The circle of flames created by the Elemental Empress prevented anything alive inside the Beast Ranch from escaping. The Kitsun and bloodthirsty beasts were imprisoned in the Beast Ranch alongside Michael, Tiara, and Lilica.
At the same time, the Elemental Empress controlled the circle of flames precisely. She received a flood of energy when Opars used Energy Imprint on her several times. It allowed her to utilize her power to push the flames closer to the Beast Ranch to burn her enemies and push both beasts and Kitsun closer to the center of the Beast Ranch.
This allowed Mika and the other Forest Elves to focus on archery, releasing batches of arrows without the need to aim precisely. After all, there were more than enough bloodthirsty beasts that barged through the iron fences in a desperate attempt to escape the blazing flames.
Michael was in the middle of the Beast Ranch, staring at the iron fences and watching the desperate bloodthirsty monsters whimper and shriek pitifully. He actually felt a little bit sorry for them. They'd been tortured by the Kitsun just like the Elemental Empress. Each of the bloodthirsty beasts looked skinny and mutilated. There was also something else about them that felt a little weird. The bloodthirst they exuded was so dense that Michael could actually see a red hue when he used Spirit Gaze and Eagle Eyes together.
That was a little surprising, but that didn't mean Michael was affected by it. Only Lilica and Tiara were slightly affected by the dense bloodthirst. Thus, he sent them away to deal with the remaining Kitsun in the Beast Ranch.
["How long until you guys arrive?"] Michael asked Sun Demos telepathically.
["Soon. Leave us some playthings to toy with!"] Sun Demos answered hurriedly as he and his troupe traversed through the Untamed Jungle even faster than before.
["We will see about that. You will have more than enough fun later, either way."]
Michael released a few smaller Glacicles to destroy the remaining locks. The iron gates sprang open, releasing the desperate and starving bloodthirsty beasts in the arena-like center of the Beast Ranch.
Opars, Liopham, Mika, and Pheli saw the beasts and readied their bows. Not waiting for Michael to start the fight, they released their arrows with great force.
Simultaneously, Michael's high perception kicked in. He sensed the arrows from above and created a thick Glacicle above his body. It acted as a super durable shield and blocked the duplicated arrows of Mika that would have hit him by accident. Afterward, Michael manifested six Glacicle Swords which he covered in Sword Qi. He enhanced the Glacicle Sword with a layer of Enhancement and released the attacks in the crowd of bloodthirsty monsters.
Simultaneously, he summoned the Wyverntooth Spear to attack every monster that dared to get too close to him. Any desperate attempt to strike him was easily disrupted and countered, ending in the death of the bloodthirsty beast.
The only time Michael's first attack failed was when a van-sized wolf emerged from the shadows of the hall behind the iron fence. It's once silver fur was stained in a deep gruesome crimson, leaving mere strands of silver behind. Michael was usually not easily impressed but the chilling sight of the wolf, its coat matted and soaked in a dark hue of fresh blood and crimson fur was quite impressive.
In the back of the room the wolf emerged from, Michael could pinpoint a few corpses. The corpses belonged to three Kitsun and a few bloodthirsty beasts. Michael didn't have to look twice to know that the wolf had killed all of them. Every step the wolf took left behind a sinister trail, a testament to the fierce battle it had endured and overcome.
Its eyes had turned into fiery orbs of blood-red, but there was also a tinge of darkness. They glowed like smoldering embers, radiating malevolent energy that overshadowed the dense bloodthirst in the Beast Ranch.
Despite the blood-soaked visage, the wolf moved with an eerie grace, every movement calculated and precise. It was a creature of terror, a wild existence, never to be tamed nor subdued.
'This is what the Kitsun Lord is trying to breed. A killing machine with intelligence. An abomination that can take care of the enemies he cannot deal with…what a crazy bastard…'
Now that Michael thought about it, the Beast Ranch looked less like a breeding ground similar to the Bilrox Ranch, and more like a place that allowed only the strong to survive. The center of the Beast Ranch was an arena, and only the strong would be allowed to survive. Pitting bloodthirsty beasts against each other after they'd been starved would make them angry and fierce. Their desperation and strive to survive would grow strong enough to attack their own brethren, kill them and eventually eat their own kind for the sake of survival.
