By combining the changes caused by the Inheritance technique with the exceptional power of the Legendary Ice Staff, Frozen Nova was too strong to be blocked easily. Even Thaor's body and Mekhaz's Living Armor couldn't block Kaleb's attacks easily. After Lokai's Burning Fury was applied it became even more difficult to block the Frozen Nova.
Despite the great attack power of the Frozen Nova, Michael felt like Kaleb wasn't using his Soultrait's full potential which he told his friend straightforwardly. The attack power of Frozen Nova may be great, but was that really all? Was a 7-Star Soultrait not capable of more than that?
Due to the versatility of Michael's Soultraits, he learned to use them in various ways, sometimes even in ways they weren't supposed to be used. Reinforced Sword Qi, for example, ought to be used to reinforce a Sword. However, Michael was not good with Swords. His weapon was the spear, which was mostly due to the memories and experiences that had been engraved onto his mind after he absorbed the Memory Orb of Cleave Fenrir.
Michael was wasting an effective Soultrait by not using its full potential. He applied Reinforced Sword Qi in a unique way that disrupts the enemy's rhythm. If Michael were to switch to a Sword and apply Reinforced Sword Qi in the way it was intended to be used, in addition to the unique way he used it currently, he would be able to use much more of the Reinforced Sword Qi's potential.
Thus, Michael wanted Kaleb to experiment a little bit more rather than using Frozen Nova the way everyone told him to use his Soultrait.
A long discussion between Michael and Kaleb resulted in an attempt to use Frozen Nova to control the battlefield with great precision.
And that was exactly what Kaleb did right now. He restrained the movements of the Titan Arm Berserker and Sword of Doom Berserker while also aiding the others.
He erupted ice walls according to their plan and transformed the shattered ice walls into deadly projectiles as the Double Impact Berserker and the Silver Aura Berserker destroyed them.
The ice shards shot toward the two Berserkers right after they lost great momentum from crashing into the ice walls. Lokai and Mekhaz didn't hesitate either. They shot toward their new targets from the side and began assaulting the Berserkers. Mekhaz twisted his wrist while thrusting his spear forward. Meanwhile, Lokai's mace shot to the side, pulling back to create enough momentum to finish off the Silver Aura Berserker at once.
After losing momentum, the two Berserkers were faced with attacks from two sides. The ice shards burst forth with great velocity, aimed at their heads – their eyes to be precise.
The Berserkers didn't feel tremendous power oozing from the ice shards. They thought about leaving their eyes open for a moment to keep focusing on their opponents' movements. However, compared to the rest of the body, their eyes were sensitive and not very well protected, just like everyone's eyeballs. Losing their eyesight – even if it was just momentarily – was not something they could afford. But blocking the ice shards was also not feasible. Why? Because Mekhaz and Lokai's attacks were about to impact as well!
The Berserkers reconsidered moving back, but they felt some resistance around their legs the very moment the thought of retreating surfaced in their minds. They didn't even have to look down to know that their legs had been covered in ice. Their movements were restrained, and they had already lost momentum earlier. The two Berserkers could only unleash their Soultraits and Artifact, close their eyes to protect them from the impacting ice shards, and raise their weapons to block Mekhaz's spear thrust, and Lokai's heavy strike.
Even though their opponents were physically stronger on average, and two Berserkers were Champions – signifying their exceptional combat prowess –, Thaor, Mekhaz and Loaki couldn't be underestimated either. In the first place, they were stronger than their opponents in a one-versus-one fight. Adding Lokai's Burning Fury, and Kaleb's exceptional crowd control all over the battlefield gave them even more advantage.
And then there was Michael, who had decided to aid the others in their battle rather than entering a battle head-on by himself. He appeared on the left side of the Herculean Strength Berserkers, but released enhanced Qi Swords and Glacicles in all directions.
The enhanced Qi Swords and Glacicles hit the joints of their enemies precisely, taking the Silver Aura Berserker and the Double Impact Berserker by surprise. Their eyes were still closed, Kaleb's ice shards had just impacted in their faces, and they had just blocked Mekhaz and Lokai's attacks, only to be taken by surprise by projectiles from the opposite direction.
Michael's enhanced Qi Swords cut deep into the wrists of the two Berserkers' weapon arm. Taken by surprise, they could barely hold onto their weapon all while Lokai and Mekhaz retracted their weapons to initiate a second attack. Their movements were smooth, rapid and with extraordinary force.
