Michael realized quickly that using his Soultraits in such an extravagant manner was not acceptable. He overwhelmed the first Tekur and managed to insert a tendril of Extraction in the remaining four Tekur, but his mental power was drained rapidly. If not for being able to extract the lifeforce of the first Tekur, Michael would have been forced to run away from the remaining four Tekur.
Fortunately, he could reset his mental power to its original peak before the four Tekur escaped the formation of Glacicle Swords and the freezing mist.
Michael dispelled the freezing mist and stopped utilizing most of his Soultraits for a moment. Only the tendrils of Extraction within the Tekur were in his focus other than Roc Eyes being fully unleashed to study the Tekurs' course of action.
The Tekur were usually confident and wouldn't shy away from attacking an enemy in the Interdimensional Flag War. However, seeing the upper half of their brethren's head lying next to the rest of the Tekur's body was enough reason to be more vigilant.
A Tekur used his Soultrait to summon a Fiery Bloodhound. The Fiery Bloodhound's shoulder height was one meter, he had sabertooth-like fangs and his entire body was coated in fiery flames. The Fiery Bloodhound charged ahead and opened his maw wide once it was only 20 meters away from Michael. The distance was just enough to release a crimson flame – a flame that used the Arts of Blood and Pyromancy simultaneously.
Michael's eyes glowed weakly as he analyzed the circulation of energy within the stream of crimson flames and within the Fiery Bloodhound.
'Zeroa's flames are worse.' He thought as the flames reached him.
However, Michael didn't do anything against it. He embraced the flames, felt the warmth and continued to smile.
Strengthening his taming bond with Zeroa had been worth it. Not only did he obtain a powerful ally such as the Elemental Empress but his natural resistance to Zeroa's strongest element increased manifold as well. The crimson flames of the Fiery Bloodhound were nothing against the terrific power of the Elemental Empress' mythical flames.
The Tekur stared at him, his mandibles clattered angrily and the energy within him swirled violently once again. He was about to summon another Fiery Bloodhound.
Thanks to Roc Eyes, Michael instantaneously noticed that summoning the second required far more energy than the first. The circulation of her energy was also different. She didn't summon the second Bloodhound as easily as the first. Instead, she first created a summoning circle on the ground in front of her before using her simple customized technique – or at least that was what Michael presumed she was doing – to summon the second Fiery Bloodhound.
Michael decided to call the bigger one Bloodwolf simply because it looked more like a big wolf rather than an obedient dog. Its fangs were thrice as long as that of the Fiery Bloodhound and its entire body was packed with dense muscles. The Bloodwolf was two-meters-tall in shoulder height and the flames it unleashed were far stronger as well.
Freezing mist burst from Michael's body to block the blazing crimson flames that burned everything in their path. The freezing mist melted rapidly but the full force of the flames never reached him. And the weakened flames that reached him eventually were not strong enough to harm him. His natural fire resistance was simply too high.
"I wonder if killing the Summoner will expel the Summons from this space as well," Michael murmured as the remaining three Tekur made their move. One had already appeared next to Michael by using the distraction caused by the Bloodwolf to strike him from the side.
A blue armor set covered his body and carapace. The Tekur was even wearing a helmet and wielded two lengthy blades that looked like the fangs of a dragon. The blades were special but they didn't attract Michael's interest. Instead it was the helmet that piqued Michael's curiosity. Roc's eyes allowed him to sense something special about the helmet. It was a helmet with small wings that fluttered weakly in the air. As the wings spread out, the Tekur's finesse increased rapidly.
The helmet was the Tekur's Soultrait, enhancing his Dexterity, Reaction speed and mental resistance.
Michael sensed instinctively that the tendril of Extraction within the Tekur in front of him was not of great use. It drained his energy slowly but the naturally heightened mental resistance of the Tekur prevented a drastic drain of energy. Extracting the Tekur's lifeforce in this state was not possible either.
But Michael just smiled. He dashed head first into the Tekur's blades. Summoning Aethyr happened instantaneously. Aethyr split up into two tiny shields with which Michael blocked the incoming blades. The Tekur tried to change his trajectory but a burst of freezing mist took the Tekur by surprise. Michael transformed the freezing mist into a large Glacicle that shrouded the Tekur's arms and blades. The Glacicle would break soon, but that was exactly what Michael wanted. He used Insert onto the Glacicle and configured it perfectly. The moment the Glacicle burst into countless shards, the freezing mist released from within the Glacicles would be inserted into the Tekur's arms and the blades.