Michael shuddered thinking that abominations like the ominous wolf existed in all Beast Ranches. He was glad to face the wolf inside the Beast Ranch rather than the open world where it could feast and strengthen itself before striking Michael when he least expected it.
The wolf had gorged on the corpses just now, but it was still starving, and its bloodthirst was still not sated. It was merely working on its primal instincts to move around the center of the Beast Ranch to observe Michael's prowess and strike when he was the most vulnerable.
To its misfortune, Michael didn't plan to create such an opportunity for the Crimson Wolf. He willed the six enhanced Qi Glacicle Swords to change trajectory and propel toward the crimson wolf with a burst of energy. Simultaneously, Michael didn't hesitate to consume a chunk of his origin energy to utilize the strongest form of Spirit Disturbance.
A wave of pain impacted heavily on the crimson wolf. It growled in response while trying to ignore the pain and effect of the spiritual attack.
However, the crimson wolf was still not strong enough to do something. The monster had been starving for too long. It was still in a weakened state, allowing the Kitsun workers to control it precisely at their command. Only upon getting released in the wild would it slowly gain powers that transcended the threshold Kitsun Awakened at the 2nd Tier could ever fathom reaching.
The crimson wolf was unfortunate enough to encounter Michael when it was at its weakest. It tried to evade the six enhanced Qi Glacicle Swords but realized too late that a second charge of pain hit it hard as Michael used Spirit Disturbance once again. The crimson wolf faltered and could barely shroud its body in dark energy when the enhanced Qi Glacicle Swords impacted, shredding the dark energy engulfing the wolf.
The Glacicle Swords pierced through the wolf's fur and dug deep into the monster's flesh before the Sword Qi coating the Glacicle Swords was released inside the monster's body with a burst. The wolf winced in pain and slumped to the ground, barely noticing that the Glacicle Swords shattered. Upon shattering, the Glacicle Swords released freezing mist inside the monster's body, freezing its flesh and organs from the inside.
'To think that it took two uses of Spirit Disturbance and six enhanced Qi Glacicle Swords to push it to the brink of death despite being so weak,' Michael thought, not hiding his surprise. The crimson wolf was only a Tier-2 Monster, and it was severely weakened, yet it endured Michael's attacks quite well.
It was not yet dead, but the monster would die in the next few seconds. There was no need to pay any more attention to it. Yet, the monster oddly fascinated Michael.
'My highest priority should be to get rid of all Beast Ranches. These places are evil.'
With that thought in mind and a plan set in stone, Michael manifested more Glacicle Swords which he engulfed in Sword Qi. He controlled them precisely and cut through the horde of bloodthirsty monsters, reaping dozens of lives alongside the Forest Elves' hail of arrows.
At some point the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys appeared. They surrounded the circle of flames, which the Elemental Empress extinguished with a wave of her hand. This allowed Sun Demos and his subordinates to charge inside the Beast Ranch and wreak even more havoc.
A few minutes later, the Blood Oath Demon Monkeys left the Beast Ranch, their bodies soaked in fresh blood. The last Kitsun and bloodthirsty beasts had been annihilated, their corpses stored away.
Everything else of value was collected within a few minutes before they began to move once again. Since the reinforcement of the Kitsun Lord should have reached the northern guard settlement by now, they must have received a report about the Beast Ranch as well. The reinforcement sent by the Kitsun Lord was probably already on their way to the Beast Ranch.
Therefore, it was about time to travel a little bit farther away to remove the looming threat of the incoming reinforcement.
They decided to leave the Untamed Jungle for the first time in a while. Their small group traveled west to enter the Savannah.
"I hate to break it to you, but…don't you think Sun Demos and his horde of subordinates will attract a lot of attention in the Savannah? I mean, they'll be fine in the Untamed Jungle because they can move fast wherever they want, and hide behind bushes and tree trunks to wait for the perfect opportunity to attack, but the Savannah is an open area. There are few trees and bushes, and none of them should be big enough to hide a thousand black-furred monsters," Lilica pointed out as they traveled to the Savannah on Icarus' back.
Michael looked down to the ground where he saw numerous black dots moving through the Untamed Jungle, his lips tightly pressed together.
"They're targets in the Savannah, quite literally," Lilica added.
Tiara nodded, "Our position will be exposed if we're moving together."
Michael sighed, but he agreed with their concerns.
"In that case, we'll be splitting up."
