"He's going to do what?" Several people there asked simultaneously, feeling that it was absurd to think Minos could intervene with the Flowers Kingdom.
Even they, peak cultivators of the 8th stage, could not say they could help Harold escape the trouble he had gotten himself into. Then it would not be a mere Spiritual Emperor who would achieve that.
Then everyone there looked at Isabella strangely, feeling that this woman was giving Emperor Stuart too much credit.
She then said. "Minos is not an ingrate. I know that as soon as he can, he will try to visit the Flowers Kingdom to save my father from the clutches of those women."
"And how will he do that, Your Highness?" Supreme Elder Edwardstone asked, curious. "Can you tell us what method he will use?"
"I'm sure Minos will be able to do something. Don't those women offer opportunities for talented men from all parts of the continent? Knowing him, I don't doubt he will accept the risks to save my father." She said, not liking that possibility but knowing that her lover would probably do something like that since there was no other possibility.
Minos was very talented, but there were Spiritual Demigods in the Flowers Kingdom. Thus, no matter how talented he was, his strength would not be enough for at least a few decades. And even if he eventually reached level 90, by that time, Harold would be permanently castrated!
The innate reproductive-type ability of the Flowers Kingdom royal family members was the kind that permanently sacrificed the testicles and damaged a small part of its victim's soul.
After the intercourse, if such a person survived, even a Spiritual Saint, people able to rebuild their body would no longer be able to have the same past 'reactions.'
Even possessing a healthy person's body, with testicles, the victim of such an innate ability would no longer be able to have the reactions commonly related to testicles. As a consequence, the damage was indeed permanent!
In this case, Harold did not have much time, and Isabella knew she could not count on Minos getting stronger. It did not matter how fast he grew. He could not reach level 90 in a matter of months.
So even though she did not like the possibility of Minos going to that kingdom and accepting its challenges, this woman had no choice but to accept whatever he decided.
The Spiritual Saints in the surroundings of that imperial throne hall understood where her confidence came from since Minos really had the requirements to enter that state.
Suppose he accepted the risk of marrying one of those terrible women. In that case, he could access the possibility of significant gains, perhaps even the chance to save Harold.
"Tsk!"
"He would have to be a fool," Mortimer said, not liking the possibility of Harold being saved.
'If the emperor is saved, I will take great risks!' He thought as he remembered that he had notified the Flowers Kingdom about Harold's exit to the Black Plain.
This man had plans for the empire, things he wanted to do once he dealt with Gavin and Minos.
On the other hand, Oswald did not like the idea of Minos risking himself for the emperor either. "That's crazy, Your Highness. Minos is only at level 67. Thinking about it is like considering his sacrifice!"
"I will go to the Flowers Kingdom as soon as possible, so I ask that the imperial family not press Minos about this." He humbly said while making a respectful gesture.
The imperial family elders liked this since they would rather depend on Oswald than on Minos, a talented young man whom they knew little about.
"Then it's settled like this." Supreme elder Edwardstone nodded to Oswald while the other leaders of important organizations in the empire nodded in understanding of what needed to be done.
He sighed and then gave his final recommendation to these people. "But keep an eye on movements on our northern borders. It would be an exaggeration to think that our enemies will attack us. Still, we must be alert while deciding this area's future."
He knew about Minos' agreement with Harold and Isabella, so he wanted to keep some of the pressure on that area, at least for the moment.
The people there understood that it made sense to watch out for possible enemy actions and did not question it.
...
As Payton was trying to organize in the absence of their supreme leader, Harold was with the two men who captured him.
"Anxious?" A level 84 individual asked as he smiled and looked at the individual tied to the ground in front of him.
They had stopped to hunt and eating something different than they usually had in the Flowers Kingdom, something they enjoyed doing besides fighting.
Since they did not know when they would have another opportunity to leave their activities in that state, they could only take the chance and extend their trip back a little.
Harold could see this in the behavior of those two men dressed in white, bald, and fat.
"Fearful suits my current state more." He said this in a mournful tone.
"Haha, don't be like that, Harold. Although our suffering is difficult to deal with and the risk of death is not small, you will have the best sex of your life before the sacrifice." The other man commented, trying to make that emperor feel a little less bad.
"Don't you people regret it?" He asked as he looked at these people.
"What is there to regret? We lost a lot, true, but we put ourselves in that situation. No one forced us to go to the Flowers Kingdom, and our incompetence caused us to lose our challenges." The first individual to speak said this.
The other agreed. "You did what you did, and now you will live the weight of your choices. There is nothing to regret, Harold. If you're not ready to face defeat, you shouldn't have even started playing."
"They never hid the possibilities contrary to our causes..."
Harold heard this and sighed, knowing it was true. He knew what he was doing all along, and yet he had made the decisions that brought him to this moment, even after thinking hard about every step he took.
Hence, he had nothing to regret. He knew that if he had to take up the challenges he had in his life again, he would make the same choices. When those decisions were made, they seemed to be the most interesting ones to follow.
If he repeated the same choices, there was nothing left to consider about the past, only about dealing as best as possible with the consequences.
"How much time do I have? Do you guys know?" He asked the individual standing next to him, who was eating 8th-stage boar meat.
"A few months. A few years at most. Depends on the seclusion of the one who will receive you." The other man, sitting across from Harold, said this.
"But don't get your hopes up too high. No one has ever been able to escape this fate once they've been to this point in their journey." He pointed in the direction of where the first floating islands of the Flowers Kingdom were at the end of the horizon.
"Don't overthink about it, my friend. After all, we have promising futures here!" The other said as he grabbed Harold's body and threw it on his back. "At worst, you will die and not have to suffer at all. At best, you will live and become a little 'calmer.'"
"In any case, it's not such a cruel fate!"
