"What the hell was that monster?!?" One of the Teleporters, Kivan Tamai, asked the other Teleporters.
His legs jiggled like jelly and the rest of his body didn't fare better. He breathed irregularly, his face was drained of blood, and he had been skinned alive
The others didn't do any better. The Teleporters' skin had been extracted. They hadn't been able to do anything against the tremendous power.
"T-that…wasn't a monster," Misha Marz, another Teleporter, said. He shuddered and added, "I think that was an Awakened."
The Teleporters bled severely but they tried to ignore the pain that spread all over their exposed flesh. They would heal soon. All they had to do was survive and escape successfully.
The last Teleporter trembled as well, "It makes sense why the Council wants to get rid of them first…this one is truly ferocious…."
"He is stronger than the others have been," Kivan noticed. He recalled the combat prowess of the reinforcement sent by the Untamed Jungle and recalled that only a few had been truly dangerous. None of them was as frightening as this one.
"Maybe, that's their Lord?" Misha asked, but Kivan could only shake his head, "Lords don't charge into the frontlines. They hide behind their forces and only enter the battlefield when they're about to win, or when their territory is about to get destroyed."
Discontent and disgust could be heard in Kivan's voice. The Lords of the Council were just like that. They didn't even consider leaving the secure grounds of their territory to lead their subjects into the battle. It was almost like they never considered doing something like that, in the first place.
If the Lords and their Guardians had entered the battlefield, the Council of Xylon would have long since destroyed the Trilance. But now they struggled against two measly Lords…even after 'that' happened.
"So that Awakened is the Untamed Jungle Lord's secret weapon?" Misha asked, which Kivan affirmed with a nod, "I think so."
The Teleporters moved through the thicket with fast strides. They moved as quickly and silently as possible. One of them proposed to use their Soultrait to escape the Untamed Jungle as quickly as possible, but Kivan shook his head.
"They must have hyper-sensitive energy sensors OR the Untamed Jungle Lord prepared special devices to pinpoint spatial fluctuations after his people fell victim to our excellent tactic."
The third Teleporter sighed heavily. He was feeling anxious, his heart palpated wildly and his eyes moved left and right in vigilance.
"The plan failed. We should hurry up and report immediately!"
Misha retrieved a communication crystal, but before he managed to insert a single strand of origin energy into the crystal something changed. Blood splattered through the vicinity and Misha's hand holding the communication crystal flung through the air.
A scream of pain and anguish escaped Misha's lips. Misha's allies turned around, their eyes widened in terror and disbelief.
The monstrous Awakened they'd been talking about a moment ago emerged from the thick. No. It was more like the thicket disappeared as the monstrous Awakened passed through the Untamed Jungle's undergrowth.
His vibrant golden eyes flicked to the two Teleporters, his expression cold and emotionless.
Michael was covered in blood and brain mass. Every step he took left a trail of blood behind.
Spiritual Domination on the Teleporter in the back as he attempted to use his Soultrait. The Teleporter screamed aloud, blood gushed out of his nose and ears and he collapsed on the ground. He was knocked out for a few seconds.
"You…killed them all?" Kivan managed to ask. He regained his voice upon hearing his allies scream and collapse around him.
"Those little pawns? Yeah, they're dead," Michael shrugged nonchalantly, "Did you think that these weaklings would be enough to kill me or my people? You should have come with Higher Lifeforms if you'd taken us seriously. That was foolish of your people."
Michael moved slowly. His hands tensed up for a second, and crackling sound resounded through the vicinity. He was having a hard time controlling himself. The Cursed Seal that had manifested around his eyes and temples made it increasingly more difficult to stay in charge of his body and mind.
Kivan grit his teeth when he heard what Michael said.
'He is the Lord. Fuck it!'
The Teleporters would have loved to bring Higher Lifeforms to deal with the Untamed Jungle Lord and his strongest subordinates, but that had been rather difficult. Hiding the energy fluctuations of a Higher Lifeform was more complex.
Most sensitive presence detection devices such as Superior Orbs of Hostility could find traces of Higher Lifeforms even if they used Rare Artifacts to cover their presence. They would have to use Epic Tier-4 Artifacts to hide their presence and energy fluctuations perfectly. Unfortunately, it was not like any Lord had 500 Epic Tier-4 Camouflage Artifacts lying around.
