The Rise of the Black Plain

"NOOO!" Someone in that place screamed desperately, feeling that the world had just played a big trick on all of them, ending the most outstanding support they had.

And with that painful cry, several of those people began to feel the weight, the negativity of having seen the final moments of such an expert, on whom the entire Cromwell Kingdom depended.

It was practically unimaginable to see or hear about the death of a level 59 Spiritual King in this region. After all, each of these individuals was very powerful, and since they were not numerous, they rarely fought or put their lives at risk.

The deaths of these individuals were usually very peaceful, after several hundred years and experiences, usually in the comfort of their homes. And since such deaths could be predicted long before they happened, the death of these peak regional experts was usually not so tragic.

But in the present situation, everything was different!

Before he died, King Cromwell still had enough vitality to live for a few centuries. Moreover, despite the dangers that each of those people knew James was running, none honestly considered that he would die in war!

After all, humans had that ability to stay positive by relying on past data, such as that person's former glory.

And having seen that individual arriving at that place earlier, many had thought that, once again, everything was fine. But this hope of seeing James' figure had only made everything worse!

All of a sudden, James had gone from a successful fugitive to a lifeless body!

Hence, experiencing all of this, those people present there were shocked, others afraid, and some did not believe the reality.

Some were crying like children, while the older men gathered around James' lifeless body and watched him in silence, experiencing this tragedy in their way.

At the same time, some of the younger men, some female doctors, were pale with fear as their eyes turned red amidst the tears trickling down their corners.

But some were pressing their jaws hard while their fists were so tightly closed that their bones were emitting crackling sounds.

'Disgrace!'

'The damned rebel! It had to be him!' One of the most assertive individuals there, someone who had seen Minos' fight in the final of the Spiritual Tournament, thought of it in hatred as he remembered that young man.

'Hell! How could we have let such a threat develop?' He wondered in hatred, feeling the frustration of having lost his leader to someone who, not long ago, could have easily been eliminated by himself.

The human mind was complicated. There was no way these people could have known what Minos would become. But still, such an individual felt a terrible feeling in his being for failing to identify the threat to his leader.

And now, with James' dead body right in front of him, this man was experiencing the mistake of thinking about what if after everything had already happened.

But others there were calmer about it all.

Not because they did not care about the death of that person. They cared and were just as fearful about the future as the others. But someone needed to step forward and make the necessary decisions, or chaos would spread, helping the enemy side.

"Sigh..."

"It's a tragedy what just happened, but we can't just stand here." One of the older individuals there said this while still looking at James' body, which was still in the arms of one of the doctors. "His Majesty is dead."

"We must face reality."

"First, we must organize the situation of the kingdom's forces on the battlefield so that disorganization does not spread and make the enemies' work easier."

"If we want to take revenge, we will have to continue in this war without letting our morale decrease!" He said firmly.

"Second, some of us should return to Capital City, taking His Majesty to the royal palace."

"We must begin the preparations for the funeral ceremony and the preparations regarding the royal succession."

Hearing this, each of those people there felt something strange in their throat, as if there was something wrong with talking about succession right after the king's death. But they understood perfectly well that what such an individual was doing was necessary.

Someone then took a deep breath and asked. "Who will be in charge until His Highness the Crown Prince ascends?"

"It will be the supreme elder." That same individual answered such a question. He then turned to one of the strongest people there and said. "The supreme elder is on the battlefield fighting alongside the counter-revolutionary forces."

"Go and notify him of His Majesty's death."

...

A few hours later...

At the main camp of the Counter-Revolutionary Army on the Black Plain, Thomas and Linette had already arrived at this location after their respective escapes from the battlefield.

Each of them had teleportation arrays leading to different points for safety's sake. After all, there was a possibility that the place they teleported to could, one day, be under some enemy attack.

In this case, it would be problematic if such injured and exhausted individuals were together in one place!

Thus, to ensure the survival of as many of these high-level individuals fighting on the Black Plain as possible, they had items that would take them to different locations.

But with their mounts that, although not as good as Minos', they were still able to cross the territory of the Black Plain in a short time.

In any case, upon arriving at that location, they had immediately met to check each other's condition and find out about today's losses.

"So, you survived..."

"Sigh... That's good." Thomas said this as he saw the figure of that distinguished lady.

On the other hand, although Linette was glad that this ally did not die, she was not happy. "We came back alive, but I'm afraid we won't be able to count on the help of those assassins anymore."

"They are both probably dead, or, if they were lucky, they are crippled." She said.

To her, it would be good if the Scourges of the Devil lost power. But there was no pleasure in witnessing such a thing happening when it was all due to a common enemy.

Because of this, as she remembered the two individuals that had been attacked mercilessly by Minos, this woman could not help but mourn the possible loss of those two.

Linette did not know what had happened to them since she ran away as soon as she had the chance. But considering that they had been in the worst situation, she could imagine their outcome.

"Yes, unfortunately, those two had their technique used against themselves..." Thomas commented on that, something that had been most responsible for all that outcome.

The assassins' concealment technique used by those individuals had put them in a situation where they had not been prepared to defend themselves against a surprise attack from Minos.

After all, they were the ones who were supposed to surprise their opponent!

And for that unpreparedness, not only those two, but all of them had paid for that mistake!

"So..." As Thomas went to talk about something with that woman, some soldier from that post came running towards those two while he had a pale expression on his face.

"Your Majesty, madam..." He spoke to the two, feeling it difficult to finish what he was supposed to say.

"What is it?" Thomas asked.

"Your Majesty... His Majesty James Cromwell, he... He..."

Hearing that, those two pupils began to shrink as they felt something bad approaching them.

And then, that soldier finally managed to say what he should. "He died!"

"What?"

...

A week later ...

In the blink of an eye, the entire northern region of the Central Continent had found out about the tragedy on the Black Plain, the death in combat of a level 59 Spiritual King, the king of the Cromwell Kingdom!

That had not only been exposed in the leading regional periodicals. Because of the rarity and importance of the news, so many letters had been sent from the battlefield that the information had become popular in a short time.

So, Minos had gained an additional moral point in the region, and, from now on, he would be much more feared by all!