When the hiss of the serpent that was carrying Minos reverberated through that area, these two began to descend through the sky at high speed.
They seemed to be falling vertically, under that area where dozens of warships were firing at each other. But they were not falling. Instead, they were rapidly descending toward their target!
Minos was in that place to ensure the safe passage of Lee's group across the Black Plain. But since the naval warfare around that area was still going on, he had begun to act to expedite the whole process.
He already had a fighting proficiency very close to level 60, and since the regional ships, as well as their weapons, were not that tough, he was prepared to do some damage in this battle!
With a 6th stage flying beast as his mount, his strength and cards up his sleeve, he was the most dangerous element in this place now.
And knowing this, Minos could not miss the opportunity to diminish the enemy forces!
Spatial Sword!
While standing only a few dozen meters from the bow of one of the enemy ships closest to Lee and Alison's cargo, Minos activated his primary attack technique.
After that, he made several sword movements towards the cannons' locations, intent on destroying them.
Swooish!
Immediately after making his first move, Minos saw the giant blades of spiritual energy leave his swords, heading towards their respective targets.
But that was only the beginning.
Before he even had a chance to see the results of this attack, Minos gave the signal for that serpent to head towards the next ship, which was not so far away from the last one.
This area had many warships firing, with many people screaming as they gave out their last life signs. But not all of them were targets for Minos.
After all, he did not need to destroy every single one of these ships.
Such a thing might even be beneficial to his army, but he could not achieve such a feat, nor was he interested in doing so.
Thus, he had only a few targets in that area, those ships that were closest to Lee and Alison's ship, which were the ones that most threatened the precious cargo on that ship.
So, he relied on his naval fleet to keep battling in the surroundings while he took action against those few troublesome ships!
And it was precisely one of these that he attacked right after the first one!
However, instead of just using his sword technique to destroy the cannons, Minos made a different move.
As he stood a certain height over the bow of that ship, he jumped off that serpent, heading towards that place.
Destroying the enemy's weapons was quite effective in decreasing the chances that the beasts in transport on that cargo ship would be wounded or killed. That would take away the principal means of attack from the attacked warship and put the entire crew in danger.
And both of these things were very positive for Minos' side.
However, better than that was to keep these weapons in good condition and finish off the enemies on such ships!
In this case, not only would there be a decrease in force on the enemy side, but there would also be a benefit to the Black Plain Army.
And since more warships meant more strength in naval warfares, Minos was acting to maximize his gains in this place!
Puff!
Soon after jumping from a height of 30 meters, Minos eased his fall by landing on top of an opponent, instantly killing that person.
He had circulated his defensive technique in doing so, strengthening every feature of his body so that at that moment, it had been as if a rock had crushed that man.
It was not heavy rock, but to suffer such an unexpected trauma directly on his head had been the end for that individual!
But Minos was not bothered by the blood that had landed on his shoes. Instead, he immediately began to take action against that crew as he landed there.
After activating all of his techniques simultaneously, Minos began to absorb the energies from each of those crew members while attacking his principal targets.
He did not want to destroy the ship, or the ship's weapons, so he only used his mental technique to kill each of the cannon controllers on that ship.
Then he ran around that area, constantly using his swords to kill anyone who got in his way, heading towards the cockpit of this ship.
Swooish!
Swooish!
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
"Save yourselves!"
"Abandon the ship!"
Several screams reverberated through that area as the more attentive ones trembled with fear as they felt the nightmare that had overtaken them.
But the situation for most of them was not good at all. Due to the relatively small area that ships like this had, almost all the crew members were under the effects of Minos' techniques.
In particular, many there were already suffering from spiritual exhaustion, even if only a few seconds had passed since the arrival of young Stuart!
But this was to be expected. After all, Minos' fighting proficiency had already reached the limit of the 6th stage, while all the people in that crew were only at the 5th stage!
Consequently, almost everyone there was suffering in terror right now!
To make matters worse, every time the Spatial Sword was activated, many could not move, further increasing their despair.
...
After arriving on that first ship, in just 3 minutes, Minos had killed over 70% of that crew, having lost a few individuals and spared most of the survivors.
But he had not done this out of generosity. No, he was not a righteous person when fighting against enemies.
He had only done this because he intended to use this first conquered ship to attack others in the surrounding area!
He was not interested in participating in the entire naval warfare, but that did not mean that he did not care about his soldiers fighting in this area!
Therefore, by taking this first ship, he had secured a crew of prisoners of war to operate this ship after his departure.
Such individuals gradually put spiritual arrays around their necks, preferring to become prisoners rather than corpses.
And since that serpent from before had gone away to fetch some soldiers from the Black Plain Army in the surrounding area to command such prisoners, this plan had a good chance of success.
At the very least, such a thing would result in minor losses for the Black Plain Army's naval fleet today.
After less than 4 minutes since Minos entered this naval battle, one ship's weapons had been destroyed, while an enemy ship had passed from the enemy side to theirs.
So, Minos was quick to leave that ship and head towards one of the other five that remained in the vicinity of where Lee's group was passing!
'Looks like we'll be able to add several ships to our fleet tonight...' He thought about it with a smile on his face as he jumped on the bow of his new target.
Spatial Sword!
...
While Minos made a mess in the surroundings, the group on the cargo ship where the many beasts bought in the Snow Kingdom finally felt the situation improve.
Now the number of opponents directly attacking them had decreased. Because of this, the crew and Minos' soldiers who were protecting such cargo finally had the space to act more quickly.
"Come on, you bunch of useless people!"
"Don't waste the young master's efforts!"
Some of them shouted vigorously, encouraging the crewmen to put even more force into what they were doing so that they would take advantage of the 'lull' created by Minos.
They had already passed through the worst part of the naval blockade, and in a few minutes, they could enter the port of that naval base, a place protected by the medium-level grade-2 defensive array.
Hence, many there were eager to finish quickly with this traverse that was so close to being over!
And so, it didn't take long, and in less than half an hour, Minos had finished his business on that piece of Black Plain coastline and withdrawn from the battle.
Now it was time for him to escort that group back to Dry City!
...