The massacre began after the defensive devices were destroyed one after another. Zeroa opened a large spatial portal, allowing the others to infiltrate the campside as well.
The Warlock Centaurs and Berserkers emerged first. They readied their weapons and activated their Soultraits before charging out of the commando tent. The Forest Elven Adventurers followed next with the Holy Knights, Mages, and other Summons whose rank was Tier-2. In total, Michael barged into enemy territory with less than 100 people, excluding the Elementals, who stuck to their assigned partner. The Immortal Knight did not join their expedition. He was still wondering whether he should use the Bloodline Upgrade Token or not because he wasn't certain if he wanted to get back onto the battlefield, or if upgrading his bloodline would solve his health problem, in the first place. He didn't want to get his hopes up just to get disappointed once again.
Michael didn't push Siegfried. The Immortal Knight had to make a choice, and Michael didn't think that it was fair to pressure him. It was not like they were in a rush to begin with. Michael had temporarily abandoned his duties as a Lord to join the expedition into the Savannah Region. Who was he to rush others if he couldn't even focus on the expansion of his territories after procuring more wealth in a few hours than some procured in two lifetimes?
Michael stepped out of the commando tent once everyone had emerged from Zeroa's spatial portal. Zira had joined them, and her expression was filled with shock when she saw the corpses of the General and two Commanders.
"We tried to use portals but that didn't work. The spatial interference is way too strong. Only Grandmagus with a high-ranked spatial affinity can break through the spatial interference of a Basic Spacium Domain. Do you have a Grandmagus here?! How? Where?" She asked, her voice turning erratic as more words tumbled out of her mouth.
Michael raised his hand and Zeroa manifested a miniature figure of a blazing woman in his palm. The blazing figure was a miniature version of Zeroa. It was not her original form but it was the form she chose to use primarily in Michael's territory. "I don't have a Grandmagus, but an Elemental Empress. Her spatial talent is not that extraordinary though. Fire is her primary element," Michael said nonchalantly following Zeroa urged him to tell more about her.
Zira had heard about the Elemental Empress. In fact, she had even seen her with Michael before. However, the energy fluctuations she sensed from the tiny figure were several times stronger than before. The Elemental Empress had grown stronger.
The Legendary Ring Artifact's dragon might masked Zeroa's presence while she was hiding underneath Michael's cloak, but her miniature figure was different. It fully revealed the true presence of a Pseudo-Mythical being.
"I understand. But how did you manage to bypass–..." Zira had more questions, but Michael lifted his hands.
His eyes glowed brightly and Spirit Eyes' Marks began to illuminate. Michael's right arm was covered in azure flames in an instant and three large blazing lances manifested around him. He furrowed his brows and released the blazing lances with a burst of energy. The lances pierced through the walls of the commando tent and hit their targets with great precision. Muffled screams escaped the targets' mouths but they ceased as quickly as they had emerged.
Three Soldiers at the 2nd Tier had overwhelmed one of his Holy Knights, and it was easy to tell that they would breach his defenses soon. The Holy Knight used his Holy Power with great precision to defend but it was his first time fighting a life-and-death battle against another humanoid race.
The Holy Knight didn't appraise the enemies before he charged into battle. He was confident of killing one of them within a few strikes before overpowering the others with his great skills.
Unfortunately, it was not that easy. The enemies were more experienced than the Holy Knight. They had participated in several smaller wars during the last several years. Compared to them, the Holy Knight was still a greenhorn. Even if his skillset and combat awareness was better, he was not yet experienced enough to deal with three well-trained enemies of the same rank.
Fortunately, Michael was around to help. "Your defense is great, but your attacks lack decisiveness. I know that it's your first time to fight another race in a war so you make mistakes. Though, it's fine because I'm here to protect you all. I promised the Immortal Knight that I will give my utmost to bring everyone home alive, but you should keep in mind that wars are cruel and merciless. Even I might not be able to protect everyone. You need to protect yourself. You need to kill your enemies to not be the one getting eliminated instead!" Michael advised the Holy Knight as he moved closer.
His head flicked to Zira for a moment.
"Let's not waste our precious time with small talk. We will be busy from now on," Michael uttered to Zira before he turned back to the Holy Knight once again, "Why didn't you use your partner's Elemental Might? I can sense the presence of a Lesser Earth Elemental on you. You could have easily dealt with them." Michael lectured the Holy Knight a little longer before he used the Taming Soultrait to fuse with Zeroa. Power Share was activated immediately, granting Michael minor mastery of all elements. His mastery of the fire element skyrocketed to the Intermediate rank, which Michael exploited instantaneously by manifesting three dozen azure blazing lances.
