The Rise of the Black Plain

"Congratulations on your progress, Your Majesty Quinn." Minos was the first to congratulate Henry and approached the floating man, who was surrounded by a special kind of energy.

Henry looked at Minos and couldn't forget who had made this breakthrough possible.

"Your Majesty Stuart, thank you. I will never forget what you did for me!" He said in an extremely happy tone as he bowed his head to Minos. "I hope I can help you from now on."

Minos thanked Henry for his words and said. "Now, I expect you to help me with something until at least one of these two moves on. After that, I'll let you go to your state to gather your things for the war."

"What is it?" Henry was ready to do anything at this point.

Minos pointed to the house by the lake, where the portal was that could take people to and from the new headquarters of the Black Plain Army. "Please accompany me."

Over the past few months, Minos and his government, along with the experts they had hired from the Divine Continent, had done everything they could to create the portal to the Spatial Kingdom.

All that was needed for this portal to work was for Minos to activate it, something he hadn't done yet because he had no one to guarantee the security of his Spatial Kingdom.

But now that Henry had moved on and would be working as the temporary 'gatekeeper' of the Spatial Kingdom, Minos was confident that he could activate this entrance/exit to his cultivation sanctuary!

He explained to Henry. "You will keep an eye on the entrance to the Spatial Kingdom and control who goes in and out. When those two reach level 100, the three of you will take turns in that role, at least until the start of the war. You know how valuable the Spatial Kingdom is to us and how much potential trouble we can get into for it. So I hope you understand."

"But of course." Henry saw no problem with that. Given the amount of Divine Medicines in this place he was in, the allies and natives of the Spiritual World would be their enemies if someone dangerous entered this place and discovered Minos' wealth.

Arriving at the door to his Spatial Kingdom, Minos looked at Henry before activating the portal. "Are you ready? I think your approach has attracted someone's attention. I wouldn't be surprised if we find the four Gods waiting for us outside."

Henry smiled and nodded affirmatively. "I'm ready. Don't worry. I'll defend you against them if necessary."

"Good. Then let's go to the army headquarters." Minos said as he activated the portal, taking no time to make a spatial distortion appear in front of the door in the basement of the lake house.

Before going through the portal, Minos sent a message to Emlyn. 'Put someone on guard here. From now on, we need someone to record the entry and exit of beings from here.'

'Okay.' With that done, Minos was the first to enter the distortion, followed by Henry, eager to see his old rival again.

'Vico, will you be waiting for me outside?' He smiled.

...

When Minos and Henry appeared at the exit of the Spatial Kingdom in this headquarters, not only the soldiers already stationed there sensed their arrival, but also the two Gods nearby who were waiting for the new God of the Spiritual World.

When Minos and Henry's aura appeared, the two Gods realized their suspicions were right.

"Minos, you really are hard to read," Maximilian said in a good mood. "Did you help this guy get to level 100?"

As he watched the two Gods appear in his headquarters as if the place's defenses didn't matter, Minos bitterly smiled when he saw Vico and Maximillian.

Vico looked into Henry's eyes as he clenched his fists. "I didn't consider you'd become a God."

"Did you think I'd leave you alone?" Henry laughed, remembering his long history with Vico, in which he had been on the weaker side for thousands of years.

But now they were on the same level again!

"Tsk!" Vico looked at Minos and had a strong urge to strike the young man. "You should trust your allies more, young man. Do you know we could have gotten someone much stronger and more relevant than Henry to use your medicine?"

Maximilian liked Minos and usually didn't agree with Vico. But at this point, he had nothing to say in favor of the young Emperor Stuart.

"He's right, Minos, you're playing with our future. It would have been better if you had given us your medicine and let us decide who it should go to." Maximillian said in a serious tone as he looked at the guy who had been level 98 until recently.

"Really?" Minos said. "I think I should decide the fate of my resources myself. Besides, I think Your Majesty Henry Quinn is stronger than you think. You should not underestimate him."

Henry stepped forward, an ugly expression forming because of the two men's comments. "You make it sound like I can't fight on the same level as you... Are you here to test my strength?"

He released his divine aura as the surrounding soldiers moved away, obviously worried about a possible fight between Gods.

Vico and Maximillian glared at Henry and raised their auras as well.

Each of them had their pride and would not easily accept someone turning against them now that they were Gods.

But then Minos muttered. "Are you going to fight? If not, it's better for everyone if you collect your auras. Don't destroy my headquarters."

The three of them looked at Minos and felt the tension ease as the young man showed them something about the aliens.

Vico took a deep breath and stepped back, aware that he couldn't seriously fight another God, or it would be too damaging for the Spiritual World.

As much as he disliked the situation, he couldn't let his irritation get him into a fight with Henry.

Maximilian also returned to his rational self, aware that none of them could be put at risk before the strongest of the aliens arrived.

Henry smiled and said. "You didn't want me in your little group, but you'll have to put up with me. I hope you are so excited on the battlefield against the aliens."

"Tsk!" Vico turned away while Maximilian sighed.

The black-haired man looked at Minos and said. "Still, you have to change your behavior. You should stop hiding things from us, Minos."

Vico looked sideways at Minos and said. "I think that was the last straw. You can't be trusted. If you want to continue working with us, you must prove yourself, Minos!"

"Prove myself?" Minos smiled, thinking he didn't have to do any of that, but curious to see what Vico had in mind. "Please enlighten me." "Oh, I'll enlighten you," Vico said, clenching his fists. "Let's fight a little. Show me what you're capable of. If you can force me to use one of my techniques, I'll leave without bothering you. But if you lose, you must bow your head and obey us from now on."

"What nonsense!" Henry said in a louder tone. "You dare to threaten His Majesty Stuart?"

Minos held up a hand and asked Henry to calm down. "I don't mind learning a little from His Majesty Travisani. But these terms are unfair, aren't they? If I win, I won't be bothered. But if I lose, I'll lose my freedom."

"What do you want?" Vico asked as Maximillian became interested in seeing the two of them fight.

Minos suggested. "I want to test my current abilities, but I won't do it for free for such a meaningless offer. However, if you're willing to give up your freedom in case of defeat, we can dance a little."