The Rise of the Black Plain

Two days later…

Minos was in the dark about what was going on among the most important members of the guild regarding the alert he had dropped to the Commander.

Although he had been involved in a high-profile matter and had possibly provided the justification Firestone Mines wanted for attacking the Armhands, he could not be blamed for anything, nor would he be involved, at least for the time being.

Minos had only carried out a mission created by his superiors, so he could never be blamed for starting a chain of attacks and vendettas between the two forces.

Despite his impressive strength, he was still only a level 105 Sovereign, a Junior Officer who shouldn't get involved in such serious matters.

After testifying before the Council of Elders, he returned to his group to continue his own affairs, waiting for his reward for the mission he had completed on Lost Soul Trail.

...

After almost two days of constant cultivation in his family's special cave, Minos left Gloria's side and went to his faction's cave.

He had planned to go to the Missions Hall in the morning to finish the previous mission, but with the faction's cave on the way, he passed through quickly.

The cave was still the same as before, with the same number of black coffins decorating the surroundings, and artifacts and cultivation items stored in special showcases.

Some members of the faction were cultivating, while someone was keeping an eye on the surroundings.

Someone always guarded the group's cave. Even though this place was secure and difficult to break into, Minos had given explicit orders to his staff to take turns and always have someone guarding the place.

The one who was there this morning was Rhett.

"Minos, are you going to finish your mission?" asked Minos' former superior when he and his group had joined the guild centuries ago.

Minos greeted the alien, seeing him for the first time since his recent trip to the Lost Soul region.

"Yes, how are things here? Any problems with the Jade Chainsaws?" Minos asked, but without the solemnity he usually carried when dealing with that faction lately.

He had stayed in his cave since returning from the meeting with the guild's Council of Elders, so he wasn't aware of all the situations involving his group.

"They are silent. With your return and the lack of communication from Artaud, I think they already suspect what happened. But it's hard to believe you got rid of a level 114 Sovereign, so they need to investigate the matter before they freak out." Rhett looked at Minos reflexively.

He himself wouldn't have believed what he'd heard if he hadn't seen Artaud's body!

Minos had brought back several bodies from the Lost Soul region, including General Artaud's. Abby hadn't used her powers on them yet, since the group didn't have urns capable of storing these beings in their post-revival state.

Minos kept them in his spatial ring, waiting for the day when they would get more urns or when his and Abby's powers would get stronger.

Gloria looked at Minos and said. "But it won't stay that way for long. They have their methods to find out if Artaud is alive or dead. If they find out that he's dead, they'll take their next step against us. They certainly won't believe that you killed him, so it's possible that they'll try a new attack before changing their strategy." "For now, let's continue with our plans. Let the enemies do what they need to do. We'll continue to gain merit points and become stronger. Much can change in a year or two." Minos' eyes sharpened as he saw delightful prospects for the future.

If the enemies sent more peak Sovereigns after him, it would only bring him more resources and new corpses!

He wasn't worried about that right now, so after saying goodbye to Rhett, he and Gloria went to the base of the mountain before he head to the guild's inner area, leaving his wife behind in the outer area.

...

Upon entering the main hall of the Missions Hall, Minos ignored the many aliens in the area, who were looking for optional missions, going to and from the counters, or just standing around talking to each other.

The sound of jumbled conversations that were natural to this place was even louder this morning.

On his way to the Mission Completion Hall, Minos overheard some of these conversations and couldn't help but change his expression to one of interest.

"There have been more and more missions since the Blue Field was attacked. It seems the attack has made the guild more active."

"That's good for us. The quest rewards are 30% higher than usual."

"Tsk! But the danger is 100% worse! Although this is clearly an opportunity, I don't know if it's worth the risk!"

"For people as high up in the 11th stage as we are, this is a good thing. Usually, we compete for the few good missions. Now at least there's a variety that can supply us all."

"The balance seems positive. But I'm afraid we're starting to get involved in a war... I hope it doesn't go too far."

Minos looked away from the high-level Sovereigns discussing this, seeing from afar that they were Senior Officers, which meant that these new missions were not for Junior Officers like him.

'I need to get my promotion quickly. Only then will I be able to take advantage of the war's opportunities.'

He entered the wing responsible for completing missions and was soon recognized by one member of the Missions Hall.

"Officer Minos Stuart, I have good news for you," said the alien on the other side of the counter, smiling. "Since you have completed a Senior Officer level mission while still being a Junior Officer, we will pay you 300,000 merit points. In addition, the Commander has guaranteed your promotion to Intermediate Officer as soon as a vacancy occurs, as well as the right to claim an artifact from the guild's inner territory treasury."

Minos' eyes widened considerably, while the corners of his lips turned up.

He hadn't expected to be so rewarded after returning from the Lost Soul region!

Considering that a General had died, his position as an Intermediate Officer would soon be confirmed!

"Hehe, so that's it. Well, I have a device to return to the guild," Minos said as he took something out of his spatial ring.

"Oh?"