The Melee Tekur was somewhat fast, but Jirah Loar was actually faster once he used his Soultrait and the inheritance technique, God Speed, together. Michael had to apply a six-fold layer of Enhancement to his body to surpass the Melee Tekur's speed.
Due to his Soultrait, the Tekur's reaction time was extremely short. However, Michael was almost on par with that by using Roc Eyes without any amplifications. Due to the connection between Roc Eyes and Spirit Gaze, Michael gained the upper hand in terms of reaction speed. The only issue for Michael was that the Tekur's mental fortitude and armor were quite hard to pierce through.
Michael spent a few seconds inserting tendrils of Extraction inside the Summoner's five Summons. The Monster Summons' instincts told them to block the tendrils from taking root inside their bodies, but Michael used Spirit Disturbance on them to crush their mental defenses in one go. Spirit Disturbance unleashed a spiritual attack within the minds of the targets Michael had aimed at. Since Roc Eyes advanced to 6-Star and Spirit Gaze was on the way to become a 6-Star Soultrait, Spirit Disturbance's lethality reached new heights. Even Awakened at the 3rd Tier had to focus on their mental fortitude and actively use a technique to protect their minds to ensure that Spirit Disturbance wouldn't affect them too much.
Nonetheless, they would feel a sharp sting in their mind. On the other hand, those who didn't block Michael's attack would feel like a thunderstorm had suddenly brewed up in their heads. As a result, their minds went blank and some even lost control of their bodies for a moment. Michael could have killed the Monster Summons – including the Bloodwolf – using Spirit Disturbance, compressed Glacicle Swords and some other Soultrait, but he didn't want to make it so easy for them. Michael desired to use the Monster Summons to replenish his energy and lifeforce while fighting the remaining Tekur.
The Melee Tekur with the Helmet Soultrait was the only one whose Soultrait supported him actively in combat. The Summoners, the Supporter and the Healer had Soultraits with other uses. However, that didn't mean they couldn't fight. They might not have a customized technique that strengthened their combat prowess, but they were trained in combat and could make use of their superior physique to pose a threat to Michael.
'Is it their body refinement technique or are they innately physically stronger than humans? Their carapace is highly resilient and thus perfect to block attacks, whereas their claws are razor sharp. Why does it feel like the Tekur were born to become killing machines?'
Michael took a deep breath to calm his raging mind. Next, he manifested a huge Glacicle around the Melee Tekur and applied Insert into it. Insert was configured to channel the cold and the freezing mist into the Tekur if he dared to destroy the Glacicle. That way, Michael could ensure that the Tekur would either be incapacitated for a few seconds, or that he would be weakened if he dared to break the fragile Glacicle around him.
But he didn't pay much attention to the Melee Tekur's actions. Instead he arrived behind the Bloodwolf, who'd released a crimson flame to burn Michael into cinder. Michael applied two more layers of Enhancement onto his body for five seconds to tear open the ground beneath him as he accelerated. He appeared next to the Bloodwolf and inflicted various injuries with the Aethyr Saber. The Aethyr Saber cut deep into the Bloodwolf's legs, severing its tendons cleanly. The Bloodwolf yelped in pain and slumped to the ground, blood spurting like a fountain out of the monster's legs. Michael didn't hurt the Fiery Bloodhounds that much. He pierced the Saber into their hind legs and severed them in one go.
Enhancing Aethyr with Reinforced Sword Qi and Enhancement was truly magnificent. It granted Aethyr tremendous power.
The Summoner's pets were rendered useless. They turned into Michael's assets as he continued to drain their energy and lifeforce. The three non-combat Tekur rushed toward Michael. Their intentions were obvious. They wanted to kill Michael in close combat now that they realized that Michael could drain their energy and lifeforce. The Supporter was the most desperate. Her mental defense had already taken a hit due to the use of her Soultrait and customized technique. She couldn't even try to stop the tendrils of Extraction within her body that rapidly spread out to devour her lifeforce and energy.
She appeared in front of Michael and lashed out. Michael released tens of tendrils of Extraction as he backtracked. Insert was used in the next moment. Michael applied Insert on the tendrils of Extraction that lunged out to collide with the Supporter's body and armor.
Some tendrils infiltrated her armor, slowly extracting the molecules that held the armor together, whereas the remaining tendrils of Extraction took root all over her body. Unable to block the attacks due to her weakened mental fortitude, all the Tekur could do was perceive her energy storage drying out. Not long after her lifeforce reached a dangerously low level.
Meanwhile, Michael was brimming with vigor and energy. He used Enhancement on Roc Eyes, activated Spirit Gaze and used Enhancement on Spirit Gaze as well before unleashing Spirit Disturbance right as the Tekur's Healer was about to reach him. The Healer stared straight into Michael's vibrant golden eyes. The next moment his body stopped listening to him and his mind was assaulted from all directions.
