Three months later...
It was late afternoon in the east of the Black Plain Empire when a Sea Folk's ship appeared on the horizon from the capital of the Snow area.
At the sight of the ship bringing the emperor and his family back to their state, the soldiers of the Black Plain Army immediately rang the local bells, alerting the forces in that city to the moment they had been waiting for the past few months.
Minos had sent word of when they would arrive from their long journey. As such, there were several people who wanted to see him again in the city run by the Snow family.
As it was snowing locally, the members of the leading family in the area rushed to the local harbor, happy but without any hope of getting a chance to speak to Minos.
At that moment, demigods from the imperial army, Spiritual Sages from allied states, and subordinate forces were waiting for Minos in the city, and even mid-level demigods were there.
Among them was a level 94 man with black hair, a high-ranking cardinal of the Spiritual Church.
When he arrived at the local harbor and saw these experts from afar, the son of Misty and Ambrose Snow watched from a distance beside his mother at the arrival of Emperor Stuart, about whom he had heard many stories from his mother.
The blonde woman was there with her son to see the arrival of the ship of the man she had such fond memories of. But Misty no longer had any hope of physically bonding with Minos, as she had done a few times in the past.
She had reached level 70, but the distance between them only grew as the years passed. Meanwhile, Minos had his own family and many problems to deal with.
After longing for him, this woman had learned to admire him from afar, working for him and his empire.
"Look, little Albert. That's the great emperor of our state." She pointed to the brown-haired man who was climbing down from his ship and showed her son, who had the same name as Minos' father.
The boy looked at Minos with a gleam in his eye, seeing someone as famous as the emperor for the first time in his life.
As little Albert Snow watched Minos with his mother and a crowd of local nobles, Emperor Stuart disembarked from his ship with his wives, followed by the long line of Demigods on the ship.
As soon as he met Forrest in the harbor, Minos put aside his expression of happiness to be back in his empire, realizing that trouble was likely awaiting him.
"Congratulations on reaching level 85, Minos. You truly are a cultivation monster." Forrest said as he stood next to two other members of the Spiritual Church, both at level 94, just like him.
Meanwhile, there were two men from the Longus family who had reached the 10th stage, as they were currently serving the army in this area.
Seeing them there, along with emissaries from Albano, Blackrock, and Rosser, Minos didn't need to hear from anyone to know that his forces had developed well in his absence.
He greeted his men and then asked Forrest as he walked toward the local wormhole port.
"Why are you here?"
"We have problems. Maximillian may have killed my master and is about to reach level 100." Forrest said without wavering.
Hearing the words of this black-haired man, the women of Minos and his crewmates changed their expressions.
That was critical news even for the least connected to the Black Plain Empire!
The advancement of a level 99 Demigod to level 100 was relevant to every being in the Spiritual World!
Even the dragon in its human form narrowed its eyes upon hearing such information, seeing that the rumors about the experts from the Central Continent trying to advance to level 100 were true.
"This is terrible!" Abby muttered.
"If he advances to level 100, the war in the south will end along with our peace here in the north." Gloria was blunt while wearing a worried expression.
"This is really a problem." Minos sighed, understanding Forrest's urgency in coming to this place to wait for him.
Forrest commented. "Minos, I hope that from now on, we can help each other more than ever. If Maximilian succeeds, the first thing he'll do is kill Vico and end the war.
We'll be safe for a few weeks, maybe months. But after that, he will come after our groups for his own reasons.
We have to be prepared!"
"I understand. He'll probably eliminate the disciples of the one he killed, and he might change his mind about my state." Minos understood Forrest's thinking.
With the war in the south over, the Black Plain Empire would, of course, be of most interest to Maximilian in his expansionist plans!
As much as the northernmost part of the continent was considered an area of influence for the Spiritual Church, that force had less and less influence in the area because of the growth of the Stuart family and especially the growth of Minos.
From Forrest's point of view, Minos would be a big problem for Maximilian in the future, so the man would definitely try to deal with the Stuart Emperor as soon as possible after the war ended!
Since he wanted to take revenge on his master and also protect himself from Maximilian, he was there to plan with his ally.
Minos sighed and then said. "Let's talk about this calmly. Maximilian could still fail, and even if he doesn't, the evolution of a Demigod to level 100 is not easy.
So let's talk about it in my capital after I've been informed about the local situation, shall we? My daughter has made some arrangements in my absence that may make some of our actions difficult. At the same time, we have several other problems to solve."
"I understand." Forrest knew there was time for them to talk about it and didn't insist. "But Minos, are you aware of the ice age that is upon us?"
"Hmm, I attended a meeting of experts on the Divine Continent on this subject. Some of the issues I have to resolve now are for the sake of my state's future during this crisis." Minos said as he saw the wormhole port, he would use to return to Dry City.
"And that group next to you?"
"These are companions I picked up on my last journey. We'll be leaving for the North Sea in a few years."
After saying this, which caused Forrest to become a few degrees more serious, Minos entered a wormhole with his group and returned to the empire's capital!
