The Rise of the Black Plain

While the heads of the Stoke family were discussing the recent news, something similar was happening in the Kingdom of the End, at the headquarters of the most powerful family of this region of the Central Continent!

In the capital of this state was the palace of Kara and Ford's family, the two youths Minos had befriended during the Spiritual Tournament, a pair of siblings who had a very special relationship.

In any case, their headquarters was located in a privileged part of this city, where anyone who had the privilege of getting close to it could see the luxury of this organization.

There were fountains in various places around the palace, with gardens of different types. At the same time, the buildings blended perfectly well with the natural elements.

The quality of the materials used merely to pave the ground where the carriages passed could be considered top-notch in the region, something rarely seen outside the interior of regional mansions.

And it was no different for any of the materials used in the construction in that area!

But all this luxury was not for nothing. After all, they only lived according to their standards, which, by the way, could not be easily compared to those of the 'commoners' of this region.

The Carline family, the most powerful organization native to this region, had 75 Spiritual Kings in its ranks, a higher number than the other two most substantial regional organizations, the Walkers, with 70 specialists, and the Stones, with 68.

But even if the numbers were not so different, the difference in power between the three was significant. That was because, while there were some blacksmiths among the Stone family's numbers, the members of House Carline, in general, had much better techniques than the Walker family members.

Consequently, the Carline family was the strongest in the region, something built through the hard work of capable people and also by the rich reserves of medium-grade crystals of their state.

That was the family behind the most prominent regional bank, the institution that controlled almost half of the flow of crystals of this quality in this region!

Because of this, such an organization had grown to become the strongest in the region, even though it was based in the second smallest state in this part of the region.

Its territory had less than half the Kingdom of the Waves area, the largest regional state. As for population, the Kingdom of the End also lost out to this most extensive state in the region.

But because of their rich reserves of crystals, the Carline family had almost as many resources as the Walkers. And since they had far fewer areas to invest in, such crystals had turned into investments in quality.

Therefore, this family from the northern edge of the Central Continent had many of the best techniques in the region. Also, their investments were more focused on individual quality, which other large organizations could not do easily.

After all, many problems accompanied the benefits of larger territories, as in the example of borders.

More border kilometers meant more personnel at border crossings, which caused royal organizations to decrease investments in individual quality while increasing their quantities.

And it was no wonder that the Carline family had developed so much!

They were so strong that it was said that if it weren't for their own disinterests in taking adjacent territories, the entire map of this region would be different!

In general, royal families in that region had similar strengths when one added the power of their vassals. But this was not true for House Carline!

But luckily for the other sovereigns, no one in Kara and Ford's family had any interest in domination.

And only because of this could this region 'breathe' peacefully for so many thousands of years without kingdom's wars!

In any case, the power of this family was formidable, and even the Spiritual Generals of this organization were admired by the people passing through this city.

There were those tourists who even visited the vicinity of the royal palace to see the royal guards doing their activities in the surroundings!

In fact, such a thing was so impressive that there were more curious people in the vicinity of the local royal palace than in the central branch of the church in this state!

But while people were crowding outside the fences of such a place, where many royal guards and officials worked in the gardens, the strongest individuals of this organization were together in one part of the palace.

In such a place, just as it had happened in the capital of Stone Island, three powerful Spiritual Kings at level 59 were discussing the same matter.

The three were sitting at different points in a meeting room, around a beautiful glass table, each very well-dressed, like business people they were.

"It is truly unexpected that things have reached this point in our region..." The only man there commented as he looked at the newspapers on that table.

"Also, that move by Prince Ambrose was both idiotic and genius." One of the two women said this as she looked at the ruler of this state. "If he hadn't killed Dean Chambers in such a manner, everything would have been perfect for them..."

"Getting the location of the Scourges of the Devil and still avoiding a bigger problem with the Cromwell family." She commented, remembering the invitation that had reached her family a few days ago.

"But I doubt they will come out of this unscathed."

"Hmm, it's curious..." The other woman standing there, one with half red, half gray hair, said while having a friendly smile on her face. "I wonder why they did that... Did something give them a hint that the Cromwells wouldn't care about that?"

"Who knows..." King Carline replied as he closed his eyes and smiled while tilting his head to the left. "But what truly matters is what happened in the Brown Kingdom."

"House Snow and House Cromwell's problem is just a disagreement. You can't expect a deadly conflict to develop from that."

"But the situation is different for the Brown family!"

"I imagine they have lost quite a bit of power..."

After hearing this, the black-haired woman's eyes sharpened as she remembered the Brown family's request for them to send representatives to that state.

She then asked her husband. "Will we have to get involved?"

"Probably..."

"Anyway, let's wait for new information." He said, just before pushing a button next to that table.

After that, a young-looking individual with large, pointed ears entered that meeting room.

...

Meanwhile, what the members of the Brown family did not want to happen the wrong way, had happened and come to their awareness!

"Shit!"

"I can't believe that the bastards behind Night News were infiltrating one of our allies' ships!" One of the Generals of the Brown Kingdom's royal guard said this in anger while standing in the royal hall alongside other experts and the king himself.

"That truly is a misfortune!"

"Not only have we suffered such a loss, but now the entire region knows how vulnerable we have become without first having a chance to control the situation."

"That damned from the Black Plain!"

"Our family's entire morale is going down the drain because of those traitors!" Another high-ranking individual commented as the veins in his neck twitched along with his fury. "I can't wait to get my hands on those bastards!"

The king then waved his hand and commented, while his expression remained deadly serious. "Let's put this matter of the Night News spies aside for the moment."

"Our reputation is already tarnished, and now, unless we retaliate decisively, little can change the disastrous results of this leak."

"With that, let's talk about what matters. How is the progress of our troops?"

Someone there then stepped forward and answered such a questioning. "Your Majesty, our progress is as expected, and in less than a month, your escort will be able to leave for battle!"

"Oh?"

"That's good..."

"Then we will not fail to show our guests and enemies what we are capable of!"

...

But not only the leaders of the significant regional families were reacting to all this news.

Minos was at this moment in Abby's office at his army headquarters, laughing as he read that news!