574 Roots & Dragon
As the fight progressed, the pull of the Cursed Seals grew stronger. Michael's insides felt like burning as the Cursed Seals demanded to be activated, their power unleashed, and their terror rapidly spreading through the Origin Expanse.
Since the day Michael learned more about the Cursed Seals, he could feel their presence within him more easily. He could manifest them at will and unleash their power at once. However, Michael didn't want to do that. It was not necessary to unleash the Cursed Seals. They were dangerous, and it was not unlikely that he would lose his mind mid-battle.
Michael was not willing to manifest the Cursed Seals if it was not desperately required, or if he was not in a safe environment to experiment and study the Cursed Seals.
The burning sensation of the Cursed Seals bothered him a little bit, but Michael didn't have any time to complain. He was focused on the situation ahead because he had underestimated the strength of his enemies.
The hidden forces of the Council of Xylon were stronger than he initially thought. After the initial surprise attacks succeeded, Michael didn't think too highly of them. Almost half of them were dead by the time they realized what calamity had struck them. However, once they regained their senses, they managed to expel the traces of extraction that had been inserted into them.
After that, their defenses grew stronger and they managed to slow down Michael's killing spree.
Maybe, his initial assessment of the hidden forces had been a little bit too hasty.
The Awakened gathered in a small open area. One of them released blazing flames to burn the undergrowth and surrounding bushes, removing all potential hiding spots and dead angles with ease. The second batch of Glacicles hidden within the undergrowth was exposed and burned slowly.
The flames were not as strong as Zeroa's mythical flames, but they were quite powerful nonetheless. It was enough to melt the fragile Glacicles rather easily.
Michael disliked that Glacicle was quite fragile. He liked the Ice-
type Soultrait for its freezing trait and low energy consumption, but it was way too fragile and weak for his liking.
He clicked his tongue and disappeared in the tree top of the towering trees. Several Qi Swords plunged toward the ground with great velocity, only to be shattered by a large obsidian hand that manifested out of nowhere. The Obsidian Hand blocked two Qi Swords right before crushing them easily. Following the Obsidian Hand, more Soultraits were unleashed.
Michael had Spirit Eyes fully unleashed and pinpointed more than a dozen Armament-type Soultraits, two Summon-type Soultraits, and a handful of Elemental-type Soultraits. The remaining Soultraits either amplified the Awakened physically, acted as a means of support for their allies, or ought to inflict a negative effect upon Michael.
However, Michael couldn't sense anything. His senses weren't restrained and nothing else felt odd or different either.
'Weird,' He thought right before lightning bolts zapped past his head. One of them missed him by a hair's breadth. If he hadn't tilted his head at the last possible second, he would have been struck right in the center of his face.
His eyes widened, realization dawning upon him.
'Prognosis is delayed, and I cannot sense their projectiles anymore!'
But that was not all. Michael was on top of one of the bigger trees and his energy was concealed perfectly. It should have been impossible for the Awakened to sense him. Yet, instead of being unable to detect him, they found him easily and attacked him with great precision.
'Is that a Detection Soultrait?!"
That made everything a little bit more difficult. He initially planned to retreat and attack later at night or warn the guards in the border settlement before toying with the Awakened a bit more. Unfortunately, that didn't seem feasible anymore. The Detection Soultrait made everything a tad more difficult, especially since it was combined with a Soultrait that hid projectiles from Spirit Eyes.
It had been a while since his eyes weren't able to detect something. That wasn't a welcome change.
Michael jumped down to the ground, created the Soul Grimoire, and used two Soul Tears, one for Extraction, and the second to amplify Taming.
The Dome of Extraction spread through the vicinity and tapped into every source of lifeforce and energy in its range right before Michael tapped into the Taming Soultrait to activate Power Share.
He was not that close to his companions but it was still possible to use Power Share. The energy consumption increased with the distance, but Michael and the Elemental Empress were fine with that right now. Zeroa was in the middle of a battle against some powerful forces, and she had signaled that she was in need of more strength, requesting his support.
Michael provided this strength by unleashing Power Share, sharing his Soultraits with Zeroa whereas her Elementals Affinities were temporarily unlocked to Michael.
He sensed that the Elemental Empress tapped into the power of Superior Constitution, Extraction, and Enhancement all at once. Meanwhile, Michael coated his body in the Elemental Empress' mythical flames. The sudden surge in temperature took the Awakened by surprise as they were greeted by a blast of heat.
