Michael released one arrow after another.
He was certain that the lizard monster was about to die the moment his first arrow pierced one of her eyes. However, the lizard didn't collapse even after the fourth arrow pierced her.
Only when the sixth arrow dug deep into the monster's vital points did it collapse.
The lizard continued to twitch, but Michael couldn't pay the monster any more attention. The Gogi Lord's energy share reached him. It felt like a bucket of boiling water had been simply upturned over his head before it entered his body by forcing its way through his pores.
His blood began to churn, and his muscles cramped. Michael could barely hold onto the Antler Bow before he lost control of his trembling arms.
His legs gave in due to the sheer intensity of the energy and he slumped to the ground.
However, it was not over yet. The lizard monster died just now, and her energy share reached Michael.
Michael's veins protruded and the muscles all over his body bulged when the lizard's energy share slammed into him, leaving Michael breathless.
If the energy influx of a Low Tier-1 Gogi could be compared to a bucket full of water, the Gogi Lord's energy influx would be a bathtub that had been filled to the brim. However, Michael would still be able to accept this much energy if given enough time.
But the energy influx of the lizard didn't wait for him to take a few breaths and ready himself. The energy influx crashed down on him like an avalanche, suffocating Michael with its sheer mass of energy.
Michael's body couldn't take in that much energy at once, yet the energy influx didn't care about that. It forced its way inside Michael's body, causing his skin to burst open and blood to spurt out.
He began to bleed from all seven orifices and coughed up even more blood. His blood was sticky, and it was boiling hot.
For an unknown amount of time, Michael was unable to sense anything in his surroundings. His eyes were covered in blood, he could only smell his own blood, and hear his wildly thumping heart.
Even his sense of touch was numb. Michael couldn't feel a thing, as if he had been isolated from the rest of the world.
'Focus on the War Rune. Channel every bit of energy inside the War Rune!' Michael told himself repetitively as if he was chanting a mantra.
The flood of energy spreading through his body was too much for him to handle in his current state. It was already surprising that his body didn't disintegrate into pieces. His muscles and veins were on the verge of rupturing, but they weren't. They barely contained the tremendous pressure inside his body.
At one point, Michael thought that he fainted. He regained his senses a few seconds later but worry plagued his mind from that moment onward.
Was he going to die?
Instinctively, he materialized Tigerfang. He channeled some of his excess energy inside the Artifact, easing the pressure weighing down on his entire being. Michael followed up by using as much energy as possible to unleash the full power of his Soultraits, further alleviating the pressure off him.
'That's better…'
The massive amount of energy spreading through him was easier to bear at last, and Michael's chaotic senses finally returned to normalcy, making him feel a bit relieved.
He wiped his eyes with his cloak and opened them once again.
'The most annoying foes are dead, but how many Gogis are left?'
Even if Michael wished that the battle was already over, that was not the case. Some Gogi were still alive.
Michael continued using both Soultraits and channeling energy into his three Artifacts while his War Rune was refined at a rapid speed. The refinement of his War Rune resulted in a proportional increase in his strength, which decreased the pressure caused by the energy influx.
A War Rune could be controlled manually, but it would naturally absorb the untamed energy of the Origin Expanse when it entered his body. Michael made use of that.
He slung the Antler Bow around his shoulder and looked down at the battlefield.
The survivors of the battle were a few Gogis. They had gathered around their Lord's dead body and were beating their chests while roaring out loudly.
'A few more Gogis doesn't really change anything…' Michael thought before jumping from one branch to another.
All opponents had to be killed before he could calm down and put his full focus on the untamed energy inside him.
He reached the ground after a few jumps and channeled more energy into the Boots of Taran when his feet touched the soft soil. The next moment, he turned into a flash.
The distance to the remaining Gogis decreased in the blink of an eye. Tigerfang arced through the air and cut down like a descending shooting star.