Even if he couldn't kill the Tekur like that, Michael was certain that the Tekur's arms and blades would sustain some damage. Unfortunately, Michael couldn't focus too long on the Tekur. The Bloodwolf arrived behind him and released a crimson flame. Michael used seven layers of Enhancement for three seconds to dash behind the Tekur with the helmet, inflict a wound with Aethyr as it transformed into lengthy blades and push the Tekur into the crimson flames of the Bloodwolf.
The Tekur's reaction speed might be high as well as his Dexterity but the freezing mist was great at slowing down enemies. It didn't affect Michael but everyone else had to endure and overcome the adverse effects once the freezing mist hit them.
By now all Tekur had been hit by the freezing mist several times. They were slightly slower than usual, but didn't sense a major difference yet. In their opinion the biggest problem was the unknown human in front of them. He used too many Soultraits, which made it increasingly more difficult to find ways to counter him.
The Summoner ordered the Bloodwolf to stop releasing the crimson flames. The Tekur with the helmet was scorched at a few spots but the energy and vigor within him hadn't weakened much. He began to use his customized technique to heighten his reaction speed and Dexterity and dashed after Michael. Simultaneously, a ray of light encompassed the Tekur, healing his wounds rapidly.
'They have a healer as well,' Michael mumbled. He'd expected some Healer to participate in the Interdimensional Flag War on the Tekur's side, but even amid the Tekur race, healers were rather rare. Therefore, their numbers ought to be lower. But most importantly, their Soultraits were weak. No Tekur with a Healing Soultrait at and above 3-Stars would end up becoming a mere Soldier. They would be nurtured painstakingly.
That meant the Healer in the Tekur's group had a 2-Star Soultrait or was even weaker. It drained a tremendous amount of energy out of the Tekur to heal someone over a distance of more than 50 meters. That was the distance between the remaining two Tekur and the Melee Tekur. Michael's eyes drifted to the remaining Tekur. He pinpointed the Healer instantaneously and got to know the Soultrait of the other Tekur as well.
'A Soultrait like Opars' Energy Imprint. The customized technique is a lot stronger than Opars' Energy Imprint. Unfortunately, you seem to be using up a considerable amount of mental power. That's even worse than Opars using up his stamina to use Energy Imprint!'
Given that none of the Tekur had a Soultrait that allowed them to block attacks or move rapidly, Michael allowed his energy to erupt from within him. The tendrils of Extraction spread through the surroundings to tap into the energy streams around him whereas his biggest focus was on the creation of a thousand Glacicle needles. Michael used most of his energy storage to create the ice needles that were not enhanced but inserted with a trace of Extraction each.
The ice needles shot through the air with terrifying velocity. The Summoner ordered her Summons to block the Glacicle needles and burn them, but they couldn't block all of them. Dozens of Glacicle needles struck the two Summons, resulting in traces of Extraction entering their body. Insert pushed the traces of Extraction through their natural defenses and allowed the traces to invade their bodies and take root inside naturally. The Summons' flames burned down many Glacicles but hundreds of them still struck the two Tekur far in the back. They didn't cause any harm on their carapace but each of the Glacicles that hit their target resulted in one more trace of Extraction entering the bodies of the Healer and the Healer's Support.
Even though nobody could tell yet for sure what exactly the human was trying to do with the needles, it was obvious that he was satisfied with the result of his attacks.
It was only after a while that the healer's Supporter groaned in pain. Her mental power was already extremely weak due to the drainage caused by her Soultrait and the special customized technique. The Supporter's mental defense crumbled as the Power of Extraction ravaged through her entire body, draining her life force and energy rapidly.
A headache was creeping up Michael's head, but he could eradicate the pain due to the lifeforce that entered his body. The lifeforce refreshed the psychological power he'd utilized up just now. Meanwhile, the energy allowed him to concentration more on the tendrils of Extraction within the Healer. He focused on draining her energy, rendering the Tekur's healing Soultrait useless.
The Tekur in the back snapped their mandibles viciously, resulting in a sudden change of the Summoners and Melee Tekur's tactic.
It looked like they'd realized what Michael had been doing. Unfortunately, it was already too late for the Healer and the Supporter. The Healer's energy was being drained, and the Supporter's psychological defense couldn't even protect her lifeforce from being drained rapidly.
The Summoner used her remaining power to summon three ordinary Fiery Bloodhounds. Michael could sense that she was linked to them through the Summoner's energy fluctuations. She could control the Fiery Bloodhounds and the Bloodwolf as she pleased. But upon further inspection, Michael observed something interesting.
The Summoner was holding an Inferior Energy Stone in her hand. The compressed purified power within the energy stone entered her body, but instead of spreading through her until it entered the pillar of light, the Summoner's energy was split between the five Summons. The Summons utilized the Summoner's energy to release their crimson fire and channel energy through their body to enhance their physique temporarily.
'Looks like this will be a little bit more fun than expected.'
