573 One vs All
Michael collected and stored the Awakened’s corpses in the War Rune before retreating once again.
He expected to attract the attention of the groups close to him, but nobody turned around in a hurry. The commotion of his surprise attacks was not as attention-grabbing as he had expected. Erupting the Dome of Extraction to extract the majority of the sounds, smell, vibration, temperature changes, and energy fluctuations during the fight had been quite helpful.
It was not perfect, but it was good enough that most of them did not suspect an enemy lurking in the shadows or expected to be in immediate danger. Nonetheless, some Awakened turned around in confusion. They felt that something was wrong but they couldn’t make out what happened.
‘That won’t work anymore,’ Michael figured, sensing that everyone was a lot more vigilant than before. Their danger senses picked up something, and it affected the Awakened subconsciously. They raised their guard to be ready to fight at all times.
Michael changed his position and retreated further. His head flicked to the right where some predators were hiding in the shadows of the towering trees. The creatures avoided the Awakened, their instincts telling them that the Awakened were strong enough to end their lives. Maybe, they could kill one of them, but that was not enough against enemies ranging in the hundreds.
Michael appeared behind the predators suddenly and unleashed the full power of the Legendary Ring Artifact’s dragon might. The dragon might enveloped the predators, who reacted instantaneously. Their instincts told them to run for their lives, and that was exactly what they did.
They dashed away from Michael and the dragon might. The predators made a commotion as they ran hither thither like headless chickens, which attracted the Awakeend’s attention. The Awakened unsheathed their weapons and glanced to their left side where they saw dozens of predators charge ahead.
Their first thought was that the predators noticed them and decided to initiate a astonish attack on them. However, they noticed quickly that the monsters were running away from something.
Their vigilance increased by a notch, while the tension in their bodies skyrocketed.
The Awakened stared at their left, ready to face a monstrosity strong enough to scare mighty Tier-3 predators. But nothing came. No more sounds reached them from the left. Instead, screams of pain and muffled noises resounded through the vicinity from the other side.
Michael didn’t attack the hidden force of the Council of Xylon openly for now. He used the fleeing predators to distract the Awakened and pull their focus away. He then shot to the other side, utilizing the Heavenly Beast Physique.
Michael had been altering the Common Class Soul Technique a little bit, adjusting the technique to Superior Constitution’s characteristics. Simultaneously, Michael used up several Soul Tears to strengthen his Soul, along with his Soultraits, Superior Constitution, Enhancement, and Reinforced Sword Qi.
Heavenly Beast Physique’s potency raised to new heights thanks to Soul Tear’s potency amplification while applying several layers of Enhancement to his physique, Reinforced Sword Qi, and the Aethyr blade that had grown out of his hand.
Every layer of Enhancement resulted in increased efficiency, and power amplification of roughly 63% due to Soul Tear’s potency reinforcement. Enhancement’s tremendous power was enough to elevate Michael’s raw physical strength to the Peak of Tier-3. Meanwhile, Heavenly Beast Physique granted enough strength to push him beyond the Peak of Tier-3.
Michael’s raw physical strength skyrocketed and was eerily close to the raw force a Higher Lifeform could unleash. .
He appeared on the other side of the hidden force, the Aethyr Blade mantled in Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi, and initiated a gruesome massacre. He twisted his body and lunged forward, the Aethyr Blade beheading one Awakened with a single strike. Using the accumulated momentum to his advantage, Michael released the Reinforced Sword Qi at the tip of the Aethyr Blade, creating a projectile with tremendous destructive power.
The Sword Qi projectile burst through the 1-Star Tier-1 Leather Armor Artifact of the next closest Awakened, piercing deep into his chest.
Michael kicked the ground the moment the accumulated momentum had been used up. A single push was all it took to cross the remaining distance to reach the next group of Awakened. The Aethyr Blade transformed into a huge war axe as Michael plunged the Aethyr downward. Warm blood gushed in all directions as the targeted Awakened split in two.
