Ten days later...
After Minos' actions in the Hargraves family headquarters were spread throughout the region, the population and powers realized that the Walker family disaster had not been a one-time case.
From Minos' actions, it was apparent to the most intelligent people in this region that the Black Plain was counter-attacking its enemies outside the conflict area in the Brown Kingdom.
The regional population had finally understood that more tragedies would happen in the coming weeks or months as Minos' desire for revenge became more evident.
News about the investigations of the events in Athela was constantly being reported in this period, making the figure of Minos even more controversial. But the misfortune of House Hargraves, with the threat made against the Carline family, had drawn everyone's attention, demonstrating how serious the consequences of attacking the Black Plain could be.
Minos could move almost freely through the region. But what about the prominent families?
They could move their members around, but Minos could do the same. But on the other hand, while young Stuart was only one, large regional organizations had tens of thousands of members in their ranks!
Consequently, migrating might not be the best option for these powers with all their business, resources, and defensive items in their respective headquarters.
Because of this, the fear of the regional counter-revolutionary organizations has increased considerably in recent days!
Not only that, amidst the dark actions and constant threats from Minos, bad news from the Brown Kingdom itself had reached the Counter-Revolutionary Army posts around the Black Plain!
After weeks of hard work, Ernest and his group had finally completed their missions and brought dozens of hostages back to Dry City. But on the other hand, the organizations attacked by this group had lost almost two dozen experts in this period.
And as much as none of these people were directly involved in the war on the Black Plain, they all had important roles or expectations of the vassal families of House Brown.
Hence, such actions had a lot of relevance in the Black Plain war of independence!
In any case, after Ernest's group had finished with such a mission, the Black Plain Army had issued a proclamation assuming authorship over the recent disappearances in the Brown Kingdom.
Not only that, the organization created by Minos had already issued an injunction to the Brown Kingdom powers with descendants under captivity in Dry City.
They would leave the battlefield and sooner or later have their loved ones back unharmed. Or their family members, brothers, wives, and children, would all be summarily executed in Dry City!
The Dry City government was not joking with this move. Some hostages had already been executed in the Puller, and their remains had been sent back to their families.
Such a thing had happened just after the first proclamation of the Black Plains Army was released in an edition of the Night News.
At that time, one of the patriarchs of one of the hostage-holding families in Dry City had tried to act on his own and attacked that city.
After such an event, Emlyn, Celeste, and Angela massacred their enemies. Soon afterward, the executions of the wives and children of that family took place.
That had frightened the entire kingdom and, in a way, even went against the principles behind the Black Plain Army. However, there was nothing to be done in such a situation.
There were no innocents in the war, nor were there any guilty ones. Only victims and victors remained at the end of such conflicts.
As for the period between the start and the end of such conflicts, the only thing left to do was kill or be killed!
Many might think that it would be wrong to kill innocent people to save those involved in the war. But the truth is that things were not that simple.
Dry City could order the killing of a few innocent people and thereby strike fear into the hearts of thousands of enemies. Or it could focus only on those who attacked it, leaving itself in an uncertain situation where the number of losses would be countless until the conflict was over.
What was the best option? Injure itself so as not to harm the families of its enemies? Or use the lives of a few 'innocents' to save the thousands of allied army members on the Black Plain?
At the end of the day, no matter how hypocritical some were, everyone would choose to save their organizations rather than endure massive losses only because of strangers.
That was a war!
The lives and deaths of the citizens of the Black Plain were at risk!
Therefore, the local forces would do their best to stop the enemy's advance, even if it meant killing 'innocent' people.
And with such events, the entire Brown Kingdom was already agitated because of the sudden insecurity spreading across this state.
Everyone knew that only the large organizations were at risk, but no one could predict when a battle would break out in their surroundings.
Imagine how unfortunate it would be to die from the remaining attacks of a third-party battle?
Well, that happens quite often in this world!
So, the inhabitants of the Brown Kingdom were already living in hellish days, fearing when Minos' army would strike their cities.
With all this, the bases of the Counter-Revolutionary Army had been affected considerably!
Previously the members of this temporary force were already fearful, given the recent events in the city of Athela. But with the further actions of Minos and his army, now even the vassal families of House Brown were reconsidering their positions.
That was not enough to make them give up everything and leave the Black Plain immediately. But many individuals already had a tiny seed of uncertainty in their hearts, already questioning whether the path followed so far could lead them somewhere other than the darkness of death!
...
Meanwhile, in the main tent of the Counter-Revolutionary Army camp...
Thomas Brown had just thrown some crumpled leaves on the ground, green with rage, feeling the veins in his neck stirring unconsciously.
At the same time, Linette was standing there with a complex expression on her face, something that was making the few wrinkles in her face more noticeable than ever.
"Everything is going from bad to worse..." She muttered this after sighing in regret, feeling that despite their achievements on the Black Plain, they suffered significant defeats outside of that territory.
"Damn cowards!" Thomas shouted with all the strength of his being, furious at the intelligence that had just been passed on to him.
Two noble families of his kingdom had suddenly initiated a troop withdrawal from the Black Plain!
So, considering that he had not authorized such a thing, this king could not help but feel furious with his vassals.
'Damn them!'
'When we win this damn war, I will exterminate their families!' Thomas thought to himself as he clenched his hands tightly, to the point of almost hurting himself.
And as she watched that man losing his temper, Linette began to think more and more about her family, feeling a bad omen.
'I hope that damned brat doesn't do anything crazy in our headquarters...'
'We are still within the deadline given by him!'
However, while the two of them were worrying about the future of the war and their families, other high-level Spiritual Kings arrived at that place to continue with the affairs of the war.
A lot was happening recently, but they could not stop, as this would be the worst of decisions. So, these counter-revolutionary leaders continued to expand their actions on the Black Plain in hopes of having their reinforcements and that territory before Minos could eliminate them.
"Well, King Brown, Mrs. Carline, let's focus on what's happening on the Black Plain." An individual dressed in all-black clothing, who looked more like a walking corpse than a living human, said this somberly.
"The actions of our enemy are unfortunately beyond our reach. Therefore, all we can do is try to deal with the problem closest to us."
"Those damned enemy experts!" The Scourge of the Devil assassin said this as he mentioned the protectors left by Minos in Dry City and around the Black Plain.
