While the three groups attacked their respective targets, Minos and his team were on hand to do the same at the headquarters of the local government. The mansion of the reagent was even bigger than the one in Dry City before its renovations, had a noble look and a good structure.
And due to its external appearance, this place, without a doubt, could accommodate some lesser-rank nobles comfortably. This in itself demonstrated that, although this was still an unwanted place, it was not as unprofitable as Dry City.
At the mansion, currently, about a hundred people were present. However, they didn't look like civil servants on duty, but rather like a bunch of criminals who were just occupying that space.
Just by observing their behavior, it was not difficult to imagine that this city was being managed with no care or zeal. In fact, these bandits were only exploiting their position as the leaders of Yellow City.
Inside the mansion, two men were talking as they smoked and drank. Of the two, one had a muscular appearance, while the other was thin enough to look malnourished.
The muscular man was lying on a couch while looking out the window. He then asked the man beside him, "Dugal, what do you think of this mission that chief Gul just started?"
The thin man, Dugal, was enjoying the city's landscape while a window supported his arms, turned to his friend and responded, "Well, if that beast is precious, then this could be a great chance for our group to level up. A cub of a 5th-stage beast can be easily sold on the black market for more than 1,000 medium-grade crystals."
"With that amount, our boss can increase his cultivation speed, and in a few years, he will be able to reach level 50," he stopped for a moment before taking a drag from his cigar and then continued.
"When this happens, our organization could enjoy having our leader as a member of the Scourges of the Devil! And I don't need to tell you what advantages this would bring for us..."
"Hehe, this is good!" the muscular man exclaimed in joy. He was not very smart to have a good idea of the consequences of getting that beast, so he asked his old friend about it.
These two had been comrades in crime for many decades, and both were at level 43. Since the strongest members of the gang had been left in the city, they were on call in this place in case of any emergency.
...
Meanwhile, outside the mansion, Minos and his team were preparing to enter the building and annihilate their opponents for the greater good.
Ruth then informed about the power structure present in the building, "I was able to feel about 100 people in this place and among these, 20 are Spiritual Warriors at levels 38 and 39, 50 are at level 40, 20 at level 41, 8 at level 42, and 2 at level 43."
The group then looked at Minos and waited for his order. After a few moments of thinking, the young man began to inform his plan, "The 8 Sergeants and 8 Corporals in this group will attack with me. Our focus will be on the bandits below level 41. As for the rest, I will leave it to you and Eduard to take care of it. Can you two do this?"
As he said that, Minos turned to Ruth, it was clear that he mentioned Ruth for the mission.
Ruth nodded while Eduard agreed as well, "Hmm, it's fine with me."
"As for Grandpa Dillian and Ms. Elen, you can support someone who needs help."
Hearing this, both Dillian and Elen nodded in agreement and prepared to enter the mansion.
"Let's go, and since there are no civilians in this place, we don't need to hold back. We are going for total war. There's no need to kill them slowly, it should be swift," Minos said confidently.
They didn't need to restrain themselves to gradually eliminate these bandits without drawing the attention of the entire enemy group, the reason was Minos' team was much stronger than the opposing group, despite being considerably less in their number than compared to the enemies they were about to face.
Assuming on the side of Minos, there was Ruth, level 45, Elen, level 44, and Eduard, at level 48. With such a lineup of strength, even if the attackers were only Eduard and Ruth, they would still emerge victorious without much of an effort.
However, Minos did not want to heavily rely on these individuals so much. That was because they weren't a part of his forces. Therefore, it wouldn't always be good to count on their support since even though they had a good relationship, they would not always be available to help Minos and his subordinates.
As for Dillian, although he could defend himself, battling was not his main perk, his job was just to help the wounded with his healing-focused techniques.
But it was not just that; this was also training for the soldiers of the Black Plain Army. As, in the future, they would certainly face many problems, so it was beneficial if some of the members were to experience real battles where they would have to keep their life and death at stake.
While the formal training was good and valuable, a fight that involved the life and death of the warriors would bring an entirely different type of attainment.
The human mind worked its best to avoid situations that could result in death. Thus, experiencing through a dangerous or even a desperate situation could be of much more value than the regular day-to-day learning.