However, even more surprising were the roots that shot out of the ground all around the Awakened. The Awakened were guarded against Michael and the blazing flames that enveloped him like a sacred armor. They didn't expect something to emerge from the ground. A handful of the smaller roots penetrated through the calves of the Awakened without leg protection, whereas thicker roots coiled around their lower bodies, restraining them. Their movements were slowed and it didn't take long before they were rendered immobile.
Not even the Mid Tier-3 Awakened with physical Soultraits could move no matter how much they tried as dozens of roots that were as thick as an adult's waist coiled around them, suffocating their bodies.
A moment later, a humongous dragon head compressed from azure mythical flames manifested in front of them. The dragon head was several meters high and wide and it radiated the terrifying pressure of a real dragon. The Awakened unleashed their Soultraits once again before slashing at the roots restraining them. However, before they could cut through the roots, more roots shot out of the ground.
More and more roots emerged from the ground, tightly coiling around the Awakened as the humongous dragon head shot forward, burning everything in its path.
Screams of pain and terror filled the air alongside the smell of burned flesh. However, Michael didn't pay much attention to the screams. He shot forward and created dozens of Reinforced Qi Swords to pierce through the small gaps in the burning roots, piercing the razor-sharp Qi Swords into the helpless Awakened.
Dozens of Awakened managed to block the majority of the azure mythical flames, but Michael managed to strike enough to receive more energy influxes in the following 30 seconds. The scenery around him was filled with a huge azure campfire, dozens of burning Awakened, and the desperate survivors, who had barely escaped the roots' restraints.
Michael experienced the strain on his body and he dispelled his control of the roots and the blazing armor. He continued to use Power Share, allowing Zeroa to tap into his Soultraits' Power, but he stopped using her power. She was too far away from him to make full use of her Lesser Nature Affinity.
'That was interesting!'
Michael chuckled to himself before unleashing the Legendary Ring Artifact's dragon might once again. This time, however, Michael merged the dragon might with the Dome of Extraction and his naturally intimidating presence. His first actions instilled fear and desperation in the hearts of the survivors, planting the seed of fear inside them. The full extent of dragon might that was merged with his intimidating presence was enough to stimulate the seed of fear and let it blossom into pure terror.
The Awakened retreated subconsciously. They took a step back, their legs quivering in fear and disbelief, and their eyes widened in shock as the scenery around Michael changed once again.
The area all around him transformed, hundreds of Qi Swords and Glacicle Swords manifesting at a time, rising in the air behind him. As the screams of the burning victims around him died down, thousands of Glacicle Swords and Qi Swords had been manifested, filling the proximity with deadly projectiles.
"How do you have so much energy?!?" One of the Awakened screamed at the top of his lungs.
"Soo many Soultraits…" Another one weeped.
Michael merely smiled in response. He had more energy than ordinary Awakened, but it was not like his energy storage was several times bigger. However, he had Extraction, his trump card that could replenish his energy tens of times faster than others could only dream of. As long as his energy consumption didn't exceed Extraction's rapid drainage, Michael could fight for days, weeks, maybe even months without a break…until his body would break apart due to the excess wear and tear.
A corner of his lips tilted upward. The survivors took this as a bad omen and retreated further. But they didn't even manage to take two steps back before the thousands of Qi Swords and Glacicle Swords were released.
A deadly hail ensued and chaos descended. The Awakened created Obsidian Hands, protective shields, and summoned their monster companions to protect themselves, but none of that was enough. The Glacicle Swords and Qi Swords shot through the Untamed Jungle according to Michael's will. Some crashed into the shields of the Awakened survivors, but the majority shot past them, penetrated deep into their flesh.
In a matter of seconds, the remaining survivors turned into lifeless hedgehogs. Dozens of Swords penetrated each of them from all sides, bleeding them out. Those who nearly managed to escape Michael's attacks were restrained and turned into victims of Michael's Spiritual Domination. They didn't expect the spiritual attack and suffered the backlash.
Their bodies were penetrated from all sides, the last remnants of life dispersing before they collapsed lifelessly on the ground.
Michael clicked his tongue reproachfully. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and rubbed his aching temples.
"Well…that was a little intense."
