?Fortunately, the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers didn’t take long to get equipped. They had already chosen what Soultrait Symbols they wanted and ensured their choices didn’t overlap. It was a good thing that Michael had more than 2,000 Soultrait Symbols to choose from. Otherwise, this would have gotten a little difficult.
One way or another, Michael was getting a little angsty. He hadn’t heard anything from Alice, Kaleb, and the rest since he returned to the Tritan Alliance. It was obvious that he hadn’t heard from Alice before because the Expanse Prism was broken, but now that he was back, it should have been possible for some people to message him back. However, the only one answering him on Starnet was Frederik. He finished the list of traitors and sent him the file to his crystal watch.
Michael hated that the others didn’t reply to his messages, and the urge to rush to the solar system overcame him, but he could restrain himself. It wasn’t feasible to rush to the solar system with the Chieftain and the rest. They had to ensure the Lumina Stellar System was safe to leave first.
Michael could leave alone for the solar system, but dealing with several Tier-6 powerhouses, who had Primordial Bloodline and other techniques from the Supreme Human Alliance up to their sleeves, was not exactly feasible. He was strong but not that strong. Yet, at least.
Michael checked the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers and noted that only six out of fifteen were at the 6th Tier. It didn’t sound like a lot for someone who’d been with many Divine Lifeforms for the last few months, but it was more than enough for the Tritan Alliance. There were less than two dozen Tier-6 powerhouses spread throughout the Tritan Alliance.
Michael didn’t know the exact number, but if the three races of the Tritan Alliance had roughly the same number of Tier-6 powerhouses, humans shouldn’t have more than seven or eight Tier-6—and not all of them would heed the Blaze Patriarch’s orders. Michael was certain the Seraph and Zenovia Matriarch wouldn’t follow the Blaze Patriarch’s orders, and it was also highly unlikely that the Patriarch of the Zeus family would follow their command.
Michael might not have the highest opinion of the Zeus family, but neither Killian nor Oliver treated the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs wrongly.
‘Nevermind, that’s not correct. Killian burned some Berserkers to a crisp in one of Piloq’s arenas. But then again, the Berserkers weren’t angry about that. They held Killian’s combat prowess in high regard.’
He thought about the past and his encounters with the Zeus family with a wry smile, only to recall something.
‘Wait, didn’t Rebecca tell me the Zeus family’s patriarch died from Lepodya? Did the Blaze Patriarch kill all powerhouses who went against him? But if that’s the case, the Zenovia and Seraph household should also be in a prickly situation.’
Michael imagined the worst and paled. He sincerely hoped that the others were fine.
“Is everyone ready?” Michael asked impatiently less than ten minutes after he had given the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs their 4-Star Soultraits.
It might take a bit longer to get used to their new Soultraits and new additions of powers, but they gained little understanding of their Soultraits through the information influx. Furthermore, their brains were already advanced and refined over and over again. It shouldn’t be too difficult for the powerhouses to use their Soultraits after ten minutes.
“Experience gained in a battle of life and death is the best experience,” Palika said lightly, “We are ready to go!”
Michael nodded and retrieved the Compass Relic. However, instead of using the Compass Relic like before, Michael tapped into the energy stored within the Relic. He used Cosmic Stride and drained enough energy accumulated within the Relic cross a considerable distance with 15 passengers.
“Can everyone survive in open space, or must you prepare a space suit?” Michael asked, ensuring everyone was ready to go.
The Chieftain and the War Priestess’ son stared at Michael for a few seconds, only for one of the Old Shamans to nod hesitantly, “We have no problem surviving in space for a while. We cannot stay there for days, but we won’t die the moment we’re outside the safety spheres of our planets. But why are you ask—…”
The Old Shaman couldn’t even finish his question. Michael shrouded everyone in the golden light of Cosmic Stride. They disappeared from their spot a moment later and re-emerged in the wide-open space. The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs reacted quickly, pulling up an energy membrane for protection.
Michael had done the same already but was more focused on the Compass Relic and Cosmic Stride. He licked his lip in impatience and curiosity and drained more energy from the Relic. Once again, they jumped through the open space, a greater distance than before.
‘I think I get it now.’ Michael nodded slowly, going for a third and fourth jump.
Less than ten minutes and more than a hundred jumps through space later, Michael and the others arrived at their first destination; A massive spacecraft hidden in an asteroid belt. It was nowhere near the last hiding spot where they hid the spaceship Dark Heavens used to blow Piloq apart, but Michael wondered if they had a fable for asteroid belts.
He shrugged after a second and looked at the others.
[Do you wanna blow it apart like this, or do you want to go inside to obliterate them?] Michael asked via Whispering Energy, ignoring their constant glares in his direction.
Michael merely smiled while giving them a choice until Palika pointed at the spaceship.
[Inside, then? That’s what I expected.] Michael responded with a grin.
Palika rolled his eyes and nodded. A moment later, Michael and the rest appeared above the spaceship. It was impossible to teleport inside the spaceship because there were some restrictions, but a fully empowered True Extraction Aura was enough to drain the energy in his immediate surroundings. That was enough to reach a nearby hatch used by the crew to repair surface damages in space when needed. Palika reached for the hatch, and his fingers dug into the highly tempered metal. His muscles flexed, and energy coursed through his body.
