The Rise of the Black Plain

After hearing that individual's comment, all those members of the Spiritual Church began to pay attention to the figure of Ava, who still had a terrified look on her face.

She looked like the image that sick people would have after a few days in a bed because of a heavy cold. And as such, it did not take long for the more observant of that group to realize that she had suffered a substantial shock today.

'Well, that's normal... After all, she's only a level 47 cultivator.'

'If even high-level Spiritual Kings died today, her small power certainly left her completely vulnerable!'

Several of those Bishops thought similar things, feeling sorry for Ava but at the same time rushing to know the truth.

And it was no different for Gloria!

She did not like staying too long in the northern region of the Central Continent. But now that such a tragedy had happened, even she did not know how long it would take to sort out the local messes.

Nothing like this had ever happened before!

So, she could not help but feel frustrated as she had the desire to speed up the investigation process, ignoring Ava's apparent depression and going straight to what that young woman could know.

She then took the lead from those people and entered the room where Ava was.

After that, Gloria sat down face to face with that traumatized young woman and began to speak. "Your name is Ava, right?"

Ava stopped thinking about the previous scenes after noticing the woman of unforgettable beauty who had sat across from her. Gloria was someone that even other women would be attracted to, given her unparalleled distinction.

Gulp!

So, it had not been easy for Ava to ignore this person while swallowing her saliva.

"Hmmm." She made a sound with her mouth still closed, looking down and feeling strange from everything that had happened since her fun with Charles had been interrupted.

"Well, Ava, I imagine it's not being easy for you..."

"You seem to have faced something unique, but that was also terrible, right?"

"Hmm." Ava shook her head down in affirmation.

"Well, I know you may need some time to process whatever happened, but unfortunately, neither of us has time to wait for that to happen."

"Then I hope you will cooperate and tell us what happened."

"Only then can we try to do something about the tragedy that happened here..."

"Hmm..."

"How nice that you know how to cooperate..." Gloria smiled at that young woman before finally getting on with what everyone there wanted with Ava. "What happened?"

"Talk from the beginning."

Gulp!

Ava then swallowed her saliva in anxiety and inhaled the air deeply, taking the courage to 'go back' to everything that had happened the moment her plans had been totally obliterated.

"Well... To make a long story short, I was with His Highness in his room. At that time, we suddenly felt our bodies becoming motionless several times in a row as if time was stopping..."

"We also realized that our energies were being rapidly diminished during that short interval of time when we experienced that strange sensation." She commented, already draining the tears that were coming out of her eyes.

Hearing this, some of those Bishops were already making ugly expressions, thinking of the worst possibilities there could be to explain Ava's strange case.

As for Gloria, she did not know as much about this region as those old men, so she just kept paying attention to Ava.

Ava then continued her story amidst fickle sobs and her wailing tears. "But that lasted only a few seconds..."

"After that, one of the royal guards protecting His Highness went through one of the walls of the room we were in..."

"It was at that moment that a person dressed in the uniform of the royal guard, the one responsible for all that, appeared to us..."

'Royal guard uniform?' Some people thought about it cautiously, considering the possibility of enemies infiltrating the local forces.

"After that, he crippled His Highness' spiritual cultivation..." So, she finished telling her story while crying over such a tragedy.

"What a tragedy..."

"What a cruel man!"

"How could anyone have done such brutality?"

"AHHH! Damn it!"

"Why couldn't we save His Highness?"

"The family is lost!"

Several of the Bishops there commented among themselves, while the royal guards deeply mourned the loss of Charles.

They knew who was alive or dead since the soul lamps of the missing people were still giving off signals. But so far, no one knew what had happened to Charles and William's four widows who were left alive.

Consequently, upon hearing from Ava that the enemy had crippled the crown prince's spiritual cultivation, all those people were surprised.

And so they were shocked, extremely sorry for what had happened to that young man, since this information basically eliminated Charles, the most promising of the three princes, from the royal succession!

After all, regardless of whether Charles had won the competition for the throne, no one would be crazy to pass the royal crown to an individual incapable of cultivation.

No one would follow a leader incapable of getting stronger!

And as a consequence, the state had lost even more than they had accounted for so far!

Gloria then asked. "What did this person who crippled Charles look like? What was his level? Did he say anything relevant?"

Ava then was silent for a minute, thinking about what had happened.

She then answered. "I remember the things that man said very well because he seemed quite offensive... He seemed to have a feud with His Highness."

"He called His Highness a worm several times, said cruel things, that he would show His Highness how he would kill the most important family members..."

"He also commented something about taking His Highness to the Puller." She said, sobbing.

"Bastard!"

"We can't allow it!"

"Please, Archbishop, intervene in the situation and prevent His Highness' death!" Some of the royal guards there said such a thing in angry tones, feeling humiliated by the enemy's words.

But Gloria only raised one of her hands, asking those people for silence.

Ava then finished her account. "As for his appearance, that all happened very quickly, and I tried to avoid watching him as much as possible. But I remember that he had brown hair, looked young, was relatively tall and strong."

"And he was at level 53."

"What?"

"Are you sure?"

"How can that be? How could someone so weak do such a thing?"

"No! Ava, don't joke at this point! If you don't know his level, you'd better just keep quiet!"

Several people there began to discuss the matter, doubting the veracity of what she had just said.

But when one of the strongest Bishops there thought about it and the description of the effects suffered by Ava and Charles, his eyes fluttered as he had a sudden realization.

"It can't be!"

"NOOOOO!" He screamed in panic, feeling unimaginable pressure.

"That can only be the devil Minos' doing!" He finally said it in terror.

On the other hand, Gloria's heart was beating much stronger than usual as she ignored the words of those people in her surroundings.

After hearing Minos' description, she could not help but remember 'Albert,' who coincidentally was in this city to fulfill a mission...

'Albert...'

'No! It can't be true!' She thought about it as she clenched her fists. She felt that the peaceful person she had met could not be the one responsible for the massacre she had seen earlier.

The difference in the actions of the young man who wanted to get his hands on her and the person capable of killing regional experts with ease was simply too big!

And considering that Gloria already had a good impression of 'Albert,' she felt shocked, eager to answer the question in her heart.

'I have to see this!' She finally made up her mind before she got up from where she was standing and left that place.

Gloria then ran with all the strength she had, heading towards the exit of Athela, through which she and Minos had entered this city, where their spiritual beasts should be.

'It can't be him!'

'If it is true, that means that I ended up giving a high-level grade-2 weapon to the person responsible for this massacre!'

'That's probably my fault!' She thought about it as she sweated, moving extremely fast through the streets of Athela.

And in doing so, it did not take long for Gloria to reach her destination!

...