Michael felt the faint resistance of the Gogis' skin as Tigerfang's razor-sharp edge cut through it. The blade continued to hack and slash at the Gogis, severing their muscles and tendons with little to no resistance.
The first bits of resistance reached Michael when Tigerfang sliced through the Gogis' flesh and bones. However, Tigerfang was overflowing with energy, further enhancing the Epic Artifact's sharpness and durability. The enhancement was high enough for a Mid-level Tier-0 Lord who was overflowing with energy to cut through Tier-1 Gogis without feeling too much resistance.
Tigerfang was an exceptional Artifact, but so were the Boots of Taran. After Michael channeled enough energy into the Boots of Taran, he was able to overdrive the Swiftness enchantment. The power output of the enchantment was temporarily increased by 200%, further increasing his speed.
Using all of his means, Michael ended up taking the remaining Gogis by surprise. They had been grieving the loss of their Lord, only to end up with a sword thrust through their chest, or with the loss of their head, joining him in the afterlife.
The energy influx of the Tier-1 Gogis didn't worsen Michael's condition any further. The flood of the lizard monster's energy had been too massive for the Low Tier-1 Gogis energy to make a difference.
Once the remaining Gogis were dead, Michael felt a tinge of excitement surging up from the depth of his subconscious.
He was still forced to keep releasing his Soultraits and channeling energy into his Artifacts to make sure that he wouldn't die, but he came to realize that the battle had finally ended.
Michael had won the battle against the Gogi Lord by deceit!
Stealthily entering the lizard monster's cave to steal her eggs to lead her to the Gogi Lord's territory was not something a warrior would have done, but Michael was not a warrior in the first place, not yet.
He was a Lord, and ready to do everything necessary to ensure the survival of his territory and people. Thus, the Gogi Lord had to die, or he and his territory would have been annihilated in the following days. That was a fact.
"I really did it…" He mumbled, his gaze moving across the bloody battlefield.
The environment was either destroyed or dyed in the blood of the deceased along with the mangled and mutilated corpses of the Gogis scattered all around. It was a gory sight that caused Michael to retch.
However, he had to endure it. Michael was not allowed to close his eyes and turn away from the gory sight.
He was the reason why everyone on the battlefield died today. His action led to everyone's death, and he knew that he had to imprint the sight into his mind.
It was necessary to know what effect his actions had, otherwise, he would break down after doing something he couldn't forgive himself for doing.
Every action resulted in a consequence. That was something Michael had to understand.
For example, defeating the Gogi Lord meant that the territory of the Gogi Lord was not protected anymore and that a new Overlord would soon come to stake claim on it.
Michael didn't possess the strength or resources to expand his territory that far yet. Thus, more monsters would gather in the Gogi Lord's territory and fight for it.
Meanwhile, Michael's War Rune received a large amount of energy from killing the Gogis and Gogi Lord. His War Rune was being refined but it couldn't be overcharged with energy. It would require some time before all energy would be absorbed and further used to refine his War Rune.
Thus, Michael had to continue to endure it. Fortunately, there was a lot to do. He could distract himself for quite a while, exploring the Gogi Lord's territory and extracting the corpses of more than 200 Gogis.
His storage space was much bigger than before, but he couldn't store 200 Gogis, to his misfortune. Nonetheless, the space was enough to store the corpses of the Gogi Lord and the Lizard monster.
He stored them inside his storage space before he turned his focus to the Gogi corpses.
"I cannot carry all corpses, but I can still extract the loot generated by the Origin Expanse!" Michael mumbled to himself. If he was already using his Soultraits to drain his energy, he might as well gain something out of it.
However, just as he was about to bend down to extract the drops of the first corpse, Michael's senses tingled.
He dived to the side, rolled on the ground, and jumped up to look back as something cutting through the air with horrifying velocity reached his ears.
What he saw caused his veins to pop.
'You fucking forest! Just leave me alone?!?!'
Three arrows pierced the ground where he had been standing just a moment ago, making him curse profusely.
