The fury of the Lesser Elementals couldn't be underestimated. They didn't care about surviving and were willing to sacrifice themselves if they could eliminate as many Kitsun as possible. Even if their lives ended after they took down as many enemies as possible they would be satisfied.
But since there were more than 3000 Lesser Elementals, and Michael's army consisted of 1500 combatants, it was hardly a problem to kill a thousand Kitsun Summons and a few dozen Awakened. They used their numerical advantage to eliminate the Kitsun one by one, all while Michael focused his full power on eliminating the stronger Awakened.
The battle ended soon after the Lesser Elementals joined Michael's side, unfortunately a little bit too late for 51 of Michael's Summons. Michael and his subjects were sad about the loss, but everyone knew that something like that could happen on the battlefield. Death would always lurk near a battlefield so it was not a new experience, but it was also not something one could easily adapt to. Witnessing the death of their comrades would never be easy.
After the battle was over, Michael noticed that the Lesser Elementals split up. Most rushed to the larger Elementals with the intention to destroy the crystal chains pinning the larger Elementals to the walls. Meanwhile, the rest entered the security post that looked like a pillar. They sought more enemies to slaughter because they had yet to satiate their fury. Michael followed them to ensure that the Lesser Elementals wouldn't destroy everything. He still wanted to loot the warehouse located in the security post on this floor, after all.
The Lesser Elementals didn't mind him following them. Quite the contrary, they made sure to follow closely behind Michael instead of being disrespectful by charging ahead of him.
Michael was not too sure about the Elementals' culture, but he could tell that they revered the strong – just like everyone else.
He looted the warehouse and stored a few other things inside his War Rune's storage before gesturing to the Lesser Elementals. They were free to destroy everything now that he got what he wanted.
He left the security post, just to see that his people collected all the corpses for him to store. They didn't differentiate between the charred Kitsun that had been killed by the Lesser Elementals and the Kitsun that had been killed by them and piled all of them on one giant stash of corpses.
Looking at the charred corpses of an Awakened and a Kitsun Summon at the top of the pile, Michael grew a little curious. Something in the back of his mind told him to keep the corpses instead of discarding them. Therefore, he used Extraction on the two corpses, thereby extracting a handful of Summoning Scrolls, dozens of SoulStar Fragments and much more.
'Battles with allies count as contributions as well? Does the Will consider the Lesser Elementals as my allies now, or is it because I saved them?' Michael wondered, after confirming that neither he nor one of his subjects had inflicted any wounds to the two corpses that he had just extracted.
He came to realize that the Kitsun Summons and Awakened would still give him the same loot he would usually only obtain if he or his subjects made a contribution in the specific fight.
That was an interesting find, but it shouldn't come as a surprise now that he thought about it.
'I could loot the monsters and the members of the Jungle Expedition killed by the monster hordes and the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys as well. So why did I never wonder how the Will works? Does it consider my actions as a contribution to the battle, or does the Will consider the Lesser Elementals my allies because we fought the same enemy? Or was it because we considered each other as temporary allies since we didn't fight each other…though I burst their heads to break the chokers…'
Michael stored the corpses of the Kitsun away before moving onto the neatly laid out Human and Elven Summons' bodies. His expression turned grim upon seeing their corpses. A heavy sigh escaped his lips and a wave of sadness swept through him.
"My Lord, don't be sad. They wouldn't want you to be sad. Instead, we should be proud of them. Everyone who died today did so to protect their comrades, and their friends and new family back at home," One of the old Berserkers said somewhat informally, yet sounding respectful.
He was a real fighter, someone with great experience from before he died in the Origin Expanse.
A younger Knight came to the Berserker's side, agreeing with the old Berserker's point of view, "They were brave and loyal. Their death was an honorable one."
"Everyone here knew what they asked for when we made the request to join your conquest of the Elementals cave. You didn't want us to follow you into this battle at first, but we made the request nonetheless. That is also why we will take responsibility for our actions," The Earth Elemental Mage agreed, before adding with a faint smile on his lips, "We can tell how valuable the Elementals' combat prowess is, and I am pretty sure that these elemental crystals and seeds will also be very useful for our territory."