He screamed at the top of his lungs, but that was all he could do before the Aethyr Longsword coated in several layers of Enhancement and Reinforced Sword Qi at full power pierced through his throat.
Michael twisted the blade once and was just about to pull out when he sensed something behind him. The Summoner and Melee Tekur had arrived. The Melee Tekur had destroyed the Glacicle, resulting in his arms being half frozen. Michael let go of Aethyr and retrieved it into his War Rune. He summoned Aethyr in its shield form again to block the Summoner's claws. The Melee Tekur's blades, on the other hand, didn't miss Michael this time.
The Melee Tekur closed the distance between them and slashed Michael's upper arm. Blood gushed out of the wound, but Michael didn't divert his full focus to the Melee Tekur. Instead, he allowed him to slash him twice in total while he pounced forward with the Aethyr Shield. He bashed the shield into the Summoner Tekur right before transforming the shield into two daggers. The Summoner was pushed back, one of his feet slipping into a small hole Michael had hurriedly excavated with Extraction. The hole was not deep enough to fall in, but it was more than enough for the Summoner's foot to get sucked in.
The Tekur lost his balance and fell to the ground. Michael was still towering above the Tekur and expected the enemy to fall. He used the momentum to drive the Aethyr Daggers through the Tekur's eyeballs, deep into his head.
The Summoner screamed but not for long. Michael pushed the Aethyr Daggers deeper into the Tekur's head before retrieving them into his War Rune. The moment the daggers disappeared, Michael released a series of compressed Glacicles through the Summoner's eyeballs. He willed the Glacicles to shatter once they reached the deepest part of the Tekur's head and kill him by freezing his head.
Michael rolled to the side the moment he sensed something from behind him. Roc Eyes located the Melee Tekur instantaneously. The Tekur was already behind him, ready to pierce his blades through Michael's head.
Michael used his ability to pinpoint and predict the exact movements of his enemies to twist his physique and move aside a little. However, the Melee Tekur was not slow either. He reacted rapidly and changed the trajectory of his dragon fangs. Michael had to make a decision now. He grit his teeth, lifted his arms, and summoned a large Aethyr Shield to protect his vitals. In the next moment, the Melee Tekur's blades pierced through Michael's thighs.
If he couldn't kill Michael in one go, he might as well weaken him and render him immobile!
Michael groaned in pain but he endured it well. He grit his teeth and stared deep into the Melee Tekur's eyes. Aethyr disappeared and Michael's hands shot forward. He caught the Tekur's wrist and broke into a smile.
"I got you!"
Then Michael unleashed freezing mist in the surroundings in an explosive manner. He used a bit of the Power of Energy Imprint stored within the Legendary Ring Artifact to unleash a ten-fold layer of Enhancement. He applied the ten-fold layer of Enhancement onto Glacicle to release a second burst of freezing mist around Michael and the Melee Tekur. His next move was to use Insert right before willing the freezing mist all around him to infiltrate the Melee Tekur's body.
"Freeze to death, bastard!"
The freezing mist around them began to stir. It intensified and swirled around the Tekur. From the outside, it looked like a snowstorm emerged out of nowhere, a beautiful shimmering snowstorm in a vast, empty expanse. The freezing mist was attracted to the Tekur. It was pulled to him and entered his physique upon touching him. At first, the suction force was weak. Only bits of freezing mist were pulled toward the Tekur.
But in a matter of ten seconds, the freezing mist bombarded the Tekur. It infiltrated him from all sides and froze his skin and carapace alongside. Michael tightened his grasp around the Tekur's wrists. He applied every bit of strength within his physique and heard a loud crackling sound in front of him. In the next moment, Michael saw himself holding two frozen claws in his hands.
The claws were still holding onto the dragon fangs but Michael drew them to make sure that the razor-sharp blades wouldn't cut deeper into him. A fountain of blood spurted out of his thighs.
Michael groaned but the pain did not stop him from extracting the remaining lifeforce out of the enemies that were still alive. The Summoned Monsters died and so did the Supporter. As for the remaining enemies, Michael made sure that they were dead by conjuring several Glacicle Swords to pierce their bodies over and over again.
The Melee Tekur looked like a statue. His entire physique was frozen, his eyes staring loathingly at Michael. Michael only stared at him pointedly, manifested Aethyr in the longsword form, and sliced through his head. Only then did he receive the Tekur's energy influx.
"Ten energy influxes. That means all of them are dead…finally…" Michael slumped to the ground in relief, his legs quivering as the adrenaline rush died down. His breathing was labored, his chest heaving up and down heavily.
"These bastards are fucking strong…" Michael murmured to himself, but he broke into a faint smile.
"That's amazing. Their Soultraits were definitely not on par with any of my Soultraits yet their powers cannot be underestimated. I need their techniques!"
**
Remark-- Today only one Chapter
