The Rise of the Black Plain

A week before Minos and his group left, he took his last steps before heading to the Magma Barrens with four of his guildmates.

He was now with Abby, Gloria, Ruth, his children's supervisor, and Rhett, who had just arrived at their faction's cave.

Once there, Minos' old supervisor handed him a black box and said. "This is all I could do in the short time I had. I hope it's enough."

Minos took the black object, the size of a jewelry box, but with a much larger storage capacity than its size would suggest.

After scanning the item, Minos nodded positively to Rhett. "This should do."

He then handed the box to Abby. "It's up to you now, dear. I hope you can get these fighters ready for me."

Abby nodded to her husband before focusing her powers on the artifact containing 12 corpses of level 110 Sovereigns. She said as she made the moves to use her divine ability on the 12 corpses Rhett had obtained. "I don't know how much control I will have over each of them. But it's likely that they'll last anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half before they disappear."

"Hmm, let's work with that." Minos wasn't bothered by this limitation, while Abby's cultivation temporarily reached its peak at level 106, and his, at level 108.

The others watched intently as Abby resurrected the twelve corpses of former Armhands members, aliens who had died, and the guild brought their bodies back to the headquarters.

Only a fraction of the guild's members got the chance to be buried or have their bodies preserved in the guild after their deaths. But those with great merit, extreme accomplishments, and suitable positions within the force were always somehow "rewarded" with burials and a place to be remembered.

The guild valued those who strove to bring the organization to its peak, so this approach to the dead was natural.

But there was a limit to how long the bodies of guild members could be kept. As a force that had existed for hundreds of thousands of years, the guild couldn't keep all of its dead forever.

Every year, the guild would dispose of the bodies of former low-ranking members who had been buried for over 10,000 years.

Only the most important members of the guild could stay longer, such as the dead Chief Commanders, who could be kept for 100,000 years before their bodies were disposed of.

But even after they were disposed of, the guild kept a record of their existence on the guild's Wall of Heroes.

It was through this system that Rhett had obtained the corpses of the 12 individuals by lifting himself out of the magical artifact that contained their bodies a few moments ago!

The moment the 12 level 110 Sovereigns, with auras 99.9% similar to those they had in life, rose from the world of the dead to open their eyes in the living's world, those unaccustomed to Abby's ability swallowed their saliva in shock.

They had already heard what she intended to do, but until now they were still in doubt, with curiosity and a little skepticism.

But in front of the 12 creatures that had regenerated not only their partially decomposed corpses but also their auras, even the most skeptical of them couldn't help but believe in Abby's abilities.

"This place..."

"Where am I?"

"Where is the wretched..."

The revived dead opened their mouths as their auras stirred.

But under Abby's influence, they felt their minds calming as information about their deaths and where they were, as well as who these people around them were, flashed through their minds.

Through the Black Sea and the Infinite Dream, Minos entered the minds of the 12 dead, temporarily revived by Abby, and did his job.

"This is a truly incredible aura!" One of them said as he looked at Minos in awe, feeling the power of someone who was close to having his physique reach the Celestial grade.

"Why did you bring us to life?" asked another of the aliens as he looked at Abby and Minos.

Minos gestured to them and explained the situation. "We are members of Armhands, just like you. As you can see and feel, this is the headquarters of the guild you once served.

The time has come for the guild to dispose of your bodies, so I've taken this opportunity to use your power once again. I'm sorry, but I have to bother you in order to cause some chaos on the continent once again."

Minos could control these 12 corpses to obey him completely. But since he had nothing against these dead, he first tried to explain what was going on.

Dead aliens as old as these always had a lot of potential beyond their powers. Not wanting to waste that potential, he preferred to be minimally friendly with them at first contact.

Understanding they couldn't avoid being used, one of the corpses looked around and asked. "What exactly is the situation of your group? I don't mind fighting for you. I fell in battle back then, so it will be good to use my powers again."

"There is a group of members of Armhands who will try to kill us during a mission in a few weeks. I want your help in dealing with them. If you help us and survive the battle, I will release you to carry out your last wishes on this continent." Minos promised.

"That sounds tempting. Too bad we'll only last a few tens of minutes... How can we help them and still enjoy this second chance at life?" asked the most sensitive of the corpses.

"My wife's power will give you just over an hour. But this will make that time seem four or five times longer." Minos showed them the golden hourglass, the Temporal Sands.

As it entered each of their bodies, the 12 felt the rules of time change for them, as the decay of their bodies suddenly slowed.

They were impressed to see how compatible this couple's abilities were, but also how terrifying the combination of their powers was.

"Also, I hope you'll wait for my signal in these urns." Minos showed them twelve special coffins that could hold these revived bodies for much longer.

These coffins replicated Maximilian's innate ability that had preserved him for millions of years in the Seraphim Ancient Sarcophagus before Minos freed him centuries ago!