After several weeks since the attack of the five Spiritual Emperors coming from the Flaming Empire, Dry City had already faced three other groups similar to that one.
Like the first group, the others were also composed of Saints Killing Sect disciples, who had come to this region to fulfill the mission left by the descendant of the Silva family, Clayton.
To kill young Stuart.
However, just like the first group, the others were exterminated on the outskirts of Dry City, having left their spatial rings behind with essential resources for the Black Plain.
But unlike what had happened to the first group, the others had not arrived in Dry City in a disadvantageous starting position within the enemy formation.
No, these Spiritual Emperors had better chances when facing the local forces, which guaranteed them the mark of 9 enemy Spiritual Kings killed.
That had been the Black Plain's loss in these battles, which was hard to bear, but that was already making the survivors better prepared for such threats.
That could easily be seen in the numbers. The first enemy group of Spiritual Emperors to arrive in Dry City after Maisie's departure had killed 4 Spiritual Kings before their extermination. The second, three, and finally, the last, 2.
Since all three of these groups had similar total power, this demonstrated how Minos' forces were improving under the pressure of these enemies.
But this progress was already expected. After all, many of the strongest Spiritual Kings in Minos' forces were people who had grown up in this region and had led their forces in peace for centuries. In other words, they were not so accustomed to high-level fights against people stronger than themselves.
As a result, even the oldest cultivators made considerable advances in understanding their techniques when pressed by such Spiritual Emperors.
On the other hand, teamwork was something that improved with time and experience. As such, the local Spiritual Kings were improving their collective power by taking advantage of these 'teachers' who were willing to die to teach them.
Meanwhile, Minos had fought on each of these occasions, having used the previous shield to surprise his enemies and lessen his forces' losses. At the same time, he had helped several of his soldiers learn essential lessons in these confrontations, advising during and after the battles.
In addition, during this period, he had focused on training the soldiers of the Elite Squad, a group that had tripled in numbers recently.
He continued to create spiritual paintings for his soldiers, while in his spare time, he played musical instruments to stimulate his soldiers' understanding.
And in this way, the local forces were getting stronger by the day, with the numbers of Black Plain Army soldiers increasing again.
...
"... Your Grace, recently the army passed 44,000 soldiers. Of those numbers, almost 29,000 are cultivators above level 30, capable of performing actions outside Dry City." A soldier dressed in the uniform of that organization of Minos said this to his leader, finishing his report on recent updates in the numbers of that institution.
Upon hearing that, Minos was pleased that his army's numbers had increased so much in the past few weeks when selections for new soldiers took place among the citizens of Dry City.
Previously it had been challenging to increase the army's numbers with the constant deaths of soldiers in the war and the barely growing population of Dry City.
Also, Minos could not significantly decrease the number of free citizens to work in agriculture and other essential local services, after all.
Consequently, it has been complicated for this organization of his to improve its numbers in the last 2 or 3 years.
But with the arrival of tens of thousands of immigrants, the end of the war, and independence, this organization had finally loosened its restraints and started to expand again.
"Very good," He said, looking at that soldier standing in front of him in his office. "We will continue training these soldiers, as well as intensify the joint actions of our allies and subordinates."
"In any way, I intend to leave to deal with the Scourge of the Devil headquarters in a week!"
"What?" Joey, who was also there in that office, asked this suddenly, thinking it was too soon for Minos to deal with that organization. "Your Grace, shouldn't we wait longer? That way, we can send a big group to that place without risking anything."
But Minos did not want to wait any longer to do that. He was already strong enough to walk freely around the region, and the assassins of the Flaming Empire should not bother them again for a while.
After months since the first attack, Minos had noticed that the groups coming from the Flaming Empire had been distanced from each other for several weeks. He could not be sure, but after noticing this happening three times, he came to the conclusion that the mission left by Clayton should be limited. So, hardly more than one group would accept it at once.
After all, there was a chance that one of them would succeed, causing others who had already started to move to lose time and crystals.
Since the last attack had happened only a few days ago, Minos thought he could settle his affairs and return to Dry City before his next 'visitors' arrived there.
On the other hand, his forces were already capable of eliminating up to four level 63 Spiritual Emperors without his help. So, even if any surprises happened, his forces would hardly have results different from the previous battles.
From the beginning, Minos had wanted to develop an organization capable of protecting itself in his absence. At this point, he had almost achieved that!
In fact, if he were to repeat the military exercises against the Spiritual Kings in his forces today, he would probably no longer be able to defeat them all!
With that, he had confidence in resolving his affairs without endangering his city.
"Don't worry. I'll take Abby, some people from the Hayes family, and the Snow Kingdom with me. Also, even if that organization has some hidden secret, we can still protect ourselves." He said with a confident smile, looking at that fellow sitting across his desk.
Upon hearing that, Abby took her man's hand and said to those soldiers who looked uncertain. "Besides, Celeste and Angela have just reached level 57."
"We also have several Elite Squad soldiers who will soon become Spiritual Kings. Finally, and most importantly, several high-level elders of my family have achieved advancement in the past few weeks."
"So, the local forces will not be at greater risk just because of our absence."
After hearing that, those people there could not say anything against Abby's words. Indeed, the local forces kept getting stronger and stronger. Practically every day, there were people increasing their levels in this city, with at least one Spiritual King advancing every week.
Joey closed his eyes and pondered over this. 'Ah, even the patriarch Gill and other elders from families subordinate to the army have advanced since His Grace's coronation.'
The soldier from before also remembered information he had come into contact with recently. 'Well, even the number of level 59 Spiritual Kings in our state has reached three after Patriarch Hayes' advancement. So, I don't think there will be any problems...'
"Well, if you guys have no more problems with that, let those three come in when you leave," Minos said after a moment of silence, referring to Maxwell, Barbara, and Vivian Hayes, this group waiting at the reception of his office.
"Yes, Your Grace!" Those people answered simultaneously before leaving that place to settle their affairs.
After that, Abby and Minos were left alone there, and this blue-haired woman looked her man in the eye and asked. "Do you intend to free Barbara to seek her revenge?"
Abby had heard the story of Barbara during that dinner years ago when King Stuart had invited Robin, Joey, and Barbara into his army.
At that time, they had heard how the family that Barbara belonged to, House Schmidt, had been wiped out by the union of several minor powers in that state. In sequence, she had been sold by her captors, the Hargraves family, to a pirate group, which had led her to meet Peter, Joey, and Robin.
"Yes. Barbara has been by my side for about eight years now, and all that time, she worked hard for my army, striving to one day be able to take revenge."
"Then nothing fairer than for me to give her some time to sort out her affairs."
Hearing her man's calm tone, Abby worried about that woman. "Don't you think she's still too weak? She's only at level 51!"
Minos then smiled and massaged one of his woman's hands. "I've already eliminated all the high-level Spiritual Kings of that family. But, on the other hand, by the time she reaches the Kingdom of the End, she will have reached level 52."
"With that, as long as she is meticulous, acts smart and careful, dealing with the remnants of that family will be an easy task for her."
"But I have already warned the Carline family about this, so someone will be watching her from afar to ensure her survival."
"Oh?" Her eyes widened due to her surprise.
"Ultimately, it's up to her to decide whether or not she wants to go to that place now. And her targets will probably not move in the short term."
...
