The moment the monster, whose magnificent sight captured the essence of a prehistoric existence, appeared high up above them, Michael came to a realization.
‘The canopy of the Untamed Jungle protects its inhabitants from the ferocious existences in the sky!’
He was terrified and rightfully so.
High-voltage electricity currents engulfed the earthy tones of the prehistoric monster as it issued an earth-shattering screech. Icarus’ body stiffened and he instinctively adjusted his wings to lose altitude. The closer they were to the Untamed Jungle, the higher their chances of survival were.
‘What is a Tier-4 Thunder Pteranodon King doing in the outer area of the Untamed Jungle?!?’
No matter how terrified Michael might be, it didn’t make sense that a Thunder Pteranodon King turned the aerial space above the Untamed Jungle’s outskirts into its territory.
Monsters with the name ‘King’ in their names may not be on the same level as Saint Beasts, or Mythical Creatures, but they were existences with enough strength to fight monsters a rank above their Tier head-on. They may not necessarily win, but they wouldn’t easily lose either.
For a Tier-4 King-level Monster to turn the space above the Untamed Jungle’s outskirts into its territory…what kind of nonsense was that?
The Thunder Pteranodon King was one of the few existences Michael had read about. It was a terrifying King-level monster that was known for living high up on the peak of the Thunder Range. The Thunder Pteranodon King ought to love regions where thunder-attributed origin energy was present.
Attributed origin energy was rare, especially rare elemental origin energy such as thunder origin energy. Yet, such an existence chose to stay in the Untamed Jungle? Did someone throw logic into the garbage bin?
Just as Michael thought that it couldn’t get any worse and that the Thunder Pteranodon King would strike them with a bolt of compressed lightning, the atmosphere all over the Untamed Jungle changed suddenly.
The dark clouds manifested by the Thunder Pteranodon King dispersed as the intensity of the sun increased severalfold. It was impossible for Michael or anyone else to look high up into the sky because it was too dazzling.
The sky was shrouded in a golden light that expanded infinitely.
And it seemed as if time slowed down for Michael all of a sudden. He felt weird as if someone was watching him from afar. Michael broke out in a sweet and goosebumps spread all over his body.
The next moment, a heavy pressure weighed down on him, Icarus, and Heran. His body stiffened and he felt incapable of even moving an inch.
Even Icarus stopped moving, unable to flap its wings. However, instead of falling to the ground as they should have, they remained hovering in mid-air.
Michael’s eyes were fixated on the Thunder Pteranodon King, but something was odd. At first, he thought that the Thunder Pteranodon King was playing with them and that it was at fault for the heavy pressure.
However, Michael was quickly proven wrong as he made eye contact with the fear-stricken eyes of the Thunder Pteranodon King.
‘Oh fuck…’
Micheal could clearly see the Thunder Pteranodon King struggling while the heavy pressure weighed down on its body, pushing it down. It struggled desperately and regained control of its beak-like mouth. The next moment, it screeched out loudly.
To Michael the screech felt like it was filled with desperation, the fear of death, and the monster’s unwillingness to succumb to its fate.
But it couldn’t escape its fate, no matter how much it struggled.
Before its desperate screech dispersed in the seemingly endless sky, the Thunder Pteranodon King’s wings caught fire.
Blazing, azure-blue flames engulfed the Thunder Pteranodon King’s wings entirely within seconds, and they continued to expand. In less than half a minute, the entire humongous body of the Thunder Pteranodon King was shrouded in blazing azure-blue flames.
The desperate screeches of the monster turned into pitiful, pained wails that seemed to be pleading for mercy, and to end its misery.
However, Michael and the others could only watch with a horrified expression. The heavy pressure weighing down on them prevented them from moving. They couldn’t even close their eyes from the terrifying sight unfolding in front of them.
The smell of burning, sizzling flesh reached their nostrils, and smoke spread everywhere as the dark outlines of the burning Thunder Pteranodon King distorted.
At a speed much faster than Michael could have ever expected, a Tier-4 King-level monster had met its death, and a pitiful way at that. The magnificent creature had burned to a crisp without the slightest chance to even flee, forget about fighting its opponent.
The Thunder Pteranodon King didn’t even see its opponent before it died miserably.
Would the same happen to Michael and his subjects?
They were merely insignificant ants in the face of the Thunder Pteranodon King. Shouldn’t that mean the being that killed the Thunder Pteranodon King easily wouldn’t notice their existence, in the first place?
It was only after the Thunder Pteranodon King turned into ashes that Michael saw a huge shadow in the seemingly infinite sky.
The shadow was humongous even from tens of kilometers above them. Its outlines looked like a serpent slithering through the air, but it had two magnanimous pairs of feathered wings as well.
Michael couldn’t make out who exactly this mysterious monster was even after he used Eagle Eyes at their full capacity.
The dazzling golden hue in the air disappeared following the death of the Thunder Pteranodon King. Simultaneously, the blazing azure flames dispersed in all directions.
Hot air blasted upon Michael’s face, forcing him to close his eyes.
It was only then that he realized the heavy pressure weighing down on him had also vanished. He could move freely once again and opened his eyes wide.
He searched the sky for the humongous serpent but couldn’t find it anymore. It left, just like that.
The next moment, Icarus regained control of his body as well.
Heran shivered in terror, and Icarus’ initial excitement seemed to have disappeared after the spine-chilling encounter.
What they had witnessed just now was simply too terrifying!
Michael pressed his right hand against his chest in an attempt to calm down his wildly beating heart, but it hardly worked. His entire body continued to shiver, recalling the pitiful demise of the Thunder Pteranodon King, and the mysterious humongous serpent.
“Buddy…I think it’s better if we fly at a lower altitude…” Michael ordered Icarus at last.
Icarus followed Michael’s order quietly. They flew across the canopy of trees, not uttering a single sound in the hopes of not attracting the attention of another terrifying aerial beast.
They didn’t fear the monsters living on the ground of the Untamed Jungle’s outer area. However, the space above the Untamed Jungle was an uncharted territory. It was terrifying, and a place that ought to be avoided if possible.
Flying at a low altitude seemed a safe bet for short distances, but Michael didn’t dare to make long trips at a high altitude.
Even Icarus didn’t dare to do so anymore. The Greater Eagle was a prideful monster with great prowess, but it was incomparably weaker than the two monsters they’d encountered in air.
It knew that the sky several meters above the canopy of the Untamed Jungle was off its limits.