The Rise of the Black Plain

"Your Highness, we can no longer continue in this situation!"

"We must surrender and accept our losses while they are within our limits!"

"Yes, Your Highness. The death of His Majesty and several war heroes was undoubtedly a great loss for the state. Still, we cannot destroy the millennial history of our organizations into something impossible to accomplish!"

"The demon Minos has already settled all the conflicts to the north, and he could march into our kingdom at any moment!"

"Who knows what he will do when that happens?"

"Ah, if that happens, we will have a much worse ending than the Walker family..."

Several voices sounded almost simultaneously in the royal throne hall of the Cromwell Kingdom, where at this instant, the leaders of the most important organizations of this state were gathered.

After the recent events, the news, and the realization of the presence of Minos' allies and subordinates in the major cities of this state, the people of this kingdom were anxious for peace, clamoring for the reason of the local heir.

Unlike the Kingdom of the Waves, which by now had already held the royal coronation ceremony, with Blake ascending to the throne of that state, this kingdom was still waiting for Gloria's visit. Because of this, James Cromwell's heir was not yet the King.

In any case, it would not take long for Cade Cromwell, level 55, to become the new King of the Cromwell Kingdom and fully assume the functions of that state.

Because of this, he was already the one making the most important decisions for this state. That's why so many people are clamoring right now for his decision.

"Your Highness, we cannot allow the end of the royal lineage even if we have to subordinate ourselves to the demon, Minos Stuart!" The leader of the Newman family said this, feeling bad for having to defend such an idea.

But that was life. One day he was fighting the Black Plain, confident that he would win the war with the rest of the region sooner or later. The next, he had to bow his head like a dog with his tail between his legs in the service of the desires of a cruel enemy.

One way or another, fighting to live, or instead not fighting, was the only alternative they had.

As such, one of Troy's family members had to say those words of good sense!

After hearing the many voices of local leaders amid that royal hall, being seated on the throne that belonged to his late father, Cade, a tall, black-haired man, closed his eyes for a moment, sighing in defeat.

"Sigh..."

"I suppose there is no choice but to declare our defeat and surrender to our enemies."

"Those who survive the punishments of the tyrant Minos will at least be able to continue existing..." He said in a low voice, silencing all the people in that place.

Everyone there then let out sighs of relief, feeling that although bad, their situation was already the best they could manage.

With the disappearance for weeks of the three descendants of this kingdom coming from the Flaming Empire, most of these people already thought that these individuals had abandoned them.

Nonetheless, even if they hadn't, as the news that Minos had reached level 54 had spread throughout the region, they had lost all hope of challenging him.

Previously this young man must have had a power limit close to level 61, as they had found out through Jade's account of how Minos had killed a cultivator of that level. So, now that he had achieved a breakthrough, it was pretty likely that even their level 62 descendant would no longer be enough to push him.

In this case, surrendering was the least painful and troublesome thing for those organizations!

Hence the relief of those people.

Cade then stood up and said. "Send in crows immediately!"

"We will notify all the powers of our state and the Black Plain about our surrender and recognition of the Black Plain as an independent state."

"We will also follow their conditions and go to Dry City to declare our surrender before Archbishop Frost arrives in our city."

"Finally, release the pertinent information to the regional public. There is no need for us to hide our humiliation from our neighbors already humiliated by Minos."

"Yes, Your Highness!" The people there said in more vibrant tones, feeling better that such a man had finally accepted the end of it all and put aside his vengeful thoughts.

Cade hated Minos for James' death. But truth be told, this royal heir valued his life, the lives of his women, and his mother more than the revenge against his father's murderer.

Thus, he could not help swallowing his hatred and doing what was necessary for himself and his state!

...

Meanwhile, in the Brown Kingdom...

After arriving in the capital of the Brown Kingdom, Gloria immediately headed towards the Church branch in that state, where she wanted to continue the cleansing she had started in the Kingdom of the Waves.

Earlier, this redhead had decided to 'fire' the Bishops who had acted according to personal desires and not for the good of the Church and the regional population. But she was no fool to think that all the 'dirt' of the regional branches was in Athela.

No, she knew that she would have to visit each of the Church's outposts in that region. That was the only way she could confirm that the 'garbage' had been removed and not merely dragged to an unsightly corner of her 'home.'

So, she went straight to that place, even considering that her primary duty in this city at the moment was to crown Raynard as the King of the Brown Kingdom.

After her time in Athela, this woman had already crowned Blake and finished her affairs in that state. Prior to Minos' actions, she had intended to travel directly to the Cromwell Kingdom to oversee Cade's coronation. However, she was now forced to make a detour.

In any case, she already had an interest in visiting this part of the northern region of the Central Continent to deal with the Church branch and visiting young Stuart on the Black Plain. As such, she was not so irritated that Minos had caused so much trouble for her to deal with in this passage of hers through these areas.

But beyond these matters, with the recent news about the end of the Black Plain's war of independence and the likely surrender of the Cromwell Kingdom, this woman was already preparing to put her agreement with Minos into practice.

She had already communicated with her superiors in the Flaming Empire, and none of them had seen problems with her going ahead with her plans for the northern region.

Thus, she had to go to Dry City to settle this anyway!

'This will also be a good opportunity for me to proclaim the Black Plain as an independent state and regulate the new regional borders...' She thought about this as she entered the Spiritual Church temple in the Brown Kingdom's capital.

"Archbishop Frost, it is a pleasure to have your presence in our humble branch." So, one of the older Bishops of that place said to her subserviently, trying to flatter this influential expert.

However, Gloria was not there for jokes and got straight to the point. "Gather all the local Bishops and Priests. We have a business to attend to."

"Oh?"

'I wonder what she wants to settle? Everything is already set for Raynard's coronation ceremony, and the regional peace is established...' That old man considered silently but dared not go against her orders.

"I will do that as soon as possible, Archbishop!"

"Good!"

"That will be a good opportunity for the true devotees to the Church..." She said in a low voice as she made her way to the central area of that temple, preparing to do what was necessary.

Her goal was simple, rid the church branches in this region of corrupt people, of individuals who were perhaps going to create problems for Minos and the Black Plain for financial incentives from others.

She did not want this young man to terrorize the region again, much less have her deal with him disrupted by mere low-talent Spiritual Kings from this region.

With that in mind, even the peaceful Gloria was willing to act!

'Let's see how many Spiritual Kings will be left here...'

'In the Kingdom of the Waves, only three individuals were left after experiencing the seraph light...' She closed her eyes and imagined such a thing, remembering her recent actions.

'Well, it makes no difference. Minos has already eliminated so many Spiritual Kings from this state. It might not be good to leave the local branch with more experts than House Brown.' Her eyes snapped open, staring at a statue that stood in each branch of this institution.

"Time to act!"