At last, the Blood-eyed Minotaur did it. It caught Tiara just before retreating.
The dazzling reflection of the silver spear hadn't been enough to force the Minotaur to give up.
The black smoke engulfing the Minotaur burned Tiara's fur as she continued to viciously claw the Minotaur.
She began to scream like a trapped beast, blood spurting out of her nose and ears, and her eyes turned bloody red.
'Fuck fuck fuck!!' Michael screamed in his mind. He pulled out the Seron Voulge, ready to use every bit of strength inside his body to sever the Minotaur's hand holding Tiara. However, Seron Voulge got stuck the next moment.
The Minotaur's other hand grasped Seron Voulge tightly while staring at Michael in amusement.
It had been consumed with anger, and the desire to kill, but at this moment, the Minotaur's entire being felt a sense of amusement.
Seeing the reaction of the young man, and watching him struggle as he put more strength in the hand holding the Tigress filled him with a new feeling, something he hadn't felt while destroying the Tier-2 Monster habitats – excitement.
Watching the young man's struggle excited the Minotaur. It made him want to see more of his despair and to be able to watch the young man's crumbling confidence and expression as he witnessed the desperate struggles of the Tigress and force him to see the spark of life leaving her eyes while he watched helplessly, unable to do anything.
But, Michael was not going to let that happen, not when he could still breathe. He instinctively dematerialized Seron Voulge, inched closer to the Minotaur, and jumped high up in the air.
With his muscles coiled and his heart beating wildly, he shot up. Michael's target was the Minotaur's unscathed eye. He hoped that the Minotaur would react instinctively and protect its last unharmed eye. After all, it was fated to die the moment it lost both of its eyes. And when that happened, Michael and his people could retreat, wait for the Burning Life ability to wear off, and slaughter the blind monster in its weakened state.
But Michael miscalculated something. He didn't expect the Minotaur to stare at him and smash its iron-like skull downward. It headbutted Michael, not with full force, but with a force strong enough to make him dizzy and make sure that he wouldn't be able to do anything about what happened next.
Michael felt like his skull was about to burst when the Minotaur headbutted him. His sight blurred for a few seconds and his mind went totally blank.
The last thing he remembered was that he smashed hard on the ground and blood was pouring down his face.
As he regained his composure several seconds later, Michael's head flicked upward. The Knights and Berserker had been pushed away. Some of their bones were broken, rendering them incapable of continuing the fight against the Minotaur.
However, none of them was dead.
The Minotaur felt it was high on adrenaline that was pumping in its body while watching Michael's fear and desperation. It wanted to see him struggle more, watch him as he slowly lost his sanity at the death of his precious comrades and subjects.
'Fucking piece of shit!' Michael screamed in his mind.
He unleashed the braided Spirit Whip in its strongest form and whipped the Minotaur several times. The Minotaur responded by further tightening its grip over Tiara. She was scrambling against its body, trying to kick and claw while gasping for air. A pain-driven squeal was all she could issue at this moment. Her movements were weak and all it required was a little bit more strength to break her neck. Yet, the Minotaur didn't move. It watched Michael as he struggled to get up from the ground.
'They suffered enough…I…I cannot…'
Michael's mind was a mess. His head felt like it was on the verge of exploding and his vision was blurred. Blood covered his right eye and he could hardly move.
However, he couldn't give up. If he allowed the Minotaur to keep killing his people, it wouldn't be over with Tiara. Tiara was just the beginning.
Michael knew that he shouldn't allow the Minotaur to keep going, but he was too weak.
Just as Michael thought Tiara was taking her last breath, a terrifying scream rang through the surrounding area.
The scream made Michael's skin prickle with nervousness. It was filled with emotions and felt oddly weird when it reached Michael as if it didn't belong to this realm.
The scream originated from behind them, from the Summoner's location.
At last, the summoning circle had been completed, and a haunting figure had emerged out of it.
A monster, mantled in darkness and clad in tattered, blackened robes was now standing in front of them. Its eyes, hollow and malevolent, cast an eerie light on the bloody battlefield, while its semi-translucent skeletal hands stretched out toward the sky.
Floating above the ground and exuding frosty, vengeful energy, the haunting figure seemed to be silencing all the sound around itself.
As the haunting figure passed through the battlefield, a heavy gloom descended, and the atmosphere seemed to be screaming in terror and fright as ripples of energy could be seen with the bare eye.
It seemed ethereal, distorting, and warping, as if caught between dimensions, unable to ascend into the afterlife, and banished from the mortal realms at the same time.
The haunting figure, a Vengeful Ghost, represented the torment of the soul. Draped in darkness, it infused a sense of despair in the skin, flesh, and bones of those, who were brave, or stupid enough to stare at it.
'Oh my…' Michael nearly screamed aloud as he recognized the existence the Summoner had manifested.
A Vengeful Ghost, and an existence without a physical body. An existence that was far from being alive, but unable to leave the physical world due to the hatred and resentment that had corrupted its soul.
Fighting such an existence unprepared would lead to the loss of sanity, at best, and the loss of one's soul in the worst case.
Such an existence ended up summoned and subdued, fighting on their side, against the Minotaur.
Even though the Summoner couldn't keep the Vengeful Ghost for a long time in the Origin Expanse, a short period was all they needed!
The Summoner commanded the Vengeful Ghost to attack the Minotaur, which it did immediately.
As the Vengeful Ghost shot through the air like a semi-translucent bolt of lightning, the Minotaur felt danger approaching rapidly towards itself.
The sense of danger was intense and affected the Minotaur's mind immediately.
Michael's danger senses were tingling as well, but he trusted his subject and hoped that the Vengeful Ghost was completely under the Summoner's control.
He manifested several braided Spirit Whips and lashed out simultaneously.
The Vengeful Ghost appeared above the Minotaur the next moment, and its gloomy pressure immediately affected the Minotaur, who was already in pain.
Burning Life fueled its anger and physical strength but didn't enhance the Minotaur's mental power. In fact, it weakened the Minotaur's willpower in exchange for the power the Unique Racial Ability granted.
The Minotaur responded quickly. It let go of Tiara and kicked fiercely.
Now that Tiara couldn't satisfy him anymore, keeping her alive was of no meaning.
Michael saw the glint in the Minotaur's eyes and responded by pure instinct. He jumped ahead, took Tiara in his embrace, and held her tightly. Simultaneously, he unleashed the full power of his protection enchantment and strengthened both the protection of his Artifacts and the protection enchantments with Lesser Enhancement.
Yet, even after doing everything he could to protect himself, Michael felt as if his entire body was breaking apart the moment the Minotaur's kick impacted.
At last, Michael thought he heard the sound of cracking bones.
The next moment he was flung through the air before he could launch a counterattack.
Meanwhile, the Minotaur began to struggle against the Vengeful Ghost.
