The Rise of the Black Plain

Sometime later, Minos and a group from before finally arrived on the outskirts of Dry City, where now there was a large camp outside the east exit of the wall.

But not only at this point was there a large camp. Near the other three entrances to the area protected by the local dome, there were structures similar to these, where the members of those three powers allied to Minos could live from now on.

Minos could invest in constructing buildings outside the defensive dome. Still, since the war had not even reached its peak, this young man did not like the idea of making such investments at all.

At the end of the day, he was only one!

Suppose the enemies decided to attack this place with everything. In that case, even he could not protect the investments outside that area protected by the solid local defenses.

Consequently, investing in construction in this part of his territory did not seem as attractive as investing in that future city near the local army naval base.

As a result, there was no permanent construction in these outer areas of Dry City, with only many good quality tents useful for temporary living.

Apart from these, makeshift fences could be seen here and there, like a second local wall protecting the surroundings of these areas.

Finally, when Minos arrived in the area in question, several thousand living beings already lived in the surroundings, beasts and humans mixed.

After all, these people who had come here had made the trip here using beasts. So, there were hundreds of these beings scattered around that area.

And with this sight, the many people who had come here under Minos' escort were already smiling, satisfied and happy that they had survived this journey into betrayal.

Well, most of them were already traitors to the kingdom without knowing it. But by fleeing into 'enemy' territory, they had followed in the footsteps of their leaders, started down a path of no return!

In any case, many there just wanted to continue living. And now, in this place, which was already a feared area in the entire region, these people could not help but feel relief.

They were traitors, and that was a concern. But even if many did not know and disagreed with the treason before, it made no difference. They were traitors, and that was all.

If the Browns found out about the actions of their leaders, they would all pay!

So, even though they were traitors, they felt much more hopeful when they arrived in this city. Here they at least had a chance to defend themselves against possible aggression from the Brown family!

And considering that many had already had an acquaintance, a relative, who had come here before them, this was a time of reunion, something very precious.

With that, those people were content as they began to find their places in that camp, leaving aside the young Stuart who had stood watching the surroundings.

'Hmm, I imagine that half of the members of those families are already on the outskirts of Dry City...' Minos thought about this in silence as he watched that area full of life.

The Austin, Parkinson, and Miller families together had just over 150,000 members, about half of them at the 5th stage and nearly 70 Spiritual Kings.

A portion of them was still leaving their posts around the Black Plain, where they previously stood alongside the Brown family. But, on the other hand, weaker individuals were coming towards Dry City, among them those who had used the naval means of transport to try to enter this territory.

So, only a portion of the total numbers of those families had already arrived in Dry City, and a good part of them were weaker individuals.

In any case, even if Minos' estimate counted only half of these numbers, he was already satisfied with all of this, considering how little time he and his allies had had.

Previously the Gill family had taken much longer to reach this place, even considering that at that time, this territory could be considered relatively peaceful.

However, the Gill family had done it slowly, cautiously so as not to be caught by the Silva family while doing such a thing.

And indeed, they had succeeded since that now decaying organization had only discovered that movement months after the Gills' escape.

But the case of Minos' three allied families was quite different from that organization now subordinate to Black Plain. These three noble houses of the Brown Kingdom had to flee as quickly as possible to protect themselves and join the forces of Dry City.

With that, the migration of these people had been done more hurriedly, having broken the Gill family's record.

Precisely because of this, because things had worked out so well these past few weeks, Minos was pleased.

'Well, now I just need to keep participating in battles like today's, and we can finish this migration in a few days!' So, he pondered, before finally following his course towards the interior of the dome, to wait for the next time he would act.

...

While Minos was settling his affairs in Dry City, sometimes going to the battlefield and slaughtering his opponents, Ruth had finally arrived at her sect.

After almost two months since her farewell to Minos, she and White had crossed all the way to the southeastern region of the Flaming Empire, where the Gray Cloud Sect were.

With that, Ruth had promptly reported to the hall responsible for disciples' entry or exit and done the necessary procedures to maintain her legal status. Then, she started to prepare her plans for this time around here.

Ruth was in love with Minos, and unlike the last time she had left that young man in the north of the Central Continent, she was now fully aware of what she wanted!

She wanted to be by Minos' side, help him and eventually have a life with him!

With that in mind, she knew what she should do while in the sect.

First, she would rest for a few days, since even for a Spiritual King like her, the journey between the northern part of the Central Continent and here was very tiring.

Second, she would do as many missions as possible in the coming months, which could guarantee her some more time at young Stuart's side.

Finally, third, she would check with her family to see if there was any way she could ease her restrictions.

She did not like just to wait around while Minos and Abby fought over the future of the Black Plain. So, this girlfriend of young Stuart wanted to do something to remove the restraints that prevented her from acting.

Previously, when she had traveled alongside Minos to the Cromwell Kingdom, she had helped him on many occasions. But that happened because that had been a mission of her sect, something approved by the Spiritual Church.

But this previous period of hers in that region had been out of a pure desire on her part, something that if she acted carelessly, serious consequences could hit her and those around her.

That was why she had not helped him, and it was with that in mind that she would try to use the next few months in this state to resolve some of her doubts!

However, as much as she had many things on her mind, Ruth was in no hurry. She knew that she needed to take each of her steps carefully. So, after visiting her master's residence, she had gone directly to a place where she intended to begin her rest.

'I will rest for the next week, and then I will choose some missions...' Ruth thought about this, as she felt tired from the trip.

The problem with the fatigue she was feeling was the effect of the teleportation. That could be pretty stressful for the teleporting body, depending on many factors, such as, for example, the level of the being teleported, the degree of the arrays used, and the distance between one point to the other.

Ruth lacked the purchasing power necessary to utilize the most advanced teleportation arrays. And as she had completed a journey that could have taken more than six months in her beast in a matter of seconds, it was natural for her to become quite exhausted!

On the other hand, the very difference in the spiritual concentration of the Black Plain and the headquarters of the Gray Cloud Sect was already enough to bother people in situations similar to hers.

Thus, she truly needed to rest for a while.

But while arriving at the village where her residence was, Ruth suddenly felt the spiritual fluctuation of some people she knew well...