Surely, the soldiers would remember these life-threatening moments more clearly than trivial things!
"Ruth, Eduard, don't kill the two men who are at level 43. I want to interrogate both of them to find out the whereabouts and purpose of their boss," Minos instructed as the group moved to attack the mansion.
"OK," the two responded promptly.
...
Boom!
In the open area of the mansion, a group of 30 bandits stood on guard while they were engaged in a casual conversation. At that moment, all of a sudden, an explosion resounded from the direction of the entrance.
"Hey, did you hear that? It looks like the sound came from the mansion's entrance," one of the bandits remarked with a strange look.
"Yeah, maybe someone with balls has finally shown up in this city. Kekeke," another man chuckled in a strange manner.
...
Upon their arrival at the scene, the group of 30 bandits was immensely shocked by the scenario before their eyes, the 15 men who were on duty at the entrance gate of this place were all dead right in front of them!
"Shit! Sound the fucking alarm!" a man screamed after coming back from his trance from the gruesome sight.
"Attack with me!" another guy bellowed as he raised a sword from his waist and ran towards the group of soldiers who had slaughtered their men.
Seeing this group approaching, Minos, who had yet to strike, took his low-level grade-2 sword from his spatial ring and prepared for the battle.
'Hehe, let's see how it performs in my hands!' Minos thought to himself, gripping the handle of the glorious spiritual sword in his hands.
Devouring Art!
Indestructible Body!
Spatial Sword!
Right when the enemy group arrived in his vicinity, Minos simultaneously activated all three of his techniques which he could use and was not worried about his Devouring art self inflicting his men as he had already instructed them not to intervene until he was finished utilizing it.
Minos wanted to assess his current strength without any interference since he had risen twice since his last battle. But that was not all, now he also was eager to use his new sword for the first time!
According to his calculations, after activating the three techniques simultaneously and handling the low-level grade-2 sword, he would exhaust a large portion of his energy by just allowing him to fight for about 10 seconds. And if he wished to continue fighting after that, it would be necessary for him to switch to another sword.
However, in this particular situation, Minos was not unfazed by this. His group was pretty powerful, and there was no need for him to fight all his opponents. Hence, he was confident in utilizing almost everything he had in this attack!
Zum!
Instantly, a black ring appeared in the sky and started spinning around the whole area where Minos stood holding his sword. The inside of the ring was filled with a dark fog and whoever saw it for the first time would undoubtedly feel goosebumps on their spine!
Meanwhile, the 30 bandits who were within the area affected by Minos' techniques felt their spiritual energies slowly begin depleted. Simultaneously, it seemed that their speeds had also been reduced to a great extent.
'What kind of sorcery is this?' Some of the bandits were alarmed, feeling the strange effects they were suffering from.
At the same time, Ruth, Elen, and Eduard curiously observed what Minos was doing. They were curious as to why this young man wanted to initiate the attack alone.
Right after Minos retrieved the sword from his spatial ring, the three immediately realized its classification.
"Huh? Is he planning to use a grade-2 weapon? But he is still only at level 35. It will not work," Eduard remarked while examining the sword in Minos' hand.
He was not particularly impressed with this. Since Minos was a sovereign, it was evident that he would possess something like this.
"This should be the case normally, but..." Elen said, trying to understand Minos' actions.
Meanwhile, Ruth didn't give a damn about the sword Minos was holding. What had deeply astonished her was this particular technique that had manifested as a strange black ring in the sky.
She could sense that this technique was gradually sucking the energy of the cultivators within a particular area. However, she could not understand how Minos had acquired such a formidable technique.
That's because even if the techniques were of the same classification they wouldn't necessarily have the same strength!
Even if a Spiritual Sage could create Silver-grade techniques, they would still be inferior to the similar grade techniques produced by a Spiritual Demigod or even a God!
Though the techniques would undoubtedly have the same energy efficiency since they would all be classified as Silver-grade, a technique would certainly be more challenging to face in the heavens if it was developed by someone of the highest level even though the classification would be the same!
That was the distinction between techniques of the same classification.
'How did he manage to do that?' Ruth pondered deeply as she watched Minos start his attack.