Michael didn't even know what happened until he was dragged inside the large tent.
The tent was spacious but it was crowded with dozens of Descendants lying on mattresses. They were wounded and had to be tended to. Some lost a limb or two, whereas others were covered in deep, visceral injuries. Injuries caused by elemental wounds were also visible everywhere.
It was not pleasant to look at.
Michael felt a little weird staring at the Descendants in front of him. The strongest prodigies of the youngest generation were in front of him, beaten up, some even on the verge of death. Were those Descendants really the same people Michael had been worried about?
Reflecting on his behavior, Michael felt that everything was just a big joke.
"I think you understand what I want to do," Maria Seraph said, still holding Michael's hand. Her fingers were intertwined with his and they locked hands.
Michael stared at Maria without saying anything. He couldn't hide his surprise.
"I've never done this. Please, don't block my access to the Mark of Fate and such," Maria pleaded while trying to suppress the heat rising to her ears.
She utilized Archangel's Grace at once, conjuring a pair of white wings behind her and a dazzling halo above her head. Simultaneously, Michael's War Rune began to shine brightly. The Mark of Fate glowed and a small projection of a miniature angel conjured on the backside of his hand.
The miniature Angel moved on top of the interlocked hands and knelt down to pray. All of a sudden, a second pair of wings sprouted from Maria's back. Her dazzling halo expanded and the range and power of her ability increased rapidly alongside.
Michael heard Maria exclaim quietly under her breath as she sensed the tremendous power that was surging through her body. He could see her power thanks to Spirit Eyes, and he had to acknowledge that it was nothing like before. The only time her power felt even stronger was during the bombardment on Piloq. That time Michael had been channeling a tremendous amount of energy into her body. It was not the same as this time.
Right now, Maria relied on her own energy and the Mark of Fate to unleash the power of Archangel's Grace. Michael activated Spirit Eyes and watched intently as healing currents swamped the spacious tent. He observed keenly as the pained expressions of the injured Descendants dispersed. The tormenting pain vanished as their wounds were stimulated to heal rapidly.
Even those unlucky enough to have misplaced their limbs in the earlier fights encountered a surprising change in their bodies. Their bodies were stimulated, and the lost limbs began to regrow. Michael observed the regrowth of their limbs with great interest. A single use of Maria's Soultrait wouldn't be enough to regenerate their limbs entirely but their bodies might actually attain enough stimulation to regenerate the rest on their own.
Michael couldn't be certain about this, but he was confident that the crippled Offspring could be tended to. Maybe, they would recover and be hale and hearty before the isolated dimension threw them out after the Flag War ended.
'So that is the raw power of Archangel's Grace solely enhanced with the Primal Amplifier. Maria didn't even have to tap into my Sphere of Light to borrow my Soul Power. She didn't use her Inheritance Technique, either. How potent would Archangel's Grace be if used with the Primal Amplifier, multiple other Amplifiers, and Heaven's Descent?' Michael wondered, swallowing hard as he imagined the grand prowess Maria could attain in the future.
She didn't have a Soultrait like Michael, but he was certain that Maria would become one of the strongest powerhouses across the Tritan Alliance – maybe even farther.
Michael's attention was pulled to a particular thought, something he began to wonder now that he'd learned some Soul Techniques on his own.
'I wonder how powerful an Inheritance Technique would be when combined with a Soul Technique.'
Maria's labored breathing pulled Michael out of his train of thought. He glanced at her and noticed that Maria was about to collapse. Michael gently held her by the shoulder with his left hand to support her. His other hand was still tightly interlocked with Maria's left hand which was now drenched in sweat.
"Are you done, or do you want to keep holding hands?" Michael teased lightly. Maria, still breathing heavily, glanced down at her hand squeezing Michael's tightly, and turned beet red. She let go of him in a hurry before hiding her hand behind her back.
Maria's legs were about to give in once again when Michael used his other hand to steady her.
"Good job. Archangel's Grace is even stronger than I expected," Michael changed the topic lightly. The tips of his ears were red and hot as if they'd been set on fire. However, he ignored that sensation and acted like usual.
