“The Lords of the Blaze household aren’t what they used to be,” Hirak sighed deeply, “It doesn’t make sense how easily we’ve destroyed three settlements in a row. Let alone killing Olivia Blaze, it doesn’t make sense how our small army managed to breach their settlement. Where are their defenses? There are no active Orbs of Hostility, and the Pillars of Space aren’t active either. They purchased everything but did not empower them?”
“Maybe they didn’t have enough wealth to purchase Energy Stones or high-ranked monster cores?” Frederik responded with a shrug.
“The Blaze Patriarch was forced to flee into the Origin Expanse. He didn’t have a plan for his defeat. At least, that is what it looks like,” Rebecca explained. She had used her Soultrait and Soul Technique often in the last few days and understood the Blaze household’s situation well.
“The Blaze household must have prepared the Lord Tokens and some expensive Artifacts to establish their territories in the Sacred Desert, but their sudden defeat in the Tritan Alliance’s lands was not accounted for. They lost their whole fortune by being forced to flee. The only wealth left behind is everything they have stored in their War Runes. I doubt that the fortune in their War Rune storage was enough to establish their territory, summon more than a million subjects, establish a proper army of more than 100,000 Summons, and pay 1,000 Awakened as demanded by the Link of Loyalty between Awakened.”
Rebecca smiled but pointed at the settlement, or what was left of it, “But that is exactly what they managed to do. Their army was far from perfect with their strongest combatants being at the 2nd Tier, and they don’t have any energy-draining activated since they do not have anymore energy stones left to spare, but they managed to clear the Sacred Desert. Of course, it was a mistake from their side to think that Paradise Valley was without Lord, but that was an honest mistake.”
Michael raised one eyebrow, listening to Rebecca Zauber. Despite hating the Blaze family to the core, she managed to stay rational. The disgust and hatred in her eyes didn’t die even as she rationally shared her view of the Blaze household’s situation with everyone, but that was fine. Her view wasn’t influenced by the emotions ravaging her entire being.
“That doesn’t explain the current situation, though,” Hiraku noted, nodding at the incoming armies. They didn’t even have to analyze the armies to tell that two Lords of the Blaze household deployed their armies of Summons to deal with the unknown threat.
“I don’t understand their slow response as well. Maybe they thought we – the unknown danger – would be defeated. They might not have taken us very seriously at first. Or Olivia and her cousin weren’t able to inform the Blaze household. It is not unlikely that anybody has heard about us until now. Last but not least, moving massive armies isn’t that easy. If we didn’t have the Golden Queen Bee and her children to teleport the Untamed Army and all Awakened outside the settlement within a few minutes, we would have a hard time gathering and moving into formation as quickly as we’re currently moving.”
It had been less than 15 minutes since Frederik found the two Blaze armies, but the Untamed Army and its Awakened were already in position. The severely wounded soldiers and Awakened were still being tended to until they were well enough to organize the remaining citizens of the third settlement. They had yet to loot the settlement and would be thrown into battle soon, but organizing the citizens was still possible. The citizens were given the same choice as everyone else. They were told in great detail what would happen to them according to their final decision and were granted enough time to think about what they wanted to do.
Michael told the citizens, who were certain that he and his people would die in the next few days, to watch the carnage against the two armies.
However, before the Untamed Army clashed with the two Blaze Armies, Rebecca turned to Michael.
“I know you won’t like this, but I cannot find any members of the Blaze household on the frontlines of the charging armies. I think they left some of their strongest Awakened in their territory to protect themselves in case something happened. I don’t know if they don’t trust each other or know about the Untamed Army’s means of transportation, but the strongest High Awakened I can see are…”
“They’re at the Mid-rank of the 4th Tier,” Michael nodded. His Spirit Eyes concluded the same as Rebecca, but that didn’t change anything. At least, not to him. freewёbnoνel.com
“How about you leave the two armies to the Untamed Army while you take care of the two Lords and closest Subordinates inside their settlements?” Rebecca proposed.