Then he pulled.
The hatch didn’t give in for a second but bent and twisted shortly after. It didn’t even take five seconds to tear the hatch out of the frame, revealing a small room. Michael and the others went inside. Palika was the last to follow. He tried to force the hatch back into place, but it didn’t work as intended. Michael appeared next to the man, using earth-attributed energy alongside more elemental energy to block the hole in the spaceship.
Once the hole was sealed, he used extraction to clear the room and conjured air with his wind-attributed energy. Michael took a deep breath and smiled.
“That was a nice trip, wasn’t it?” He asked teasingly, only to be frowned at.
“You could have warned us, you know?” One of the Warlock Centuars complained, but Michael merely shrugged.
“Warning? Like saying that there are a bunch of Dark Heavens members coming this way?” He asked, pointing in the direction of the door to their left. The hallway behind the door was long, but the Dark Heavens members weren’t slow. They reached the massive door to the vacuum room in no time.
Palika and the War Priestess’ son turned to the door, coursed energy through their bodies, and flexed their muscles. The War Priestess’ son expanded in size; his body was shrouded in pristine light, and his eyes glowed vibrantly. His physical strength skyrocketed. The Chieftain didn’t transform like his partner standing next to him. Instead of transforming, Palika pressed his flat hands against the door. A surge of energy flowed through his hands, and he unleashed his Soultraits.
The massive metal door was ripped apart, and massive chunks were hurled toward the Dark Heavens members. One of them was unlucky, a sharp piece of metal smashing into his head, piercing his departed eye at top speed.
Their comrade’s downfall shocked the Dark Heavens members but they activated their Soultraits and techniques and charged ahead nonetheless.
Their power level skyrocketed, but the Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers behind the War Priestess’ son didn’t remain motionless. Some unleashed their Soultraits to augment the War Priestess’s son’s combat prowess, while others slowed down the enemies. The son of the War Priestess, Niechol, charged ahead, unleashing his main Soultrait, Unstoppable, at full charge.
If not for Spirit Eyes, Michael would have had difficulties seeing Niechol. He transformed into a flash and disappeared from the Dark Heavens members’ sight. The sound of bones being crushed to smithereens resounded as Niechol shot past the first human enemy. The Dark Heavens member didn’t even know what happened when his rib cage burst open. His pelvis, legs, and arms broke and twisted as the man tried to block the horrifying glowing Warlock Centaur’s charge.
Michael’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits.
‘[Pristine Glow] evolved into [Divine Light] when I upgraded it to 4-Star. I expected it to be powerful, but combined with [Power Up] and [Unstoppable], it’s on a different level. Would Bloodhound be able to stop something like that? Probably if he uses Primordial Bloodline…but without that?’
Michael was not sure, but he was excited. A single charge was enough to kill several Higher Lifeforms in the wake of Niechol’s power.
Some survived, but Michael decided to get rid of them before the others could. Extraction might work on the fresh corpses slain by other people, but it was drastically weakened. Michael would much rather deal the finishing blow to all enemies to make up for investing more than 10,000 SoulStar Fragments into the 30 Soultrait Symbols he’d provided the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.
He channeled Cosmic Stride, killing some Higher Lifeforms before storing their corpses in his War Rune storage. Palika and the others finished the others, but Michael triggered True Extraction with all Cursed Seals triggered and pressed his hand against the corpses’ chests.
His entire focus was on the SoulStar Fragments as he used True Extraction. Augmented by a Soul Tear and supported by several Enhancement Layers, Michael extracted a bunch of SoulStar Fragments, but it wasn’t worth the effort. He clicked his tongue and stored the corpses away. Since he couldn’t extract much from them, he might as well utilize Swallow Domain on the corpses when he desperately needed more healing serum, origin energy, or lifeforce. Maybe even curse power or the trace of his Curses’ Essences.
Their corpses were of some value. That was all that mattered.
Michael nodded to the others, and they moved onward.
It might be possible to destroy the spaceship with the combined power of the six Tier-6 powerhouses, but they wanted to guarantee that Dark Heavens was pushed to the brink of extinction in the next few days. They had had enough of the traitorous organizations!
The Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs split up at the next intersection. Two Tier-6 powerhouses were teamed up with some Tier-5 powerhouses, and Michael formed two teams of five and one team of six before moving in different directions. Michael proposed the plan because Spirit Eyes didn’t find a Tier-6 powerhouse besides the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.
That was expected since most Tier-6 human powerhouses were either with the Blaze Patriarch, roaming openly with their families, or dying. Michael doubted that there were anymore hidden Tier-6 powerhouses at this point. Except if they were cowardly or waiting for a better moment before revealing themselves. However, the former would mean they successfully to attain Tier-6 while being cowards. That was highly unlikely. The latter…was more likely, but Michael hoped the hidden powerhouses were on their side.
It would be troublesome if anymore powerful humans were to team up with the Blaze Patriarch.