Spirit Eyes was fully activated and enhanced with one layer of Enhancement. That was enough to easily differentiate between his allies and enemies. Once that was done, Michael unleashed the azure lances. The blazing projectiles whizzed through the air, pierced through the tents – putting them on fire – and impaled their enemies with great precision.
Michael eliminated a bunch of Assassins and Elite Soldiers, who'd prepared to jump on his allies. His subordinates were already busy enough dealing with the enemies they could see. Thus, Michael reached out with a helping hand. That was his mission for today. His focus was not to fight as many enemies as possible. He was going to be more of a supervisor who would jump in whenever necessary. Michael's priority was to ensure that his subordinates were given enough time to adjust to the sensation of war, and that the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs would improve their teamwork with the Forest Elves and the Holy Knights.
Last but not least, his subjects should grow stronger. The energy influx and experiences they would gain in the Savannah Region ought to improve their combat prowess by leaps and bounds.
Michael kept an eye on the surroundings but he quickly noticed something that attracted his attention. There was something odd about four corpses. He'd eliminated a several dozen enemies using Zeroa's mythical flames, but four corpses were weird. Michael could see that something had gathered within the four corpses. It looked somewhat familiar, yet alien at the same time.
'Why does this remind me of Danny's Living Soul?' Michael wondered, channeling more origin energy into Spirit Eyes. His vision improved and it didn't take long before Michael could affirm that the gathering mass was similar to a Living Soul. Yet, it was different as well.
The four masses were white-silverish in color and only Michael could see them. That was something he could tell pretty clearly when the masses ascended into the air. They transformed into tiny wisps that moved around wildly, but no one seemed to be concerned about them. One of the wisps phased through the tent and shot past a Holy Knight, who didn't seem to notice anything. He didn't even flinch as the wisp traveled past his head.
With the ascension of the four tiny wisps something stirred within Michael simultaneously. The sensation was weak, at first, but it grew more apparent as the wisps moved closer to him. They were drawn in his direction.
Michael frowned in confusion but it didn't take him long to notice that the Soul Grimoire was wreaking havoc in the Sphere of Light. Understanding dawned upon him and he activated Soul Grimoire, summoning it at once.
The Soul Grimoire's cover was decorated with various intricate patterns and countless miniature runes. It was purple in color with a bluish hue, but it was not quite indigo. A lock kept the Soul Grimoire closed. At least, that was the case until now. The lock burst open, unleashing an indigo hue that shrouded the Soul Grimoire in its entirety as it opened, revealing hundreds of empty pages.
As if sensing the Soul Grimoire, the wisps accelerated. Their trajectory changed from Michael to the Soul Grimoire and they didn't slow down at all. They smashed into the Soul Grimoire where they disappeared inside as if they had never existed, in the first place. All that was left of the four tiny wisps was faint images that had been engraved onto the Soul Grimoire.
The images were of different sizes and had slight variations in color as well, just like the real deal. Michael was surprised how lifelike the images looked, but that was probably because the wisps were still the same as before. They didn't cease to exist all of a sudden. They simply disappeared into the Soul Grimoire.
'Right. I can store souls in Soul Grimoire. But why would Souls be naturally pulled toward it? Is it because they hope that the Soul Grimoire will preserve them? Is it their basic instinct to strive for survival?' Michael wondered, but before he could continue his train of thought, he was bombarded with a small influx of information.
In the same instance the Soul Grimoire glowed brighter. The lifelike images of the wisps, which were actually the Souls of the deceased, dimmed and a new image formed. The image of a purple tear. The image of one Soul dispersed following some time, and it was not long before a tiny wisp, a fraction of what it had been before, emerged from the Soul Grimoire. 'It doesn't devour the entire Soul, but it can drain a deceased Soul's power to create the Soul Tears before dispatching the soul to the afterlife.'
Michael's eyes fell onto the completed Soul Tear, the new information in his mind allowing him to understand some of the things he'd seen just now. Not everything made sense, but he could connect the dots and imagine what was going on and what he could do.
He tapped into the power of the Soul Grimoire and accessed the Soul Tear. Using the Soul Tear's accumulated power, Michael could strengthen his Soul, the other Souls that had been absorbed into the Soul Grimoire, or strengthen a Soultrait temporarily.
Yes. The Soul Tear could temporarily strengthen a Soultrait. As for how potent the enhancement would be… Michael was about to find out.
