Minos was silent for a moment, looking at the being before him, trying to identify if this was a dream or if he was dead.
He couldn't help but be shocked to see someone who should have been dead for hundreds of thousands of years breathing in front of him as if that was normal.
"How is it possible? How can you be alive after so long?" He asked.
That black-haired man looked at the young man before him, figuring he had probably slept longer than expected. "So long, huh? Am I supposed to be dead now? What happened to Maximus?"
"But of course. Your rival Maximus became Supreme Pontiff, reached level 100, and left this world millions of years ago!" Minos said. "Then you shouldn't be here."
Upon hearing that, Maximillian closed his eyes, understanding that his plans had all gone wrong. "I see... So no one came to me then." He said, disappointed, but not so much that he was angry.
In fact, he was happy. After so long sleeping, waking up was very good!
Maximillian was a monster. He was a little below Maximus, but he was unmatched in many different ways. One of them, his innate ability to regenerate and maintain his body's quality, was incredible.
This ability, which was already at Divine grade, could put him into a deep sleep and slow down the aging speed of his cells during his sleep.
Not only this, this man had obtained a rare high-level grade-4 array capable of slowing down the passage of time, something he had used in conjunction with his ability inside that sarcophagus.
Because of this, while millions of years had passed for the people of the Spiritual World since his disappearance, he had slept for only 5,000 years!
He knew that this reality could happen, but back there, he had gone to sleep thinking someone would wake him up early enough to still beat Maximus.
Unfortunately, things had not turned out as he had planned!
He asked. "What happened after that? Does the Church still exist? Why is a young man like you in the Seraphim Ancient Sarcophagus? Don't tell me that place was lost until today?"
"Yes, I just found this place by following your map," Minos said, still looking strangely at that man. "The Church still exists, but it never found your map. I found it a few decades ago..."
He walked through that place he had sacrificed so much to find in the past, looking at the surroundings as he thought about Minos' words.
"What happened to my faction, young man?"
"I don't know for sure. But a group of people in the Church wished to find your map. As to what they wanted, I am not sure."
"And what do you want?" He looked at Minos curiously.
Emperor Stuart said as he introduced himself, "My name is Minos Stuart. I am the ruler of the Black Plain Empire, a rising state of the Central Continent at present.
In the beginning, my state and I were fragile. But we evolved and came to the attention of the major factions of the Church when my wife, a member of that organization, created her own group.
This brought pressures that, unfortunately, I cannot handle at the moment... The Church today is as strong or stronger than it was in your time. Because of this, I decided to use the map I found decades ago by pure coincidence.
I came here hoping to find out what some Church groups and enemies of the Church saw on this map. If it had no value to me, I would sell that information to the one who would pay the most and protect my state."
"And if it did?" That man asked, understanding the story of Minos and with several questions in mind.
After millions of years, he needed to be updated on the current configuration of the Central Continent and the Spiritual World. But he wouldn't ask about things like what the Black Plain Empire was for the moment.
Minos answered him. "I would follow the most appropriate path and not sell such a thing."
That man laughed, seeing the expression on Minos' face.
"Young man, are you in doubt whether this has value?" He asked, but without using his powerful aura to oppress Minos. "That map brought to me, that is very valuable, certainly. But the place where you are currently is extremely rich.
Did you know that there is a preserved seraph feather here? With that feather, you can create a high-level grade-4 weapon, even if you are not a talented blacksmith. But there is much more here. As long as you take risks on the challenges left by the elders, you can obtain resources and riches unmatched in this place.
Even without me, this map would still have a value comparable to a Spatial Kingdom!"
He sighed. "It's just that I couldn't use it to my advantage back then because I lacked some strength, and due to severe injuries I sustained, I needed to sleep for quite a while to recover.
I just didn't expect that no one would wake me up."
Minos looked silently at that man, understanding such a thing but uncertain whether Maximillian would allow him to take something from there or whether he would have the ability to take something. After all, he was only a Spiritual Saint...
Certainly, the island's location would be worth a lot, and he was already thinking of marking that place for future use before he realized Maximillian was alive. But now he didn't know if he would have that alternative.
"I understand the value of this place. But will the senior allow me to do anything? I heard your goal was to take some of the good stuff here to fight Maximus."
Maximillian smiled and turned his back to Minos, walking down the corridors of this place. "That is true. But Maximus is dead. The current situation is different from that of my time.
Speaking of which, how strong is the current Supreme Pontiff? Do you know how old he is?"
"He is at the same level as the senior. But his remaining time in the Spiritual World is not much."
"Good!" Maximillian smiled. 'I will see him in person. If he is talented, I will let him go into seclusion and kill him. After that, I will take control of the Church.'
"Very well, young Minos, after your meritorious deeds, you deserve an award. Freeing me was magnificent, even more so considering how long it's been."
Maximillian said as he walked towards something he wanted to take, even though he no longer had the same plans when he found this place.
"As such, not only will I let you enter this place in the future when you are strong enough to try to gain something for yourself, I will protect you from those who pressured you to come to this place!
I will not allow Spiritual Demigods to act against you within the Central Continent until you are strong enough to protect yourself!
I promise you that!"
...
