Before the headless body of the second strongest Lionheart could touch the ground, Tiara dashed away.
The moment her feet kicked from the ground she turned into a cannonball. She appeared next to the Lionheart Leader and became the Vanguard while the others supported her from all directions.
Meanwhile, Michael moved in the direction of the six Lionhearts. Their flames shot through the rows of Starless Summons, burning their clothes and skin. The Starless Summons charged at the Lionhearts recklessly, unable to make use of any of their strategies due to the great impact the fire affinity had on them.
Michael shot through the flames with tremendous speed. The Boots of Taran had already caught fire, but Michael didn’t care about that at this point. If his Artifacts would break and burn in today’s fight, so be it! He would sacrifice all his wealth to save his beloved subjects.
He channeled more energy in the Boots of Taran to keep using the highest form of the Swiftness enchantment. In the next moment, he was engulfed in the blazing flames of the six Lionhearts, betting his life on the water membrane created by Kelia Tan. The Water Elemental Mage in his team was powerful and Michael was certain that her aid was more than enough to defeat the six Lionhearts.
Tigerfang shimmered like the sea of stars in a cloudless night as Michael swung it. The thin longsword cut through the flames and inched closer to the neck of the closest Lionheart. The Lionhearts burst forth with more blazing flames. Their flames engulfed Michael, burning his Boots of Taran, clothes, and the hair beneath.
But that was already it. The Lionhearts’ flames didn’t come in contact with his skin yet thanks to the water membrane protecting him. However, it was only a matter of time before the water membrane would evaporate.
Michael’s movements became even more agile and swift upon noticing that he was pressed on time. Tigerfang cut through the throat of the closest Lionheart, who had been fully focused on burning Michael alive.
The Lionheart didn’t expect Michael to continue advancing through the flames like a suicidal maniac. This turned into the Lionheart’s greatest pitfall and the reason he died miserably.
Michael felt the resistance of the Lionheart’s flesh when he cut through his throat, but he didn’t pay any attention to it. Instead, he appeared next to the second Lionheart and pierced through his eye. The blade dug deep into the Lionheart’s brain. Michael twisted Tigerfang and pulled it out before he advanced to the third opponent.
He felt the searing heat engulfing him increase, however, he couldn’t stop now – not when he was so close to eliminating the threat. Michael advanced and faced the third Lionheart in the sea of flames.
At this point, he realized that the water membrane had completely evaporated. The smell of his charred flesh stung his nostrils and his eyes hurt tremendously as they watered due to the heat. In fact, his entire body hurt like hell as he was on fire, every inch of his skin getting burned.
He endured the horrendous pain and grit his teeth, delivering the final blow to the third Lionheart swiftly. In the next instance, the sea of flames dispersed.
‘Hmm?’
Michael knew that so far he had killed only half of the Lionhearts, who had been attacking his Starless Summons, so why would the sea of flames disperse suddenly?
Michael ignored the pain all over his body and looked at the three other Lionhearts. His eyes widened and he momentarily forgot about the pain he felt.
More than two dozen Starless Summons had surrounded the three Lionhearts, killing them by inflicting dozens of injuries that were – more or less – serious. But that was not what shocked Michael.
The two dozen Starless Summons looked no less than living torches. Their bodies were charred, and their Links of Loyalty were dangerously weak. If they had stayed engulfed in the blazing sea of flames for another second or two, they would burn to death.
Michael was already a Tier-1 Lord with strong external enhancements owed to his Artifacts. This allowed him to endure the sea of flames much better than his Starless Summons, which were not only without external enhancement from Artifacts but also Tierless and only at the Low and Mid refinement stages.
Michael’s body moved instinctively. He accessed his War Rune and retrieved the strongest healing potions he had. He removed the lids and poured the content in the wide-open mouths of his trusted subjects.
“Don’t fall asleep just yet!” He ordered in a tone that didn’t allow disobedience.
His head turned to the other Starless Summons.
