While Isabella was notified, so were the supreme elder and other high-ranking individuals in the imperial palace.
When he received the same news as the local heiress, the old regent paled at what could be the beginning of the dark confrontation ahead for this family.
If this were Mortimer's doing, as the core of the family already imagined, most likely, they would face the danger that a Spiritual Sage was aiming at their heads from now on!
Due to the difficulty of acting against someone at the level of the leader of the Saints Killing Sect, fear and anticipations were the most common and expected feelings to be felt by the members of the imperial family.
But even in terror, the regent promptly activated his family's emergency devices, ordering all ranks of his forces to go on alert from now on.
If Mortimer were starting the silent war against the Edwardstone family, they would do anything to hinder his actions!
...
"So an elder was found dead?" Minos asked the man who had just notified him about this relevant fact.
"Yes, sect master Stuart. We found the corpse of elder Lucas, untouched externally but without signs of his soul, with his heart frozen." That level 75 Spiritual Saint ahead of Minos reported the details of this fact.
"Hmm, that must be Mortimer's thing. Spiritual Sages can use their spatial manipulation skills to end the lives of their victims by the interiors of these people, destroying the soul while killing the body." Emperor Stuart commented in a low voice as that individual nodded in agreement.
"Yes, the wretch probably started his journey against the family!
Tsk!
What a great disgrace!"
"Do you know what the family will do from now on?"
That imperial guard said. "We will activate the defensive arrays of all our posts and avoid leaving unless it is vital."
"Do you have high-level grade-3 specialized space stabilization arrays at all posts?" Minos questioned.
"Not at all, just the main ones." That man understood Minos' meaning and felt these measures would not help the family much.
"Hmmm, send a message to the supreme elder. Tell him to send those arrays to the outer ranks of the imperial family and leave the headquarters without it."
"What?" That man questioned incredulously.
"At the same time, ask those above level 77 to return to the headquarters.
Let's lure the enemy to this place."
That individual remained uncomprehending, but seeing Minos gesturing for him to do so immediately, he ran from there without further ado.
Meanwhile, Minos had it in mind to speed things up a bit, seeing that his plan to prolong a confrontation against Mortimer would not work out.
'It looks like he intends to take the Flaming Empire before he tries anything against the Grey Clouds Sect, and he's already starting the killing spree...' He pondered, feeling that if he allowed this to go far, Mortimer would destroy the foundations of the imperial family before he reached level 71.
By then, the empire would be significantly weakened, and Mortimer would probably have twice as much local influence.
That would make any action on his part difficult and would prolong the situation between him and Mortimer for longer than he would like.
With that in mind, he changed his plans and was not slow to use one of his men in that city to send messages to his men.
"Send a letter to Dry City with the information I intend to confront Mortimer.
The elders at levels 78 and 79 must come to Payton urgently.
At the same time, notify the sect headquarters of what is happening, order them to put that place on a state of alert and the elders of those levels to come to the empire's capital." He said.
Upon hearing that, the level 76 Spiritual Saint of the Gray Clouds Sect, who was there to maintain communication between Minos and the rest of his men, promptly left to settle these matters.
He was naturally scared, but there was no use stopping to lament or hesitate under the circumstances.
Only by acting as efficiently and quickly as possible could he help them!
'It's time for war!'
...
While Minos went back to meditating, keeping his vigilance under that imperial palace, Mortimer was in a secret post of his organization, celebrating his first action against the imperial family.
After finishing the period of negotiations with the powerful families of the Flaming Empire, this man decided to start the attacks against House Edwardstone without delay.
He did not know what might happen if he delayed acting since, as much as Minos did not scare him in the short term, the people who were involved with this young man scared him.
He had people around the northern region and the four enemy territories of the Flaming Empire inform him of important decisions made by the local leaders. So after the changes in Blackrock's attitude and intensified collaborations between Albano, Rosser, and the state of Minos, he naturally began to worry about the sacrificial weapon of those forces.
But not only that, but recently, forces of the Blood Triangle Pirates group had been reported in the capital of the Black Plain Empire, and Mortimer feared that Minos would strike some kind of deal with this organization.
So to take this state and get the leadership of the empire's many sects and noble families, he wanted to act as quickly as possible to finish House Edwardstone and avoid bigger problems.
With that, the night before, he had attacked the nearest outpost to where he was, secretly entered elder Lucas' room, and destroyed the soul of that level 78 individual.
Now he stood by those allies willing to act alongside him.
"My friends, I have initiated the first of many attacks that will take place in the coming days against the cursed Edwardstone family." He said while he had an evil smile, opening his arms in front of half a dozen people. "From now on, we are at war against the imperial family!
Disregard their orders, act according to the leadership of my Saints Killing Sect, and attack experts above level 77 of that family or the Gray Clouds Sect if you get the chance."
Those people nodded as they raised the drinking cups in their hands, confident that House Edwardstone could not stop Mortimer's movements.
Next to this individual, they would reach a new level!
As for Minos, they feared this fellow, but not enough to consider him a danger to an entire state!
He could be strong against the enemy states of the Flaming Empire, but against this state, he didn't have enough for that.
As for his potential? That didn't matter if he wasn't alive to grow!
Since the empire could be dominated quickly and Mortimer planned to neutralize Minos in the coming months, these people were confident in their path!
With this, they celebrated for a few minutes inside a floating island before leaving to follow the orders of their new leader!
From now on, a war of rebellion would begin in the Flaming Empire!
