The human traitors were dealt with, their corpses , and the SoulStar Fragments within had been extracted and stored safely inside Michael.
The energy influx he obtained from killing them increased his War Rune's refinement degree, resulting in ripples of origin energy passing through his body. Superior Constitution altered his physique to naturally absorb the energy in the surroundings and annex it at once. Therefore, the energy absorbed by the Dome of Extraction was annexed instantaneously, ready for Michael to use.
It was only a matter of time before Michael advanced to Tier-3, but that wouldn't happen before the Flag War ended. Michael doubted that he could absorb so much Origin energy in such a short amount of time.
With Spirit Eyes fully activated, Michael's eyes flicked across the chaotic battlefield. He pinpointed the 150 Tekur Soldiers, followed by the three Elite Soldiers with their obsidian carapace. However, there were no more human traitors for him to hunt. Michael had defeated them all.
'I only killed 30ish traitors just now. There should be some more somewhere,' Michael guessed after adding the number of traitors he and Killian defeated before to the traitors he killed just now. They had defeated a total of 46 traitorous Descendants until now. That still left a large chunk of potential traitors alive.
It was frustrating that he couldn't accurately point them out, but there was nothing he could do about that. That meant, Michael had to change his strategy. He decided to start dealing with the Tekur.
A burst of pain swept through his Spirit Eyes as hundreds of Soultraits were unleashed simultaneously all over the battlefield. Michael could see every trace of energy that was being used, altered, or repelled. It hurt for a moment, but he forcefully adapted to the sensation.
He witnessed death and destruction everywhere and began to search for the perpetrators. Instead of searching for the Tekur that caused the most physical damage, Michael wanted to find those who caused the most overall harm. That usually referred to the Awakened with Support-type Soultraits, Curses, or Amplifications. However, it could also refer to the Healers. In such a large-scale battle, the Healers were usually the most threatening to either side. They had to be dealt with and killed as quickly as possible.
Michael pointed out a few Healers, but they were well protected. The Elite Soldiers were positioned near most Healers. They protected a few Supporters as well, probably because their Soultraits played a major role in large-scale battles such as this one. Michael didn't want to deal with the Elite Soldiers at once. Instead, he focused on the people around him and made sure to watch the teamwork of the Tritan Alliance.
The members of the alliance worked together much better than Michael expected. It was nice to see that not many died even though they faced the full power of so many Tekur.
The Tekur were already utilizing their Soul Techniques, draining their Soul Power rapidly to unleash K.O. attacks. Many worked out, killing dozens of Alliance members in one swoop, but most were either blocked or evaded. Michael took that as a sign to start moving.
He stopped utilizing Heavenly Beast Physique for a moment, removing the intense presence that shrouded him instantaneously and rushed through the rows of humans, Berserkers, and Warlock Centaurs. Michael utilized Enhancement to give the strongest Awakened around him a burst of strength lasting several minutes.
It was not a long-lasting reinforcement to their power, but the burst of strength ought to be enough to give them an upper hand on the battlefield for quite a while.
Michael's energy was drained rapidly, but he recuperated the used-up energy just as quickly. The Dome of Extraction was unleashed to the fullest, draining the energy in the surroundings to keep Michael's energy storage filled to the brim. That was also why he was brimming with vigor and energy when he finally reached Kaleb, the rest of Kaleb's team, Lincoln, Zeke, and the others. Quinn Karta was also there, the corner of his lip curling upward when he saw Michael.
"You always arrive at the perfect timing!" Lincoln exclaimed, erupting a huge earthen wall to block a house-sized fireball from incinerating him and his allies. The fireball burst apart, the flickering flames spreading across the battlefield. Another Descendant used his Inheritance technique to manifest a dragon from compressed water. The dragon looked like a humongous snake that slithered through the air, extinguishing the dancing flames in the air before they could affect anyone.
"I wouldn't want to miss this," Michael responded with a smug smile. Lincoln rolled his eyes, but he halted in his tracks for a moment when he saw the marks around Michael's eyes.
Zeke had seen them as well.
"Like seriously…What the fuck is wrong with your eyes?!" He cursed loud enough for Michael to hear.
It was rare for Zeke to react like that, but Michael guessed that it was obvious. The marks around his eyes and the intense, vibrant silver of his pupils made it clear that his eyes had changed even more compared to the last time they saw each other.
