The Rise of the Black Plain

Looking at Minos and his group from his position, Norton thought carefully about what he had seen and heard about this person, ignoring the rest of the beings at Emperor Stuart's side.

Most of Minos' companions were powerful beings who would be relevant anywhere in this world. But next to him, they were in his shadow.

Even Abby, who had a phenomenal fusion, was not on the same level as Minos in this elder's eyes.

To him, Abby's ability was excellent, but it depended a lot on her either becoming much stronger or having allies to protect her. Conversely, Minos could act on his own and eliminate 10th-stage beings without relying on allies.

Considering the black holes he had created to eliminate those Gorgons, this huge phoenix couldn't help but stare at him in silence for a moment.

'If you hadn't helped the tribe and shown yourself to be a potential ally, it would be best for me to kill you here and now. That would avoid problems with the damned Gorgons and a potential concern for the future.' He observed as the flames on his body extinguished, and his bestial form changed to humanoid. 'I will leave your fate in the hands of the tribe leaders!'

He then said to Minos as he pointed with one hand in the direction of the black holes around the area. "First of all, can you make them disappear? I don't want things like this welding over my territory."

"If the elder lends me some of his power, I can fix that. Otherwise, I won't be able to. I'm exhausted after what I did a few moments ago." Minos said with a bitter smile.

"All right. But do it quickly." Norton agreed.

With that, Minos would soon use the Devouring Art on Norton's body before using his innate ability to raise his level once again while turning his attention to the black holes in the area.

Meanwhile, Norton watched him as he approached Bella and Titus, his old acquaintances.

"What trouble you've gotten yourselves into... It will spread to our tribes later." He commented to both of them as he watched Minos make the black holes in the area disappear one by one.

"We had no choice. It was this or death." Titus said with a terrible expression, aware that this was all his fault.

"What will you do after you leave my tribe's territory?" He asked Bella. "Don't think that the Gorgons will give up on you. After today, they'll just wait for you to leave my tribe before they come after you again."

Dunyxa stood next to the three and mentally agreed, knowing that the danger wasn't over. It had just been delayed a bit.

"I..." Bella hesitated. She hadn't thought that far!

"Indeed. If we leave this area, we'll have trouble with the damned Gorgons again!" She clenched her fists, already in her humanoid form.

Seeing that his old acquaintances still hadn't thought of anything, he suggested. "If you don't have anything in mind, you'd better take your chances in a place where your pursuers might meet their death while chasing you.

Go to the Dragon Tribe. It'll be dangerous for you but even more dangerous for the Gorgons who decide to hunt you." 

Gulp!

Hearing this, the Arctic Whale couldn't help but become even more anxious, for the dragons of this continent were his enemies, and he would naturally be afraid to enter such an area.

Not only he but everyone in the group thought about the danger they would face if they entered the territory of the dragons, one of the most powerful and talented races in the world.

Entering the dragon territory was very difficult. Considering how defensive the dragons were about their territory and how violent the dragons were, it would be practically impossible for them to enter that territory without attracting new problems for the group.

"That would be dangerous..." Someone commented.

"More dangerous would be to travel with the Gorgons hunting you without anything to intimidate them. Anyway, it's up to you. I'd do it if I were you." Norton commented before seeing Minos finish the black holes in the area.

Minos had heard all this and said. "What the elder said makes sense. I'll think about going through dragon territory after leaving the phoenix's area of influence." 

"Won't that be too dangerous for us?" One of the mercenaries asked.

"More or less... Maybe not." Minos muttered, thinking of the possibilities they would have if they went into such territory, and he gained access to the place the level 100 dragon had told him about.

"But we're really in trouble, so we have to hide for a while." He said out loud to the entire group. "If the Phoenix Tribe doesn't see any problem, I intend to stay here until I reach level 84. We won't start the rest of our journey until then."

Norton commented. "That depends on the tribe leaders. If you can convince them not to punish you for giving us trouble, they'll probably allow your party to spend some time in our territory."

With that, the more worried members of the group sighed, feeling that they would have some time to strengthen themselves before having to deal with this problem.

They were confident that Minos would be granted that permission since he had been instrumental in saving a high-ranking member of this tribe and avenging the death of a phoenix of noble lineage in this race.

During their journey here, the group members talked about many things among themselves, and those who did not know about the events in the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom had heard various stories about the place.

With Bella adding new information, everyone in the group was aware that the group sent by Maximillian had killed two members of Demi's group in that event months ago.

One of them was a Nine-Tailed Fox, Blake's wife, while the other was a high-ranking phoenix in her tribe who could become the heir to the leadership of the tribe in this generation. But she had been killed in that space, and without Minos' help, the tribe might never have been able to take revenge on her killers.

Because of this history, everyone was more or less confident that this tribe would not deny them anything as a refuge during the time Minos planned to stay there.

If everything went as they expected, they would still have problems after Minos' advance. But at least the group would have time to better prepare for their enemies, think about plans for the future, and find ways to strengthen themselves before leaving this area.

With that in mind, those 32 individuals would soon follow Norton into the heart of the phoenix territory, where the Stuart family would soon see Demi and the phoenix who had fought alongside them in the Ancient Dragon Spatial Kingdom.