It was interesting that the Kistun Lord didn't seem to consider Michael and his people as a threat. Did he think that Michael was a pushover or was he confident in his own strength? If so, what exactly made him so confident?
Michael's army grew a lot stronger since the space shuttle arrived in Piloq. His own combat prowess couldn't be underestimated either. He grew a lot even if it was not directly related to the refinement degree of his War Rune. Thus, Michael was more than willing to test out the limits of his own strength, and his army's prowess.
"The downside of expanding your territory and creating multiple mid-sized settlements is that you cannot keep your entire army in one spot. You fight on too many sides and risk too much, Kitsun Lord," Michael mumbled, while continuing to rummage through the memories and thoughts of the dead Kitsun.
The Kitsun Lord had to defend four borders in the Savannah region, the eastern side of his headquarters in the Untamed Jungle was constantly endangered due to the existence of powerful monsters lurking nearby, and the northern side faced attacks every now and then.
Michael was not certain, but he predicted that the Kitsun Lord didn't have enough manpower to wage a war with Michael's people in the south of his region as well. He had ignored Michael's territory until now to avoid fighting him as well.
Unfortunately, Michael was not the type who avoided fights and waited for the opponent to make the first move. He called his army to arm up and get ready for the battle before waiting patiently until more scouts reported the situation in the western part of the Untamed Jungle.
Even if Michael didn't avoid fights, he was not reckless enough to charge inside the enemy's territory mindlessly. He called Sun Demos and his Demon Monkey Unit to infiltrate the Kitsun Lord's territory to stir trouble north-east from the Kitsun Lord's head-quarters. Sun Demos and the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys moved silently through the thicket of the Untamed Jungle, avoiding monsters and Kitsun until they reached the north-west part of the Kitsun Lord's territory.
This travel required most of the day, which was perfect as Sun Demos and his subordinates could immediately take advantage of the darkness enveloping the Untamed Jungle at night to attack. In the meantime, Michael read enough reports from his scouts to have a rough understanding of the Kitsun Lord's territory, his problems, his combat prowess, and much more information.
Using the newly acquired information, Michael came up with a small addition to his plan. He informed Sun Demos about the new order through their telepathic communication in addition to the permission to do whatever the Blood Oath Demon Monkey King wanted to do – as long as he made sure that his subordinates heed the orders.
Following the established plan, Sun Demos and close to a thousand Blood Oath Demon Monkeys attacked at night. They even included the youngest generation of Blood Oath Demon Monkeys to show them what they were made of and give them some real battle experience. They began wreaking havoc by massacring hundreds of Kitsun in the outskirts of the main settlement. They caused a bloodbath, creating enough commotion to wake everyone in the middle of the night.
Startled and unsure of what had suddenly attacked their brethren in sleep, the defending Kitsun that were still alive could only watch in horror as the leaves ruffled and they saw bloody eyes retreat into the darkness.
Seeing bodies that had been ripped apart mercilessly and squashed, the Kitsun defending the main settlement upped their guard. They tripled the guards and stared vigilantly into the Untamed Jungle that looked even more ominous and deadly than ever.
However, tripling their guard at the walls of the settlement was not enough. A pair of Greater Eagles shot through the darkness like black-emerald meteorites. Icarus and the female Greater Eagle dived down in the center of the main settlement. They attacked the barracks, and captured the drowsy combatants that were still half-drunk from drinking in the pub a few hours earlier, only to face death head-on in the middle of the night.
They died, their heads drilled with a beak, their chests torn apart from the razor-sharp claws of the Greater Eagles, or picked up and dropped from a high altitude.
But that was just the beginning. A golden flash shot through the air one moment, and the next moment a Heavy Armored Elephant with a weight of more than 12 tons appeared out of nowhere – almost as if the tiny golden flash had swapped places with the Heavy Armored Elephant.
Following the Heavy Armored Elephant that appeared out of nowhere, the golden flash reappeared from the darkness of the ominous Untamed Jungle once again. It flashed brightly, only to be replaced by an otherworldly beauty with silver hair. A beauty from the Silverfang Tigerfolk had emerged from the golden light, her eyes gleaming in excitement. The bloodlust in her eyes intensified as she activated her Silvarean Tiger Soultrait.
