After a few moments, Harold found himself free from the cell in which he had spent the last few years, feeling his powers again at his disposal after getting rid of the sealing array.
As he stepped out of his cell and stretched his body, he absorbed the energies in the surroundings and began to recover, returning to his former good looks.
Minos saw this aside, giving this person the opportunity to prepare to leave the place where he had been imprisoned for nearly a decade.
A Spiritual Sage didn't need much effort to recover enough energy not to be exhausted or helpless, and soon Harold looked at Minos, grateful.
This fellow had done things that were difficult to analyze as for the good or evil of the Flaming Empire. But it was undeniable that Minos had done more than he was obligated to do and was solely responsible for his being freed.
With that in mind, he thanked Emperor Stuart and wished this fellow good luck in his plans to rescue Oswald.
"I hope everything works out for you, Minos... And when it does, I would like to welcome you and Oswald to my home for a great feast." Harold shook one of Emperor Stuart's hands.
"It will certainly happen." Minos nodded in agreement.
"Well, I would stay to accompany your match if it weren't for the local laws..." Harold looked at the woman who had released him, smiling bitterly.
If he stayed more than an hour after his release, he would risk being challenged by someone, losing, and everything going back to square one, bringing trouble for everyone.
So when he was released, he would take the opportunity to leave as soon as possible!
Besides, he would never return to this place that had its advantages but was an absolute nightmare for men.
Minos understood this man and did not mind his presence. "That's the best you do, haha."
With that said Harold said his goodbyes before opening a wormhole toward the former territory of the Saints Killing Sect.
The Flowers Kingdom made it possible for men who won their challenges to be sent home by local women. But in addition to Harold not having beaten anyone, he could safely leave this state within the one-hour time frame that any man had between one challenge and another.
Harold himself would not wait for the action of one of these women and left back to his state, eager to see his women after so long.
He also wanted to see how his daughter was doing and observe with his own eyes what Minos had told him earlier.
After his departure, Minos was left alone with that woman, who quickly took him back to the area where Bridget was already waiting to challenge him.
Minos sighed, returning with that person to continue his work in this place.
'Now, just one more fight...'
...
Appearing back in the same part of the royal palace where he had defeated Adele, Minos ran into almost all the people from earlier who were there to follow the next challenge.
In particular, Bridget was already in position, waiting for him.
"Are you going to hide again until you get an advancement to defeat me?" Bridget smiled at him, trying to tease her opponent.
Unfortunately for her, Emperor Stuart had no problem with people talking about him being a coward because he omitted himself from a fight to go get stronger.
Fighting battles in which you have no chance of winning was something foolish that only people with no commitment to their organizations and subordinates would do!
What good would it do him to fight Adele with no chance of winning?
For him, he made the wisest decision that was in his way in that situation, leaving for the Spatial Kingdom and becoming stronger.
As for doing it one more time, he felt there was no need, as the power difference between him and Bridget was not as significant as it had been between him and Adele years ago.
So he laughed upon hearing her question instead of being offended. "That won't be necessary. I can defeat you at the level I am currently at."
"Oh? You are confident of that?" Bridget frowned her eyebrows.
She was much stronger than her younger sister, being at the peak of level 78 and having much more combat experience than Adele.
Because of this, she felt confident in fighting this opponent, although she kept in mind that it would not be an easy challenge.
"I will beat you before nightfall," Minos commented, causing that woman to clench her fists in determination.
"Humph! For I want to see it happens! We have less than two hours until sunset. If you do not defeat me within that time, I can consider you the loser of our challenge!" She said, using Minos' words against himself.
"That's fine with me. Unless you are late in making the challenge, I will win within the allotted time frame."
"Arrogant!" She said, angry at this fellow. "I want to see if you'll say things like that when you lose your testicles to me, Minos!"
"That will never happen."
"Our child will laugh at your manners in the future!"
"You have a fertile mind." He laughed.
In this dialogue, Shannon, the noblewoman to whom Minos had delegated the mission of finding Mortimer's location, took the opportunity and went to him.
"Minos, I have already accomplished what you asked me to do. I have the location of Mortimer Burgess." That woman said, drawing Emperor Stuart's attention away from Bridget.
"Oh? Where is he?" Minos asked, interested in finishing Mortimer once he left this state and defeated Bridget.
"I have subordinates watching him. When you finish your challenge with Bridget if you win or she allows you, someone from my family will take you to his location." Shannon said, relieved that she could finalize her debt to Minos.
"Is that so? Then I thank you." He smiled, imagining that he could finally avenge Gavin's death and finalize this enemy.
With the resolution of that problem, he would have a few years of peace until he was bothered by the people in the Blood Triangle Pirates group, the only ones bothering him now beside Mortimer.
'Perfect! As soon as I'm done with this and get Oswald's freedom back, I'll pay you a little visit, you bastard.' He saw Mortimer's face in his mind, smiling with his eyes closed.
With that settled, time would pass, and in the blink of an eye, the one hour right between his battle with Adele and the possibility of a new challenge ended.
Queen Mcbride and other high-ranking members of this state appeared in that area again, prepared to accompany the challenge that could take away Minos' freedom.
With that, it wouldn't take long for Bridget to issue her challenge, beginning yet another battle of Minos in this female-dominated kingdom.
When this second challenge was issued, Minos wasted no time and immediately began to use all his skills, with plans to lure his opponent into a trap!
...