Michael nodded his head slowly. He clearly recalled having told his people that the Elementals cave was dangerous and that he would be more comfortable raiding the cave alone. However, his Summons pleaded with him to take them along with him. They didn't want to sit back at home when their master was risking his life. Besides, they needed and wanted some more real combat experience against tough opponents– not the little experience they gained in spars and against the weaker monsters in the Untamed Jungle.
They had to prepare themselves for real battles, and Michael knew that this was the bitter truth. The Zentika Empire wouldn't wait much longer for them to grow stronger either. The Empire had been silent for too long. Something would happen in the next few months. Michael and everyone else could feel that.
"Alright alright. I won't speak about it any further. Just make sure to retreat when I tell you to," Michael said, both glad that his Summons were willing to fight for his territory, and a little bit uncertain what to do once something far more dangerous and unpredictable than the encounter with the Kitsun territory would occur.
Trying to clear his mind of the doubts, Michael turned to the Lesser Elementals. Some hard turned to him, gesturing to him, and then their necks before they pointed at the chains that pinned the larger Elementals to the walls.
"Since I'm already here, I might as well free all of you," Michael mumbled, moving to the first larger Elemental. A golden stream of extraction flowed out of his palm as he stepped closer to the crystal chain. The Lesser Elementals stepped back in response, giving him more space to complete the task.
He pressed his palm against the crystal chain and began using Extraction to dismember the crystal chain slowly. Contrary to the chokers that were held together with a red crystal the size of a grain, the crystal chains were different. The chokers were used to subdue and control the Lesser Elementals. However, the chain's task was focused on restraining. The crystal chain was mostly composed of the same red crystal used in the choker. But it was not the chain's main component.
Michael spent more than ten minutes trying to find out what the main component was. Only after he extracted a small plate that had numerous engravings etched on its surface did the chain fall apart, releasing the larger Elemental.
The larger Elemental slumped to the ground. He was weak and could barely move.
Hundreds of Elementals gathered around the larger Elemental, their flaming body emanating terrific heat as they ripped their own bodies apart to offer them to the larger Elemental as a tribute and a means to invigorate him.
Every Elemental sacrificed a part of their body and strength to strengthen the larger Elemental. This surprised Michael quite a bit. He had never seen anything like that.
Reinvigorated, the larger Elemental's shape changed slowly. His size expanded by several times as the larger Fire Elemental's flames flared up. A flaming giant appeared in front of Michael, towering over him with great power. His presence was heavy, and his flames were searing hot.
However, all it took was a layer of Glacicles shrouding him to make sure that the flames couldn't burn him. Whenever the Glacicles started to melt, they burst open and released freezing mist which lowered the temperature drastically for a while.
The larger Elemental kneeled down with one leg and pressed his right hand upon his chest. The Blazing Giant Elemental lowered his head for a few seconds before lifting its body again.
Others might consider this action as a sign of submission, but Michael felt that it was more a sign of respect, and the Blazing Giant Elemental's way of thanking him for rescuing him and the Lesser Elementals.
The Blazing Giant Elemental waved his hand, releasing flickering flames that formed letters in the air.
Michael took a few steps back so as to not break his neck to take a look at the letters.
'It's not written in the origin language.'
That was the first thing Michael noticed upon seeing the letters. But instead of frowning deeply because communication would be much harder if the Blazing Giant Elemental couldn't speak or write in the origin language, Michael ended up breaking into a smile.
"To think that I will be able to use this so soon. I am quite lucky, aren't I?" Michael mumbled to himself before he switched to one of the languages he'd learned from digesting the Knowledge Wisps. At last, the books he procured from the Berserker Chieftain in Piloq's Library came to some use.
"Nice meeting you Baron of the Fire Tribe. My name is Michael Fang, and I'm glad that I could help you."
