The Rise of the Black Plain

After hearing Diana's threats, Minos looked at this woman and smiled, feeling she was making an unsupported threat against him. "And why would I try to approach you? I just found you here by chance..."

"Do you think I'm after you?"

She glared at him, knowing that the one who kept thinking about him was she, who hated him to her soul. As for Minos, this woman knew he would not waste his time thinking about her since he had too many things to do.

Thus, Diana was aware that he was not there for her.

But she would not give Minos any answer, so she ignored his question to ask him. "What do you intend to do? Are you going to liberate the northern region now that you are in the Empire? Will you stay in your mother's sect?"

"Liberate the region?" Abby asked as she looked at that woman, feeling somewhat wronged by this unreasonable treatment they were getting from this woman.

Minos then said. "Why would I do something like that? The Black Plain will rule the northern region for millions of years!"

"What?" She took a step back as she remembered Margot. "But the Matriarch of the Spiritual Church said you weren't going to stay there long! And at your level, why would you want to stay in a place like that?"

"Matriarch?" Gloria's eyes narrowed as she realized this could only be her mother, the only one from that hierarchy who had recently visited the northern region.

Minos laughed as he heard those words, realizing that his mother-in-law had some crazy dreams. "I don't know what this woman has told you, Diana, but I have tricked her into a bet she has no chance of winning... In any case, I will not leave the Black Plain, and the northern region does not have the same desires as you."

"What? How dare you? Do you think the hundreds of millions of oppressed people in my region do not wish to regain their freedom?" She stepped forward, regaining some of her courage as she brandished for 'justice.'

Ruth then said. "Of course, they have never been as prosperous in their lives as they are now under my husband's government. The whole region is at peace, the kingdoms function harmoniously, and Spiritual Emperors constantly arise."

"That region is vibrating in growth and opportunity. How would those people wish to return to what they were before Minos?"

"But..." Diana stammered. "But you have taken away people's freedom! You make us accept these things!"

Gloria laughed and then said. "It seems that you would prefer a poor northern region, but one that is an area where your family is one of the dominant ones..."

"Now that you are just ordinary among many others who are stronger or equal, you cry out for the justice and freedom you never gave your citizens."

"Hypocrite."

Hearing Gloria's sharp and surgically precise words, Diana turned red with embarrassment, her mouth hanging open, not knowing how to defend herself.

And in fact, on second thought, she was only considering the Brown family's freedom, not what was best for the Brown Kingdom or the northern region of the Central Continent...

Her interests were clear, and she could not help but lose her nerve as she realized that she was equal or worse to Minos, who was in power now, a position even higher than her family's in the past.

Minos saw how the willpower in her eyes had weakened considerably just because of Gloria's words and nodded to his wife in appreciation.

He then drove the final nail into the coffin. "Anyway, I at least will not abandon my region, as you did..."

After that, Minos and his wives made their way to one of the tables in that cafeteria, eager for their breakfast, leaving Diana standing where she was, staring at the floor with a blank look on her face.

'Damn it!'

'How could this happen? I was humiliated by someone as terrible as Minos!' She clenched her fists in frustration. 'No, no, he gave me a moral lesson! Him, a genocide!'

'How pitiful!'

After thinking about it, she left that place in a hurry, feeling ashamed of herself as never before in her life.

Meanwhile, Minos and his wives began to eat in that cafeteria, where Gloria ate almost as much as her three traveling companions.

"How long will it take for the person we will look for later to produce our techniques?" Abby asked as she thought about the professional they would visit to order techniques for spiritual judges.

Gloria then said. "That depends. Professionals who focus on the theory behind their fields act distinctly, which generally means that each of their works takes longer to get ready."

"Considering that there is certainly the possibility of a waiting list, that could take us even a few years to receive these techniques."

"A few years?" The blue-haired woman asked in surprise. "What are we going to do then? Are we going to return to this state just to get those techniques?"

Minos answered her. "Well, these techniques we will order will be with the original scroll, so it truly might take a while for them to be ready. But that's okay. The important thing is that we do this now so that these resources become available as soon as possible."

They did not just want to buy simple copies of techniques since such resources had an expiration date, the decay time of their materials. But the original scroll, which could also be used to produce countless copies, was virtually indestructible considering decay alone.

The only way to destroy the original scroll of a technique was to use brute force equivalent to its level. So, an original scroll could endure until the end of time, or at least that was the theory believed by everyone in the Spiritual World.

But even if it did not, it would not make any difference. Minos knew that original scrolls could last for millions of years, so he wanted to invest in things like that for his organization.

Depending on copies might be viable in the short term, but considering that his state would be forced to buy copies from vendors over time, he did not want to use this alternative solely.

Hence, he came to the Flaming Empire interested in placing orders for original techniques made especially for his state!

But Minos would not only buy these techniques. He knew that the Flaming Empire was too weak to produce original scrolls of Silver-grade techniques, so he would naturally buy copies of techniques of such classification.

"And how will we receive these techniques? Do these stores that sell such things deliver them?" Abby asked.

Ruth then said. "I can ask my sister to pick up these techniques when they are ready. She is reliable and strong enough to travel to the northern region."

"Oh?" Minos remembered that he had a sister-in-law, whom he was looking forward to meeting. "Let's do it this way then."

After that, they leave that cafeteria and head toward the place where the spiritual judge they were in search of was supposed to be, in the commercial area of the Holy Sect!