The Rise of the Black Plain

Later that day, the maze event unfolded, with several couples giving up due to injuries sustained in fights with other competitors or traps along the way.

The Continental Tournament was a strategy event. One had to know how to give up certain "points" in order not to lose the opportunity to gain more victories throughout the competition.

Because of this, some competitors would simply prefer to give up on a difficult test after a few defeats in order to preserve themselves for later competitions.

Thus, two hours into the event, only 56 of the original 100 duos remained in the maze, trying to find their way to the end.

During this time, three groups had reached one of the 50 starting points of the maze event and were eliminated for leaving the maze in the wrong place. In addition to these eliminations, two of the duos had almost reached the end of the maze. Still, their progress had been delayed by the maze shape changes that occurred every 30 minutes.

This change had moved those two groups further away from the exit, thus improving the chances of the remaining competitors in that area.

With these and other preliminary results, the spectators and players were having fun, stopping winning or gaining points as the challenge progressed.

Sarah and Kendrick were still in the maze, working their way to the end, having fought three battles and dealt with six traps in the last two hours.

So far, they had collected four spatial rings and two resources that had previously been available to anyone.

Of the three battles they had fought, they had won two and tied the last, failing to defeat a duo of two level 85 women.

Fortunately, the opposing group had the same plans as them. After realizing that fighting between them would only lead to both sides losing, they each went their separate ways.

And so the two of them continued on through the seemingly endless corridors of this maze!

...

"I almost understand how this sentient being works," Sarah said to her brother while one of her hands was on the ground, feeling the terrain where they were, as once again, this 10th-stage plant was changing the walls of roots and leaves of the maze's paths.

Getting a better feel for the position of each moving living wall, Sarah began to realize the entire structure of the labyrinth she was in.

"If I can feel the next change, I think I'll be able to see the right way out of the maze." She said after sensing that the plant that formed this maze had stopped moving.

"So what do we do? Stand still and wait for the next 30 minutes?" Kendrick asked, his clothes and armor smeared with dirt and blood.

He had suffered some injuries himself so far, but he had also caused injuries to enemies, though he hadn't killed anyone.

As much as killing was allowed in the Continental Tournament, it was better to avoid confusion now that the world was in such a delicate moment.

In normal situations, it would be good enough not to kill indiscriminately, but with the Ice Age ravaging the world and the aliens arriving, one had to be doubly careful.

Sarah was also dirty here and there, with small wounds on her body that were slowly healing. They had great regenerative abilities, but since they were conserving resources and hadn't had time to meditate since the start of the maze challenge, they still needed to finish some of their healing.

Sarah responded with a negative shake of her head. "No. I need to feel the change in another area. Besides, we don't know where we are. We could be near the end of the maze or at one of the 50 entrances to this place. At any moment, we could encounter more competitors. So we'd better get moving."

He nodded at her before moving off in the direction Sarah had indicated.

...

While the two continued their journey, Minos and his group watched as Sarah led the way, standing on one side of the maze, still far from the exit point.

But not only people from Minos' group were in his area. "Are your children going to win this, Minos?" Elder Merritt asked as he stood next to Minos and Maximillian Flamen.

Maximillian muttered. "There are two pairs that are very close to the maze exit. If they don't make a wrong turn, it will be challenging for their children to succeed them."

Maximillian and Merritt had arrived at the location of Minos' group moments ago, both there to find Emperor Stuart to discuss important matters.

They followed the tournament, but this event was also about negotiating future relations!

Maximilian and Merritt were there for that.

Minos said to them both. "Anything is possible. If I'm not mistaken, Sarah will finish the maze at the next shape change in this area. So if these two are just a little bit wrong, that will be enough."

Merritt looked at Minos, a little annoyed that the young man hadn't remembered the 5 level 99 Demigods from the temple when he chose Henry to advance to level 100.

But after Julian, he was the least angry Demigod with Minos in this organization, and he knew how important this young man would be for the future.

Merritt said. "Let us see if your sons are up to the challenge. But in the meantime, tell me what your plans are for the start of the war. What do you expect to happen when the aliens arrive in the Spiritual World?"

Minos didn't think long before answering. "I imagine that they will attack with great force from the beginning. I see a future in which half of our world's forces will perish in a single day on the battlefields near the North Sea."

Maximillian and Merritt looked at Minos more seriously as they listened.

Minos continued. "The enemies will lose many of their own, but so will we. After this great battle, I believe we'll have a few hours or days without other major battles of the same magnitude. The enemy forces will probably choose places to set up bases in our world before they begin to conquer territory after territory. Eventually, the war will have no focal point, and conflicts will be able to occur literally all over the world. From then on, we'll have an accurate idea of our chances against them. In any case, the first day of the war will be chaotic and bloody. States will definitely fall on the second day of the war due to the death of their main leaders, supporters, and troops."

He looked at Maximilian and said. "I also think some Gods will die on the first day of the war."

Maximilian closed his eyes, having already thought the same as Minos. Even with all that the powers of the Spiritual World had done so far, they were still far behind in terms of technology, but also in terms of the number of high-level warriors.

Even if they had the same number of Gods as the enemy, even for level 100 cultivators, the war would still be chaotic and dangerous. But with lower numbers, it was almost certain that Minos' words would come true.

"Do you think our chances are that bad? What could change that?" Maximilian asked.