After Minos had dealt with the fugitives who had survived the pursuit of his forces, he spent some more time at the headquarters of that sect before departing in the early evening.
He would have liked to stay longer, but for some reason, the atmosphere in that place had become heavy after his and Laura's brief discussion. So, as he did not have much to do there anyway, young Stuart had put it in his plans to return in the future before leaving alongside his fellow travelers.
But for now, since he was still too weak to deal with the frozen skeletons in that area, he would just focus his attention on the affairs of the Black Plain.
However, he did not underestimate the potential of those beings sealed in the Endless Snow Mountain Range and already looked forward to the day he would return.
In any case, by early evening, Laura and her fellow sect members finally sighed in relief that they had rid themselves of that negative presence and quickly returned to their routines.
Then, King Stuart's group continued traveling north in search of the last sect in the region, where they planned to eliminate any remaining possible fugitives prior to the most crucial portion of this journey.
...
"Minos, after we left that place, I was thinking about something..." Vivian commented after more than 30 minutes since they had left that previous area while standing at Maida's back, looking at that brown-haired man.
Hearing someone there talking for the first time in several minutes, the man standing behind Abby, hugging her from behind, on top of a Feathered Serpent, looked in Vivian's direction with curiosity. "What?"
"The first two sects we passed were much stronger than regional powers. But, on the other hand, that organization, Immemorial Graves Sect, even had Spiritual Emperors..."
Upon hearing this initial part of Vivian's speech, Maxwell, Grace, and Abby soon realized what that woman was getting at.
"How do you think the strength of the Scourges of the Devil is? They are based in this area, so I can't help but imagine they also have a pretty good territory."
"Do they also have Spiritual Emperors in their ranks?" She worriedly asked since their group was not numerous and they were not in Dry City.
"Hmm, good question," Minos said in a low voice, wondering if there was such a possibility. "But I'm not too worried about it."
"Even if they have specialists of that level, I doubt they will be numerous or strong enough to scare us."
"Why?" Maxwell asked.
He knew how powerful Minos was and that such a king could escape to the Spatial Kingdom whenever he wanted. However, King Stuart was not invincible, and Maxwell could not see from where his leader had gotten the confidence to say those words.
Minos massaged Abby's belly gently and smiled at those people. "Well, there's no way I can be sure. However, the fact that the Scourges of the Devil sent only high-ranking Spiritual Kings to me indicates that they cannot have multiple Spiritual Emperors."
"Otherwise, I would certainly have had to deal with at least one of them during the war."
"Oh?" Maxwell's mouth dropped open in surprise, with him finally understanding that such a thing was indeed an excellent indication.
Minos then continued. "On the other hand, even if there are 7th stage cultivators in their headquarters, besides not being numerous, they are certainly not of a high level. Didn't you see that woman, Laura?"
"Even though she is in that place where the larger skeletons in the region are, where the spiritual energy density is higher, she has only reached level 62..."
"There's no way the Scourges of the Devil could have a better place than that, so it's unlikely that there's anyone stronger than her in the place we're going."
Minos did not know how to precisely locate where the biggest, presumably strongest, skeletons were because the region had changed over the last million years. But he knew from the memories of Henricus Longus that the place they had just left was the 'grave' of those most impressive remnants.
In that case, he was almost sure that the Scourges of the Devil could not have cultivators as powerful as Laura because of those remnants in that mountain range.
Of course, there were other possibilities for an organization to get powerful people in its ranks. Still, there would be no way for him to estimate such a thing for sure for the Scourges of the Devil.
But then again, if they had people stronger than Laura, why did they not use those people against him?
That simple thought had given Minos the confidence to go ahead with this last part of avenging his father's death while keeping his peace of mind to talk to his companions.
"So that's it..." Vivian said after sighing, feeling reassured, already figuring that their chances of failure were slim.
"Anyway, as long as you stay close to me, even if there are stronger people than I can handle in that place, everything should end well."
After that, the silence lasted for a few dozen minutes until Abby asked her man in a low voice, "Where do we go after that other sect? Maybe we can make a little longer stop before we continue..."
"Oh? Are you horny, my dear?" He smiled at her as he felt the movement of Abby's hips.
Abby then looked back, flushed but also full of eagerness. "A little bit... But you're a lot more, aren't you?"
"Hehe, traveling so long in this position is not easy for either of us..." He ran one of his hands down Abby's left thigh, which at the moment was well covered due to the cold weather in the region they were in. "All right, when we stop at this other sect, we'll spend a night there before continuing our journey."
"After that, we'll stop by the Diamond Monkeys' territory before heading to meet up with the Snow Kingdom group."
"Diamond Monkeys? The beasts you defeated on your last trip?" She remembered the stories Minos had told her, as she felt curious to meet the beings of this race.
"Hmm, they are my friends now, hehehe." Minos laughed, wondering if the leader of those beings who were so fond of fighting would like the idea of joining them in battle.
...
After they left the Immemorial Graves Sect, Minos' group traveled for another week in that area of the Endless Snow Mountain Range.
They finally finished visiting the sects in seclusion nearby, having eliminated another portion of fugitives from organizations of the Cromwell Kingdom and also some from the Kingdom of the Waves.
After that, they proceeded to the area in the Snow Kingdom where the Diamond Monkeys' territory was, where those beings readily accepted Minos' invitation to battle the regional assassins.
The Diamond Monkeys were a race of beasts who valued strength and loved combat. So, after high-ranking members of that organization had sworn to help Minos and he had made that offer to them, the leader of that tribe had readily accepted such a thing.
Hell, for them, this opportunity was like putting the useful and the pleasant together. They usually did not fight humans because everyone in the region knew what they were like and how dangerous they could be. But, on the other hand, they did not like to leave their territory, much less go after meaningless mayhem.
But with Minos' invitation, they could help a friend and even taste the blood of their enemies on the battlefield, something highly appreciated by them!
So, two days ago, a group of 10 Diamond Monkeys at the end of the 6th stage left that territory alongside Minos' group, heading for the meeting point with the Snow Kingdom forces.
As such a place was not far from the Diamond Monkey tribe's territory, Minos' group was now approaching the meeting area near the Snow Kingdom's western border.
In that snow-covered area, full of mountains due to the large mountain ranges nearby, their group was running, heading towards a black spot nearby that looked unnatural.
"Is that them?" Abby asked her man as she looked in the direction of that spot.
"Probably..." Minos said before finally asking his fellow beasts to increase their pace.
...
