The Rise of the Black Plain

"Well, let's get started..." 

Minos' voice resounded throughout that part of Dry City, where more than 300 thousand people were already gathering in front of that platform.

Upon hearing their ruler's voice, those people who, until moments ago, were generating a lot of noise through their conversations promptly became silent. 

Before long, everyone was paying attention to that spot where only Minos and Otis could be seen.

Otis was in the same place as before, kneeling on the ground, restrained by several chains, on the opposite side of that platform from where Minos was standing.

As for this young man, he was sitting on his throne, which partially faced the local audience and the position where Otis and the VIP box were.

Finally, realizing that there were no distractions in the surroundings, Minos took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second.

He then looked at Otis and began to speak. "Citizens of Dry City, we are here today because of this person."

"The patriarch of the Silva family, Otis Silva, formerly one of the most important people in the Brown Kingdom."

"An individual so strong that few in our region could challenge him, someone, who certainly had the respect and admiration of millions for a long time..."

"Perhaps from some of you who are here right now." He said this as he paused briefly, looking at the audience present and those journalists.

"But even with all that, this person conspired against my person, my family, which truth be told, was insignificant at the time."

"He attacked us more than once, ensured human losses on our side, and further incited the Brown family's anger against us."

"If it weren't for him, we probably wouldn't be at war now!"

He looked once again at the crowd and said harshly. "Look at him!"

"Have you lost anyone in the recent conflicts?"

"Do you hate me for those losses?"

"Well, I present you to the man who is to blame for all this!"

"This man is the one responsible for all the chaos in the Brown Kingdom, the person who forced my hand to make difficult decisions."

"For all that, he is here today to stand trial!" He said aloud, unconsciously letting some of his powerful spiritual strength spread across that square, putting pressure on many of his citizens.

In addition to the powerful aura of a Spiritual King with his tone, many people were already getting goosebumps, feeling some of Minos' hatred for Otis.

Gulp!

'Does he intend to lay all the blame on Otis? I can't believe this is all true...'

'Is there a story behind these two?'

'Interesting!'

The three journalists in the VIP box thought these things over in satisfaction, curious to hear the story Minos had to tell at this event.

They did not care if Minos' words were confirmed. They were here to follow the execution and describe what happened.

As such, the only thing that truly mattered to them here was the stories they could tell through what Minos was trying to do.

And before long, the three of them began to hear Minos' accusations.

"Otis Silva, first, I accuse you of ordering the death of my father, Albert Stuart. Second, I accuse you of attacking the Black Plain. Third, I accuse you of taking the lives of local inhabitants. Finally, I accuse you of conspiring against the peace in the kingdom and provoking the current war of independence."

"How do you plead?" He asked, looking at Otis.

"Innocent!" Otis said in a low voice, in a stern tone, reflective of his dire situation.

But every person in that place could hear his answer.

"Bullshit!"

"Speak the truth, Otis! That is your chance for redemption!"

"The only crime I committed was not killing you when I had the chance!" Otis said firmly, looking at Minos with hatred in his eyes. "Everything else is just bullshit. You chose war!"

"Oh?"

"So, you assume you are related to my father's attempted murder?"

"You say you should have killed me... But why would you kill an innocent child? The only reason for that is revenge, isn't it? Be a man and take responsibility for what you've done, Otis!"

"Tsk!"

"Acting for your interests is not a crime!"

'So, Albert Stuart's sacrifice was on account of an action by the Silva family...' One of the journalists there thought about it as he wrote down everything he heard.

"So, he truly ordered the death of Lord Minos' father?"

"What a terrible person! Even now, he shows no repentance."

"It's not for nothing that Lord Minos wants to humiliate him like this!"

Several comments among the crowds arose in that area.

Minos then said. "That is true. And from the Black Plain's point of view, this crime of yours is nothing but personal retribution of mine..."

"But from the Brown Kingdom's point of view, you committed a crime by trying to act inside the capital!"

"You acted against a member of the royal family, something that makes you a traitor, Otis Silva!"

"Your sentence for that should be death!" Minos commented as he considered the laws of the Brown Kingdom for this problem.

And it made perfect sense to consider that. After all, as much as he was fighting a war of independence against the Brown Kingdom, officially, he was still part of that state.

As such, anyone who eventually read about this trial could not consider this action by Minos to be criminal!

He was in rebellion, but he used the other side's rules to punish a war enemy. In other words, such a person would have to be killed even if he had not fallen into Minos' hands!

"Anyway, let's move on to the next charge..."

"You say that I attacked your side first, but we who were repeatedly attacked at by members of the Silva family!"

"Don't tell me that we had an obligation to die at the hands of your family members?"

"Did we have to accept outside violence willingly?" He asked the thousands of people in that place.

"For years, my people did not leave the Black Plain, and we only had contact with his family members when they came to us. So, don't tell me we caused all these conflicts!"

"You have decided to provoke an autonomous region, abusing your position as one of the three big organizations in our state..."

"In other words, pressing a small power that had only a few years of existence!"

"Shame!"

Minos then snapped his fingers to indicate something to his soldiers.

"My citizens, this man will not admit it, for he is vile and driven by greed. This man would kill even a child if he had to..."

"As such, I present to you a witness, a person captured after an incident months ago when the Silva family forces had attacked our city!" He said as he indicated to the position where soldiers were bringing a handcuffed man to the center of that platform.

"You..." Otis muttered in a hoarse tone as he recognized the figure that had just arrived there.

By the time the Silva family forces had attacked Dry City, not all of those individuals had died. Instead, several of them had escaped, and that had been why Otis and the rest of his family had found out about the dome of Dry City.

But among those who had escaped, some of them had not lasted very long and had been captured or killed by the soldiers pursuing them.

Among the few who had been captured was this individual who had just climbed the platform where Otis and Minos stood on opposite sides.

"I present to you Linden Silva, a low-level elder of House Silva, level 49, captured months ago in our territory."

"As an enemy of the Black Plain, Linden should have died on the battlefield. But by surrendering to our soldiers, this man was brought to Dry City, where to this day he is serving a life sentence." Minos introduced his witness.

"Linden had the chance to change his punishment, to instead of dying in prison, have his spiritual cultivation crippled and only 100 years of imprisonment remaining in exchange for the truth."

"And he is here to tell us of Patriarch Silva's goals in attacking us."

"You!"

"Traitor!" Otis said in anger as he looked at that elder of his family with disgust in his eyes.

He didn't care about this all since he already knew his fate. But to see one of his own betraying him in such a way that genuinely angered him!

....