The Rise of the Black Plain

As they walked toward young Stuart's mansion, the people in the vicinity of Gloria were taking steps carefully, as if they were stepping on eggs.

They were aware of the slim chances that the Spiritual Church would send a Spiritual Emperor to eliminate them. But still, given the difference between them and that woman, they could not help but feel intimidated.

Even the supreme elder of the Miller family, level 58, who had already learned some Silver-grade techniques, could not be careless with this woman!

With a single gesture with one of the flaps of the cloth-made part of Gloria's armor, she could eliminate all of them!

But while some of them were experiencing the most challenging situation of their lives, having to accompany her, Gloria talked to Abby. She was asking questions about this city and other minor things.

Gloria was very impressed with the state of things in this place, from the quality of the buildings to the appearance of the people on the streets.

Of course, that woman was not impressed because she saw unique, new things. After all, she was from the Flaming Empire, a place much more advanced than this region.

What was catching her attention was that, by regional standards, Dry City could already be a first-rate city!

Obviously, there was no considerable population, but everything else existed in this place.

And with her robust cultivation base, Gloria had only needed a few minutes walking through this city to notice all this.

Consequently, she talked to Abby about this place to better understand Minos.

"By the way, of all these people, why are you the one who seems to be in charge here? Are you by any chance like Minos?" Gloria asked with interest in her eyes, watching young Stuart's beautiful fiancée intently.

Given Minos' extraordinary power, Gloria would not have thought there would be others like him in this northern region of the Central Continent. But given the behavior of those people around her and Abby, this Spiritual Emperor could not help but question such a thing.

Abby was at level 52, so if she were like Minos, she would probably be even more substantial than the regional leaders, making the current situation appropriate.

However, Gloria soon heard something unexpected to her.

"Minos is my man." Abby said firmly, looking into Gloria's eyes as she waved one of her hands, showing a beautiful golden ring with a transparent stone in its central part.

Hearing Abby's distinct words, who had made a point of saying that he was hers, Gloria frowned as she remembered how Minos had kissed and touched her a few weeks ago.

"Is that so?" She asked in doubt. 'That bastard wanted me even though he already had a fiancée!' Gloria thought about it as her face turned more and more red.

"I didn't expect him to have a fiancée..."

And as the two talked about it, people in the surrounding area noticed how the tension between themselves had decreased simultaneously with what seemed to be a conversation between rivals.

'Sigh... Hearing those words from my daughter is terrible, even if Minos is great for her.' Abby's father thought about it with his head down, feeling a tightness in his heart after hearing his sweet and gentle daughter talking about how Minos was hers.

He completely understood that Minos and Abby had been in a relationship for years and that they did things that he did not want to imagine. But even so, hearing those words from her still felt terrible.

A few years ago, Abby was just a child, a young girl who depended on him and her mother. But now...

"Sigh..."

As Eliot Miller sighed, the group finally reached the local government mansion, where they intended to talk more privately with that expert.

...

"So, Mrs. Frost, can you tell us why your visit to Minos? He is not here, but I will pass on your message to him." Abby said as she sat behind Minos' desk in that young man's office.

On the other hand, while those who had accompanied Gloria here stood around that office, she was sitting around that glass desk on the other side of where Abby was.

Gloria then closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling the air of that place slowly.

"Sigh..."

"That's his smell." So, she sighed, once again proving that 'Albert' was indeed young Stuart.

But Abby did not like this murmur from Gloria, having clenched her fists and jaw tightly.

'This damned woman!'

'Don't tell me she's already fallen into Minos' traps?'

"Tsk!"

And after thinking about Minos for a moment, Gloria answered Abby's earlier question, "Abby, you don't have to worry about passing on my words to him."

"I will stay in this city until he returns here."

"What?" Several of those people there asked simultaneously, feeling that a big headache was about to catch them.

As for Abby, she looked even more strangely at that woman and asked seriously. "Why? We don't know when he will return, and frankly, we wouldn't inform you about it even if we knew."

"But that could take months... So, why do you want to stay here?"

"Doesn't the Spiritual Church representative for our region have other matters to attend to?"

"Humph!"

"I have my reasons for staying here and meeting that man face to face..."

"As for how I use my time, you shouldn't worry about that!"

"I can very well take care of regional affairs from here in Dry City anyway," Gloria said, irritated with Abby.

Abby kept looking at her like she was a slut who had been caught in the act on another woman's husband's lap!

That was irritating the respectable Gloria, who had barely done more than kissing in her life.

To make matters worse, Abby, who seemed to have substantial remnants of Minos' aura, was the one who was judging her so wrongly.

"Tsk!"

'That brat!'

'Apparently, she and Minos do more than they should, or I shouldn't be able to sense his aura in her.' Gloria thought about that as she considered the sensation she felt as she examined Abby's body more carefully.

Gloria had not checked this possibility before because she did not know that Minos had a fiancée nor that he was a womanizer. So, she had not suspected Abby of having sex with him until she had finally heard that earlier response from this blue-haired woman.

Before, she had not checked it out because sensing other people's aura seemed like an invasion of privacy. But because of the tone in which Abby was speaking to her, Gloria had not been able to stand the curiosity.

And, given that Minos had been traveling for two months, Gloria realized how frequent their encounters must have been for fragments of his aura to remain in Abby's body.

And thinking about it, Gloria was starting to feel a little irritated.

'Forget about it. There's no point in getting annoyed with a person like her!' Finally, Gloria made up her mind. Then, she spoke the rest of what she had to settle with Minos. "You don't need to know about everything that I want to deal with him, as I will do that anyway. But you can notify him about my official interest in visiting Dry City."

"Oh? And what is it?" Abby asked, trying to put aside her displeasure with this woman who she already suspected had impure interests in Minos.

"Minos made a mistake in his previous action, which changed our position. As a result, and in addition to some consequences that you probably already know, I will host an attempt at appeasement between the parties."

"I want to get the regional leaders and Minos together so we can talk and try to resolve the current war without more blood being spilled."

"The current war is not good for anyone." She finished by saying this, looking thoughtfully into Abby's blue eyes.

Abby then arched her eyebrows and said skeptically. "That may be true. But do you think this has any chance of working out?"

"I don't see the Brown Kingdom accepting the independence of the Black Plain after all the losses they've had to us."

"Peace can only be achieved when both parties make sacrifices," Gloria commented soberly, hoping that these people would think about the long term and stop the war.