The Rise of the Black Plain

A few days passed...

After the first human city in Rosser that Minos' group passed, they continued on their way while part of the continent was impressed by recent events.

The four humans and two beasts continued on their way towards the Flaming Empire, at this very moment close to the border with that state.

The neighboring kingdoms north of the Flaming Empire had no significant areas. So, the part of Minos' group's journey passing through some of these states was naturally short.

In any case, they took advantage of the days they had to continue practicing their skills with beasts and even humans of similar levels to their combat proficiency.

And as expected of talented people like them, they were all improving their strengths and resolving their weaknesses, with Minos nearing the peak of level 61.

But it was still some time before he reached a breakthrough, so nothing new happened during their journey through Rosser until now.

Finally, the Block Hole Bomb was still with them since, due to Rosser's small size, they had not found a good place to detonate such a thing.

Anyway, Minos could control this device as long as he had spiritual energy, so this had not caused any problems for his group so far.

But just while they were resting in a large forested area of Rosser, near the border with the Flaming Empire, Minos received a communication from Dillian.

The Black Plain already had spiritual crows of a higher level than those of the past, with better abilities to travel outside the northern region.

The state of Minos also had telecommunication arrays, but considering how far they were from Dry City and the grade of their devices, such things would not work. Thus, naturally, the strongest crows on the Black Plain were the only options for quickly sending messages to his group.

But since both parties already knew this and had even used this during this journey of Minos' outside the northern region, one of the crows had reached him without difficulty.

"Your Grace, here it is..." The black crow, a little larger than a human baby, said to Minos as it showed one of its legs.

Minos then promptly took the metal cylinder attached to that part of the beast's body while his wives were eating beside a fire in the middle of that forest.

After opening such a device and taking the scroll there, King Stuart quickly began to read the message sent by Dillian.

"It seems the West family is concerned about recent events and is seeking our help..." He said in a low voice to his wives, still reading that scroll.

"That was expected..." Ruth commented, not a bit surprised about that.

They already had it in mind to help Albano in talks with the Flaming Empire as soon as they reached the capital of this state. After all, Minos was fully aware of how their previous action would affect their neighbor and trading partner.

"But what are they asking for in specific?" Abby questioned her husband.

Minos then said. "They want me to use 'my position' in the Gray Clouds Sect to try to move the emperor not to attack them, at least temporarily."

"That's easier said than done..." Gloria smiled upon hearing such a thing.

"Perhaps..." Minos said in a low voice as he thought of something.

"Perhaps?" Gloria looked into her husband's eyes. "Do you happen to have a special method of talking to the emperor and still convincing him of something, dear?"

"No, the only way we can prevent an all-out war between these states is to reestablish Vogel so that the alliance against the Flaming Empire can recover." He commented, still working out something he had just thought of in his mind.

"And how to do that? I don't think it's possible to reestablish Vogel in the short term." Abby commented, feeling that a war was inevitable.

Minos then said. "I don't know if that will work, but I can speed things up..."

"Oh? What is it?" Ruth stood up and walked closer to Minos.

He answered her, attracting the attention of his three wives. "Well, I will have to help Albano help me. The only way to reestablish Vogel is with a new royal family. So, our house needs strong support to gain that position..."

Gloria understood what he was getting at and frowned. "You want Albano to support our family in the royal succession of Vogel?"

"Exactly!" Minos smiled. "The families of Vogel know that they risk extermination or domination if they take too long to reestablish themselves."

"After all, the Empire will not let the opportunity pass!"

"And since the Church will one day leave them, taking too long to choose a leader will be a serious problem..." He looked at Gloria. "What will they do if all their allies have been overpowered when they gain a new royal family?"

"Worse, if they have to fight a civil war, everything will only worsen when that happens." He said, gesturing with his hands as he presented his ideas to these women. "That's where we come in."

"I've already put the idea of the Black Plain having rights over that state into the minds of important people there. And since we're outsiders, with Albano's potential support and still some favorable decisions for local families, we can be the best alternative for them!"

"Oh?" Abby opened her mouth in surprise.

Ruth then questioned. "Do you think they will accept that? It will be a humiliation for them to have a ruler of a lower level than theirs... Not to mention the many uncertainties they will have of our capabilities."

Minos smiled at her. "It is just the opposite. They will see us as an easy family to manipulate, which we will look like since, in addition to being weaker at level, we will promise many liberties to the powers of that state..."

"Temporarily while we get stronger than them." Gloria completed her husband's sentence, knowing what he wanted to do.

Minos continued. "We will give all sorts of advantages to the organizations in that state. Meanwhile, all we will do regarding Vogel will be to be the leaders in name and those who maintain order among the local powers. Besides that, each family will have plenty of freedom, as we will promise them..."

Abby then said. "That's not a bad plan... But we will be better off with more support than just Albano."

Minos nodded to her, quickly grabbing some items from his spatial ring to write some letters.

After writing down his new orders, King Stuart placed them in the cylindrical container from earlier and ordered the crow to take that back to the Black Plain.

"We will let our people and the West family take care of this matter." He said as he watched that bird moving away from them. "That family will act to convince Blackrock and Rosser to support me."

"Once that is done, we can take Vogel for ourselves in months!" He smiled, eager to increase his power and influence, moving closer to his ambitious plans.