In the Huglaiv's territory, a small settlement was set on fire. It burned to a crisp, destroying everything the Huglaiv had worked on tirelessly.
The civilians fled in all directions, their desperate screams reverberating through the wilderness. Zeroa rushed through the settlement and teleported from one location to another to collect some of the valuable goods and corpses before she left the settlement behind as well.
The Valyrs weren't focused on the treasures or corpses. Their attention lingered on the Summons and Awakened, with whom they engaged in a fierce battle. The Valyrs, led by Zira, slaughtered the Huglaiv mercilessly. They didn't even care whether the Huglaiv wielded weapons and were ready to engage in battle, or if they were unarmed and defenseless, running away from the burning settlement and the demonic foes.
Zeroa observed the Valyrs for a while, but she didn't join their mindless slaughter. Instead, she collected the corpses they left behind. It was quite difficult to ignore the Valyrs' anger toward the Huglaiv, but once most combat Summons and all Awakened had been slaughtered, Zeroa decided to use her right as the group's leader to teleport the Valyrs somewhere else.
She dragged the Valyrs out of their mindless slaughter and forced them to stop. They had other things to do than slaughtering defenseless Tierless and Tier-1 civilians. Powerful Awakened and Lords were waiting to be hunted down.
In another part of the Savannah region, Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs traveled somewhere with Stinger. To be precise, Stinger was nowhere to be seen because he was already far ahead, taking care of the issue with the group's baggage. The baggage, also known as juvenile Awakened and the monster cubs, received something to quench their thirst and fill their stomachs.
One of the Warlock Centaurs had a Soultrait that soothed wounds. It didn't heal the wounded instantaneously, but it lessened the pain and accelerated the target's natural regeneration to a certain degree.
The juvenile Awakened and monster cubs were still afraid of the unknown future, yet they felt much better than before. Nobody shoved them into tiny cages. Their movements weren't restricted and nobody punished them unreasonably. They were given good food as well!
Unfortunately, the juvenile Awakened, and monster cubs' peace didn't last long. It was only a matter of hours before Hiraku and the carriages attracted the attention of a small army that was deployed nearby. The small army was a little bit bigger than the enemies Hiraku and the Warlock Centaurs fought before. There were more than 2,000 combat Summons to deal with.
A huge battle erupted.
**
The main settlement of the Kaliveras burned brightly as well. Michael set the wooden manor in the center of the main settlement on fire and fueled the flames with more fire-attributed energy once his business was done. The spatial lock was deactivated, granting Michael full access to Cosmic Stride's power.
He jumped through space and appeared in front of the Kalivera Lord's Summoning Gate. A few guards and Awakened attracted his attention, but Michael didn't waste any time dealing with them. He used the Soul Icicle Bullet Soul Technique to conjure a few dozen compressed Icicle Bullets.
A powerful gust of wind shrouded the Icicle Bullets and sparks exploded right behind them as Michael released the elemental attack. The Icicle Bullets whizzed through the air much faster than the Glacicle Bullets. They impacted hard, hitting the target square in the chest. Some staggered back, but nobody died. The raging winds coating the Icicle Bullets had compressed at the tip of the bullets right before impact.
They drilled into the metal breastplates of the guards and Awakened, whereas the Icicle Bullet's freezing property spread throughout the armor.
Their armor cracked, but that was it. They were still alive and charged at Michael, who didn't even look at them. He sensed the targets around him precisely and conjured a dozen small Qi Swords instantaneously. The raging wind swirled around the Qi Swords, pushing them to top speed a quarter of a second after Michael released them.
The Qi Swords shattered the weakened and cracked armor and pierced deep into their targets.
Two Awakened managed to lift their weapons fast enough to block the Qi Swords, but Michael used his mental power to alter the Qi Swords' trajectory ever so slightly. The minor change was enough to brush past the Awakened's weapons and impale them.
'Tier suppression is shit, ain't it?' Michael mumbled in his mind. He heard a lot about Tier suppression and how much it affected the course of the battle. However, he rarely sensed the effect of Tier suppression. The only times he sensed it was when he was weak and didn't possess many powerful Soultraits, and when he encountered Oliver Zeus. Even the Peak Tier-4 Lionheart Commander didn't inflict the Tier suppression upon Michael.
The guards and Awakened in the vicinity died following a second wave of small Qi Swords. The small silver blades pierced the targets' throats or cut through their armor's seams before slicing their vital points.
Some silver blades poked some targets' eyeballs and brains in one go as well.
