The Rise of the Black Plain

Feeling his Bright Eyes much stronger than before, Minos noticed the dark hand over the area where his group was, where the Black Heart mission had supposedly failed.

Looking through the mist in that area, he saw what looked like a giant specter with its hands over that area, while not far from where he was, an ancient corpse was buried.

In the surroundings of that ancient tomb, many bodies and remnants of bodies long dead in the area remained. At the same time, beings invisible to ordinary people existed in droves there, practically venerating that corpse.

Around that being's burial place, a black liquid like tar seemed to corrupt all the surrounding ground, and anything that fell into it would surely die.

However, Minos could also see its potential. If it were used on an already dead body, this black liquid would bring it back to life in a kind of dark reincarnation.

Someone like him could think of the possibility of bringing back to life those they had lost along their journey. That was a sensible thing to consider. But Minos now had eyes that couldn't be fooled.

When he saw that thing, he quickly understood that, even if he had Isabella's body with him and tried to bring her back to life, what he would have as a result of such a taboo practice would be a monster, not his beloved wife.

But he readily understood that it was a bit of what Armhands wanted!

'My leaders in Armhands want this liquid, so I'll take it. That is my path to freedom and my return to the Spiritual World.' He thought to himself as he set out to get his hands dirty and collect that corrupt liquid.

He felt that nothing good would come of that liquid or the corpse in that grave. But there was no other way for him to solve this than by collecting what his leaders wanted.

While he was thinking about this, Ruth and the others found him in the fog.

"Minos!" She shouted as she ran towards him, feeling her heart leap in her chest.

"What happened?" One of the members of the group sent by Armhands asked him worriedly.

Minos narrowed his eyes and said. "I thought I heard something. But I ended up finding a clue as to how we can get to the Black Heart mission site."

"Oh? Which way should we go?" Asked the level 100 individual, the leader of the group allied with Minos' team.

Minos looked in this individual's direction and saw that this man's interest was not merely to help him but to probe for an opportunity to collect for his own sect what his group intended to look for there.

"Before we leave, there's something I want to show you," Minos said as he walked slowly toward that alien. Then, everyone who wasn't his guildmate felt as if something was wrong with the surroundings.

Minos made them feel his control over gravity using one of his techniques while also using his mental technique to make them feel reality as he wanted.

"I hope I can count on you on this mission. You're going to help us and forget about your superiors' orders. I don't know what you'll tell them, but you'll fail in your secondary purpose here." Minos said that, as he showed just that one level 100 being, the leader of the aliens allied to Armhands, what would happen if they didn't follow what he was saying.

That being sensed that Minos was acting against him and tried to use the powerful staff he had obtained earlier. But under Emperor Stuart's action, this being felt surprisingly more shaken than in the presence of the level 105 enemy they had faced previously!

'Shit! Was he still hiding?' He asked himself as he formed a horrified expression while feeling Minos place a seal inside his body.

This guy quickly understood the situation. If he didn't follow and help Armhands' group honestly and without hidden interests, he and all his companions could die right there!

"All right!" He tried to answer Minos while feeling all the pressure on him.

Minos seemed to be on the same level as before, but he was totally different now!

Even Ruth and his Spiritual World companions noticed this as they realized how strong he was to pressure all those beings without even using his innate ability.

Ruth asked him, trying to dampen the bad mood in the surroundings. "How difficult is our objective in the area? What kind of opponent will we have to face?"

"We can have access to what we want in a few days. The problem will be collecting what we're here to collect. It's quite threatening and dangerous. With the slightest mistake, we could all die.

But if we take it easy, we can survive and succeed in the Black Heart mission." He said, looking at his staff.

"That's it? I thought Black Heart was a challenging mission many failed to complete." Said one of Minos' guild mates.

"Indeed. That is an impossible mission for those who don't have the necessary requirements. But we'll be able to do it because of my visual ability." Minos said.

The heart he had just gained would help him a lot in this. In particular, it would greatly reduce the risks and time needed for them to complete the mission. But even without such a thing, he could complete this objective. It would be more difficult and time-consuming, of course, but it could be done.

The problem was having a way of seeing the problems in that area and knowing how to deal with those creatures.

Minos knew how to do this even before he received such a heart, so he was confident in what he had to do to complete his mission there.

"The biggest problem will be post-collection. As far as I know, some guild groups have almost completed the collection stage. But they failed when trying to leave the area with such essence." He said to prepare his staff.

"This could cost us as much as or more than the work needed to reach this goal."

After he said this, the group fell silent, waiting for his orders. Minos had become immense in comparison to everyone there. From now on, they would only move when he gave his order.

He realized the situation and ordered. "Follow me. Let's approach the area."

With him finally releasing his allies from the previous pressure, he went ahead of the group while the others followed behind him in silence.