Michael escaped the blazing flames by sneaking out through the back of the commanding tent. He rushed outside and found the exact location of the Twin Lions.
It was not difficult to find them since their roars could be heard throughout the camp's center.
They didn't seem pleased seeing Michael and began to utilize their Soultraits at once.
The left Lionheart's mane turned pitch-black as if all light had been taken away, while the right Lionheart's mane turned white. It exuded a faint shimmering light.
By utilizing their Soultraits, the Twin Lions' flames began to change as well. The Black Twin's flames turned dark like the abyss, while the White Twin's flames changed into a dazzling white tone.
'This seems more troublesome than the memories showed,' Michael could only think.
He frowned deeply, but he didn't hesitate to initiate an attack. He kept utilizing the Siltang Bow and released a few energy-condensed arrows.
Before charging straight toward the Twin Lions, Michael wanted to find out the exact power level of their dark and white flames. They were stronger than the blazing flames of ordinary Lionhearts, but he didn't know by how much.
Soon enough, Michael figured out that his energy-condensed arrows couldn't even get close to the Twin Lions. The energy-condensed arrows burst apart, and the energy dispersed in all directions the moment they entered the range of the dark and white flames.
The dark flames corrupted the energy arrows, decaying them while the white flames ended up burning the other arrows.
'That's quite bad.' Michael began to curse, only to realize something much worse.
Several Links of Loyalty were suddenly cut, indicating the death of multiple Warriors.
Michael was surprised about the sudden disappearance of several Links of Loyalty, and he immediately contacted Sun Demos through telepathic communication.
[What's going on over there?!]
[Guckuck. Guck. Guck Guckguck!!]
[The Beast Stampede was already stopped, and the Adventurers started counterattacking? Fuck!]
Michael didn't like the sudden turn of events. He'd hoped that the Jungle Expedition's main force would slowly weaken and that his people would annihilate them one after another. But since the Beast Stampede had been stopped this was very unlikely.
[Retreat if necessary. Exploit the traps and hunt smaller groups. Use the Untamed Jungle to your advantage!] Michael ordered Sun Demos, who sent a telepathic affirmation in response.
Other than giving a few orders, Michael could hardly do anything to help his people right now. By the time he returned, the climax of the battle was likely to have passed.
The only thing he could do was to hurry up and defeat the Twin Lions, which sounded easier than it was.
Time was running out, and Michael didn't have the luxury to think thoroughly about the choices he had. The best he could do was to follow his gut feeling and consider his choice of actions for a short moment before he would go ahead and act upon them.
Michael released three more energy arrows before he entered the deepest part of his subconscious. For a moment, he considered using the 3470 SoulStar Fragments he had left to upgrade Spirit Whip or Enhancement.
However, he changed his mind on a whim, investing every single SoulStar Fragment into Extraction.
The frame of a sixth Star formed on the Soultrait Symbol for Extraction as the Symbol devoured the SoulStar Fragments, but that was already it.
Not even a tenth of the 6th Soultrait Star had been formed.
If Michael desired to upgrade Extraction to a 6-Star Soultrait, he would need an additional 40,000 to 50,000 SoulStar Fragments – maybe even more.
Nonetheless, the creation of the 6th star's frame was enough to strengthen Extraction considerably. It grew stronger and easier to control than before. His will was enough to use extraction in a range of ten meters.
Using Enhancement on the Extraction Symbol three times in a row, Michael further enhanced the potency of Extraction without increasing the energy consumption.
Michael shot forward, replacing the Siltang Bow with Seron Voulge before activating Eagle Eyes as well. Two layers of Enhancement were put on his Artifacts, and Michael went up another notch by manifesting two enhanced Spirit Whips.
Given his current strength and mental capacity, utilizing Enhancement many times while unleashing three more Soultraits was already above his limit.
Michael knew that very well. He could also sense blood trickling down the corners of his eyes, his ears, and nose. However, there was nothing Michael could do about it. It was evident that he had to go all-out and beyond his limit to defeat the Twin Lions.
They spotted him, summoned their Artifacts, and shot forward immediately. Their blazing flames burst forth as well. They covered the entire center of the camp, burning down everything in their sight. The flames were unstoppable and continued to expand, destroying the camp much faster than Michael could ever do.
But Michael couldn't feel grateful. If he felt anything, it was the terrifying pressure and heat the holy and abyssal flames caused.
