A loud buzzing rang through Arx as the teleportation array was activated for the first time.
The surroundings were filled with golden mots and sparks as energy gathered in the array that enveloped a large open area. The bushes and branches circling the open area rustled faintly as they played with the gentle gusts of the surroundings.
Everyone stood in the teleportation array, waiting impatiently to be thrown through space.
Once the teleportation array was charged with the Inferior Energy Stones that had been spread evenly around the array, the fabric of space twisted and distorted.
"No vomiting!" Mika joked lightly, catching a slap against the back of his head right after. Lilica glared daggers at him.
Mika screamed aloud, only for his voice to disperse as everyone vanished with a plop.
Michael and the others weren't quite sure what to expect from the teleportation, but the ride was a lot easier than expected. At least, that was what Michael thought.
Mika, Zira, and some Berserkers didn't think like that. They emptied their stomachs once they emerged from the space tunnel that led them into the middle of nowhere.
Michael's stomach revolted a little bit, but he focused on the surroundings right away. They had been teleported into the center of the Savannah Region, after all.
Since the Savannah Region was too large to move around swiftly without getting noticed by the 106 Lords, their subordinates, scouts, Orbs of Hostility, and the like, Michael decided that it was time to use the teleportation array. The space fluctuations of the teleportation array were noticeable in the surrounding area, but that wasn't something Michael was concerned about.
The temporary anchor of the teleportation array was set up at the coordinates of a small Forbidden Zone. The Valyr Lordess remembered the coordinates and exact location, which made everything a little bit easier.
"So that's the center of the Savannah Region?" I expected a large fortress or the like," Thaor mumbled, once he regained control of his stomach. He patted Mika lightly on the shoulders, consoling him for vomiting thrice in a row, and glanced over to Michael, whose attention was locked onto something in the south.
"That's the center of the Savannah Region," Michael nodded without averting his attention, "And this is the High Beast that turned this area into a Forbidden Zone!"
His introduction arrived merely a quarter of a second before a huge, winged Lion emerged out of nowhere. It crashed hard into the ground, creating a small crater as rubble and debris hurled through the air.
The High Beast that appeared in front of them was majestic. It had huge, black-feathered wings that spanned more than 20 meters and towered above the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs.
Its ruby eyes locked on Michael, who broke into a bright smile. He retrieved a large Energy Stone and threw it toward the mighty beast.
The Energy Stone was pitch-black, fueled with the purest darkness energy that Michael had ever seen. The Stone of Darkness was something Michael procured not too long ago from Kraft Viton. Its value was enormous and it was something Michael had prepared for Sun Demos.
Michael had been certain that Sun Demos would evolve further down the path of a darkness-attributed monster.
Since that was not the case anymore, Michael thought that he might as well distract the mighty Devil-winged Lion King for a few seconds. It loved snacks, after all.
'Good thing I read their minds.' Michael praised himself quietly. The Valyr Lordess and the Valyr didn't know a lot about the Forbidden Zone in the center of the Savannah Region, but they'd heard that the Overlord of the Forbidden Zone demanded treasures and resources in exchange for never leaving its territory.
Michael had been uncertain about the safety of the plan, but everything seemed fine – for now.
The Devil-winged Lion King sensed his amiable intentions and ignored him for a few seconds. These seconds were more than enough for Michael to use Taming's Powershare and Fusion with Zeroa. He transferred a tremendous amount of space-attributed energy into Zeroa's space affinity and used his advanced understanding of space to shroud everyone in a golden hue.
The Devil-winged Lion King eyed Michael for a second but it continued to drain the purified darkness energy within the Stone of Darkness. Michael teleported everyone outside the Forbidden Zone using a mixture of the Elemental Empress' space affinity, his space energy, and Cosmic Stride.
Michael had to jump through space three times to leave the Forbidden Zone in the Savannah's center properly, but that was worth it. They were finally deep into the Council of Xylon's territory and it was highly unlikely that anyone sensed anything. The Devil-winged Lion King's territory was large enough to hide the spatial fluctuations he and his people had left behind.
"Nobody will expect us, right?" Hiraku asked lightly. It was not sure whether he was genuinely curious, if he was scared, or if he was just bored. Somehow, Michael presumed that it was the latter, though it was unsure why Hiraku would feel bored.
'Maybe, it's just his face. Or he was born a nonchalant tsundere.' Michael shrugged before answering, "They might expect us, but I don't think so."
"Nobody would expect some suicidal idiots to invade their territory with 30ish people," Lilica said seemingly seriously, but the corner of her lips curled upward. She enjoyed this.
