The Rise of the Black Plain

"It seems that the enemy leader is south of here, in one of the enemy camps near the Black Plain border with the Cromwell Kingdom!" That giant serpent said that to Minos.

Upon hearing this, both Minos and the supreme elder of the Miller family were surprised since they knew how careful Thomas had been.

That man had been avoiding meeting Minos at all costs, as this rebel was too threatening.

He had even developed methods of deceiving his allies and subordinates to protect his position.

Previously, Thomas did not know who the internal enemy was. As such, he had been cautious over the past few months. And with that, Minos and Vince could not help but take this news with surprise.

"That's strange..."

"Is this another false tip? Or is he taking a risk?" Vince wondered aloud as he looked at Minos and that serpent.

Minos pondered the matter and said. "Maybe he got some help and is a little more confident of seeing me on the battlefield..."

"If not that, then that's probably more of a false information or a trap." He quoted this, remembering the times he had encountered places filled with explosive arrays, among other types of traps.

But because of his powers, as well as options, Minos had never been injured in strategies of that sort.

At most, he had wasted some of his time going to places where Thomas was not.

And with that, he could not help but remember such possibility.

"What will you do, young Minos?" The great serpent asked this as it turned its head toward him.

"We'll go there!" He answered confidently, determined once again to run after his target.

For him, killing King Brown would not stop the war. But by doing so, everyone in the northern region of the Central Continent would become more fearful about sending troops to the Black Plain.

Particularly considering the fact that Minos had shown interest in peaceful resolutions.

And that, yes, could help resolve the independence of the Black Plain more quickly.

Obviously, there was no easy solution. But with a conflict limited to the Brown Kingdom and the enemy families Minos had made in other states, the time and cost of resolving this would be much less for the Black Plain.

That way, Minos could not turn down any opportunity he had to eliminate that person!

Vince's eyes narrowed upon hearing Minos' comment while his hands closed abruptly. He said. "Then I'll go with you..." 

"No."

"Until you finish learning one attack and defense Silver-grade technique, I will not allow you to face people of that level." Minos said calmly.

To him, it was not worth risking the potential of the supreme elder Miller.

Vince was old, that was true, and nothing would change such a reality. But even though he did not have many centuries of life left, this man definitely had the potential to become a Spiritual Emperor with the help of Minos' resources.

And knowing this, the young leader of the Black Plain would not waste such a person to face King Thomas, or worse, fall into a trap.

Consequently, this young man had promptly refused old Vince's offer.

"You have a more important task to do at the moment..." Minos indicated the masses slowly moving in carriages and beasts a few meters below them.

"And more importantly, King Brown will not be able to beat me!"

Minos was not being arrogant in stating this. After all, even if his enemy suddenly achieved some kind of unimaginable power, Minos would still have the Spatial Kingdom as his last option.

He was sure of one thing as he proceeded with this plan. Which was that Thomas couldn't endanger his life, even though he himself wasn't sure he could endanger the life of such a king!

"Well, we're not far from Dry City, so your work shouldn't take long to come to an end." He said as he prepared to leave, giving his last hints to that fellow. "In any case, don't be hasty."

"King Brown will die by my hands, maybe not today, not tomorrow, but one day..."

After that, Minos and that great serpent quickly distanced themselves from that area, flying at great speed to the south.

Meanwhile, Vince was still standing in that same spot as before, watching the silhouette of Minos and that beast disappear over the horizon.

"Sigh..."

'Looks like that's going to happen...' So, the old supreme elder Miller lamented in his heart, feeling very sorry that things had come to this point.

He naturally wanted power, he wanted to live longer, and he wanted his family to succeed. And for that, he was willing to fight. But for so long, he had not only been loyal to House Brown. He had always had good relations with the people of such a royal family.

So, if he had had the opportunity, he would have looked for a way to save the Brown family and Thomas.

He had no problem with that family, nor was he a genocide who did not care about the thousands of deaths of the war. But as someone unable to change the situation, he could only lament with himself.

'Hopefully, the kingdom will not disappear just because of King Thomas' decisions...'

...

Sometime later...

After flying long enough to reach the area where Thomas should be, Minos and his ally were finally scanning the surroundings of where the enemy should be.

"Ray, you can wait for me in the outskirts," Minos said to that serpent just after jumping off it.

"OK, young Minos. I will stay flying over the adjacent area!" Such a beast promptly replied, feeling certain anxiety as it took off towards an area where it could protect itself.

After that, Minos promptly began circling that area, searching for his target.

He could not check the whole area with his spiritual sense alone, and his enemies could be hiding in some part of the terrain, which, although without vegetation, did have its irregularities capable of hiding people.

And since Minos could not see through matter, he could only analyze the area carefully, while little by little using his spiritual sense, which was definitely less capable than that of the enemy.

After all, such a characteristic was an inherent quality of cultivators, something not related to techniques but the cultivator's level. Hence, if Thomas were around, he could find Minos before this young man realized him!

'If there's anyone in the surrounding area, then they aren't many...' Minos pondered this in silence while seeing nothing to indicate the presence of many people.

As much as there were spaces in the surroundings capable of hiding some people from him, Minos knew that such natural deformities were definitely not enough to hide massive troops.

'He is astute...'

'He learned very quickly not to rely on weaker soldiers when fighting against me...' The young man thought about this, thinking about the battles he had had against that enemy, but that Thomas' tactics had constantly thwarted him.

Thomas was indeed powerful and experienced. And Minos had understood this perfectly well during the months that had passed since the two had first met.

Such a person had learned how to fight Minos, understood when to retreat, temporarily 'disappear,' in short, techniques capable of keeping him alive.

For all this, Minos could not help but admire the abilities of the leader of the Brown Kingdom.

But while thinking that he could meet his enemy in this place, Minos suddenly felt a powerful spiritual fluctuation spreading in the surroundings.

'This...'

He then felt a certain restraint over his body, as if he had suddenly been trapped inside a gigantic cell from which he could not escape.

'A spatial interference array!'

Minos quickly identified the source of that restriction.

It was not preventing him from moving or using his powers. Still, it restricted him from moving through space using techniques or specific devices. Simply put, it stabilized the space around the area.

The fabric of space-time was tough to manipulate in the Spiritual World. But it was also not something wholly fixed that would not lose to force. Hence, it was not entirely stable, and there were ways to break through it.

However, arrays like the one in question did the opposite of teleportation ones. They turned small regions of space into more difficult regions to manipulate.

And having the basic knowledge of this, Minos promptly comprehended the item used by his enemies.

"Brat Stuart, today we will see what you are capable of!" A voice narrowly distinguishable to Minos resounded through that area.

...