Tiara's body slowly transformed in the middle of the night. Her eyes shone brightly and she was just about to charge ahead when the golden flash appeared next to her once again. It was the Golden Stinger Wasp that had the ability to swap places with everyone it stung in the last ten minutes.
The Golden Stinger Wasp was replaced by Lilica, whose hand landed on Tiara.
"Calm down a little bit. We have only ten minutes. Our mission is to cause chaos and kill a few Awakened, who are either drunk or running around alone, nothing else. Michael will flog you if you stir trouble again!" Lilica warned Tiara, whose expression changed only when she heard Michael's name.
"Master will never flog me!" Tiara responded, but she became calmer than before nonetheless. She wanted to go for a hunt, challenge the Awakened enemies, and bring the prey back to Michael. However, Michael had given them another mission. They were instructed to wreak havoc in the main settlement for the next ten minutes until the Golden Wasp would switch places with everyone once again to safely and quickly transport them back into the darkness and protection of the Untamed Jungle.
The mission was as simple as that; wreak havoc and in the thicket of the Untamed Jungle until Michael returned.
Tiara and the five members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team had been sent inside the Kitsun Lord's main settlement alongside the Greater Eagles, the Golden Stinger Wasp, and the Heavy Armored Elephant. Sun Demos and the Demon Monkeys, on the other hand, would attack the weak spots in the settlement's walls to keep the Guards busy so that they couldn't abandon their spot on the walls and rush to aid their comrades even though a bunch of monsters appeared in the center of the settlement.
The guards on the walls didn't even realize that the six enemy Awakened were already behind them, combining their forces to release a few batches of arrows into their backs before merging with the darkness in the settlement's gloomy side alleys. A dozen guards died on the spot, signaling to Sun Demos and his subordinates to strike once again.
This continued for nearly ten minutes until the Heavy Armored Elephant disappeared all of a sudden, replaced by the tiny golden light that flashed through the darkness. The light shot out of the settlement, swiftly moving Tiara, Lilica, and the four other Forest Elves out of the danger zone. Simultaneously, the Greater Eagles and the Demon Monkeys disappeared as well, leaving the main settlement in a state of chaos and despair.
None of the Kitsun had expected a monster attack of this scale, let alone the infiltration of monsters and Awakened in the center of the settlement. They appeared simultaneously and disappeared at once after a few minutes. It had only been ten minutes in total, yet those minutes felt like an eternity to every citizen. It was horrifying…and it could happen again at any time.
Scared of the unknown, the guards requested backup from the Elemental cave's security. They informed the Awakened in charge who then left the Origin Expanse to forward the report to the Kitsun Lord. The Kitsun Lord was currently not in the Origin Expanse. In fact, he hadn't been present for several weeks according to the dead Kitsun's intel. Taking advantage of that, Michael came up with his plan.
The Awakened in charge ordered a third of the Elemental cave's security to aid the settlement's guards. After all, it would be bad for every Awakened if something happened to the wooden manor and the Summoning Gate. According to the Soul Contract established between the Kitsun Lord and the Awakened, nobody was allowed to touch the Summoning Gate and wooden manor other than the Kitsun Lord himself. Thus, the Awakened were worried that the invaders would attack the Summoning Gates and move their forces to the settlement – which was exactly what Michael was hoping for.
Using the Golden Stinger Wasp he could have teleported the Heavy Armored Elephant straight to the wooden manor. However, he didn't want 1000 Awakened to be informed about the breach of their Soul Contract simultaneously. Inflicting fear in the hearts of the Kitsun with the possibility that someone could invade the settlement and attack the Summoning Gate was much better.
It created an opening for Michael to enter the Elementals cave alongside his army.
Initially, Michael wanted to enter the Elementals cave on his own, but the scouts' reports stated that there would be more than 2000 Lesser Elementals alongside thousands of Kitsun Summons and close to a hundred Kitsun Awakened defending the cave.
The guards and protectors of the cave might be spread alongside the humongous cavern system, but Michael wouldn't be able to deal with them on his own.
Thus, he brought his army along and merged with them before disappearing completely from the radar of the people around him.
With his energy concealed, Michael became one with his army.
Now all he had to do was to fight like his people and wait for the opportunity to strike and see whether or not he could help the Elementals.
