The Rise of the Black Plain

After Isabella's permission, the supreme elder of the Edwardstone family looked at a group of experts from that family who were standing on the right side of the area where he and the princess were standing. "What are the findings of the investigative group?"

One of those men sitting on a small stand stood up and addressed his words to Bush. "Supreme elder, our group has come to the conclusion that the disaster that hit the Saints Killing Sect was caused by one of Minos Stuart's weapons."

"His weapon was used in another location. But part of its power traveled through space and hit that headquarters, which was unprotected and had no way to defend itself from such a thing."

"Due to all these facts, the Saints Killing Sect lost more than half of its experts present at the time of this incident, considerably decreasing its strength."

"This also ended the lives of practically all the prodigies of that organization, along with thousands of employees relevant to their operations." That person read the investigation report, exposing all the losses of the Saints Killing Sect to Minos that day.

The data concerning the war between that organization and Oswald's sect were not considered since only that fateful day's tragedy was discussed in this trial.

Thus, the losses of this organization that was the enemy of Minos were much greater than this man from the investigative group of the imperial family was citing to everyone there.

The patriarchs and sect masters of this empire were aware of this and could not help but open their mouths, realizing how much power this young man they had ignored until recently had.

Many of them thought Oswald had gone mad when he left his position for Minos to replace him. But now, these people realize the reality and cannot help but feel bad. They had wasted months preparing for the downfall of the Gray Clouds Sect, not Mortimer's organization.

'Damn it!'

'I knew something like this would happen!' The Mountain Sect master thought to himself. 'That person is cursed!' He remembered his seer who died after trying to spy on Minos' future, confirming again that this fellow was not simple.

Meanwhile, the master of the Holy Sect looked at Oswald with narrowed eyes, seeing that this fellow had gotten an excellent replacement to finally have a good retirement. 'Whether his choice was the wisest will depend on the outcome of this trial. But I admit that he is very capable...'

Oswald realized that his colleague from the Holy Sect was watching him and nodded in that individual's direction as he waited for this trial to proceed.

He had been talking to Minos during the days that had passed, trying to figure out what that energy was that he had felt around his grandson more than once. Emperor Stuart did not want to answer him immediately but eventually said he would talk about such a thing when he took the Gray Clouds Sect to the northern region.

Hence, Oswald was anxious that Minos could return to the Black Plain and get on with his own plans, which was necessary for him to learn about this secret.

So he soon focused his attention back on trial.

"... Your Highness, supreme elder, we judge that Minos Stuart bears more responsibility than he admits in this attack." The investigative group concluded their reasoning, showing this level 68 subject as guilty to the people following the trial.

"Mommy, is daddy in trouble?" Sarah asked Gloria while sitting next to her mother.

"No, everything will be fine, sweetie." She said this, smiling as she caressed one of her daughter's arms.

Sarah paid attention to the trial again just when the floor was passed to Minos to defend himself.

"That's ridiculous." Minos said in an indignant tone. "At no point did the investigative group talk about how members of the Saints Killing Sect themselves teleported from the battlefield and opened the spatial crack that led to that tragedy for them."

He turned to the audience there, giving his back to the members of the imperial family judging him. "Citizens of the Flaming Empire, sect masters and patriarchs, I ask you this question. What would you do if you faced a threat that would surely kill you if you did not flee, or you would have a chance to save yourselves but, in return, create a danger to your organizations?"

"I believe that well-meaning people, good leaders, would never bring danger to their headquarters, their people. On the contrary, that person would sacrifice themselves for the greater good and die a hero's death." He gestured as he walked through the center of that area, defending his position in front of these witnesses.

He then paused briefly and said, with a serious expression on his face. "But no, the members of the Saints Killing Sect did not do that. Instead, they selfishly fled the battle to save themselves and fulfill their goal of capturing Gavin Rowse, the owner of the Destruction Eyes."

"They did this at the cost of the safety of their headquarters. That was all for the sake of Mortimer Burgess, so this sect master would have a chance to steal Gavin's powers and continue his journey to become a Spiritual Sage." Minos said everything he knew, trying to make all those organizations in the empire realize the real intentions of the Saints Killing Sect.

That is, they wanted to have the same power or perhaps be more powerful than the imperial family itself!

That was a terrible indication in a state as weakened as the current Flaming Empire!

Because of this, upon hearing Emperor Stuart's well-placed words, almost all the local leaders following this trial became more serious and worried about that organization.

The Saints Killing Sect had weakened a lot recently. But if they could get a Spiritual Sage, everything would change!

"If that's true, Mortimer is planning bad things..." One of the sect masters there commented in a low voice in her group.

'That's really worrying.' The leader of the Holy Sect considered this, thinking that, judging by that individual's personality, his allegiance to the imperial family could change if he succeeded in his attempt.

In this case, the entire empire could suffer from the actions of a possible rebel in charge of the Saint Killing Sect.

While everyone was thinking about this and muttering things among themselves, Minos was looking into the eyes of the supreme elder of the Saints Killing Sect, smiling at this person, glaring at him furiously. "The people in this organization chose their fate. I had no way of predicting this when it all happened, so I can't be blamed for anything."

"The only thing we can say is that I am guilty of an unintentional accident. That is, I did not disregard the rules imposed by His Majesty. I am not a rebel."

"Nonsense!" That representative of the Saints Killing Sect shouted angrily. "You rebelled against the imperial family weeks ago on our territory, Minos!"

That supreme elder looked at Bush and said. "Your Excellency, this individual defied the imperial guards! Please, do justice for the sake of the empire's good, or I fear this demon will take over our lands in no time!"

The surroundings became silent after the words of Minos and this old fellow, with everyone there thinking about what was best for their respective organizations.

...