Michael glanced in their direction for a mere moment, but that was enough to determine that Lokai and Mekhaz would defeat their opponents in the next few seconds. Thus, he decided to focus elsewhere.
The thunderous noises of Thaor clashing with the Herculean Strength Berserker attracted Michael's attention. He turned around, his Eagle Eyes allowing him to assess the situation at once.
Thaor and the Herculean Strength Berserker moved rapidly, their fists colliding over and over again. Both Berserkers moved with a blinding speed, not allowing the other party to gain an advantage. Thaor shot to the side, punching out with his black knuckles glowing gloomily, only for the Berserker with Herculean Strength to counter the attack with a feisty punch.
The Herculean Strength Berserker wielded a unique set of gloves. A tremendous amount of energy was channeled into them, releasing bits of energy shockwaves with every attack. It was a weakened version of the Double Impact Berserker's Soultrait, creating a second impact with an energy shockwave. But Thaor didn't even react to the shockwaves. It was almost as if he didn't feel them.
Steam rose from his skin as the fusion between his Crimson Aura and the Red Giant Soultrait were fully unleashed, granting him tremendous power and a great advantage in terms of natural regeneration. Thaor healed rapidly, much faster than the Herculean Strength Berserker could inflict damage.
Michael moved forward while observing the battle between the two Berserkers. Berserkers didn't like it when others interfered in their battle, however, Michael couldn't care less about that right now. They were in a team battle, and it was only obvious that he would help his teammates. In the Flag War, no member of the Tekur race would care about the Berserker race's desire to fight individually. They would either get steamrolled or overwhelmed at once.
A team battle was supposed to be fought as a cohesive force, and that was something most Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs had yet to accept.
Fortunately, Michael's team was the first team to showcase the great synergy between humans' Soultraits and unique powers, and the physical superiority of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.
Michael conjured a six-layer enhanced three-fold intertwined Spirit Whip as he charged at the Berserker with Herculean Strength from his blind spot. He waited until the Berserkers' fists were about to collide once again before lashing out with the six-layer three-fold Spirit Whip.
The moment his Spirit Whip struck, the Berserker with Herculean Strength groaned out loudly. The white of his eyes became clearly visible as he stumbled and his energy circulation failed miserably. His punch missed Thaor's fist by a hair's breadth, creating a great opportunity for Thaor. Thaor didn't like that Michael helped him out against his opponent, but he was also fully aware of the given situation.
Michael had already made it clear that they were a team and that they were supposed to fight together even before they applied for the Team discipline. If they wanted to fight alone, they shouldn't have accepted Michael's invitation. Instead, they should have fought in the Solo discipline and lost miserably against the Peak Tier-3 powerhouses who were several years older than them.
Thaor couldn't suppress a grunt when he noticed that Michael had intervened in his fight, but he didn't say anything else. He also exploited the opportunity created by Michael.
The corner of Michael's lip tilted upward in response as he followed behind the Berserker with Herculean Strength who smashed onto the ground. Six Qi Swords and the blade of the Wyverntooth Spear pressed against the Berserker's neck not even a second after the Berserker had been punched in the face.
"Dead," Michael uttered quietly, yet just loud enough for everyone in the combat ring to hear.
"Dead here as well! He was dead before you guys killed yours! I just forgot to say it!!" Lokai shouted, using raw power to smash her fist down onto the unconscious body of the Silver Aura Berserker lying beneath her.
"Here as well," Mekhaz announced, his spear pressed against the chest of the Double Impact Berserker.
That left only the Titan Arm Berserker and the Sword of Doom Berserker, who had used their brute force and Soultraits to smash their way through the glaciers that had imprisoned them.
After they'd charged into the glaciers, Kaleb had used Frozen Nova to seal the gap behind them, imprisoning the two Berserkers as long as possible.
He was dead-tired and drained of energy by now, but Kaleb's performance and display of power all over the battlefield had been exceptional. He was clearly the most important member of the team at this point, allowing the others to unleash their full power while restraining their opponents' movements severely.
But now that three out of five Berserkers had been defeated, Kaleb was tired. In the Origin Expanse he had yet to fight an enemy at the 3rd Tier. Yet, while being teamed up with Michael, Kaleb was forced to fight a multitude of Tier-3 monsters with his full strength.
It was a new experience, but it was definitely not something he hated.
On the contrary, it filled his heart with excitement.