"I will explain everything later. Focus on the fight, and use Eye of Illusion on the Tekur I will attack with Spiritual Domination!" Michael could only say, forcing everyone to return their focus to the battlefield. He could always explain everything later. Now was not the time to do so!
"Spiritual Domination? Wha—..." Zeke asked, unsure how to tell what exactly he was going to do, only to witness firsthand what Michael meant soon enough.
Zeke's voice reached Michael's ears while he was already busy introducing several layers of Enhancement into Zeke, and most importantly, his eyes. Once that was done, Michael amplified his own eyes which glowed brightly alongside the marks on his face. Spirit Eyes was released to the fullest, smashing into a group of Tekur that was about to barge into their frontlines.
The Tekur began to sway left and right. Blood gushed out of their eyes and they screeched aloud. Two Tekur, who were flying across the sky, lost control of their wings and crashed heavily to the ground. Zeke's eyes widened in surprise, but he felt Michael's gaze on himself and reacted quickly.
He unleashed his Inheritance Technique, World of Illusion, and used Eye of Illusion at its strongest. The Tekur were unable to block the illusion from taking root in their minds as Michael's Spiritual Domination rendered their mental defenses useless. Michael used 7-layered Enhancement and Heavenly Beast Physique to unleash the full potential of his physical strength and speed to cross the gap to the Tekur. Aethyr Blades appeared in his hands, shrouded in enhanced Reinforced Swords Qi right before they cut through the enemies, killing them one by one.
Quinn Karta appeared next to Michael, using his Soultraits to teleport to another position and aid Michael in the battle against the weakened Tekur. Three Tekur were capable of blocking some attacks of the duo, but most attacks penetrated their defenses and inflicted severe injuries. Michael continued to accelerate, making his team members wonder about the threshold of his physical limit as silver lines cut through the air. It looked like Michael's blade cut through the fabric of space itself as his power blasted at his enemies in ripples, reaping his enemies' lives one by one.
Tendrils of Extraction shot out of the Dome of Extraction the moment the first Tekur died. They invaded the Tekur bodies through the inflicted wounds and drained their SoulStar Fragments, and the remnants of origin energy left within the corpses. Once the bodies were drained of Fragments and energy, Michael stored them inside his War Rune's repository space before retreating with Quinn Karta.
He smiled at the fallen noble, who returned a serious nod.
Michael used up a handful of SoulStar Fragments to replenish the Soul Power he'd used up in the earlier fight and prepared for the next battle.
Kaleb stared at Michael in confusion and excitement. He was not sure what happened to his friend, but Michael's combat prowess had heightened even more than before. Michael had been rather average in terms of physical strength before. Not anymore though. Right now, Michael's physical strength exceeded the brute force most Tier-3 Awakened could unleash. At least, that was the case as long as the terrifying presence of a fierce beast shrouded him.
However, even without the terrifying presence, Michael's physical strength exceeded the norms of a Peak Tier-2 Awakened. Michael had long since surpassed the limits ordinary Tier-2 Awakened could reach.
Michael expanded the Dome of Extraction, consuming more ambient energy. He rushed over to Kaleb, pointed to a group of ten flying Tekur, and said, "I will shoot them down from the sky, you finish them!"
In the next moment, a surge of origin energy was inserted into Kaleb Zenovia alongside a 6-layered Enhancement.
"Go all out!"
Michael released Spiritual Domination to strike the ten Tekur one by one. Their bodies stiffened and they screeched out at the top of their lungs as they lost control of their wings for two seconds. That was just enough to pull them down from the sky, push them into the ground, and for Kaleb Zenovia to unleash six-fold Enhanced Frozen Nova with surplus of energy.
Kaleb Zenovia's Legendary Ice Staff rose high into the air and the temperature plummeted below zero instantaneously.
His glacier-blue eyes shimmered in excitement as tremendous power surged through him. In the next moment a humongous ball of compressed ice, releasing freezing chill and glacier-blue liquid that looked like melting ice – just really cold – manifested above the ten Tekur.
Kaleb broke into a cold sweat and the energy within him was drained in an instant, but the assault connected. The Frozen Nova crashed down onto the humongous plain, smashing the ten Tekur into smithereens before freezing their remnants for all eternity.
"Damn."