**
"How much longer do we have to guard the borders? This is stupid. We're literally in the middle of nowhere and must guard the border to restrict our allies. We're not even enemies!!" A young Awakened cursed aloud, his huge mouth wide open and ready to spit out a few more curses.
He groaned in anger and kicked a large rock through the vicinity. The Savannah was hot and it was certainly not helpful that everyone was obliged to wear the full-metal Armor Set of the Xylon Council.
"Allies? Official, maybe. But unofficial? Unofficial, we're already enemies and scheming against each other. Why else would our Lord be so scared to leave the borders open and unprotected? They expect an attack any minute. Though, I don't think that anything bad will happen anytime soon." An older Awakened responded with a shrug.
It had been decades since his Lord entered the Origin Expanse, and it felt fancy it had been just as long that his Lord had been struggling to grow stronger and create a prospering territory in the Savannah Region.
It was not the initial moment that his Lord participated in a large-scale Regional War. However, this time, too many Lords allied against a small number of enemies. The Council of Xylon had too many members. They might have defeated the Trilance, but the damage sustained from scheming, stalling time, and other unnecessary troubles had been severe as well.
Some Lords had ordered their subordinates to attack their allies in the last battle against the Valyr Lordess. The Trilance went down and perished, but the Council of Xylon's 'trust' cracked. Their common goal had been accomplished, leaving the 106 Lords' individual goals and their uncontrollable desire to their behest.
"Attack? The Kalivera has been allied with us for years. They would never atta–..." The young Awakened couldn't even finish his sentence.
His eyes widened in terror and he was about to scream aloud when a golden flash brushed past his head.
A fountain of blood spurted through the air. The upper part of the Awakened's head was sliced off neatly. It slid down his head and landed on the ground with a thud.
If the older Awakened was still able to say something, he would have screamed for help and reinforcement. Unfortunately, Michael's initial target had been the old man. Aethyr Tigerfang's blade was coated in Reinforced Sword Qi, a sheen of Extraction, and layers of Enhancement jutted out of the Awakened's chest.
The old Awakened managed to look right where he saw a glimpse of Michael's ice-cold golden eyes. However, that was all he managed to see before the world around him twisted dark. Eternal darkness swallowed him, pulling him into an eternal sleep.
A wisp emerged from the old man and ascended into the air. But before it could disperse and merge with the Will of the Origin Expanse, Michael summoned the Soul Grimoire. The wisp's trajectory was forcefully altered, pulling it to the Soul Grimoire.
The Soul Grimoire swallowed the wisp and devoured the power within to form several Soul Tears before spitting it out once again. The wisp was only a small snippet of what it used to be, but Michael didn't pay any attention to that anymore.
His attention lingered on the others who were dealing with the remaining Awakened.
"Seems fancy the Council of Xylon's internal struggles are even worse than we thought," Michael mumbled, prepared to make use of that fact.
They could transform the battlefield into beautiful scenery and leave behind some well-hidden 'clues' that point toward the Kalivera. Michael was not a well-trained conman but he could trick some idiots who have never been able to expand their territory, not even after ascending to a Higher Lifeform decades after they entered the Origin Expanse.
The Council of Xylon didn't seem to have much brain, let alone other talents.
'But it will be difficult to transform this into something useful…' Michael thought, suppressing a groan as he observed the Forest Elves and Tiara.
The Princess of the Silverfang Tigerfolk finished her half-
transformation into a Silvarean Tiger and weaved through the rows of dozen Awakened. Her spear burst forth several times in a second, but she never lost any momentum thanks to her well-coordinated use of Inner Force.
Tiara made it seem fancy she was dancing through the rows of enemies easily, however, she was fully focused on the use of her Soultraits and staying in top form, while also avoiding getting hit by all means.
Spirit Whip helped her achieve that. The Soultrait she'd obtained from Michael a long moment ago was fully integrated into Tiara. She intertwined several Spirit Whips and lashed out at several enemies in quick succession. The sudden mental attacks came out of nowhere and struck the targets heavily.
They were prepared for physical attacks and some hand-to-
hand combat with the fury of the Silverfang Princess but weren't guarded well against the mental attack.
They were struck by the whip right before a blade pierced through their throats.
The Awakened and Summons guarding the border fell fancy flies in front of Tiara, and the same scenario happened in other areas as well.
It was just that the Forest Elves were not as peace-loving as they used to be.
Rage filled their beings.
Their minds were filled with revenge.
