The Rise of the Black Plain

When they heard Abe's comments, the Spiritual Saints and Spiritual Emperors in their group kept those words in their minds.

At the same time, some of them considered what would happen from now on when their plans were approaching realization.

The people of the Eastern Empire behind Abe wanted this young man's actions to continue for as long as possible. But the former Vogel heir had not promised any of this, only that he would try with all his might to destroy Minos.

Hence, Abe wanted a full-scale attack against Minos. And eventually, he wanted to finish his revenge quickly, early enough for him to have a chance to enjoy the sweet taste of victory.

Abe already knew that Minos was advancing too fast. He also understood that with each passing day, his enemy's chances of dying decreased, and his possibility of death increased. Therefore, he wanted to make a combined attack against Emperor Stuart's forces to overwhelm this enemy.

'We have groups scattered on all sides of this empire and near the main posts of the Spiritual Church.' One of the experts in that Abe group considered this in silence.

Another then thought. 'Probably the enemy forces will have to split up to counter-attack us, giving us plenty of room to get to that place...'

'Finally! The time has come!'

'Just a few more days, and we will fight as we have been preparing for months!'

While his men were thinking about this, Abe was looking toward where Dry City should be. However, he could see nothing beyond the dark horizon at the moment. 'Soon, very soon, Minos Stuart...'

But as Abe's group prepared for their action, a three-eyed young man silently watched them from afar, hidden among the local vegetation.

'That must be Abe Vogel...' Gavin remembered the old news reports he had read when he had come to this region, some of which had the portrait of the crown prince of Vogel.

...

A few days later...

After Gavin found out about Abe's identity, he immediately reported his findings to Minos, finishing his investigative services.

Because of this, he had returned to stay in the core of Dry City, where he could hide more efficiently from possible investigators from the Saints Killing Sect.

As for the discovery made by such a redhead, this changed everything for Minos.

Now, this sovereign had discovered who was behind all the terrorist attacks on his territory and the Spiritual Church outposts, as well as the reason for it all. And as much as knowing this would not change the attacks in question, this simple piece of information could significantly help his forces.

That was because now Minos knew more or less how the enemy's mind worked and their real intentions and motivations. In this way, he could use the enemies against themselves!

So Minos had already sent notices throughout his territory, telling his subordinates and allies about what should happen next.

He notified the people at the Spiritual Church post in the old capital of Vogel about who the enemy leader was and why they were one of the main targets of these terrorists. At the same time, Minos had already ordered his forces to gather in the core of his territory.

Minos did not need anyone to tell him that Abe was coming for him. This enemy was definitely in it for revenge, no matter the reason, whoever was financing his current actions.

So the opponent was probably trying to get closer to Dry City, just as Gavin suspected, something that agreed with what the sentient beings on the Black Plain had noticed so far.

In this way, he wanted to strengthen the defenses of the central area of his state and leave more border areas of his state in the care of allies.

If the enemy attacked any of these places to distract them, Minos would simply ignore and accept the temporary losses while keeping his troops on the original Black Plain.

Those had been his orders, and so hundreds of thousands of individuals were already moving into the region, some going to the core of the empire and others leaving for the neighboring kingdoms to help the border areas.

Minos did not need much, so states like Albano, Rosser, and Blackrock had already promised him to take care of these more remote areas of his empire. At the same time, the royal families of the northern region had been willing to do smaller jobs. Still, that could make a difference in case problems spread to some regions of the empire.

For example, forces from all these states had been sent to the Cromwell and Brown areas to help the local forces deal with possible instabilities.

And amidst all this, Minos was anxiously waiting for Abe on the outskirts of Dry City, having already sent little Sarah to stay in the Spatial Kingdom just in case.

...

"Your Imperial Majesty, we have more reports of terrorist attacks coming from the Red Valley, east of Cromwell and southeast of Brown."

"... We have reports of plantation fires in..."

"... There are reports of a rebellion at Lieutenant Pyke Prison in the vicinity of the Endless Snow Mountain Range..."

"Lieutenant Dumas Hospital has had training rooms destroyed..."

Minos received several reports of trouble around his territory, which had been coming to his attention daily for the past few days.

The terrorist attacks had intensified, while more and more ordinary people were suffering around his territory due to enemy actions.

But Minos was impassive with his plans, refusing to send reinforcements even as child deaths came to his attention.

He did not feel good about it, but being a leader meant making difficult decisions, but ones that might favor the state more significantly.

It might be nice to protect the innocent, but was it worth protecting a few thousand and putting hundreds of millions at risk? Or perhaps, would it be wise to switch the rational plan with a chance of success for emotional, unthought-out actions and consequences?

Sometimes a leader would take poorly thought-out actions, but when he had a plan in hand, he could not simply abandon it at the slightest sign of trouble.

Minos knew this and ignored the problems in his territory, forbidding all his forces' specialists to leave the Black Plain's main area.

The future of this state lay in this area, so even if the rest of his territory were in flames, he would not risk this place!

He then said to those less experienced subordinates of his, people who had advanced within his forces after the war of independence. "Don't do anything. Continue in your positions and wait for my orders."

Gulp!

"But..." Some of them felt insecure about this.

Minos ignored such people and said. "When the proper time comes, we will act immediately against those who challenge us. After that, everything will be over."

His wives agreed with him, feeling it was difficult to do nothing but that this was the only way they could bring down Abe and his cronies.