than they had thought.

"Before I explain exactly what that is, don't you find it strange that my late husband tried to advance a stage when he hadn't even lived half his life expectancy?"

Advancing to the 7th stage in this region was a hazardous process for regional experts. Thus, they usually would not risk it unless they did not have much to lose.

"Oh? He tried to advance because of that thing?" Minos readily understood what that woman was saying. "That needs someone with the strength of a Spiritual Emperor?"

"Hmm, sort of, Your Majesty."

"The truth is that William was very confident in his talent because he was the youngest peak Spiritual King our family has had. Because of this, he convinced himself that he could advance to the 7th stage and take the family to a new level after accessing 'our' treasure."

"Because of that, he suffered so much..." She said with a sad tone, speaking a little lower than usual.

She then increased her tone. "Anyway, he didn't do it for a bet!"

"Two hundred thousand years ago, our ancestors found a map identical to this one." She waved that piece of paper. "Such a map was in an ancient ruin, where the Flooded Valley is located today. It was in a tomb of an ancient Spiritual Saint!"

"Because of that, our ancestors always knew how valuable that map was!"

"But back then, the ancestor who found that map didn't understand where it led, where to begin his quests. After all, all those names and descriptions don't refer to known places."

"But as our family already led this state and had many experts, eventually they understand that such a thing was in the newly formed Kingdom of the Waves."

"From there, our family began its mission to uncover the secret behind that map."

"And so?" Abby asked.

"Well, we found the place, but there was a problem..."

"A problem?"

"Yes, unfortunately, not just anyone can enter that place."

"Our ancestors didn't know at the time, but after many generations, we eventually found out that only the descendants of our ancestor who had first touched that map could access that!"

"Other than his descendants, no one else could enter that Secret Tomb, not even read the test instructions."

"Secret Tomb? Instructions?"

"Test?"

Minos and Abby said at the same time.

"In short, that map our ancestor got is a tool that contains a genetic key left behind by a Spiritual Demigod."

"That key is what gives access to the Secret Tomb, the test left behind by that person!"