The Rise of the Black Plain

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Dry City...

Tens of thousands of soldiers from the Black Plain Army were standing in a specific spot beside the local wall, observing the surroundings as they waited for the decisive moment.

In that area, individuals such as Pyke, Barbara, Robin, i.e., members of the Elite Squad were standing silently, looking at the surroundings, from which one could already see a long dust curtain approaching them.

At the same time, some Spiritual Kings from Dry City were in that group, people who would deal with the enemy experts in the impending battle.

But obviously, not all the experts or members of the Elite Squad were there. After all, Minos and the administration of his army knew that the attack would come from three directions.

Consequently, the forces involved in this confrontation that was about to begin were divided into three main groups.

The first, commanded by Minos, where Pyke and company were, was the main one, the one that was in place to deal with the enemy team coming from the east, which King Brown was commanding.

The second, commanded by the patriarch Gill, where some members of the Miller family were, was the group that would have to deal with the enemy coming from the north, which was under London Brown.

Some of the Millers in Dry City had already learned many of the Silver-grade combat techniques necessary to fight without being identified by enemies through their techniques. Hence, they were able to join the battle.

And even if one could identify a cultivator by his spiritual fluctuation, only four members of the Miller families would participate in this confrontation. But, on the other hand, since all of them had improved their strength in their time in Dry City, the chances of them being recognized here were not high.

In any case, the only ones who might recognize them were some of the enemies, the ones they would strive to eliminate in this battle.

With that, Minos and these members of Abby's family were betting that this involvement of theirs would not be noticed.

On the other hand, Minos did not have many options here. The current situation was terrible, after all.

Hence, this was a necessary bet that had little chance of failure, so he could not afford not to use such an option! 

Finally, the third attack group was being led by some of the Stokes family members. 

Previously Celeste had gone to Stone Island and left three members of that family under the care of House Nash while she returned to the naval base. After that, these people came to Dry City as soon as they had the opportunity.

Because of this, now that the war had begun, they had decided to stay on the Black Plain to help in this great battle. 

And precisely, the strongest of those three was leading the group that would fight the opponents coming from the south, those led by the Miller family.

Considering this, this was the weakest group of all, those who had the minor challenging objectives to achieve.

Anyway, the army was ready to act with this formation while the enemy was getting closer and closer to Dry City!

...

'King Brown is truly lucky...'

While observing the situation of the 'visitors' from a distance, Minos thought about this in silence as he thought about his current level.

'If they had come a week later, things would be quite different.' He thought about it seriously, feeling that his level was about to increase to level 51.

And considering how much power he would gain from this advancement, he could not help but lament the fact that King Brown came here today and not a week in the future. 

He would be strong enough to fight such an individual alone by then!

But plans do not always go as planned, nor does the world turn according to his wishes.

And knowing this, he could only admire how lucky Thomas Brown was to have the chance to face him today when he was still unable to kill a level 59 enemy on his own.

"Ah, how frustrating..." He muttered in a low voice, just after sighing in defeat.

'If I can't kill him today, I feel like it won't be so easy to accomplish that even after my breakthrough...'

"Minos, are you okay?" Abby asked, interrupting her boyfriend's thoughts soon after seeing him with a sad expression.

He then looked at Abby and the other people in that group and said. "Yeah, I was merely thinking about my bad luck... But anyway, we can still beat it!" 

"You think we can beat him?" Celeste asked as she referred to an enemy she had never imagined she would face in her life.

"It depends on his techniques..."

"Unfortunately, that person hasn't fought for a long time, and we don't have the necessary data for me to analyze his combat style, weaknesses, and strengths. So, depending on how he is now, even if he is not able to kill us, it may be that he is strong enough to resist our combination."

"That is, in addition to technique, he probably has one of the highest-ranked sets of equipment in the region..."

"It will be hard to penetrate his skin!" He commented as he looked at Angela and Emlyn, that were also standing there.

But while they were talking about this opponent, a dot appeared in the sky, descending rapidly towards the east exit of the wall.

"What is that?"

"Is it the enemy strategy?"

"Stand on guard, everyone! Prepare for action!"

Several shouts sounded through that area, while the figure of a large bird with two people on its back became clearer and clearer to those individuals.

'This...' Minos looked at that without understanding what was happening.

That made no sense to be the work of the enemy he was about to face. After all, no such opponent would ever underestimate him like that!

It was simply impossible for a single person to hinder Minos' forces in any significant way.

There was even a possibility of this happening. Still, King Brown himself would have to come here and then sacrifice himself.

Such a possibility was beyond what Minos and his companions could handle! 

The sacrifice of a level 59 Spiritual King would be enough to destroy the entire defensive dome and kill almost all of these troops in this eastern outpost of Dry City!

However, the cost of that would be sky-high!

Therefore, Minos, although he did not understand what was going on, knew that this could not be King Brown's doing!

"What?"

But it did not take long for him to understand what was happening.

After a little more than 3 minutes, the bird finally came close enough to where Minos' group was that they all could see those two people.

One was a middle-aged man, who they had readily sensed was at level 53. The other was a brown-haired, level 44 young woman who wore a long black cape covering almost all of her body.

But some people in that place could recognize this young woman perfectly well.

"Brooke?" Abby, Minos, and Celeste said, at the same time, upon seeing that face.

Meanwhile, one of the Spiritual Kings, a little further away from Minos, was already running towards that place to knock out those two newcomers.

Whoosh!

Clang!

However, in trying to do such a thing, that Spiritual King only ran into young Stuart's sword in the middle of the way just as he was about to hit his targets.

"Come back!" Minos said without caring about that attack.

But before Minos even heard his soldier's voice, he made a quick move, attacking that Spiritual King standing next to Brooke.

"Cough!"

After being punched hard in the stomach, such an individual coughed up blood and collapsed on the spot, right below his beast, who at the moment was pissing itself in fear.

"This will hurt a little, but hang in there," Minos said to such a person before finally kicking him in the direction of where his soldiers were standing.

After that, Minos put Brooke on his shoulder, barely giving her time to acknowledge him or say anything.

"Bird, follow me, or you will die." 

Upon hearing this, that bird trembled in fear before finally following Minos back to where he was previously.

Meanwhile, Brooke struggled as Minos carried her on his shoulder, constantly trying to kick the young Stuart but only managing to move in a way that cheered up the soldiers nearby.

"Let me go, you brute!"

"I'm here to see my friend! He's the ruler, and he won't let you get away with it!" She said to Minos, not recognizing this young man due to his absurd strength and level beyond normal.

Pa!

Minos then slapped one of Brooke's lower cheeks and laughed. "For I want to see what he's going to do!"

"I just slapped his friend's ass.... Will I lose my hand?"