"What did you say?" King Brown shouted angrily, not being able to take Minos' arrogant words.
"Who does he think he is?"
"Does he think our region will fall into his hands? Is he ignoring us?" Several of the descendants of those regional families commented among themselves, finding Minos' words unacceptable.
Pa!
King Brown slammed one of his hands hard against the arm of his chair, rising from that seat in anger as if to do something. "Are you guys seeing this? You can't talk to a lunatic like him!"
"We must rid the region of this evil!" He shouted boldly, feeling good that he could finally expose that side of himself again, something that he was no longer able to do in the absence of his family's descendants.
But that was expected of this man. Before, he was frightened by the figure of Minos and had no choice but to run away whenever he saw the ruler of the Black Plain. But now, in this place full of experts who were that young man's enemies, Thomas felt great courage deep within his being.
Thomas looked at Minos' group in hatred and ignored this young man's mother, whom he knew could not act against him at this time.
But upon noticing the blue hair of one of the women next to Minos, this old king frowned his eyebrows in anger. "Brat, who are you? Are you from the Miller family?"
Abby then observed that man from afar without any sign of weakness on her face. On the contrary, she behaved very well, almost as if the one who had questioned her was just an ordinary person and not her former king. "My name is Abby Miller. Is there a problem?"
"Tsk!"
"Then I'm right!" Thomas clenched his hands tightly. "You are a descendant of those damned traitors!"
"You can wait. Sooner or later, your whole family will pay for betraying the Brown Kingdom!"
"Including you, Abb..."
"Boldness!"
"A coward like you has no right to speak my woman's name," Minos said aloud, letting some of his dense murderous intent escape his control.
"No, a worm as you doesn't even deserve to look at the future queen of the Black Plain!"
"Kneel!" Minos' eyes flashed brightly as waves of spiritual energy rushed toward Thomas with the intent to bring him down.
But at that instant, someone acted to prevent Minos from hitting Thomas and further embarrassing the Brown family.
"Let's take it easy, Your Majesty." An old fellow said this in a low voice to King Brown before leading him back to his chair.
"What?"
"Future queen?
"Worm?"
More and more voices were emerging in that place every instant, quickly raising the tension in the area.
"Silence!" Gloria shouted this as she realized that the situation was about to get out of hand, with many people in the surroundings getting up from their chairs and exposing their fighting intentions.
Amidst this now tense place, the visitors, Luke, Oriel, and Warner, watched all this in silence, surprised by how Minos had started this peace negotiation.
'This guy has changed a lot!'
'I can't take any chances with him!' Luke Nash pondered this, remembering how less hostile Minos seemed back then on Stone Island and in the Spiritual Tournament.
As for the two Spiritual Emperors, they were curious about Minos since, even knowing the regional news, they could not help but doubt the strength of a mere level 53 Spiritual King.
'Regardless of all the rumors, it is undeniable that his talent is top-notch.' Warner pondered Minos' level, feeling that young Stuart would be a talent in a million at this age, even in the Flaming Empire.
Gloria's voice then resounded through that area once again. "Minos, it is not yet your time to speak. Sit in your area and wait for the appropriate moment."
"As for the rest of you, be quiet now! I have an important matter to deal with at this beginning of our conversations."
After that, the voices in the surroundings quickly ceased until Gloria finally had a chance to call out to Warner's figure. "Before we begin, I want you all to listen to the representative of the Flaming Empire who has come here to give you a message."
"Go ahead, talk to them." She said before turning her attention back to Minos, watching him as she clenched her fists tightly.
Warner then walked to the middle of that circular area, his back to the members of the Spiritual Church and face to face with the members of the regional organizations.
"Well, I am here in the northern part of the Central Continent on behalf of the Edwarstone family."
"Edwardstone?" Several murmurs came out of the mouths of the most assertive individuals there, among them the regional peak cultivators who were aware of the name of that state's imperial family.
"What is this person doing here?"
"I don't know, but rarely have representatives of the imperial family come to our region..."
"Could it be because of the Spiritual Tournament?"
"Who knows."
Warner then ignored the murmurs of some of the people there and got straight to the point. "The imperial family understands the regional problems, but we would like to help solve the pacification of the region."
"The Spiritual Tournament is already delayed by months, and His Imperial Highness has said in person that he does not wish to delay this competition any further."
"As such, we hope you can resolve this quickly, or some future business between your states and the empire may be harmed..." Warner narrowed his eyes as he said this and looked at the people in that area, openly threatening them.
The northern region naturally had relations with other parts of the Central Continent. In particular, the states in this region imported foods of high spiritual concentration from the empire, such as those planted on the Black Plain.
There were other suppliers of these resources, but as the most powerful state in the vicinity of this region, the best supply and prices were rightly found in the Flaming Empire. And so, the local kingdoms depended on that state to import these foods of such importance to their families.
"That..."
'But we wouldn't want to be at war either!' Someone in that place thought about it unhappily.
'But now, now we will be punished for that too?'
"That miserable son of Albert!" Thomas almost shook with anger, feeling that Minos was trying to destroy this region with his actions.
But as he looked in that young man's direction, he saw Maisie's icy gaze, immediately remembering that he had plotted against that individual.
Gulp!
'Why is this woman looking at me like that? Does she know something?'
'No, only London and I knew about it!'
'She's just trying to throw me off balance to make this little bastard's game easier!' He pressed his jaw hard, praying that Maisie would leave soon and this occasion would be over for him and his reinforcements to act against Minos.
After some time with several people there showing their concerns about the threat of the empire's representative, Warner returned to his seat and made room for the negotiations to begin.
Gloria then stood up and said. "Well, since you are already aware of this matter concerning the Spiritual Tournament, let us begin our purpose here."
"Today, I expect all parties to show respect for this occasion and not pull your weapons despite differences. Instead, let's talk about the local problems and try to find an acceptable solution to end this bloody conflict."
"To get us started, I want to propose an alternative." She said this as she looked in Minos' direction, telling him to help her here and not be so stubborn. "The vast majority of the families here have already lost quite a bit in this war and will probably lose almost everything they have if this continues."
"So, I want to suggest an immediate cease-fire to demonstrate our sincerity to each other. After that, I propose an examination by everyone here of the independence of the Black Plain."
"Let's be honest, the territory of Lord Minos Stuart is already powerful and can be considered independent for a long time now. The Brown Kingdom certainly has no bearing on the real advancement of that place."
"Then, recognizing the independence of the Black Plain strikes me as somewhat necessary at this point."
"In return, the Black Plain must give up something to become a kingdom." She looked at Minos again. "In that case, I hope you will be magnanimous enough to make peace with your enemies by signing non-aggression agreements."
"With that, the region may even flourish after a few decades, leaving behind the terrible losses of this conflict as only bitter memories."
...
