The Rise of the Black Plain

"It is hard to say. Considering the number of Gods alone, I'd say our chances of winning the war are less than 10%. But understand that winning the war doesn't mean surviving. The Spiritual World may win, but we may all die in the war." Minos commented in a deep tone.

Merritt and Maximillian understood very well that even if they won, a lot would be lost one way or the other.

Minos continued. "But we can't be sure of anything until we face them on the battlefield... However, there is an alternative to improve our chances."

"What is that?" Merritt asked. "The Mechanic Empire is definitely a great conqueror of worlds, but it's not the only civilization out there. Surely, there are others like this ruler of The Adamant Land. It must have rivals on the same level or even stronger". Minos replied with a twinkle in his eye.

"Are you thinking of using one of these rivals against the Mechanic Empire to help us?" Maximilian quickly understood what Minos was thinking.

"Yes, that would be ideal. I know it would be tough to achieve, and such a plan would bring danger to the Spiritual World. But if we could have a little more time to worry about a civilization capable of destroying us, that would be good enough." Minos replied.

Merritt thought about it. The strategy of using your enemy's enemy was an old one. It usually resulted in negative consequences, but when it worked, it was quite useful in the short term, giving the weaker party some 'relief' and often resulting in a lesser evil.

"Yes, that would be ideal. I know it would be tough to achieve, and such a plan would bring danger to the Spiritual World. But if we could have a little more time to worry about a civilization capable of destroying us, that would be good enough." Minos replied.

Merritt thought about it. The strategy of using your enemy's enemy was an old one. It usually resulted in negative consequences, but when it worked, it was quite useful in the short term, giving the weaker party some 'relief' and often resulting in a lesser evil.

The level 99 old man said. "How would we reach the enemies of the Mechanic Empire?"

"To do that, we would have to send a group of people to explore the universe. Specifically, such a group would use the wormhole built by our world's own invaders and set out from The Adamant Land in search of answers." Minos said that was the only way to do it.

"That would be dangerous. We would have to give up warriors, and they could take a long time to reach the enemies of The Adamant Land." Maximilian sighed.

Minos nodded in agreement. "That is the great disadvantage of such a plan. But everything we think of has its risks..."

"Sigh, he's right." Merritt agreed. "Do you intend to do this?"

Minos saw Merritt's look and said. "Yes. I have a feeling that the enemy Gods will try to kill me. I'll try to fight back and open up some options for the Spiritual World. Still, if I run out of options, I intend to venture into The Adamant Land to improve my cultivation and find allies for us."

The two experts looked at each other, knowing that any progress Minos made would be of great help. Emperor Stuart was unlikely to make much of a difference on the battlefield against enemy Gods these days. But that could change if he advanced two more levels.

On the other hand, as much as Minos had a lot of potential to help fight enemy robots and 10th-stage experts, he wouldn't be enough to make a big difference on the battlefield by himself.

The two experts agreed that he should pursue such a strategy if he had the opportunity and that he should be the man to create an internal problem for the Mechanic Empire in an attempt to reduce that state's focus on dominating the Spiritual World.

"You should do that when the time comes," Maximilian commented. "If you can reach level 93, or even better, 94, your help would be interesting to us. Here in the Spiritual World, you definitely won't be able to do that without putting yourself at considerable risk, so infiltrating the enemy forces might be the best way to go."

"Sigh... You're the one with the technologies for that, so you'd better do it yourself." Merritt commented.

Minos said. "Don't worry, the Spiritual World will strengthen before the enemies arrive. The beginning of the war will be bad, but we may have more time than we thought.

I won't get to level 94 fast enough to help you in the war, but in a year or two in enemy territory, I might be able to incite the enemy of our enemies."

"Let's pray that this happens." Merritt sighed again.

Maximilian heard the word "pray" and asked Minos. "How is your collection of faith power? I feel you've improved your faith powers a bit since we met in your state."

"I am getting better. I'll make my last collection before the war when I'm close to my final retreat."

Maximilian said. "Get ready to use all your faith on the first day of the war. While you may not be able to defeat a God on your own, you will be able to temporarily help us against our main opponents.

You might be able to help us defeat at least one of the enemy Gods, so don't use this power indiscriminately, and be ready for my signal. I'll talk to the other Gods about using their powers against the enemies.

Minos clenched his fists, aware that he could do something with his power of faith but that he would be back to his normal self after a single attack.

"We'll help you get out of the main battlefield right away. But you must join us in the first attack." Maximillian said as he squeezed one of Minos' shoulders.

Merritt couldn't feel the power of Minos' faith like Maximilian could, but he knew how powerful faith could be. Hundreds of millions loved Emperor Stuart, so he did not doubt that the power this young man possessed was impressive.

'Unfortunately, we don't have many people capable of absorbing the power of faith...' Merritt closed his eyes as he thought about how rare cases like Minos' were.

If there were five people capable of gathering faith in this world today, that was a lot!

Even though he was the leader of the Spiritual Church and a God, Maximilian himself had no power of faith since he had only recently appeared in the world and taken the position of the one who could use that power.

By killing the man who was considered the leader of the faith of hundreds of millions, Maximilian had put himself in a situation where he could not absorb the power of faith gathered by the Spiritual Church.

As for the other Gods, only Vico was said to have that power!

The elves, Sky Whales, and dragons were not worshipped in significant numbers to gather such power, so only humans had a chance to use such power in the war that was about to begin.

That was exactly why Maximilian was there to talk to Minos.

"I'll do my best," Minos said when he had finally finished the matter with these two experts and saw the labyrinth his children were in again.