The Rise of the Black Plain

Chapter 2930 Visitors

Chapter 2930  Visitors 

"Who are you?" When Minos asked his question, the 12 Entitled Deities just 50 meters in front of him suddenly tensed up, with some of them instinctively thinking of taking steps back. But when Minos' spiritual pressure advanced on their surroundings, no one had a chance to escape or counterattack. Of the 12 True Celestials, nine felt their knees buckle, while the three strongest resisted barely, but could not hide the sudden change in their expressions.

Minos smiled subtly, turning his attention to the three strongest, who had only minimally resisted his test. With his lips curled into a curious smile, he said, without waiting for the answer to the question he had already asked, "It was a bad choice to enter a foreign domain and face its master like this. Perhaps you are here to challenge me?"

The only woman in the trio of strongest Entitled Deities in front of Minos trembled as she felt her bones crumble. She felt the same sensation from him as she did from her faction leader. Turning a few degrees pale as her aura faded, she took a step back and tried to justify herself. "Senior Minos, calm down! We're members of the Divine Path! Senior Devdar's faction!"

The second strongest being in the group, a thin and rather tall man, said in reply. "We're here to welcome you. We're members of the same faction!"

"Oh?" Minos lowered his aura as he laughed to himself.

Lily snorted softly and said to her father, "Nonsense. They came to test you. But they realized they were about to kick a much harder and more resistant stone than they had imagined."

Minos just looked sideways at his daughter, seeing the 9 Entitled Deities who had fallen to their knees against the ground stand up in a moment of strangeness for almost all of them. All of them now had embarrassed expressions, one looking at the other for the answer to the common doubt that had arisen in their minds. Who had hidden the truth about this newcomer's powers?

They all felt in the same bad situation and couldn't find an immediate culprit. With no chance of repairing the situation in any other way, one by one they tried to greet Minos with apologies for the misunderstanding, combined with gifts they felt forced to give. "You really are magnanimous. I didn't imagine that my Upper Realm companions would be so generous as soon as I got here, hehe." Minos said as he held several treasures that were precious, even for someone of his magnitude. Meanwhile, the weakest of the group asked his permission to leave.

Only the three strongest remained by Minos and Lily's side, each of them curious about the newcomer's situation. The others might have left for fear of trouble, but the strongest understood that this golden-haired man could be much more complicated. Ignoring him now would be a mistake!

"Senior Minos, you're truly strong. How did you get here? Was it really through Senior Devdar's inheritance?" asked the platinum-haired woman, approaching Minos with a smile on her face. The two men continued walking, both on Lily's left side, with the young woman close to her father, looking at them cautiously.

Minos didn't want to answer questions from these individuals. But there was always value in talking to locals. Remembering the names they had mentioned when introducing themselves a few moments ago, he asked, "Nel, Tilly, and Balian, be honest with me. I'm not going to chase you. What have you come here for today? If it's useful to me, I can forget all about today."

The three hesitated, naturally feeling awkward about dealing with someone of a lower level, but who was clearly stronger. At the same time, it wasn't common for Entitled Deities to be so frank. But they sensed a little more of what Minos was capable of than the individuals who had left and put him on the same level as their faction leader.

Nel, the snake-eyed man, leader of the trio, after a moment's silence as the group swam through the largest underwater city in Minos' domain, said, "We members of the Divine Path are united in our cause. But we vie for resources, opportunities, and positions. We came here today to understand the newcomer and recruit him to our side…"

Lily could feel the shame at the end of Nel's words, but she couldn't help but let out a "humph!" at the arrogance of these beings.

The woman, Tilly, said in explanation, "The Divine Path is divided into three levels. We, Entitled Deities, entered the faction at level 2 when we were promoted to the Upper Realm. But level 1 of the faction, the highest, also called the Council, comprises only 4 fixed members, plus our faction leader. But we are far more numerous than the number of Council seats. Meanwhile, the resources and opportunities of the Councilors are far superior to the benefits of level 2..."

"I see." Minos continued to look around, getting to know his domain better and learning about the local reality. "In short, there are sub-factions within the Divine Path. You compete to reach level 1... But what are the benefits of the Councilors?"

Balian was the one to answer Minos' last question. "I could talk about it for over an hour, Senior. But the main thing is the creation of new thrones. Or rather, the right to claim empty thrones."

"What are you talking about?" Lily was unable to resist her curiosity and ended up intruding on her father's conversation.

Balian answered her with the same reverence he had already spoken to Minos, "You must already know about how to create new thrones in the 'easiest' and most famous way, right? By killing Devils. But killing Devils can be hard work. We don't always have the opportunity. Besides, we can't kill them all, or the universe would lose all its balance. But that's not a problem, because we've always had other methods of getting thrones.

This, of course, is not the same as creating a new throne from the essence of blood of a Devil. There are critical differences in the powers of such a throne, among other things. But we can 'steal', so to speak, thrones from other Entitled Deities."

Tilly continued Balian's explanation, asking a question, "Let's say one of our Councilors was to pass away for whatever reason. What would happen to the unclaimed thrones that they were entitled to pass on to their heirs? Those thrones won't disappear. After all, they are condensations of powers, existences that support themselves."

"Those thrones can be taken over by others." Minos understood what they were getting at.

Nel replied, "That's right. And it's the Councilors of a faction who determine which way those thrones will go. People like Senior Devdar already have many fronts to act on and one throne or another won't change their situation much. But for us level 2s, it could make a big difference to our journeys. So everyone in our faction and other groups in the Upper Realm is constantly vying for these thrones."

Minos understood their logic and why they were trying to approach him today. But Lily found something strange amid their journey. "That's weird. Why would a lord of domain keep their thrones vacant?"

"It's not that they would. That's something we can't control," said Tilly as she looked into Lily's eyes before turning to Minos. "Senior, think about your throne. Doesn't it seem rather unique and compatible only to you?"

Minos considered the woman's words, thinking to himself as she continued.

Tilly said, "Thrones can't be taken by just any beings, even with the approval of those who own the domains of those thrones. Without one proving themselves through a long and difficult journey, these thrones don't recognize anyone as their de facto sovereign. This has happened to all our thrones, including yours, Senior Minos."

"So when I get thrones for my domain, my chosen ones will have to prove themselves in some kind of inheritance to get to sit on them?" Minos asked while finally understanding why Devdar hadn't directly given him his throne when he saw his full potential centuries ago.

"Yes."

"Then what's the point of having the right to pass on that throne to someone else?" Lily asked as she expressed her dissatisfaction.

"We can select the group from which the heir to the throne will emerge. And the one who inherits it will certainly be on the side of its original holder, which is naturally of great value," Nel said as he clenched one of his fists, imagining the influence he would have in this position.

"For the most part, at least." Tilly looked at Minos, seeing the first newbie she didn't know if she could say such a thing about.

"Thrones in our domains give us more influence, through new Entitled Deities, but they also strengthen our own powers. A special phenomenon occurs when a new throne holder appears and the one who has looked after the vacant throne until that moment receives a bonus for selecting the new expert!"

Looking up, as if gazing at the sky, Balian said with intensity, "And so it may one day be possible to ascend to the peak of the realm, and approach the legendary Absolute level!"