Michael’s danger sense kicked in a quarter of a second later. He retracted the Aethyr and leapt high into the air. A Qi Sword manifested beneath him in the air barely a fraction of a second later. It was angled and pointed a little sideways, allowing Michael to push to the side the moment his feet touched the Qi Sword. .𝒎
Michael didn’t hesitate a single second. He kicked the Qi Sword, shattering it as he propelled his body to a different spot within the vicinity. He somersaulted as he was about to crash into a nearby tree and kicked the tree trunk just in time to land back on the ground.
While showing off his acrobatic talent, Michael didn’t stay idle either. He conjured hundreds of Glacicles in the undergrowth within his range and inserted a trace of Extraction into them. Everyone’s focus was pulled to him, hiding the subtle energy fluctuations his Glacicles exuded naturally. Only a few observed the Glacicles, and even they didn’t react fast enough as Michael unleashed them with a burst of energy.
The Glacicle shot in all directions, impacting near-
instantaneously as they reached the closest targets. The traces of Extraction entered the bodies and Artifacts of the Awakened naturally due to Insert’s lasting effect. The traces took root inside the enemies and devoured their energy at once.
Michael erupted the Dome of Extraction to extract more lifeforce and energy from his surroundings. Hundreds of Extraction tendrils shot out of the ground and tapped into the flora and fauna around him to replenish Michael’s stamina and energy instantaneously. Michael used the replenished energy to empower Extraction and insert the large tendrils into the Awakened, which were daring enough to get close to him.
Dozens of Awakened rushed at him, but none of them could block the Extraction – Insert combination. They tried to block the golden tendrils as they entered their bodies but it was to no avail.
‘These guys are definitely not an Elite force from the Council’s Clans.’
Michael had enough time to analyze his enemies and it was pretty obvious that though the Council’s forces were stronger than ordinary people, they weren’t extraordinary. The Valyr Lordess’ Super Elite Force would crush the 300 Awakened in the Untamed Jungle with ease, probably without losing a single Valyrian as well!
‘Maybe, the Council’s Lord didn’t receive as much help as the Trilance because everyone is certain of their victory? They’re a Patchwork Kingdom with more than 100 Lords, after all. There is no need for all of them to request the help of their respective races’ Super Elite forces…’
Michael was not certain whether his guesses were right or not, but he could tell fairly easily that the teamwork of the Awakened could have been better. Their Soultraits were well-
trained, but as they were ordinary Adventurers without Lord Powers, the Soul Power they’d accumulated left much to be desired. The Adventurers’ Soultraits were hardly amplified.
The complete opposite was the case for Michael. His Soultraits were all powerful and each of his Soultraits had amassed a tremendous amount of Soul Power, granting him the power needed to manifest close to 100 compressed Glacicle Swords that were further amplified with Reinforced Sword Qi and traces of Extraction inserted in them.
The Glacicle Swords appeared around Michael seemingly out of nowhere. They appeared all of a sudden, almost as if retrieved from Michael’s spatial storage, and were released with a burst of energy a quarter of a second later. The Awakened in his immediate surroundings tried to react in time, but they didn’t manage to evade the incoming attack despite their quick reflexes. They erupted with origin energy and retrieved shields from their War Rune’s storage, or utilized their defensive-type Soultraits, but the massive Glacicle Swords rained down on them like a shower of deadly projectiles.
Following Michael’s commands, the Glacicle Swords pierced through the defenses until they were forcefully stopped. By the time the Glacicle Swords were stopped, the layer of Reinforced Sword Qi erupted with tremendous power. The Glacicle Swords shattered, releasing the freezing mist that had been compressed within, while simultaneously pushing the Sword Qi projectile ahead.
Chaos and death descended on the Awakened soon after.
[A/N: I released a new – rather short – story on Royalroad. It’s called Forgotten Lands. If you’re interested check it out. The story has been collecting dust in my docs for a while. Read it and give it a rating. It might turn into a proper story if you guys like it/rate it well ;D]
This content is taken from 𝘳𝑎.𝒸ℴ