After a few moments of running, Lance finally arrived at the place where the ascension ceremony of the new sect master was ending.
At that place, where a lake was located inside the great headquarters of the Gray Clouds Sect, several elders were standing around the underground area that existed there.
The surroundings looked like the interior of a large hollow sphere, with a good portion of its 'ceiling' covered by a type of glass that gave a view into the lake above this area. In the center of this spherical area was a black stone the size of a carriage.
Around this stone was a small artificial pond, where some small fish, different from the large ones in the lake, could be observed by the people in the surrounding area.
The sect master and the three strongest elders were floating on the sides of this small pond while Minos was standing above the stone.
He was wearing a golden cloak, similar to the one Oswald was wearing the first time Minos saw him in the northern region when he and Ruth passed through the Peak of the Mist.
At the same time, a large ring with the symbol of the Gray Clouds Sect was on one of the fingers of Minos' dominant hand. That indicates that he had already been given this organization's leadership position!
Lance saw this and felt a blank in his mind as he stood with the rest of the organization's elders, watching the ceremony coming to an end from the sides of that place.
When he noticed that the critical part of the ceremony was already over, he felt terrible. However, after a minute of standing still, feeling irritated, he shouted.
"I don't accept that!" He stepped forward, leaving the side area of that place, floating closer to where the strongest individuals from the Moss, Terry, and Coleman families were standing next to Oswald.
"Minos can't win that position! He is simply not worthy!" He shouted, giving no chance for others to interrupt him while all the people witnessing this event were watching him.
Among them was Maisie, who had already arrived at this place to see if her ears had not deceived her earlier.
"What can he do for the sect? He is incapable of solving the problems caused by a small fry from Vogel, but to think he is worthy of becoming the leader of our sect?"
"No way!" That blond young man exclaimed. "Not to mention that he doesn't even have the support of the elders! Who here supports this Spiritual Emperor?" Lance looked at the surroundings and questioned the 40 or 50 people there.
Upon hearing this, the many people there felt uncertain, some agreeing that Minos taking over this organization was a significant overreaction. But, in contrast, others did not understand what it was all about.
But Minos did not give time for anyone there to speak up for him and take action against this annoying blond fellow. "Lance, are you by any chance rebelling against the new sect master?"
When those words came out of Minos' mouth, every person there took their attention away from Lance to look at him since he was already acting like he was the master of this sect for a long time.
Even the patriarch Terry who was about to stop Lance, intending to talk to this young man later, looked at Minos in surprise.
But Lance then said. "Tsk! You are not the sect master! You are not worthy! The elders will never agree to that!"
"Oh?" Minos looked around at those individuals who had accepted his ascension as leader of this organization and smiled. "It seems that to Lance, you people don't exist. He pretends that only those who agree with him are worthy of having an opinion."
"That's not what I meant!" Lance said nervously, looking at his surroundings. "I just said that most sect elders will not accept you. Most agree with me and will soon notify the sect management about it!"
Minos then said. "Then they will all be treated as rebels. Just like you..." As he said this, Minos released his Dark Sea, making everyone there feel how abhorrent this soul ability of Emperor Stuart was.
Only Spiritual Saints from level 74 and above could see the surroundings and resist Minos' action when that place went dark. The rest, all of them, fell under the effects of this soul ability. At the same time, Emperor Stuart manipulated them at his own will with the aid of the Infinite Dream.
"Arrest the enemy!" Minos ordered, forcing the low-level Spiritual Saints in the surrounding area to obey his orders.
With those words from this brown-haired individual, all the high-level Spiritual Saints in that spherical area looked at the situation with strangeness. They then noticed many individuals who were favorable to Lance going up to him with clear fighting intent.
Minos did not know who was who in this place. But he had ordered those with the most respect for Lance to do what he told them to do. So Lance's supporters were those most susceptible and the first to be willing to carry out the orders of the new sect master.
Then a group of three people as strong as Lance began beating him to break his resistance.
Minos had left that individual conscious for him to suffer at the hands of his own supporters but also to feel the difference between them.
This emperor did not want to appear unnecessarily arrogant, but a leader had to establish their dominance!
Why did experts of only one level difference respect certain individuals so much, as in the example of the level 78 elders and Oswald? It was because, on certain occasions over time, this old master of the Gray Clouds Sect had shown that he was not to be messed with!
He was much stronger than his peers of similar levels, so these people had to walk silently in his presence and not cross his limits.
Obviously, there was no super-special treatment expected from them. Still, both parties knew that a certain level of respect and fear was necessary.
Minos wanted to impose this on his subordinates, so he had to expose some of his capabilities so that these people would not raise hopes of equality in their relations with him.
Problem cases like Lance's were great for establishing dominance, so Minos was taking advantage of the opportunity!
With that, in the blink of an eye, the three individuals beat Lance for a few moments, making that young man suffer from the attacks that hurt a lot and the fear generated by Minos' ability.
The patriarch Terry watched this for a few seconds, shocked by Minos' ability, until he realized that the one being beaten was Lance, his descendant.
He then used his skills to rescue the young blond, but without dispelling Minos' soul ability, since he had already recognized this young man as his leader. Thus, he would not be the one to dare disrespect the sect master in front of so many elders.
"Sect master, be merciful to Lance. He is emotional, given all that has happened between you two and his efforts to lead the sect..." This patriarch said as Minos himself deactivated his ability to the relief of all the low-level Spiritual Saints there.
...
