Upon arriving in the capital of the Evergreen Empire, Joseph, who already knew the area, quickly led his group to the temple of the Spiritual Church.
Since he was currently a low-level Cardinal who served in the Flaming Empire, he didn't encounter much difficulty on his way, and it didn't take him long to gain access to his group.
He had previously served the Flaming Empire. But when he became a Spiritual Sage a few years ago, he was called back to the headquarters to receive a new post.
Since the Flaming Empire was considered a mid-level power compared to the high-level powers of the continent, it wasn't considered appropriate for such strong Church members to stay there.
However, two years ago, the Spiritual Church changed the permissions for the Flaming Empire because the Edwardstone family state, like the Black Plain Empire, was becoming stronger and stronger.
With closer ties between the state of Harold and Minos, Isabella's family empire benefited greatly.
As the richest of Minos' old allies, the state had invested heavily in its top specialists for several years, sending them to Dry City and enabling them to make important advances.
To give you an idea of what they had achieved with their friendly relationship with Dry City, 20 years ago, they practically only had Harold as a Spiritual Sage in their state. However, there were now more than 60 native Sages in the area, not counting those who had come to the state because of the war in the southern region.
These native Sages in the area were between levels 80 and 84, with Harold still being the strongest locally, even though there were some Sages from the ancient Grey Clouds Sect in his state.
In any case, the current Flaming Empire could afford to have low-level Cardinals of the Spiritual Church at their post in the capital, which is why Joseph returned to Payton, where he and Margot continued to live and pursue their careers within the Church.
But even as someone who worked in the Flaming Empire, Joseph was already known at Church headquarters, for he was one of the fathers-in-law of Minos Stuart, grandfather of one of the princesses of the Black Plain Empire!
Accompanied by his wife and Minos' grandfather, he quickly made his way to the deepest part of the temple, where high-ranking Cardinals were active.
"Joseph, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Payton these days." A low-level Demigod saw his fellow faction member and smiled as he walked over to the three of them, who had just entered a large waiting hall.
"Cardinal Seth, I need help contacting Senior Maximillian Flamen's representatives. I'm here to deal with a matter concerning the Black Plain Empire and the old promise of the current Supreme Pontiff." Joseph said seriously.
After the beginning of Forrest's master's seclusion, Maximilian had been appointed by the high-level Cardinals of the Church as the new Supreme Pontiff, which was supposed to happen when the occupant of that position became incapacitated.
As such, Maximilian was currently the leader of the Spiritual Church, which was why he had so much power to even start a war.
"Oh?" The low-level Demigod looked at Oswald, recognized the figure of Minos' grandfather, and saw that this was an opportunity.
After the meeting of world experts on the Divine Continent, the people of the Spiritual Church already knew Minos could no longer be compared to a low-level junior with great potential for the future. He was already performing feats that could influence great experts, so he should be treated as such.
His status in the Spiritual World had suddenly increased after the encounter on the Divine Continent. The fact that Oswald was there now, looking for some kind of deal or conversation, was a good sign for the faction Joseph belonged to, the Church itself, and even the Evergreen Empire.
Even though Minos was only a Spiritual Sage and had many problems around him, dealing with him was very positive, and anyone in this force today would be interested to hear what his emissaries had to say.
"What exactly do you need? I can help you solve everything." The man smiled.
Oswald replied. "The Supreme Pontiff is in seclusion, so we would like to speak with those of his confidence who can make decisions while he's away."
"If that's the case, come with me. I'll try to arrange a meeting between you and his representatives." The man said, then led the group through the corridors of the Church temple, talking to Joseph and Margot until they reached an area where auras of levels 97, 98, and even 99 could be felt.
There was only one level 99 aura around, that of an acquaintance of Minos, the only one at that level in the Evergreen Empire besides Maximilian himself.
Feeling a spiritual fluctuation similar to Minos', the sea beast that had almost killed him once turned his attention to Oswald, understanding who was there to talk to them.
"Don't stand on ceremony, envoys of the Black Plain Empire. Let's negotiate what you want." Said the beast in his humanoid form as he looked through the door of the place where he stood next to some high-ranking Cardinals in the Church.
As they were told, Margot, Joseph, and Oswald soon found themselves face to face with the high-ranking Demigods there, in this situation for the first time.
But since he was there to negotiate, Oswald wasn't overly modest. After greeting everyone there with respect, he got right to the point.
"Cardinals, we are here because of the problems that have recently befallen the Black Plain Empire..." He began to explain what had happened and why the Gorgons had ignored Maximilian's warning.
That would only be the beginning of a long negotiation, something that would not end this day and would take days to reach a conclusion on what would happen.
...
Meanwhile, a few more weeks passed, and the Minos group on the Divine Continent was already aware of everything that had recently happened in the Black Plain Empire, including Sarah's decision.
After discovering the Gorgon's disturbing attempt, Minos' group was naturally more angry with that tribe and longed to return to the Central Continent to help their state.
But they weren't so rash as to plan to return without first completing their plans on the Divine Continent.
Minos knew that despite the Gorgon attack and the loss of allies, his state was functioning normally, and Sarah was protected within Dry City's defensive dome.
So he prepared for the meeting of the members of the Pantheon of Honor, and only after that day, which was not far off, would he leave for his state.
As for the Gorgons, the Pantheon of Honor was already taking action against them, and Minos himself would visit them in the future to repay them for what they had done to his state!