But then again…the Teleproters' tactic to sneak up to the Untamed Jungle Lord's territory and kill the strongest enemies one by one with their Super Elite Force didn't work out in the first place. They didn't manage ot bypass the territory's security. They should have brought Higher Lifeforms.
However…it was also the first time that the Teleporters failed their mission. Something like that never happened until now…and it would happen never again…
"You can greet your friends in a moment, don't worry!"
The corner of Michael's lip curled upward. A fiendish smile blossomed on his face.
His expression turned darker as he unleashed the anger he felt. His Extraction Aura erupted at once. The surrounding flora and fauna were extracted at once. Even the soil around Michael disappeared layer by layer.
Kivan attempted to unleash his Soultrait at this very moment. However, not even a quarter of a second later, Kivan realized that he couldn't do anything. Hundreds of Extraction tendrils burst out of the ground. They coiled around his legs, waist, and upper body right before invading his insides.
The last bits of his stored energy were drained while small strands of blueish-red threads were extracted simultaneously.
Kivan screamed on top of his lungs when he felt excruciating pain spread through his chest. His eyes widened in terror.
"You…what did you do to my energy paths?!?"
Michael's fiendish smile widened, "Just a little portion of your energy veins. It's nothing much."
Michael's smile disappeared from one moment to the next causing Kivan to shiver. Michael disappeared from his sight and he appeared in front of Kivan in the next instance.
The Untamed Jungle's Lord grasped Kivan's jaw tightly until crackling noises rang out. He forced Kivan to open his mouth to shove something down his throat.
Once he was forced to swallow he was hurled through the air like worthless thrash. Michael shifted to Misha and the unconscious Teleporter and shoved something down their throat as well. Misha was still screaming from the loss of his hand, but Michael couldn't care less. He broke Misha's jaw and pushed the dark green pill down his throat.
The pills were something he had prepared for the Teleporters. It was a poison that blocked the energy paths of Teleporters for a few hours.
Of course, killing the Teleporters was unnecessary since one of them was already a lost cause, while the other was unconscious. Their energy had already been drained and Michael made sure that their lifeforce was at an all-time low.
However, they weren't dead yet. Michael wouldn't allow them to perish easily. Why would he?
He tightly clutched Misha's face and lifted the Awakened from the ground. Michael held the Awakened high into the air, his expression ice-cold as he tightened his grip around the Teleporter's face. Crunching noises resounded, but Michael didn't care.
The next five seconds were the most terrifying in Misha's life…
and his last…
Michael used three Soul Tears. He applied one on Extraction, one on Enhancement, and one on his Soul.
In the next instant, he unleashed the remaining active Cursed Seals. It was only for a short moment, but Michael erupted with all of them to remove as many limiters from Extraction as possible.
Michael could barely control himself for a few seconds without losing himself in wrath. He was already on the verge of going crazy. However, he endured it.
Ten layers of Enhancement were applied to Extraction. Michael produced Soul Energy to empower Extraction instead of ordinary origin energy. His Soul Power was drained rapidly but the effect of using Soul Energy when using Extraction was terrifying.
The next thing Michael did…was to allow the Extraction Aura to swallow the Teleporter.
Misha screamed at the top of his lungs. A terrifying pressure weighed down on every cell of his body. The pressure increased and crushed his cells one by one. But everything got worse as something was ripped out of his very being.
Misha could do nothing to fight against Michael. He was a helpless chicken in front of the butcherer. All he could do was stare deep into the wrath-filled eyes that swallowed him whole.
Misha screamed at the top of his lungs. He screamed and screamed and screamed.
Suddenly everything was silent. The Untamed Jungle was eerily silent. Misha's scream died down from one moment to the next.
Michael crushed the Teleporter's face and hurled him through the air. The Teleporter's corpse was useless.
Instead, his eyes lingered on the Soultrait Symbols and the large SoulStar Fragment he'd extracted.
He absorbed the SoulStar Fragment and sensed immediately that the large Fragment was worth 400 ordinary SoulStar Fragments.
Michael turned around, his eyes falling onto Kivan and the third Teleproter who had returned to his senses. Tears trickled down Kivan's cheeks as realization dawned upon him.
He understood what was about to happen, but he couldn't believe it.
He…didn't want to die.
However, nobody was safe in front of the Devil that had emerged in front of them.
