Only a few minutes passed since Michael joined the battlefield but he was already panting heavily. The Extraction Qi Blade devoured the surroundings' lifeforce and energy to expand and grow into an even more terrifying weapon.
It was more than 10 meters long and cut through everything with ease. The High Lionhearts' flames were devoured and their bodies were sliced in half.
However, Extraction Qi Blade's potency was not only harmful for the High Lionhearts. Michael's skin dissolved layer by layer. His hands and wrists were in the worst state. His skin and flesh had been extracted, leaving only his bones, loose veins, muscles, and energy paths behind.
It was terrifying to look at, and it was at least as painful as it looked like.
Michael gave his utmost to bear the pain but he felt like he was about to lose his hands if he were to hold onto the Extraction Qi Blades. He retracted the Aethyr Blades and released the Extraction Qi Blades with a burst of energy.
The Extraction Qi Blades erupted. One moment the Extraction power and Sword Qi had been compressed into the Extraction Qi Blades' form and in the next moment, they were unleashed into the surroundings. The golden mots of Extraction fused with the Reinforced Sword Qi that transformed into tens of thousands of tiny blades. The blades shot in all directions and inserted into the bodies of all nearby plant life and enemies.
Michael had to drain their energy and lifeforce as quickly as possible to recuperate and get back onto the battlefield. He'd killed close to 30 High Lionhearts before the Soul Tears' effect wore off, but that was not enough. It was merely one-tenth of the Higher Lifeforms on the battlefield. There was no way he could leave the battlefield already.
Right after the Soul Tear's effect on his Soul had worn off, Michael felt an indescribable pain in his chest. It felt like his Soul was getting pulled apart and pushed together simultaneously.
'Extraction Qi Blades are a bit too taxing on my Soul. Noted.'
Since his Soul was not yet refined to a high degree, Michael figured that 7-Star Extraction amplified with a Soul Tear, and a Cursed Seal was too much for him to handle. Adding several layers of Enhancement to Extraction on top of that didn't make it easier to control Extraction.
'Removing the Limiter is dangerous.'
It was not that Michael didn't know that, but he never expected the strain to be like that. He activated only one Cursed Seal and amplified Extraction a bit with the Soul Tear.
The biggest problem was that Michael had difficulty controlling Extraction as a 7-Star Soultrait. Further amplifying its potency and releasing a fraction of the Limiter turned this even more difficult. Using the Dome of Extraction was still quite easy, however, going all-out with True Extraction while trying to shape and compress its power was different. It was more taxing on his Body and Soul.
'Good thing that Enhancement doesn't put a heavy toll on my Soul.' Michael thought after using the energy that filled his body to insert several layers of Enhancement onto Hiraku and the others.
From an outsider's point of view, it looked like Hiraku was still trying to find the limit to his strength. It was almost as if Hiraku had never been this powerful before.
Maybe, that was the case. Maybe, he never had a Greater Spirit to aid him, or it rarely occurred to him that other Awakened used their Support Soultraits to strengthen him. One way or another, Michael's Enhancement, Lokai's Burning Fury, and the other's Support Soultrait strengthened Hiraku, granting him enough strength to emerge victorious against two High Lionhearts.
They weren't Awakened, but their combat prowess was great. It was an extraordinary achievement that an Adventurer, a Lesser Lifeform, managed to defeat two Higher Lifeforms!
Hiraku glanced back at the Untamed Awakened who'd spread out to jump into fierce brawls as well. His attention was drawn to the multitude of Soultraits they unleashed in quick succession. Following the chaos created by close to a hundred Soultraits being used near-simultaneously, the Untamed Awakened consumed several high-quality potions. They replenished their energy, reinvigorated their weary bodies, and gained additional temporary boosts from a particular set of exotic potions.
Hiraku's eyes narrowed and his eyes flicked to Michael, Michael's hands to be precise. All Hiraku could see were bones and loose threads. His arms didn't look much better. At least, Michael was merely missing a few chunks of flesh in his arms.
Michael grit his teeth in pain, but he shut his eyes and focused on Maria's Soultrait Shard. He conjured Archangel's Grace and used the customized Soul Technique, Heavenly Realm by consuming four SoulStar Fragments. The SoulStar Fragments didn't matter right now. What mattered was that Michael had to recuperate as quickly as possible.
Several humongous white-feathered wings spread from his back and dazzling holy light illuminated the area around Michael. The holy light congregated around Michael's arms and healed him rapidly.
The missing chunks of flesh in his arms regenerated at a visible speed and his skin regrew as well. His wrists and hands required more attention, but Archangel's Grace amplified with Heavenly Realm was enough to tend to his wounds.
But it was not fast enough. A group of High Lionhearts emerged in front of Michael. They circled him and manifested hundreds of compressed fire spears and other blazing projectiles. The High Lionhearts used their opportunity and released the projectiles simultaneously. The mass and power of the thousand projectiles impacted in the same second. They exploded and destroyed the surroundings by burning down everything in their path.
A huge charred crater was all the compressed projectiles left behind after the explosion. Not even Michael's corpse survived the fire.
That was…odd.
One of the High Lionhearts had a bad feeling as he stared at the bottom of the crater, "I obtained no energy influx. Someone else?!"
Nobody answered. Everyone expected someone to speak up and say that they obtained an energy influx from killing Michael, but there was nothing like that. Nobody received an energy influx because Michael was not yet dead.
The instance before the blazing projectiles impacted, Zeroa erupted with her mythical flames. Her mythical flames burst out in all directions, giving Michael a quarter of a second to conjure a spatial portal and escape.
However, instead of escaping from the battlefield,Micahel emerged in the center of the battlefield. He appeared above the spot where most enemies congregated.
His hands were not healed yet, but he lacked enough lifeforce and energy to finish the healing process. Therefore, Michael unleashed the Dome of Extraction fused with one Cursed Seal and the Extraction Aura. Inertia pulled Michael to the ground where he landed on top of a burly Lionheart. He shrouded his left foot in glacicle spikes and smashed his skull with a fierce kick.
The burly Lionheart's head burst apart. Brain mass and huge fragments of his skull flung through the surroundings, shocking some of the nearby Lionhearts to the core.
Michael didn't pay much attention to the burly Lionheart who collapsed underneath him. He focused on Archangel's Grace and Heavenly Realm to mend his wounds while spreading the Extraction Dome outward.
Michael didn't sustain any further injuries since he didn't attempt to compress and shape Extraction. The only ones who were in unbearable pain as their lifeforce was forcefully ripped out of them were his enemies. The Tier-2 Lionhearts were helpless against the power of True Extraction. They could provide their utmost to block Extraction but Michael was a Tier-3 Lord with more than 250,000 subjects who trusted him dearly.
7-Star Extraction's Soul Power was tremendous, and Michael didn't hesitate to experiment either. He produced some Soul Energy and consumed it to activate Extraction.
There was no fancy technique involved, but that was not necessary, in the first place. Soul Techniques allowed the Awakened to unleash the full potential of their Soultrait's Soul Power. They created specific pathways for the Soul Power to amplify the Soultraits in specific ways. Therefore, crudely unleashing his Soul Energy onto Extraction was not very efficient. Its effects were worse than the weakest Common Class Soul Technique.
However, Michael did not care. After all, even the crudest empowerment of Soul Energy had some effect!
One moment the Lionhearts in the effective range of Dome of Extraction groaned in pain. In the next instant, a bright glow reverberated through the surroundings.
The groans died down and dead silence ruled supreme.