It didn't take long before the flames reached him as well. Yet, just as they were about to burn him down, and turn his body into ashes, white-golden streams shot out from all over his body.
The white golden streams sucked away the oxygen wherever they went. And without oxygen, not even the holy flames and abyssal flames could survive.
Michael could clearly feel that the dark and white flames were eating away at the white-golden streams shrouding him, but that was something he had already expected.
Thus, he lashed out with the Spirit Whips, creating severe mental attacks that hit both of the Twin Lions hard. Their flames dispersed for a moment as they lost control of both their Soultraits and their innate fire affinity.
Despite losing control of their Soultraits and the blazing flames around them, the Twin Lions didn't struggle too much due to the Spirit Whips. They slashed at Michael from both sides nearly simultaneously. Michael watched their movements precisely, ducked, and created a deep pit for the Twin Lion to his right.
The pit was more than five meters deep, yet barely wide enough to fit one of the Twin Lions.
After the pit was created, Michael lashed out with the Spirit Whip at one of the Twin Lions while retrieving a large tree trunk from his War Rune's storage space.
The tree trunk weighed several hundred kilograms and Michael could barely lift it by retrieving Seron Voulge. He threw it down the narrow pit, hoping that it would kill the Twin Lion by crushing him under itself.
Even if it wasn't enough to kill the Twin Lion in the pit, Michael was certain that it would restrict the Lionheart a little bit. Michael merely wanted enough time to deal with the other Twin Lion on the ground.
'If I cannot deal with both of you at the same time I can just split you up!!' Michael shouted in his mind, manifesting Seron Voulge once again.
He slashed Seron Voulge to the side while expanding his range of extraction to ensure that the Twin Lion couldn't manifest his blazing flames.
The expansion of his range of extraction worsened his headache, however, Michael couldn't help himself. More Links of Loyalty were cut since his battle with the Twin Lions started, and he felt his impatience increasing rapidly.
The impatience burning in his heart was set ablaze, putting him into a situation he would rather avoid under normal circumstances. After all, a life-and-death battle could only be won by staying calm and composed…usually, at least.
Michael knew that he was often impatient and that his course of actions were often far from logical and rational. Nonetheless, impatience was one of the worst feelings to feel mid-battle.
The lack of patience often resulted in mistakes, and mistakes in a life-and-death battle meant death.
Michael knew he was risking a lot and his actions increased the chances of his death, but he didn't want his subjects to die either.
He knew he had to take bold risks and also survive in order to protect his subjects. Dying miserably meant that he wouldn't be able to help his people anymore.
Taking that into consideration, Michael gradually calmed down. His impatience dispersed in the wind as he issued a quick rally of slashes and thrusts. His attacks were rapid, and greatly timed with the utility of his Soultraits.
Using four Soultraits simultaneously in combat, Michael gained an inevitable advantage over his opponents. He attacked the mind of the Twin Lion, restricted his usage of the native fire affinity, and he could see his opponents' movements early enough to react rapidly. Simultaneously, he could enhance his strength, and the potency of his Soultraits, using Enhancement.
Unfortunately, Michael noticed quickly that his combo of Soultraits were taking a toll on his mind. His entire face was smeared with blood, and he found himself stumbling after he cut the Twin Lion in front of him thrice.
The injuries he'd inflicted weren't even deep. They could barely be considered minor wounds.
But the situation grew even worse when the other Twin Lion returned back to the surface. The tree trunk had failed to kill the Twin Lion.
If it did anything useful, it was enraging the Twin Lion.
Both were focused on him, snarling viciously as they prepared themselves to initiate another all-out attack.
Just as Michael felt like he would collapse at any moment, the Twin Lions froze in their tracks.
They had been fully focused on Michael, certain that nobody else was left in the camp. After all, it was void of life when they returned.
Michael and the Greater Eagle in the sky were the only sources of life that had been left behind.
Unfortunately, a silver streak cutting through the air proved them wrong – terribly wrong.
Blood gushed out of the Twin Lions like fountains, and a faint smile blossomed on Michael's face.
"Took you long enough to arrive…" He mumbled just before he lost control of all of his Soultraits.
They were terminated as Michael's legs caved in.
He collapsed on the ground and couldn't muster enough strength to open his eyes as the familiar figure of a masked man holding a saber in his hand.
The next moment, everything around him turned dark.
