The Rise of the Black Plain

Days later, Minos' party was near Dustdrift, having made it there without a hitch.

The area where Armhands was located wasn't the strongest on the continent, but it was one of the best cultivation areas in Oqia. There were several Supreme beings nearby. However, they were as numerous as the high-level Demigods in the Spiritual World.

There were places like Examire where there were several of them, but in extensive areas, it would be difficult to find at least one of them. The most common thing to be found in this area were Sovereigns, who weren't strong enough to be prominent leaders, but they weren't weak enough to be ignored, either.

A group with the strength of high-ranking Sovereigns was too strong for this area and would have little trouble traveling around.

Thus, the group was about to reach Minos' target, who was supposed to be hiding in Dustdrift or near this small city of locals.

Dustdrift wasn't like Examire—which was home to a vast population and many aliens. It has had tens of thousands of inhabitants, most of them surely locals.

Minos' goal for the current mission was to deal with a local who should have been nearby, a man who had been murdering guild members for the past two decades.

The Armhands didn't go after every enemy who killed their members. Some assassins were difficult to catch or even identify as enemies. Even if one was sentenced to death by the guild's court of law, since the punishment of these enemies was always done through missions for internal members of the organization, certain hunts could take months or years to be completed.

Minos' current mission had been going on for six years when the Armhands investigators received concrete evidence that the local native named Khiacot, a type of being similar to the Spiritual World's hyenas, was a tough opponent, being a level 111 cultivator.

Khiacot was remarkably vicious in battle. He was a renowned assassin with many known kills in the central area of the continent. It would be quite difficult to deal with him, even for internal members of the guild.

The mission had languished in the mission hall for six years, with no one choosing it because of the high risks and low reward, until someone gave it to the member who had been punished by the Chief Commander.

Minos knew this, but when he arrived near the city this afternoon, he wasn't worried about Khiacot.

He looked at the built-up area in front of his group, blending in almost perfectly with nature, and stopped, narrowing his eyes with a certain foreboding.

"Something wrong, boss?" One of the giants asked when he saw Minos standing still for almost 10 seconds, with them so close to the city ahead.

Minos made a hand sign and concentrated on his psychic powers.

His eyes turned completely white as energy condensed under his hands, forming a colorful mist around him.

Sender narrowed his eyes and said to Clexvog, "I think he sensed something about our mission."

Minos' seer powers had two phases. The primary phase was passive: if something entered the space his powers covered, he would sense it moments before it happened. The secondary, active phase required focus, allowing him to see further into the future.

The giants watched as Minos transitioned to the secondary phase after the primary phase had briefly tormented him.

"Get ready to fight. There's no enemy for me to hunt here. Artaud killed Khiacot," Minos said, his voice a mix of realization and urgency, as the vision solidified in his mind.

"What? Why would he do that?" Sender narrowed his eyes, not understanding where such a reaction from Artaud would come from.

"That... Did he kill your target to force us to come to him directly? If that's the case, we must retreat. This could be a trap, boss," said the other level 113, standing with Minos.

Minos clenched his fists as the realization sank in. "Unfortunately, we are in the hands of the enemy."

"What does that mean?" another asked, confusion clear in his voice.

Sender, understanding his master's predicament, stepped in to explain. "My master has no choice but to complete his punishment missions, or he won't meet the requirements to rejoin the guild completely. If we don't continue, we won't get the proof that Khiacot is dead."

"That's why we have to go to him, whether we like it or not," Minos said firmly, clearly displeased with the situation.

"What are we going to do? Can you tell us what's going to happen when we reach him, boss?" Wovar asked.

"He's waiting for us in a hut ten minutes' flight in that direction," Minos pointed to where he had seen their group meeting with General Artaud and Khiacot's body. "The only trap in the area is a formation that can prevent us from leaving for a few minutes."

Being trapped for a few minutes didn't seem like much, but for cultivators capable of moving at hundreds of kilometers per hour, it was enough time for major battles—certainly enough for a high-level battle and for everyone involved to reach their physical limits.

"Let's continue. Two of you will help me by lending your strength and staying behind to provide defensive support for those who are going to fight the General directly. The rest of you will accompany me in the fight against him." Minos ordered as he changed direction and made his men breathe more deeply in preparation for battle.

"Be prepared to sacrifice your parasites. It is likely that Artaud will do so when he realizes that we are capable of putting his life in danger."

Unfortunately, Minos couldn't use this trick. The Flashdrain parasite was not a secret weapon that guild members could use without preparation. These parasites were only for members with a lot of merit.

Minos had just received the parasite in his body after returning to the guild, so it would take some time and many meritorious deeds for him to regain the ability to use the sacrifice as he had in the past.

But his companions had such an opportunity!

The five of them agreed to use this last step if the enemy did the same, knowing that Artaud would have the strength of a Supreme after sacrificing his own parasite!