The Rise of the Black Plain

After a few moments of insistence by those three people from the Spiritual Church, King Vogel felt pressured to make room for them to talk to Minos before he did.

He was the king of this state and should have priority in matters like these, even more so considering that his city had been affected by an unexpected tragedy. But the Spiritual Church was far above his small kingdom and, in past situations, had never stood against him and even helped him.

That way, he could not but agree to let Minos leave alongside those three, staying behind as he sighed in frustration.

'At least the problem with that thing was solved...' He thought about it as he flew back to his group, ready to return to the royal palace to wait for the Church's explanation.

As he did so, some of his vassals and even subordinates who saw the situation unfolding felt a little contempt for his lack of strength.

'If prince Abe were in his place, I bet we wouldn't have to accept this humiliation...' One of the Spiritual Saints flying nearby thought about this while he had an ugly expression on his face.

'It's no wonder the royal family is divided... The king is too weak!' A woman, someone who was undecided about which side to take, pondered silently, not liking the situation at all.

But there were others there who did not see the situation that way!

'Good thing His Majesty is not overly brave...' A bearded old man swallowed his saliva as he thought about what might have happened if Minos had been challenged.

'That could have been the end of Vogel!'

...

Meanwhile, Minos's group and the Spiritual Saints from the local post of the Spiritual Church had already landed at the temple.

When they arrived there, the woman immediately looked at Minos and asked. "Is what you said back there true? Can this thing destroy this entire city and even us?"

The other experts there looked cautiously at the sphere in Minos' hand in anticipation of his answer.

He looked at that beautiful white-haired woman and answered. "Yes, I estimate that if I were to use this thing, everyone below level 75 in this city would die. Those above would probably not die immediately, but the injuries would be fatal."

Gulp!

"And what are you going to do with it?" Another of the high-level Spiritual Saints there asked.

Minos bitterly laughed and explained. "I can't do anything about it. This thing is a ticking time bomb. Once I stop controlling it, it will detonate after a few minutes."

Upon hearing that, several of them took steps backward, fearful of what would happen if they stayed near him too long.

"So what are you going to do? It's too dangerous to have that thing! Isn't there a way to eliminate it?" Another asked.

Minos nodded in agreement. "Yes, if I use this, I can eliminate it. But, other than that, I can only contain this bomb for a while."

Gulp!

"Use it?" The leader of this post asked in doubt, not liking that only alternative.

Minos then sighed and spoke. "Don't worry. This thing won't go off that easily as long as I am well. I will only keep such a thing with me to guarantee that I will have no problems on my journey until I enter the Flaming Empire and get out of enemy range."

"After that, I will find an empty area and detonate it."

The people there did not feel much better hearing him, but they realized there was more trouble than just the bomb in Minos' hands.

"Enemy? What are you talking about? Is that what you wanted to talk to us about?" A level 76 Spiritual Saint asked while they were already in a reserved place in the temple, where only the strongest of this post had access.

Minos looked at the people in his surroundings, knowing that among them were friends of the Vogel family. But he still decided to tell the truth to everyone there. "The person who sacrificed himself was a member of the Vogel family, a subordinate, to be precise."

"What?"

"How can that be?"

"Why would a royal family member attack someone related to the Church?"

Several doubts appeared in the shocked voices of those people, all of them finding what Minos had just said unbelievable.

He then explained. "My group and I came to this city to investigate the Vogel family. Someone close to us suspected that such a royal family was behind the Spiritual Saints sent to the Black Plain in recent years."

"One of them was even killed by a Matriarch of the Flaming Empire outpost passing through that region months ago."

"Anyway, after investigating this family for days, my group began to be watched by a group of two level 69 Spiritual Emperors and the Spiritual Saint who sacrificed himself." He said as he saw the strange expressions of those individuals.

"Earlier today, we were acting against a subordinate of the local royalty to interrogate him when the group in question attacked us." He took the spatial rings of the two Spiritual Emperors he had defeated before throwing the black hole at that Spiritual Saint.

"That is the proof I have about such an attack." He said as he threw such rings in the direction of that woman, the leader of the local temple.

Realizing that Minos was not just making accusations, the people there began to be even more silent, sensing that perhaps the worst had happened.

Someone in the royal family had gone mad and done unforgivable things!

As that woman was checking the belongings of those two individuals, another of the three strongest Spiritual Saints in this temple asked. "If what you say is true, why did the Spiritual Saint sacrifice himself? And why are you the one who is alive here?"

Minos understood that this was the doubt in most people's minds there and gave his explanation. "My group is a bit special... We had the upper hand during the fight and managed to eliminate the two Spiritual Emperors from the battle in the first few moves."

"Because of that, that Spiritual Saint found himself in a passive situation where he couldn't get the upper hand against us and knew I was there to capture him as a witness... So it's not hard to understand why he sacrificed himself."

"He wanted to protect his family..." Someone there said in a low voice.

"Maybe trying to take down the enemy while turning a hero..."

"But how did you survive? Is it because of that thing? What about your companions?"

Minos looked at the person who asked him. "I can control that thing, so yes, that's why. As for my women, they are fine. They used a teleportation device to escape when that person started his sacrifice."

"So that's how it was..."

"Sigh... At least none of us died..."

As the people there chatted about the situation, the white-haired woman finally confirmed the identities of the owners of the two spatial rings Minos had handed her.

"These two are members of the royal family..." She said, silencing everyone there with her comment, which had great concern in her tone.

...