The Rise of the Black Plain

After using her fist again, Celeste crushed that Spiritual King's head, ending that enemy's suffering.

"How terrible! We couldn't even do anything to stop her!"

"That's a pity..."

"Damn it! Will we fall here like this??"  One person wondered aloud as he looked up at the sky, and a tear trickled down the corner of one of his eyes.

Several comments arose in the surroundings of that place, as those people who had tried to stop Celeste earlier realized the end of that man.

The powerful Level 51 Spiritual King had died, leaving behind a body with a wholly dented head, from which his brains could be seen coming out through various wounds. Furthermore, the way his nose, eyes, and mouth had become deformed after Celeste's punch was frightening to each of those people around there.

One eye was wholly immersed into the piece of flesh that had been left from this person's head, while the other had been left loose, suspending next to the depression where Celeste's fist had touched.

That had been the final nail in the coffin for those guards who had initiated this land attack...

More than half of them had already died at this point in the battle. In contrast, on the side of Minos' soldiers, only a few individuals had fallen or been more seriously injured.

But seeing all of their Spiritual Kings wiped out with such ease and then having to see the remains of this individual at Celeste's feet had broken their morale!

Consequently, the side of the soldiers, which had been at an advantage since the beginning of the fight, was now pressing the opposing side in an even more dominant way.

Previously, the soldiers of this naval base had needed to use the defenses of this army post and tactics of all sorts to diminish the opponent's strength. However, due to the brutal differences in the numbers, despite the dominance of the side of the soldiers under Celeste's command, the fighting had been quite intense!

Yet, after the death of this Spiritual King, that had changed entirely, and this great battle had been dominated by one side.

"Kill those damn invaders!"

"Let's show what happens to those who challenge us!"

"Ah! Kill them all!"

Several voices arose among the ranks of soldiers as these individuals attacked those members of the Collins family with even more vigor.

There was no need for them to have pity on the enemy just because the opposing side lost the fighting spirit... On the contrary, this was the best time to use a little more force!

With this, they could ensure that such opponents would not regain their fighting will, that those enemies would not harm the army.

So, it didn't take long for most of the surviving soldiers to focus on exterminating these individuals!

Boom!

"Ahhhhhh!"

Boom!

...

Pow! 

"Ahhhhhh"

Quickly three minutes passed, and by now, the group of soldiers from that base had practically exterminated that group of 1.6 thousand guards from the Collins family.

However, while that was finishing, Celeste walked along the sides of that base, waiting for the next wave of attacks.

'From the reports of the soldiers on observation, the groups that were on those ships have already landed in the vicinity of our base...'

'Three of those groups came by sea and did a lot of damage to our port, as well as dividing some of our attention at this beginning of the battle.'

'But the rest were coming here by land, from the outskirts of our base...'

'Hmm, that group must be as large as that first one.' She thought about it as she did some math to figure out how problematic it would be to survive today.

Of course, she wasn't too worried about her own survival since it would be tough for anyone in the opposing group to be stronger than her. What worried her was how many casualties this army post would have after such an ordeal!

'We have 100 Sergeants between levels 45 and 46. Of them, each should be able to fight against newly-promoted Spiritual Kings...'

'In that case, just those soldiers alone will probably be able to eliminate another 800 or so opponents similar to the previous group without having to risk their lives.' So, she considered it, taking into account that these stronger soldiers were the ones who had suffered the least from this initial moment of the battle.

'The rest of the Sergeants can probably handle a similar number of opponents... As for the rest, I'll have to deal with it, or the army casualties will be too high!'

After that, she deeply sighed until she realized that the second wave of enemies was approaching that location.

"Soldiers! Get ready! Enemies in sight!"

...

It wasn't long before another 2,200 Collins family guards reached the battlefield around that naval base, where a large amount of blood was flowing across the ground.

Upon arriving at that place, they had immediately realized the massacre that had taken place there. But despite the negative feelings regarding how so many of their comrades died, the Collins family side did not back down.

They could only kill or die since they had already gone this far!

That was no longer just about getting resources. It was about the family's future, an organization that might get a new enemy if news of what happened in this place spread.

And since there were several nobles in the middle of that group, the subordinates could not simply retreat unless there was an order. After all, as long as they fought in this place, they might have a chance to survive and still get rewards.

But if they tried to flee, either the enemy side could kill them during a chase, or the Collins family itself would go after the heads of the traitors!

So, these people had not run away when they saw and felt that red sight.

But not only that, as far as they knew, the enemy side might have lost much of its strength during the first wave of attacks. Hence, perhaps they were closer to achieving victory in this place!

With all this in mind, it wasn't long before those many members of the Collins family began to battle the soldiers of the Black Plain Army.

Boom!

Vuup!

"Ahhh!"

...

Clang!

"Ahhhh!"

At the same time, where cries of pain and screams of various kinds could be heard throughout the area, Celeste found the remaining Spiritual Kings, the most troublesome enemies.

In this second wave of attacks, five other Spiritual Kings were on the opposing side, who had powers between levels 52 and 55.

But, despite the fact that the power of these people was even greater than that of the others she had killed, it was the fact that she already knew one of them that drew her attention.

"Celeste?" The leader of that team, Page, level 55, asked as she looked in the direction of the only opponent with the level to get her attention.

"You... Your name is Page. I remember you." Celeste said in surprise as she recognized the characteristics of that tall, muscular woman.

These two were not friends or anything similar to that. But they had met during the attempted escape of Celeste and Ryan.

They were trying to escape from the assassin hired by her husband at that time.

Page had given Celeste some tips at that time, helping this woman to a certain degree. As such, that Lieutenant of Minos' army, who was sleeping with her own son-in-law, couldn't help but remember the person who was right in front of her.

Anyway, after the two recognized each other in the middle of this battlefield, Page soon said. "I didn't expect to find you in such a place... You even managed to increase your level in such a short time."

"What is this place? What organization is behind this base?" She calmly asked while having an air of superiority in her manner.

Page did not consider Celeste a threat. After all, this Lieutenant had just reached level 55, unlike this noblewoman from House Collins, who had been at that level for decades!

So, Page was confident in being able to deal with Celeste alone...

Celeste and those individuals on this base might have gone some way to deal with the previous group. Still, after arriving at this place and realizing that there were no other Spiritual Kings, this woman did not doubt that she would win this battle!

"Page, one day you helped me... And as much as that help is not so great as to have saved my life, I am willing to give you a chance."

"Oh?" Page said with a smile on her face.

"Surrender now and accept the punishments for attacking this base!" Celeste said while having her two hands behind her back. "I can't guarantee what will happen next, but you might have a chance to survive..."

"What if I refuse?" Page continued to smile in mockery as she looked in the direction of that woman on the other side of the battlefield.

"Well...." Celeste closed her eyes for a moment and then said at once. "If you refuse, then I'm afraid I'll have to kill all of you!"