When Julian's group set out at dawn, it wasn't long before they encountered the first groups of the world's most powerful forces on their way to the meeting place hosted by the elves.
The elves had arranged the meeting in the ruleless area between the three empires of the Divine Continent. In such an area, each of the groups that would participate in the event was already in small camps like Julian's on the outskirts of the area, from where they could walk to the meeting place.
Therefore, on their way to the meeting point, Julian's group would encounter three other groups, each as impressive or more so than the group of Pantheon Of Honor representatives.
The first group they encountered was a high-ranking power from the Divine Continent itself, a sect of half-breeds from the northeasternmost state of that continent. This group had six representatives: two high-level Demigods, three mid-level Demigods, and only one low-level Demigod.
The second group they encountered was a tribe of beasts from the Continent of Beasys, from an area of that continent Minos had not passed through on his recent journey.
But as soon as they saw Minos' group, those 10th-stage beasts paid attention to them, curious why there was a dragon among the Pantheon of Honor group.
The third group was of humans from the Central Continent, a group from one of the strongest organizations in the Evergreen Empire.
Contrary to what one might think, not all the powers of that state were necessarily under the wings of the imperial family and the Spiritual Church.
A very powerful clan lived in the Evergreen Empire and wasn't necessarily involved in the Church's affairs. However, it was a little weaker than the Church, and its leader was only at level 97.
However, that was enough for such a family to be invited to this meeting of experts.
Minos watched in silence until someone approached his group.
"Julian, good to see you." A young-looking man with black hair approached the strongest of Minos' group with a smile on his face.
"Logan... I haven't seen you in a few centuries, have I? Do we need a crisis to bring you back to the continent?" Julian smiled at his old acquaintance, one of the members of his faction and the Pantheon of Honor, who lived on the Central Continent.
"It wasn't so long ago." The eldest brother of the king of Lusmait said as he looked at the strange group of his old friends.
"Who are those with you?"
"You must have heard of him. This one is the Emperor of the Black Plain Empire, Minos Stuart." Julian introduced the level 84 young man next to him.
"Oh?" The level 97 man there to represent his state opened his mouth, not expecting to find Emperor Stuart in this place. "You are part of the Pantheon of Honor?"
"You didn't know?" Julian narrowed his eyes, for this man should know such a thing.
Logan bitterly laughed and said. "I have left the affairs of the Pantheon of Honor to my son..."
"Doesn't that brat keep you up to date? Damn it, Logan. He has represented you at the last ten meetings of the organization. Don't tell me you don't know what's been decided?" Julian was irritated.
The Pantheon of Honor didn't demand exclusivity from its members. Many of them had a lot of freedom to stay in their organizations and only used such an institution to do business and get information.
For someone like Julian, who was a full-time member of the Pantheon of Honor, it was appalling to know that some of his colleagues behaved that way. It was very disrespectful!
"Don't think too much about it. I intend to resign my position in Kian's name very soon." Logan made no secret of it.
Getting into the Pantheon of Honor was tough, but once inside, a member could easily pass on their position to one of their heirs.
Of course, the heir of an invited member would be watched for a while and would have to meet the temple's requirements. However, the difficulty of meeting those requirements couldn't be compared to being invited by a temple elder.
"That is a pity. An old man like you will always be useful to groups like ours." Julian sighed when he heard that.
"Anyway, it was nice to see you." Logan smiled and squeezed one of Julian's hands.
"The same for me. You represent your state here?"
Logan nodded affirmatively. "Yes, my brother is busy looking after the state." He looked at Minos and thought how the war on that continent was due to this young man's actions.
"Sigh... You should prepare yourself, young emperor." He said to Minos. "The war shouldn't last much longer. And whatever the outcome, expect trouble. They will surely come knocking at your door."
Minos didn't doubt it and thanked the man for the reminder.
As they talked and walked towards a place where several luxurious tents stood, other groups in the area spotted the people with Julian, and some couldn't help but narrow their eyes as they looked at Minos.
'Minos Stuart!' Vico's envoy, a level 98 Demigod, clenched his fists at the sight of the culprit of all the war and instability in the Central Continent today.
At the same time, an old acquaintance of Minos, representing Maximilian, also looked at him with interest but much more interested in Emperor Stuart's journey.
'That human...' The level 99 whale, who had almost killed Minos and was then forced to become Maximilian's ally, looked at Emperor Stuart and couldn't help but approach him.
"Minos Stuart. You are a box of surprises. Always surprising." He commented with a smile as he looked at the brown-haired man, seeing how much such a person had grown in the years since he had seen him.
Minos recognized the man in the humanoid form while several high-ranking cardinals of the Spiritual Church in the area looked at him. "Senior, you look better than ever. How is Senior Flamen?" He said respectfully while Julian and Logan looked at the whale.
"What are you doing here with the Pantheon of Honor, Minos?" He ignored the question of the young human in front of him.
"Senior, I am here to follow elder Julian. We belong to the same faction." Minos didn't hide it but avoided saying more than necessary.
Julian looked at the beast and asked. "Do you have a problem with my junior, representative of the Spiritual Church?"
"Not at all." He laughed as he looked into Logan's eyes and then turned away.
On the Central Continent, they were enemies. But there, neither of them would fight each other, even if it could be very advantageous for the fate of the war.
And so the meeting of the experts began with a tense start for Minos' group!
...
