The Rise of the Black Plain

While Minos was preoccupied with the problems of the Black Plain, the Spiritual Kings sent by the Chambers family to investigate Kevin's death were investigating what had happened.

Three people had previously been sent to the attacked base to increase searches in the region, in partnership with Chad's group. They had waited at that base until yesterday, when Roy finally showed up, arriving at that place after days of fleeing persecution from the Hayes family.

Roy had barely survived the persecution of that group of Spiritual Kings and was seriously injured when he arrived at that post. Even his winged beast was in horrible shape, having arrived at that base completely bruised and soiled with its own blood.

Finally, after reaching a place where he was safe, Roy recounted everything he had been through to the five Spiritual Kings before he was finally released to receive his treatment.

It would take him several months to recover from the injuries he suffered, so he was out of the local investigations of Kevin's death.

Finally, having received Roy's report and also the latest news from the Chambers family's headquarters, the five Spiritual Kings returned to the investigation, subdividing across the northern region of the Cromwell Kingdom.

...

In the city of Hadia, one of the Spiritual Kings who had arrived at that base from the Chambers family before was now in the head office of the local government of this town.

He was in the center of Hadia, the noble and well-developed part of this city of many classes, where a beautiful palace was located.

And amid a luxurious building full of trees and natural and constructed beauty, he was sitting face to face with the ruler of this place.

The person in front of this Chambers family's Spiritual King was named Cole, level 53, a subordinate of a noble house in the Farmland region.

He had a youthful appearance, black hair, and brown eyes while dressing in a tight-fitting outfit, making him look elegant. This man seemed very good and looked to be in his prime, even more so with the warm smile he had on his face.

In contrast, the Spiritual King of the Chambers family was a middle-aged man with an unfriendly expression on his face, wearing black armor.

Such a person was Doug Chambers, level 54.

Anyway, the two had just met and had barely shaken hands when Doug got right down to business, not caring about etiquette. "Cole, I'm not here to befriend you. You must know very well why I'm here. So, let's not waste time with small talk. Tell me what you know."

Hearing this, Cole smiled sincerely, feeling this individual's bad mood. 'Ah, it must be difficult to lose so much in such a short time. Glad I'm not in your place, haha…' He thought for a moment before finally starting to speak. "You are investigating the death of Kevin, right? You must think the murderer must have passed through Hadia."

"Yes, that's one of the possibilities," Doug commented briefly.

"It makes sense. Kevin bought the Spring of Life at the local Black Market, a place open to thousands of people. So, the chances are good that his death resulted from one of the customers at that night's auction..."

"Huh, good luck looking for that, hehe." Cole casually said as he watched Doug's expression grow darker and darker.

'Oh, too bad this old man is stronger than me. Otherwise, I could play with him a little longer…' Cole chuckled inwardly as he finally got to the point. "But you might not be completely out of luck."

"What do you mean?"

"A few days ago, an unusual event happened in my city. A nightclub on the south side of town was invaded, and all the people in that place disappeared."

Hearing this, Doug immediately frowned, realizing the similarity to what had happened at that Chambers' base. However, this could only be a coincidence. After all, this place was full of outlaws, people who could bring disaster on themselves at any time.

"Why do you think this has a relation to my investigation?" he asked seriously.

"I don't have all the details, as the Black Market itself is investigating this matter. But from the information I received, right before that place was invaded, there were some people around town asking a lot of questions about the recent auction."

"And most importantly, the time between the attack on this club on the south side of Hadia and the attack on your family's base was within a very close range. The time difference was just enough to travel from Hadia to that base!" He said with a gleam in his eyes.

Cole had always been an intelligent person who paid attention to detail. And because of that, upon finding out about recent incidents, he couldn't help noticing that there was such a possibility.

Of course, most likely for him, this was just a coincidence, but definitely, it was worth investigating.

Several carriages had left Hadia that night of the club attack from what he had heard from the city's guards. And of those carriages, the strength of the beasts that pulled them was between the 3rd and 4th stages of cultivation.

Considering this, he could see that with beasts of this cultivation classification, traveling between Hadia and that base, between the end of the club's attack and the beginning of the attack from that base, was achievable!

Anyway, after hearing Cole's comment, Doug couldn't help but notice this person's logic. 'Actually, this clue seems to make some sense...'

"Well, it looks like coming to talk to you wasn't a complete waste!" He exclaimed loudly, already getting up from the armchair he had sat in earlier.

However, while he seemed determined to get out of that place, Cole chuckled for a moment and then warned him. "Before you leave, be careful. This subject can be a little more thorny than you might think."

"What do you mean?" Doug wiped the smug expression off his face, then looked back at Cole with some concern.

"That nightclub that was attacked is owned by one of the associates of the Black Market and a member of the Scourges of the Devil. Maybe my theory is wrong, and you end up investigating something you shouldn't…" He said this with an incomprehensible smile on his lips.

'I know you Chambers have your dealings with occult powers, but do you dare go up against someone who deliberately attacks the property of someone so dangerous?' Cole thought about it as he watched the expression on Doug's face.

He didn't look disappointed at all, but he wasn't happy either. 'The enemy that attacked us seemed to be after our information... Could it be that this is an enemy of the Scourges of the Devil, and he is acting against us because our connection is discovered?'

'This seems to be getting more and more complex! But it doesn't matter, anyway, I'll have to go to the heart of it. At least I'll have something to give back to the patriarch when I'm done here!'

After convincing himself, Doug briefly said goodbye to Cole, heading directly to Hadia's Black Market.

...

At the same time, three people were together in a boat that had just arrived in the Maritime City, on the coast of the Black Plain.

These people wore silver armor, which bore the Silva family symbol and had tired looks on their faces. One of them had a thin face and red hair, another was tall and strong, and the last one, their leader, had an unshaven beard and some gray hairs on his head.

Finally, the three walked out of that boat they had traveled in while conversing in a tone only other Spiritual Kings could hear.

"Well, after two months on Stone Island, we're now pretty sure Sarah's group wasn't killed there." That's the red-haired man said.

"Yes, Scott is right. By the time her group was last seen, before their deaths, the places on Stone Island that they could have passed in that period have all been visited by us." The muscular man nodded.

After hearing his two companions say this, the group leader nodded and replied. "Now we have three possibilities for the location of the death of Sarah's group…"