"That's…That's only because of the Mark of Fate. It increased my power tremendously. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to save half of them. Now each of them will survive. Thank you!" Maria said, grinning sheepishly.
"I don't really think I deserve to be praised for this. I was just standing there holding your hand. It's not like I strained myself like you did," Michael responded with a shrug.
Most people would kill for the chance to hold Maria Seraph's hand and to be close to her, yet Michael could do it just like that. It was very unfair in the eyes of those desperate souls who'd been yearning just a glance from Maria. Of course, Michael didn't care about their opinion.
Nonetheless, he had to acknowledge that Maria's personality matched her otherworldly beauty. She ignored the people around her to drag him into the tent and heal everyone. She went on and beyond to ensure that everyone would survive – that everyone would get back to their prime. Michael wouldn't have healed the cripples just yet. They'd misplaced some limbs but wouldn't have died from the wounds. All he would have done in Maria's stead was to ease their pain and simply ensure that they survived.
However, Maria was different. She was not someone who merely wanted to pay her patients a quick visit and dust her hands off saying they were too injured to be saved. Maria wanted to ensure that her patients could get a life worth living for. The Offspring who misplaced their limbs would have a hard time regrowing their limbs after a certain period. The longer they waited the higher the lasting damage would be. Therefore, Maria did everything she could to ensure that they wouldn't have lasting damage to begin with. She made sure to utilize her skills and talent to the best of her ability.
Maria cleared her throat, noticing how intently Michael stared at her. She felt odd maintaining eye contact with him right now. A weird sensation caused her body to tense up and her heart to beat wildly. Michael's vibrant golden eyes pulled her into a trance. Yet, despite feeling odd, Maria couldn't say that she hated this feeling.
It was uncomfortable, yet not something she didn't like – even thrilling to some extent.
Maria cleared her throat after a few seconds of silence.
"It's good to see that all of them will survive. But that's not because of me. We would all be dead by now if not for Killian's help. He arrived when the Tekur struck us. With his support we were able to kill the remaining Tekur and save many Descendants."
Michael raised an eyebrow hearing Maria appreciate Killian so much. Maria didn't feel like a person who would praise others a lot.
"Are you guys a couple? You and Killian." He thus asked, just making sure that he knew what was going on and if Killian's hatred toward him as Maria's Primal Amplifier might be justified.
Maria blushed, but her answer surprised him quite a bit, "I…never had a boyfriend."
Michael looked at her and smiled. Suddenly, his eyes were pulled to somewhere behind Maria and his eyes widened. Spirit Eyes was still activated from before and he saw something that shouldn't be there. He was certain.
"Someone activated a Soul Technique in the camp," He murmured, turning back to Maria with a dead-serious expression," Does anyone here comprehend about Soul Techniques? Is that a thing for Descendants?"
Maria didn't expect Michael to grow so serious all of a sudden, but she thought about it for a moment.
"Soul Techniques? I think I heard about that term from my mother before. I think it was about finding a secret tome in some ancient ruin. It's written in an ancient language and the researchers of the High Society are currently deciphering the texts. They've yet to make any major breakthroughs though. Oh, yeah. I think my mom said that they assume that the Tekur might be using Sou–..." Maria was stopped abruptly by Michael as he lifted his hand.
"So nobody knows how to use a Soul Technique?"
"N-no…why?" Maria was still unsure where Michael was going with the conversation.
"Well…we might have a problem then," Michael murmured, using Leviathan Diffusion to weave energy through his body. His Superior Constitution came to display as he charged out of the tent with shocking acceleration.
Maria was still tired but she got a bad feeling seeing Michael run off. She rushed behind him, her eyes narrowing.
"Killian's tent? Why are you going there?" Maria asked while trying to catch up with Michael.
"Killian?" Michael asked aloud, but his eyes narrowed.
What he'd been seeing was definitely not Killian. It was someone else…and a weird mass of something dark. But it was not darkness. Through his Spirit Eyes, it looked more like…death…
Michael didn't hesitate and barged into Killian's tent where he found an unknown Descendant overpowering Killian with a powerful Soul Technique…and the Death Orb that was about to enter Killian's mouth.
"What kind of kinky play is going on here?!?"
