The Rise of the Black Plain

Hearing the question from one of her elders, Bella understood that it would be difficult for her tribe members to understand that a renegade from their tribe could be helpful to a friend of theirs. But this man's very rebelliousness could make him of interest to Minos' group.

Titus Gamble had always been a fox capable of doing questionable things, taking risks beyond his limits, and known for not valuing his own life. How could someone as fearless as him not be compatible with Minos' group?

"Titus may not be someone the tribe can trust or rely on. But he is powerful and capable of helping young Minos' group."

"But you would have to be alongside him on this journey..." Blake commented as Minos' group watched the dialogue between the elders.

She laughed as she realized that her elders were also worried about her having to put up with such a fox in the last years of her life. "Don't worry about it. I would never let Titus return to the tribe, but I don't see him as unbearable or despicable.

Even though I kicked him out of the tribe, we were once friends, and this could be the opportunity to make things right at the end of our lives."

"Who are you talking about?" Gloria asked curiously.

"Titus Gamble, an ancient elder of our race from the generation of the tribal leader," Blake replied. "He was banished from the tribe generations ago when one of his dangerous exploits sacrificed an entire group of elders, and only he returned alive.

That incident would eventually lead to a lot of trouble for us. When he was banished from the tribe, he even tried to take over the position of the tribe leader so that he could continue to act 'for the good of the Nine-Tailed Foxes,' as he put it."

In some ways, Titus had a similar leadership style to Maximillian Flamen. The difference was that while one wanted to dominate the world, the other wanted to find ways to increase the genetic potential of his race through adventure and dangerous experimentation.

But both wanted supremacy for their people and were willing to do whatever it took to achieve it.

Titus had tried his best for thousands of years, and the tribe tolerated his actions' negative consequences. But the situation had reached a breaking point a few thousand years ago.

Bella had decided to punish him by expelling him from the tribe after a group of 9th-stage elders had not only perished because of Titus but also because he had provoked attacks from rival races of the tribe against them.

At that time, if it hadn't been for the intervention of the Phoenix Tribe, the Nine-tailed Fox Tribe might have disappeared from the continent!

But even after causing such complex problems for his tribe, Titus still dared to try to seize power in this city by acting against Bella.

"Someone troublesome, huh?" Abby commented, not quite sure if it was good to have such a being in their group.

But Minos thought otherwise. "He's clearly a danger to the Nine-Tailed Fox tribe. But that doesn't mean he wouldn't be useful for our group."

As he said this, Minos' eyes closed as he imagined that someone like this elder could be advantageous to him in the future.

'Someone with such ambitions... Someone capable of doing what he did... Someone like that might agree to be my guinea pig.' He thought to himself, considering his theories about this world and how they could make fantastic things possible if they were correct.

But to carry out his theories and plans, Minos needed people capable of taking great risks.

Titus seemed to have what it took to become one of Minos' guinea pigs!

"Where is he?" Minos asked, showing the people that he wasn't the least bit concerned about the creature's past.

The members of Minos' group there, apart from his wives, were not so surprised. They were on their way to the North Sea. The chances of these level 89 Nine-Tailed Foxes dying were very high. Therefore, having more than one of these creatures could benefit the group, even if one of them wasn't as stable as they would have liked.

Bella looked at Minos and dropped a small crystal into his hands. "He can't be far away. As much as I forced him out of the tribe, he never strayed far from our territory. Over the past centuries, we've heard reports of guards along the borders of our territory who've seen him or even noticed his tracks.

Follow this map. It will take you to an area where there are more reports of tracks or sightings of Titus. He's still alive, so you should be able to find him there."

Looking at the map, Minos thanked the fox and quickly put it away to search for Titus later.

Then he said. "I'll see about that tomorrow. For now, I'd like to rest with my women for a while. Do you have somewhere we can stay?"

"Of course. Please come with me." Bella said as she led the way to Minos' group while the elders of her tribe accompanied them.

Amid their movement, one of the Sea Folk members asked one of the tribe's high-ranking elders. "By the way, do you have contact with any other tribes with Demigods besides the phoenix group?"

"We have contact with the Gorgon Tribe, but we don't dare get too close to them. So we can't be considered allies, even though we have no problems with each other."

Gorgons were terrifying female creatures from the Spiritual World, with incredible lineage power and a reproductive capacity comparable only to the plant species of this world.

There were no males in this race. The females could reproduce among themselves!

But with their ability to turn those who looked into their eyes into stone, it would be tough for their race to exist otherwise.

"Gorgons? Do they really exist?" The level 91 mercenary asked as his eyes widened considerably.

"Hmm, they do exist. But I wouldn't advise your party to approach them in search of companions. A single gorgon could turn your entire crew to stone." This level 89 old man said, warning this group.

"Indeed, gorgons are very dangerous. It's best to leave these creatures where they are." One of the Sea Folk members said.

"One of them would only be interesting to have on our side if we could cut off its head and use its powers..." One of them muttered, smiling, because that would be the only way to guarantee the safety of the group with such a creature on their side.