Michael saw the regret in the High Awakened’s eyes before the last traces of life in them dispersed. The Kalivera was no more than a lifeless body now that he was dead.
‘No matter what happens, I won’t die with any regrets!’ He swore in his mind.
In the first place, it was much better to regret what you have done than regret what could have been done. At least, that was what Michael thought.
It was not his motto, but he liked that mindset quite a bit. After all, it was much better to be proactive and give your best with everything you do than regretting having done too little, or nothing at all.
He collected the corpses around him, shaking his head lightly at the thought of missing the opportunity to resurrect his brother. Michael would give his utmost to resurrect his brother even at the risk of getting injured. Even if he was to fail, which wouldn’t happen, Michael would always know that he had given his utmost. He would regret not being able to protect his brother, but the regret would be different from what he would feel if he wasn’t even going to try, in the first place.
‘I will rescue him, one way or another. What am I even thinking about?!?’
Michael cursed himself a little bit. His focus turned back to the surroundings. He had to find the warehouses and treasure troves, including a bunch of Awakened.
There was no hesitation in his actions. He used Cosmic Stride after pinpointing a few locations where more energy gathered. A small warehouse entered his view alongside a bunch of Summons and Awakened, who plundered their dead Lord’s treasures.
Michael released a bunch of Icicle Bullets that pierced through their foreheads or the back of their heads, killing them instantly. He released his energy to store their corpses in the War Rune’s storage and inspected the remaining goods stored in the warehouse. 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚
“Why are they so fucking poor?” Michael scoffed, storing everything in his War Rune’s storage with a simple wave.
Cosmic Stride teleported him to the next spot where even more Awakened and Summons looted their dead Lord’s treasures. Michael killed them as well. However, instead of inspecting the goods in the slightly larger warehouse, Michael stored everything in one go.
He had already given up on finding any invaluable treasures in the Kalivera Lord’s territory. The biggest gains he could make were certainly from the Awakened’s SoulStar Fragments and Soultrait Symbols.
That was quite easy to achieve given that all Higher Lifeforms in the main settlement had been killed already. Michael could teleport to the locations where energy was amassed to kill everyone who was trying to plunder the dead Lord’s treasures, while the others traveled through the settlement to slaughter Combat Summons and Awakened.
Frederik was going crazy at the barracks. He unleashed his Inheritance Technique alongside the Customized Soul Technique Michael had created for Aeroan, killing dozens of Combat Summons at a time.
His wind blades and aero lances as Frederik named them beheaded and impaled the Kalivera easily. That was no surprise given that Frederik paid much attention to controlling Aeroan to dispel the green hue shrouding the winds under his control. Maintaining the invisibility of his wind blades and aero lances was not easy, but Frederik managed it somehow. His mental power was drained rapidly, however, Frederik didn’t even notice.
He felt a rush of adrenaline surge through his entire being as the enemies collapsed lifelessly in front of him. The sight of the destruction and deaths he caused with his tremendous power was addicting. It made Frederik lose the last bits of reasoning. He retrieved his energy reserves and tapped into the last bits of mental power, ignoring the bad headache that crept up the back of his head. All he could pay attention to was the energy influxes that flooded his War Rune and the sight of the dying Combat Summons in front of him.
At some point, Thaor, and Lokai had to join the battle. They had to help Frederik, who’d killed more than 1000 Combat Summons before his sight grew hazy. He tilted left and right and could barely catch himself before fainting.
Fainting in the middle of the battlefield was a one-way ticket to hell. It was something Frederik had to prevent at all costs. He pulled back from the battlefield after Lokai dragged him away and replenished his used-up energy and mental power with potions.
Once Frederik was not in their way anymore, the Berserkers could go all-out against the remaining Combat Summons and Awakened in and around the barracks. The main settlement had several large barracks with hundreds of residents. There were more than enough enemies for the Berserkers to fight and struggle. They sought adrenaline, dangerous fights, and near-death situations. It was almost as if they were adrenaline junkies looking forward to dying shortly after.
Michael knew enough about the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs to know that the Berserkers were likely to die sooner or later. However, if they survived by chance, the Berserkers would transform into one of the strongest forces in Michael’s army. Protecting his people was great, but Michael was also aware of the growth spurts provided by near-death situations. 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚
He encountered such situations often enough to tell that they allowed him to tap into powers and potential he wasn’t even aware he possessed. Taking such chances – life-threatening dangers – away from his people was similar to crippling their future potential and growth.
Of course, not everyone would survive, but those who overcame the ordeals would be stronger than ever.
Michael jumped to the barracks once to observe the Berserkers, but he moved away shortly. There was not much to see other than a bloody massacre.
The situation was very similar as Michael appeared near the Forest Elves to watch them for a minute. The only difference was that the Forest Elves didn’t enter close combat. They utilized their Pseudo-Legendary Bow Artifacts and Soultraits to hunt their targets, picking them out one by one.
Only Tiara traveled alone through the settlement, her movements deadly, nimble, and unpredictable.
She disregarded the civilians and everyone who was fleeing from her but slain everyone obstructing her path with a single strike. There was no mercy in Tiara’s movements. If anything, Tiara acted cruelly, slaughtering some idiots who charged at her thinking that she was about to kill their defenseless family.
Tiara didn’t even think about leaving those people alive. They were a potential future threat. As a Silverfang, Tiara knew better than anyone that underestimating her enemies, as well as showing mercy, was never rewarded. The Silverfang Tigerfolk had been punished for being merciful to their enemies. It resulted in the death of many Silverfangs and their forced retreat into the Origin Expanse.
Thinking about the Silverfangs that were still waiting for her to rescue them, Tiara sped up once again. Her attacks transformed and got sharper with every passing second. Blood splattered all over her body, but she moved onward.
There was no way back anymore. Hesitation could kill her and those important to her. All Tiara could do was move onward and do her best to take care of her beloved.
She didn’t want to lose anyone she loved ever again.
That wouldn’t happen again.
NEVER!
Updated from 𝘪.𝘤𝑜𝘮