After hearing her daughter's question, the Queen Mother of the Brown Kingdom shook her head, not knowing what to say.
During the four years that had passed, their situation seemed to improve slowly, both because of the time of regional peace and because Minos had never shown abusive behavior. In fact, their relationship with the Black Plain was dozens of times better than they had thought after the sacrifices of their members years ago.
That was so impressive that many people in this state questioned whether the late Thomas Brown had not made a mistake. What had they fought for? For a territory that never mattered to the kingdom itself? Fought against a dangerous fanatic?
After what had happened in the years after the war, many wondered about the unnecessary Black Plain War of Independence.
Anyway, because of their autonomy in this period, the royal family and the noble houses of this state had peace of mind to start recovering while relaxing a bit after so much trouble.
However, as soon as the recent troubles began to hit the Black Plain two years ago, other neighboring states of Albano and Minos' territory began to suffer from the influx of Spiritual Kings from outside the region.
That was the case for the Cromwell Kingdom and also the Brown Kingdom!
Due to the difficulties for these Spiritual Kings to enter the Black Plain, some of them had begun infiltrating the neighboring states to go to the less problematic areas of the Minos territory.
Because of this, the Brown Kingdom had been caught by surprise by hundreds of Spiritual Kings coming from Albano, people who were slowly bringing chaos to this state.
Upon entering this territory, those individuals soon took areas to establish camps near the border with the Black Plain. At the same time, they began to demand fees for not attacking local organizations, along with the obligation of these powers to provide food and other items for them.
Due to situations concerning these troublesome people, the Brown Kingdom, until two years ago, had been improving, had considerably reduced its recovery. Not only this, but each month the costs for them not to be attacked became higher, gradually pushing the local powers to their limits.
Because of this worrying situation, the local royal family was on full alert, with many members totally distraught, not knowing how to survive this ordeal.
One of the most worried people was precisely Diana, who, despite her power, was the only one who could not act given her connection to the Flaming Empire.
The Queen Mother then said. "I don't know what we're going to do... We can only hope that the Black Plain can scare these people away."
"Black Plain?" Diana felt annoyed at hearing this, remembering that part of her state's current weakness was due to Minos' unreasonable punishments.
She owed Albert a significant debt, but she could not ignore that Minos had killed her father. So, she hated him.
But Diana was not ignorant about war affairs and knew Minos and Thomas had been enemies for years. In this case, her father's death was something that could not be questioned. However, what happened after the surrender of the Brown Kingdom was something, in her view, unnecessary, indefensible cruel action.
She then said. "How can you say that, mother? Have you forgotten what Minos did to our family, to our state? How can you put our hopes in a dictator covered with the blood of our comrades?"
That middle-aged woman sighed upon hearing that, but there was no other possibility. "Unfortunately, Diana, we are forced to live with what we have."
"The Black Plain, as cruel as it is, is the only one with the slightest ability to stop these people. So yes, I can only hope such a state can do something about these invaders. Otherwise, we're finished."
"That..." Diana clenched her fists tightly until noises arose from her bones. "Worst case scenario, I will take you and my brother to the empire. That at least I am capable of doing."
Unlike the Cromwell Kingdom, the Brown Kingdom had become too small for the royal family to be able to protect themselves while hiding in their territory.
With the lands taken by Minos and the fact that over 70% of the borders of this state bordered the Black Plain and Albano, almost the entire area of this kingdom was under invading interest. Because of this, if the local royal family were threatened with an attack, they would have no alternative but to abandon their state!
And knowing they would have no place in any other kingdom in the area, Diana was already considering the worst possibility and planning her family's escape with her.
"I hope it doesn't come to that..." The Queen Mother commented as she closed her eyes, surrounded by dark circles.
...
While mother and daughter were talking about the doom of the Brown Kingdom, the King of this state was in the royal throne room, working hard as he had been doing for the past two years.
Raynard Brown had reached level 57 recently after using a lot of his family's resources, but not to the extent that, like Wilfred, he had damaged his foundations.
In any case, he was currently the strongest person in his organization and had many concerns on his mind, something that could easily be seen on his sad face.
But not only did he seem under a lot of stress, but all the royal guards and people there in that royal hall were also too.
He then asked while sitting on his throne. "How is the recent news? Are there any more invaders?"
"Unfortunately, yes, Your Majesty." A middle-aged man replied in a solemn tone. "One hundred more Albano Spiritual Kings have entered the kingdom this month, counting over a thousand asserted around our state's border with the Black Plain."
"Over a thousand?" Some guards in the surrounding area repeated the same question, shocked that so many Spiritual Kings were already around the Black Plain.
"Will the Black Plain be able to withstand that? Or rather, will the region survive this invasion?" One of the strongest Spiritual Kings there, a level 52 man, asked such a thing full of concern.
Silence filled that area as cold sweat began to drip down the backs of the various people there.
Indeed, this was a paramount concern. How would the region survive if the number of invaders continued to increase as it had been?
Raynard frowned and said. "As long as Spiritual Emperors don't invade the region, I think the Black Plain will stand a chance against these invaders..."
"If those numbers don't grow significantly in a short period." He said, concerned about the numbers of invaders escalating to tens of thousands in a matter of months.
If that happened, even the Black Plain would be at a disadvantage!
The King then said. "In any case, keep communicating to the government of the Black Plain about the troublesome situation of these invaders. We are only their subordinates, but if we fall, the problems for them will be much greater!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
"On the other hand, let's communicate to the other states in our region about what is happening. Maybe they are not being invaded like we are, but if the Black Plain eventually falls, the whole region will be under the control of these invaders."
"We can't let that happen!" He slammed one of his fists against the right arm of his throne.
The people then discussed this matter for some more time, each worried about the state's survival and their families in the event of a confrontation even more nightmarish than the previous war.
'The Black Plain almost destroyed us, but now this...' One of the Spiritual Kings there sighed in defeat. 'Could it be that the heavens have something against us? Have our ancestors committed some great sin for us to deserve this?'
Unfortunately, Minos had committed a great sin that they were all in danger of paying the price for!
What sin?
Simply the sin of prosperity, of having what you should not have without possessing a shocking force known to the parasites waiting to attack you.
Because of this, now the whole region was in danger!