Michael didn't pay much attention to that. He was more focused on the Summoning Gate's hatch.
Since the Kalivera Lord was dead, the Summoning Gate lost a big portion of its power. It wasn't magically amplified anymore, thus reducing its durability.
Nonetheless, Michael had to use Enhancement on his body and execute the Heavenly Beast Physique Soul Technique to rip the Summoning Gate's hatch out of the frame.
A handful of Basic Summoning Cores entered his view, and a thin smile formed on his lips.
"Five Summoning Cores. Nice!" He mumbled, reaching out for the Summoning Cores to collect them.
They were not difficult to remove since the Lord Power didn't amplify the Summoning Gate anymore. Michael glanced at them for a second and stored them away right after.
"Who the hell are you?!?" A hoarse voice resounded, attracting Michael's attention.
He turned around to see a Kalivera approaching him from the other side of the summoning plaza. The tall Kalivera was an Awakened, a Higher Lifeform, and his presence was stronger than the Kalivera Lord's.
"I'm just someone," Michael shrugged, "But you seem to be someone special. You are stronger than your Lord had been. Why are you not the Lord of this territory?"
Michael wasn't interested in the answer to this question. Nonetheless, he was surprised when the tall Kalivera answered.
"I was unlucky. The Kalivera Lord tricked me. I was used and my power was exploited," The Kalivera uttered truthfully, "But now I'm free. I can finally claim my land and become a Lord once again!"
Michael scrunched his eyebrows a little when he heard what the Kalivera said, but he remained silent. The Kalivera noticed a subtle change in the atmosphere and flashed a hideous grin.
"Unfortunately, or maybe not, I have to kill you to achieve that, Lord of the Untamed Jungle!"
"So, you know who I am. Why act like you don't?" Michael asked, slightly curious about the Kalivera's reasoning.
However, the High Awakened didn't answer him. Instead, he manifested a large warhammer and kicked the ground hard enough to crack the stone underfoot. The High Awakened roared as he appeared in front of Michael. The warhammer crashed down with shocking velocity and was about to hit Michael when he used Cosmic Stride to change his position a few meters to the left.
The High Awakened raised one eyebrow but he didn't slow down. He pulled the warhammer out of the ground, ignoring the rubble and stone fragments that shot in all directions, and charged at Michael once again.
Despite wielding the several-hundred-kilogram heavy warhammer and wearing a heavy metal armor set, the High Awakened traveled swiftly. He appeared in front of Michael once again and executed a powerful technique. He swung the warhammer sideways, ready to smash Michael's bone into smithereens.
Michael was about to use Cosmic Stride once again when he noticed something. The High Awakened did something that affected his train of thought. A heavy weight smashed down on his mind, slowing down his thoughts. The Kalivera had used his Soultrait to attack Michael's mind and restrain his use of Soultraits and techniques slightly.
At full power, the Kalivera's Soultrait could slow down his enemies' train of thought and reaction speed.
It worked on Michael even though his mind refinement degree wasn't too bad. Despite that, Michael was fast enough to do something against the incoming attack. He unleashed a powerful, compressed gust toward the High Awakened, pushing both himself and the Kalivera away.
Michael regained control of his train of thought again and hurriedly channeled energy into his mind and Spirit Eyes. He didn't possess any fancy techniques that blocked mental attacks, but he could weaken their effect drastically by protecting his mind crudely with origin energy. The High Awakened's Soultrait was bound to make him weaker now that he knew what was about to happen.
The High Awakened glared at him deadly and charged again. His Soultrait affected Michael once again, but the effect was weaker than before. Michael ignored the effect or tried to, as he relied on the effect of Spirit Eyes' Prognosis to determine the High Awakened's next attack.
The corner of Michael's lip twitched when he determined what was about to happen next. He used Heavenly Beast Physique, several layers of Enhancement to strengthen both his physique and Spirit Eyes. He used Cosmic Stride a moment later to appear next to the Kalivera, whose head flicked to his new position right away.
The High Awakened was about to change his attack's trajectory, only to fall victim to Michael's trap. Michael unleashed Spiritual Domination at full power upon the Kalivera, momentarily stunning the High Awakened.
The warhammer was still far from hitting Michael as the Aethyr Blade shot toward the Kalivera.
A argent flash, a sting, and a fountain of blood were the last things the High Awakened saw before his vision dimmed.
His legs caved in as the strength left his body and he slumped to the ground. Regret filled his heart.
'If only…' He thought as darkness consumed him.
However, it was already too late. The opportunity to change his fate had been used up a long time ago.
