The Rise of the Black Plain

While the whole region was discussing the recent events of the war on the Black Plain, several rumors were gaining power because of this recent news.

Among the most popular rumors were those about the victory of the Black Plain in the war, with the subordination of the Kingdom of the Waves, Snow Kingdom, and the Kingdom of the End.

Since Minos' recent trip, rumors concerning this were already circulating in the northern region of the Central Continent as it genuinely made some sense to talk about such things after the acts of young Stuart.

However, with the departure of the Kingdom of the Waves troops from the Black Plain and the suspicion that the Snow family had participated in the recent massacre, the rumors had become far more credible.

Thus, the idea that the Black Plain would win the war in a matter of days or weeks was already circulating through every neighborhood in this region, with millions already planning what to do.

Since the state of Minos would gain its independence any day now, then it was time for the region to consider the Black Plain more seriously in its plans.

Some were already thinking of migrating to that territory once the conflict was officially ended. Others, on the other hand, did not want to move until the Black Plain was settled.

After all, one did not build a state overnight, and strength alone did not guarantee the best opportunities or quality of life. Not in the short term.

But one way or another, the Black Plain seemed to be the future, and even those with no interest in moving their residences were watching this place, preparing to invest.

There was no good notion of investments in the Spiritual World. Still, prominent families and organizations knew how to expand their brands and products.

And since the Black Plain was presumably a place with few options, there was certainly plenty of room for these regional powers to expand across that still desert territory.

With that, the movements of the major regional players had already begun!

But as rich or ordinary people were preparing for the rise of the Black Plain, the royal families now subordinate to Minos were already acting to carry out his orders.

The groups that had met young Stuart earlier had not yet returned to their capitals, of course. Still, they all had already sent notifications to their families. And as crows were truly fast, each of these powers already knew what they had to do from now on.

The Carline, Snow, and Walker families were already beginning to work to bring order to their states, slowly starting to notify their partners of the changes in command in their families and region.

Now there was no longer any need to hide the truth about their position regarding the Black Plain, so they were already preparing to confirm the regional rumors!

At the same time that all this was happening in the northernmost kingdoms of this region, the Brown Kingdom was in complete chaos from the events.

With the death of Thomas, the Spiritual Emperors, and peak Spiritual Kings coming from the Flaming Empire, the Brown family had lost any condition to fight against the Black Plain.

They, of course, could try to keep striving, but that would only guarantee more deaths in the long run, without much chance of victory.

And precisely because of this reality, the very families still loyal to House Brown were already beginning to move toward ending the war!

They wanted House Brown to assume defeat and recognize the Black Plains as an independent state!

On the other hand, in the Cromwell Kingdom, the situation was still tumultuous due to the uncertainty of the local powers about what happened to their leaders.

Several high-level members of this family had been eliminated recently. However, the strongest Spiritual Emperor was still alive, so this state had not yet reached a point of giving up.

...

While the region's natural order began to shift, Blake waited for his brother in Yellow City, from where he planned to travel to Black Plain once Wilfred caught up with him.

After more than a week since Blake's first encounter with Minos since the attack against the headquarters of House Walker, this future king of the Kingdom of the Waves had already managed to notify his brother.

In fact, Wilfred was already on the move and should reach this place in two weeks at most, when they could finally try to get their mothers back by signing agreements with Minos.

On the other hand, while waiting for Wilfred, Blake was already beginning to get used to the idea of losing part of his territory to the Black Plain.

After staying in this region, now dominated by the Cohen family and the Black Plain Army, he had understood that Minos intended to keep these areas for himself.

And considering the strength that Minos currently had on his side, as well as the subordinate status that Blake would confirm through Soul Contracts, this man did not expect to regain this territory.

For him, this was another significant loss since his family had always taken great pride in having control of the largest state in the region in terms of area and population.

But now, with this loss, they would probably match the Snow Kingdom, losing such a position.

As for the Black Plain, well, nobody knew exactly how big this place would be as the Brown Kingdom and the Cromwell Kingdom still had a lot to lose from the war...

In any case, Blake was already getting used to the idea of having to lose so many things to the Black Plain and was no longer stressing himself so much on such matters.

...

Meanwhile, at the south exit of Dry City...

After more than a week in this city, Kara was finally leaving for the Flaming Empire, where she had to report to her sect.

This woman had come to this place before Minos went to the Spiritual Church camp. After that, she stayed there all these days, having had some fun with young Stuart during this period.

However, if she wanted to stay longer in this region, she would have to return to the Gray Clouds Sect, so she did not stay longer in this area.

In any case, she was more than satisfied with her recent experiences and was saying goodbye to Minos at this very moment.

"Well, I guess you'll already be a king the next time I see you." She smiled at him as she gently squeezed his shoulders.

"Hehe, probably." He did not refute her words as he watched her eyes. "What will you do after you return to the empire?"

"Well, I'm still a disciple, so I have a lot of things to do until I get to a good position like you here..." She said as she remembered the lifestyle of Minos, Abby, and Ruth.

"In any case, I probably won't return to this region for some time, but I will definitely stop by here in Dry City to see my friends again in the future..."

"Is that so?"

"Hehe, that's fine then. Good luck on your journey."

"Once I set my feet outside this region, I will pay you a visit."

After this, Minos gave a strong farewell hug to that woman who had ambitions to grow in the Flaming Empire.

The two had enjoyed their time together, but what there was between the two was a simply animalistic desire for each other. Besides that, each of the two had different goals and did not have what it took for a more complex relationship.

Precisely because of this, neither of them felt bad about this farewell and were just grateful for their time together, something they would certainly keep in their memories.

With that, it was not long before the two separated, and Kara took off from that region on a borrowed spiritual beast, quickly heading south.

After seeing that woman disappear over the horizon, Minos returned to his city, ready to continue his life in this place.

As he did so, Ruth, who was nearby, soon stood side by side with him, interested in solving a curiosity, with relief on her face. "What do you think of Kara? I thought you two would have a more long-term relationship, but I got it wrong..."

"Oh?"

"Well, I..."