The Rise of the Black Plain

After years of traveling alone, Minos and Forfax finally spotted competitors beside themselves today!",

About two kilometers ahead of where they were, the two spotted three individuals of different races traveling together towards the north of the area where they were.

The two were traveling west, a little behind the position of those three, so the two spotted the group of three first.

But it didn't take long for the three level 100 Sovereigns to see Minos' duo as well, with all three stopping moving to turn their attention to the two competitors approaching them.

"What are we going to do?" Forfex asked Minos, watching the creatures ahead get into combat positions as they watched them.

"Let's see what they want. I don't want to fight unless I have to."

"I think so too."

The two continued to advance, slower and slower, until they were about 180 meters away from the three individuals watching them cautiously.

They couldn't just walk past that group as if it were nothing. Turning your back on a potential enemy could be a deadly mistake!

And although they weren't against allying themselves with more aliens, they didn't know what the three of them thought about it.

Perhaps they would ally if they were in equal numbers. But in a situation where one group had one more member than the other, was it in the interests of those three to ally with them?

Even if the purpose of The Red Expanse wasn't necessarily for the competitors to kill each other quickly, it could be quite interesting to kill enemies along the way. There were only 100 places, but there was no guarantee that a group would get all the places it needed for all its members.

Certainly, other groups had already been formed around the plane, but the larger the groups, the more competitive the journey would become for them to get their places. If a group had 50 members, then it was to be expected that of the 950 remaining competitors, almost all of them would be against such a team!

A group having more members might be good, but it wasn't interesting for it to be too big either. If one could, instead of growing their group every time they came across opponents, killing those opponents would betray benefits not only to the team, but to all the remaining competitors!

With less competition for each spot, the chances of groups winning spots for all their members would only increase.

By that logic, Minos and Forfex were uneasy, but the opposing group was also considering action against the two of them!

"If we deal with both of them, that's two less competing with us," said one of the three individuals, feeling it was worth them fighting today.

"Wouldn't it be a case of allying ourselves with them and forming a stronger team?" one of the three asked, still undecided.

"I believe that even with 10 people in a group, we'd win more than we'd lose. But I don't see any urgency in increasing our numbers. I'd rather approach a group similar to ours to form a larger team. Against a lone traveler or even a duo, I think we're worth fighting," said the third, the strongest of the trio.

"I think the same. The time will come when we have to kill anyone who gets in our way.

Isn't it better to use our numbers against them when we have a numerical advantage?

Everyone in The Red Expanse is a talented monster. So the possibility of these two being stronger than the three of us isn't great. This could be our chance to eliminate future opponents," said the first to speak.

The still uncertain man thought these comments through, sensing that this was the case. "So, how do we proceed?"

"I'll test the small, smooth-looking one. And you two will deal with the furry fellow. When we notice the stronger one, we'll focus on him while one of us entertains the weaker one," said the stronger one as he looked at Minos, sensing this was the weaker of the two approaching them.

"How do we attack them?"

"We'll pretend to let them pass us and attack them from behind. They'll probably try to avoid us because they're outnumbered."

With that decided, the three of them acted as if they were on the defensive, just wanting to move on without getting involved with Minos and Forfex.

"Fellow competitors, we don't want any trouble. Please move on. We'll continue on our way north."

"They'll try to attack us. Get ready to fight." Minos muttered as he sensed the treacherous action of the trio as they drew ever closer to them.

"I hope your skills are everything you said. I'm not as strong a warrior as I look." Forfex tensed, never having to fight beings with conditions, talents and numbers of powers so similar to his own.

Minos just smiled, his eyes glowing a golden hue, as he walked forward as if he believed his enemies.

When the two were at the shortest possible distance from the trio, passing alongside them, the strongest of the three stepped forward to begin his plans.

Simultaneously with that man's decisive step, two of them felt a terrifying sensation, as their cultivations seemed to shrink to level 99!

As good as the rules of this place were at making the conditions of the contest even, Minos' innate skill worked perfectly there!

The moment he saw the enemy taking the decisive step to attack them brutally, he stole the cultivation of two of the three Sovereigns, raising Forfex's forces to level 101 and his to level 102.

Forfex's eyes widened when he felt the energy of a level 101 Sovereign under his control, and he couldn't help but smile seeing how right his choice to ally himself with Minos had been.

He didn't let his ally move alone and activated his innate ability, Visual Triad, attacking the two opponents temporarily at level 99 with his mental power capable of not only helping him track things but also attacking the minds of his targets.

The two individuals felt as if their bodies had been penetrated by large stakes, instantly becoming immobile in their positions, while blood dripped from their mouths.

Simultaneously, Minos moved, in the blink of an eye, appearing next to the Sovereign against whom he hadn't stolen the man's energies, but who couldn't help but be startled to feel the speed of movement of a level 102 Sovereign.