Hiraku and the others didn’t say anything, but Michael could see approval in some of their eyes.
“I won’t be there to protect anyone,” Michael said in a matter-of-fact tone, “You won’t be able to depend on me. If you’re close to death, I won’t be there to rescue anyone. There will be no healing from me either.” “We know, but we also know that we cannot rely on you forever. You won’t be present for all battles in the future. As your territory expands, you will be busy with more tasks,” Daniel said, which surprised Michael a little. He didn’t expect his brother to agree. No, that wasn’t true. Michael knew that Daniel would say this. It was just that he didn’t want his brother to be like this. What if something happened?
‘Calm down. He is right. I can’t be there for them forever. All I can do is create opportunities for them to grow. Soultrait Symbols and resources for training and rapid progress are all I can offer. Acting like a nanny won’t prepare them for the future. They will have to learn how to fight alone. No, I have to learn how to let them fight without me.’
Michael chuckled lightly at his train of thought and nodded, “I will leave, but you have to promise me not to go overboard. Even if you guys are powerful, three or four Soultraits don’t make you invincible. There are many High Awakened among the two Blaze armies. Deal with them first while culling the weaklings with yo—…”
He noticed that everyone stared intently at him and sealed his lips. “I’m talking too much, aren’t I?” Michael scratched the back of his head and nodded toward Siegfried, Starheaven Pharaoh, and the other commanders and generals of the Untamed Army, “Take care of everyone. I trust everyone will do a great job.”
That being said, Michael chose to avoid a big farewell. After all, he was going to see his people again soon. He activated Cosmic Stride and left the Untamed Army with the Awakened to deal with the two settlements.
‘Everything will be fine. They will obliterate the Blaze armies with ease and return with the spoils of war!’
Michael’s biggest worries were the High Awakened of the Blaze household. If they could use the Primordial Bloodline technique, even Mekhaz, Jason Kleora, and Hiraku would have some issues killing them. There were also more Awakened on the two Blaze armies’ side. It was only fortunate that the Blaze armies didn’t have powerful Summons. Michael’s summons would bulldoze their armies easily.
‘Focus, Michael!’ He told himself before a familiar voice resurfaced in his mind.
[You are funny, Michael. Didn’t you say you trusted your people? Where is your trust? We don’t even have to do anything to stimulate our emotions. Your emotions are already a mess.] The World Serpent hissed in his mind.
“As annoying as ever. I didn’t miss you,” Michael grumbled.
[Don’t you think it is about time to activate more Seals? Can you handle the Blaze Patriarch with your meager power?]
The World Serpent had a point, but Michael merely smiled.
“I don’t need to grow stronger to kill the Blaze Patriarch. There is no need to worry about me, friend.”
[Worry? Friend? I think you’re grossly mistaken about some things. I am neither worried about your well-being nor our friends, kid!]
“Yes, yes. Say what you want, but you are worried. I’m not sure if you are more worried about my vessel since we’re connected through a fraction of your Essence or if you are genuinely worried about me. But you are worried!”
The World Serpent hissed in annoyance but didn’t respond. Instead, the Wolf Curse growled in amusement.
“Don’t act like you aren’t worried either. We might not have a proper discussion yet, but I can sense your turmoil of emotions whenever I use Permute. Your Essence has fused with me. I can tell how you feel!” It sounded like the Wolf Curse winced, only for that sound to be replaced by a mighty roar.
“Yes, of course. You are a bad and mighty wolf. You are the greatest of all Curses. A god amongst gods.” Michael snorted when he felt the Wolf Curse’s pride sweep through his entire body. [Don’t get cocky, pup] It wasn’t loud, but the words reverberated in Michael’s mind. Michael could barely make out the voice, recognizing that it hadn’t been the World Serpent who spoke to him. No, the Wolf Curse transmitted its annoyance into Michael’s mind with words rather than sounds.
Nonetheless, the Wolf Curse didn’t stop growling.
‘That’s new…’ Michael thought, the corner of his lip curling upward.
He was getting closer to his Curses, whether they liked it.