After the people in the surrounding area were silent for a while, seeing the body of one of the local experts with his head destroyed, Minos said. "Positions have consequences.
No one here was forced into anything. I gave you the option not to stand against me and told you what would happen to those who acted against my forces.
So don't tell me about forgiveness, that your leaders were wrong, or that I am unfair.
I am not doing anything new here. Then take on the weight you judged was not weighing when you made your decisions earlier."
Those who had done something against the Gray Clouds Sect heard that and were frozen in terror, thinking of doing nothing now so they would have a chance to escape later.
Those who had only sided with Mortimer but not acted against Minos were worried but still hoped to keep their lives and receive only financial and political punishment.
But even Minos' allies were a little frightened by his violence, as some felt that others in his position would take different attitudes.
However, this was on the condition that there would not be a significant difference between the powers of the respective parties!
That was not the case with Minos, who had a great future ahead of him.
Minos knew this and would not treat these people as his equals or as if they were irreplaceable to him.
In a few decades, he would surpass everyone there in a way that the Flaming Empire itself would not mean much to him. So why give people who failed him a chance?
Not only that, these people not only went against his advice, some of them directly attacked him after everything he told them.
Why forgive someone unable to follow the rules and, even more, unable to accept their own punishment?
They wanted him to have mercy without them deserving it.
In Minos' view, there was no room for such people around him, and he had to eliminate them to lessen the chances of others making the same mistake against him.
Thus, Minos' meeting with local leaders this time began in a rather tense manner, showing that he was not only decisive when matters involved the northern region. The Flaming Empire was no big deal to him either!
He was even willing to put himself to eliminating high-level Spiritual Saints without first asking the imperial family's permission!
"Sect master Stuart, thank you for saving the empire in these difficult times..."
After a while, Minos slowly started walking around the outskirts of that place, talking to his allies first to only then going to the representatives of the forces that remained neutral or against him.
"The sect master Stuart is mighty, but can you maintain the empire's integrity by punishing left and right? What would happen if the empire lost too much of its strength?
I already consider that the Gray Clouds Sect will no longer be among us, and the Saints Killing Sect will either flee or be exterminated... So if we still lose more experts, can we maintain the integrity of the state?" A woman asked Minos, causing many people to look at her with strange expressions, finding it hard to believe such courage.
Minos smiled at that ally of the imperial family and said. "Miss Macy, I know well what I do in each of my acts. Look at my state. We only get stronger over time. I even have Spiritual Saints native to the northern region...
Do you think I won't be able to help the Flaming Empire just because of a few losses?"
"No, I believe that the sect master can strengthen himself, but will the Flaming Empire depend on you from now on?"
"The Flaming Empire has always been dependent on someone, Miss Macy. Or, by chance, is the help of the Flowers Kingdom nothing to you?"
That woman frowned at those words.
The Flowers Kingdom was the state with Spiritual Demigods that kept the Flaming Empire out of trouble with the other high-level states.
Places like Albano and Rosser didn't need it because of their geographical position. As for the northern region, this area was protected by the Church.
In the past, Vogel and Blackrock had their own relations with other states with Spiritual Demigods in their ranks.
With Vogel becoming part of the Black Plain, the protection of the Church had replaced the old agreements of that territory with the former state that they owed a number of responsibilities.
Only Blackrock needed to pay the Evergreen Empire not to be threatened by experts above the 9th stage.
So all low-level powers depended to some degree on higher forces, and Minos couldn't take that person's comment without speaking up.
He continued. "In any case, I don't intend to replace anyone. I will only help my allies, and whether you will need me depends more on you than on me...
But depending on someone is better than having no one, right?
That's how it would be if Mortimer had won."
That woman clenched her fists, not knowing what to say to this person who thought he was better than them.
She had made the mistake of seeing him as someone only a little stronger than her but still as someone like them who would not go far in the future.
That's why it was harder for her to accept any kind of assistance from the Black Plain than from a state like the Flowers Kingdom.
Somehow, depending on the Black Plain seemed wrong, while depending on the Flowers Kingdom seemed familiar and acceptable.
Anyway, Minos paid no more attention to that person who wanted to find problems with what he planned and continued his conversations with the other specialists there.
Surprisingly, those who remained neutral in the situation against Mortimer would be the most favorable to Minos, not his allies.
"Sect master Stuart, it is not for nothing that the Black Plain has become such a rich and majestic state. With someone brilliant like you in leadership, only success could be at the head of that area!" A level 78 old fellow said, smiling as if Minos was his best friend.
"Thank you for your words, sect master Watts." He thanked.
Minos knew that people could be false and that man probably didn't view him so favorably. But it was better to deal with someone able to bend and adapt quickly to the new times than with someone challenging to talk to, like the woman from earlier.
That man then said. "My sect's territory borders one of the sect master's areas. So I believe we can do a lot of business in the future...
But not only that, I have something that might be of interest to the sect master, haha."
"Oh? What do you have in mind?"
"I heard that sect master Stuart has dominated the Endless Snow Mountain Range area... I have something related to that place in my sect, haha.
If you want, we can do business about it."
Minos opened his eyes upon hearing that, surprised to hear about it in this place.
...