“Take care of the injured and treat them with potions. Don’t give them more than one potion at once, otherwise, they might die from the sudden influx of too much life force. Only if they’re dying even after you gave them one potion can you give them another one,” Michael commanded in a steady voice.
“Don’t let anyone die!!”
Michael shot up with these words.
He was also injured and growing increasingly tired. His body hadn’t even been able to adjust to his War Rune advancing to the 1st Tier, and it was forced to accommodate the new power and the heavy toll of being injured simultaneously while fighting unexpected attackers.
But that didn’t mean he could rest just yet.
Michael rushed over to Tiara and the others. He was certain that they would be fine now that Tiara was there, but Michael didn’t want to postpone the end of the battle. He wanted to kill the Lionheart Leader and end this misery.
The Lionheart Leader noticed that he was all by himself when the Lord of the territory charged at him. He was already struggling to keep the bloodthirsty Tigress at bay, while the insects kept poking at his skin every now and then.
However, with the arrival of the Tier-1 Lord, the situation turned from bad to worse. Traces of panic appeared in his eyes, followed by confusion and anger at last.
He had killed enough enemies to provide the other Lionhearts with a tremendous advantage. Fighting a few hundred Tierless opponents shouldn’t have been so difficult. They were not only Lionhearts, beings born to be powerful, but all of them were Tier-1 Adventurers with at least one Tier-1 Artifact.
It was impossible for the Tierless citizens of the territory to win against him. However, from the moment more than 150 Starless Summons chose to aid their Lord in the battle – knowing that they were likely to die – the tides of the battle changed.
“How…that Elven bastard…lied to us? Is that it? He said that…there was…” The Lionheart Leader couldn’t control his emotions anymore.
The flames exuded by the strands of hair all over his body engulfed him suddenly and a fierce roar left his lips.
However, in the next moment, a silver spear pierced through the searing hot flames and blood spurted through the surroundings.
Following Tiara’s spear thrust, several arrows and bolts coated by the highly potent paralysis poison impacted with a loud thud. Meanwhile, the blades of the remaining Warriors and the Knights in training found their way to the Lionheart Leader as well. They drove their blades deep into the flesh of the Lionheart Leader, ignoring the blazing flames engulfing their opponent.
More than a dozen arrows and bolts were already stuck in the Lionheart Leader’s body, but he was still moving. At first, everyone thought that the Lionheart Leader was immune to the highly potent venom, or that the venom was burned when the arrows pierced through the flames before they impacted on the target.
But that was proven wrong as the Lionheart Leader began to stagger. At last, the Lionheart Leader began to struggle.
He was still in disbelief given the turn of events. A territory with less than 30 proper Warriors and only two beings at Tier-1 were able to defeat an adventurer team of more than 40 Tier-1 Lionhearts!! Their refinement degree at the first Tier was not even bad either, yet he and his team had lost – or were about to lose.
What was the reason?
Was it the Lord’s impeccable archer skills, or was it the Silver Tigress’ tremendous combat prowess?
What the Lionheart Leader didn’t realize was that they lost because they had grossly underestimated those who were weaker than them.
They didn’t think highly of the Tierless Warriors, forget about the Starless Summons. In their eyes, they were weak and could be ignored. They were trash in their eyes, and it made them believe they could simply charge into the territory and bulldoze it.
However, what happened was that this so-called ‘trash’ outmaneuvered them by bravely entering the battlefield and heroically storming through their opponents – knowing deep down that they were likely to lose their lives. Underestimating an opponent who was willing to die for his ideals was a grave mistake. It was something only fools would do…or the dead.
The Lionhearts were fools and dead by now.
Realizing his grave mistake too late, the Lionheart Leader knew that he was about to die.
He didn’t want to go down like this, but there was nothing he could do now to bring back his people.
With that in mind, he retrieved a fist-sized object from his War Rune.
In the next moment, the flames all over his body were absorbed by the metal object.
‘Is that a bomb? Is he trying to take us with him?!?’