The Rise of the Black Plain

After Minos' departure, a few hours passed as the group of Stone, Snow, and Walker families finished their business.

However, unlike Minos' group, which had eliminated their opponents, the same was not true of that other party.

The people on their side were less heaven-defying than Minos. Their enemies also had more effective escape abilities against their pursuers than those in Thomas' group.

Therefore, even considering the numerical disadvantage of the Cromwell family group, part of its members had escaped alive from the bloody pursuit of the Black Plain's allied and subordinate forces.

However, only one Spiritual Emperor was among the survivors, and only two Spiritual Kings had remained alive. Apart from them, all the other Cromwell Kingdom members in that group had fallen not long after the departure of that Spiritual Church camp.

On the other hand, even the survivors had gotten significant injuries to the point that they would certainly need quite a while to recover to their peak states.

After all the confrontation that had developed over tens of kilometers of that part of the Kingdom of the Waves, the pursuers had finally given up their operation, as they could no longer continue.

Chasing and fighting opponents of virtually the same level was not easy, even for groups with a numerical advantage. And since none of these people benefited from absorbing their opponents' energy, there were no more conditions to continue at a certain point in the battle.

Therefore, after losing track of the survivors, the group composed of the forces from the three kingdoms finally stopped their work.

And just at this moment, they were gathered in the middle of nowhere, resting while they decided what to do.

...

"All the bodies and items left behind by the dead have already been collected or dealt with, Your Majesty." A Spiritual King said this formally to King Snow, who was sitting on a tree trunk, eyes closed and with a severe expression.

"How many of us fell this day?" Adam asked in a deep tone.

"From our kingdom, it was two people. From our group, five."

"Sigh..."

"And to think they even managed to eliminate some of us even considering our numerical advantage..." Lorelei said in a low voice, but everyone there heard her very well.

Someone from the Walker family then said. "There is nothing to do. The enemies had a level 62 Spiritual Emperor, someone stronger than those in our group."

"If it weren't for that bastard, none of this would have happened!"

"Tsk!"

"That's right. And to make matters worse, the damn bastard still managed to escape..." A Spiritual Emperor from the Stone family said this while feeling a bitter taste in his mouth.

They had won, but the sensation that the strongest ones there were feeling was no different from the one that came with defeats.

Therefore, most people there were not satisfied with the present situation.

"What do we do with these three survivors? Do we send an investigative team to follow their tracks? Or do we leave it at that?" One of the descendants coming from the Flaming Empire asked this in doubt.

"No."

"It's too dangerous to chase those people." A Spiritual Emperor said this in a tone full of certainty. "Investigating the escape route of a Spiritual Emperor is almost impossible without the help or participation of other Spiritual Emperors."

"On the other hand, on an escape, the side that has to hide can have a lot of advantage over traps or surprise attacks. And considering that the enemy is stronger than us, chasing him longer could result in many deaths!"

"Ah, that's true."

"But come to think of it, there are only three individuals, and they all came here from the empire to help their families. So, I don't think they will try to get involved in these matters again."

Someone there nodded in agreement. "They will most likely quietly recover and then leave the region."

"It's best to leave those people alone."

Chasing these survivors was quite problematic since one could fly, and the others were old foxes over a thousand years old who knew well how to hide.

With that, plus the disadvantage in terms of those people's investigative skills, hardly anyone there thought it wise to go after the three descendants of the Cromwell Kingdom.

"What do we do now?" The person from the Walker family who was standing there in Blake's place asked those two influential figures in this region.

Adam and Lorelei then looked at each other before this woman said something. "My group will return to the Black Plain, where there is still a war to be fought."

"But I think we should send one of us to report what happened to Minos."

"Hmm, that's true..." Adam nodded in agreement and then continued. "My group will proceed to Dry City."

That person from Blake's group then commented. "Well, then we will see there soon. Our family will also have to go to that city in the next few weeks..."

"I hope it all works out in the end."

"But I wonder what happened to the other group..."

"Who knows... But anyway, we'll find that out in a few more days."

And with that, those people continued for some more time in that area, before finally leaving towards their respective destinations.

...

Meanwhile, in the capital of the Brown Kingdom...

A few minutes had passed since the death of Thomas Brown when suddenly chaos began to spread through the local royal palace.

Just when the people remaining in this family's headquarters were awaiting the results of the peace negotiation attempt, the most crucial soul's lamp in this place had lost its light!

When this happened, the person responsible for looking at the place where this lamp was located almost had a heart attack with fright due to the terror of this fact.

Even though two kings had died recently, one of them had died of 'natural' causes, and only James had been killed in battle. But even so, violent deaths of kings were infrequent in the recent history of this region, which naturally affected the views of the people of this place.

Because of this, when the news that Thomas had died spread, almost all the people in that headquarters had suffered a severe blow, with many of them losing their hopes.

And those most affected, of course, had been the individuals previously closest to that king, his children, and his wives.

When they found out about his death, each of Thomas' wives lost the look of pride on their faces, the joy of life they had always had.

Some loved him dearly and wished they could die in his place. But others just loved him enough to have been happy by his side.

However, even these were finished since one of the best things about their lives was over, their status as the king's wives.

Even though one of them might become the Queen Mother, none had much interest in this position in a weak state, which was soon likely to be dominated by a rebel region of their own kingdom.

That was the end of the ambitions of many of them!

As for Thomas' children, the Crown Prince was already preparing to take over his old father's position, feeling doubly bad about this situation. He had always longed for the local throne. But not only was the loss of his father terrible but taking over the Brown Kingdom in the worst crisis of its history was even worse.

Finally, Diana was one of the most inconsolable people in this family. She was one of the few who loved her father without hidden interests and who had experienced part of that man's last moments.

She had never expected that such a time at the Spiritual Church camp would be her last time seeing her old father...

Thinking about it already scared her terribly, making her almost lose her mind for having failed to resolve her family's situation with Minos. That was even more intense considering that she probably should have died alongside her father since if it had not been for him, she would have certainly continued with that now-dead group.

However, it was now too late to mourn the if. Thomas Brown was dead, and the Brown Kingdom had no choice but to accept the terrible legacy left by this man!

Now was the time for these people's life choices!